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Don’t Let Me Go is an age-gap romance that that blends themes of family and (possible?) healing.
We have Kenzie in her late twenties. Her roommate and best friend Alice convinces her to go to Alice's family home in Portugal for a month-long Christmas vacation—with Alice's family.
The family consists of Alice's mom (Mariana) and dad (blink-and-miss cameo), aunt Clara and her husband (another insignificant cameo), and Alice's ex Jonathan with his girlfriend. In addition, also expected is Alice's long (over 20 years) estranged aunt, Carolina Costa, CEO of a successful tech company.
There are some simmering tensions between the three sisters — Mariana (the oldest), Clara and Carolina plus uneasy and unsettled emotions between Alice and Jonathan. The stage is well set with a tinderbox of disparate characters... and Kenzie.
Sommers' writes characters well and they feel quite real with all their flaws and shortcomings. In fact, all characters have a knack for expressing emotions dramatically (stomping out, disappearing, running away from rooms etc.). But that's cool—most people at least want to do these things (if they don't already do them).
Carolina carries a chip (or is it a tree?) on her shoulder about her past and has deeply unresolved feelings, which is nicely used to show her characterization. She is quietly self-pitying and angsty.
Kenzie is fine. I mean, there's nothing particularly defining about her. A nice, normal, late-twenties doctoral student—with a thing for successful older women.
The book is pretty engaging. There are some nice moments between the leads. The romance is pretty okay. Most of the book's tension comes from the interactions between Carolina and Mariana, and from Carolina's very extreme (read: almost teenage hormonal) reactions to things.
The chemistry simmers well enough. The romance follows well-worn beats, and while there are sweet moments, the overall arc felt predictable. (It's only while trying to write it all out that I'm realising how tepid it all was. Little wonder it took me four very long days to finish this one).
After the long-drawn possibility of romance, the ending felt a little hurried and a lot pat.
The detailed description of Sintra, Portugal is the highlight of this book.
Overall, Don’t Let Me Go is an okay read, written with sincerity but doesn’t quite leave a lasting impression.
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