Mundie Moms

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Book Review: Breathe by Sarah Crossan


Published by: Harper Teen
Released on: October 2nd, 2012 - TODAY!
Source: ARC from publisher to review
4 stars: I Really Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Inhale. Exhale. 
Breathe. 
Breathe. 
Breathe . . .
The world is dead. 
The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

Alina
has been stealing for a long time. She's a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she's never been caught before. If she's careful, it'll be easy. If she's careful.

Quinn
should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it's also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn't every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.

Bea
wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they'd planned a trip together, the two of them, and she'd hoped he'd discover her out here, not another girl.

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days' worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to? - quoted from Goodreads

An addicting dystopian that was hard for me to put down. Sarah Crossan's BREATHE has this  storyline that surprisingly hooked me. I've not always been a huge fan of dystopians, but the last few ones I've read I have enjoyed. With BREATHE there was just something about this book that made it hard for me to put down, and I ended up reading it in on sitting. The world building was good, the storyline was engaging and I found myself intrigued with BREATHE's characters. I liked that this story was told from three different points of views. I felt it gave the story more depth and allowed me to get to know the protagonists better, as well as see the story from three different angles. It helped that each chapter was headed with the character who's talking.

Character wise, each of their voices is great and for the most part pretty distinct. There were a few times had I not have the names at the beginning of the chapters that I would have been a little confused as to who was starting off the new chapter. Bea and Quinn live within the pods, and have somewhat normal lives. Bea is the brains, and Quinn is the more laid back one. I mean, they're both smart, but Bea would rather study while Quinn likes to have a little fun. I liked their relationship. They've best friend and mixed into that they have this "are they or aren't going to hook up" feeling. Well, it's mainly from Bea. I can't blame the girl for having a crush on Quinn. I couldn't blame him for not really seeing Quinn in that manner. I found that aspect of their relationship to be relatable. I enjoyed seeing how these two came to the relatization of how they felt about each other, and the way it was drawn out and done was in a fitting manner giving all that's going on around them. I liked Alina's mix Bea and Quinn's lives. Her point of view came more from the resistance side and I liked how her story crosses over into Quinn and Bea's. 

I was really hooked with the storyline more than anything. The story is set in a time when the world's been wiped clean of trees and people are forced to live in oxygen fueled pods. The oxygen is controlled, which in turn controls the activity of the people who live within the pods. You know when you have a controlling civilization you get resistance and this book had plenty of that. I loved what transpires with the resistance role in the book and the secrets that unravel with this part of the story. There was plenty of action, and some great plot twists that made reading BREATE a fast paced page turner. Added to that mix is a romance that's more on the back burner, some heartbreaking moments, and some defiant moments that leave me anxiously awaiting to get my hands on the next book in this series. I'm looking forward to finding out what's in store for Bea, Quinn and Alina. That ending wrapped up the story nicely, but also leaves it open for what's to come. If you're looking for a thrilling, fast paced read I'd recommend picking this one up!

2 comments:

  1. I've seen this but not seen any reviews. Thanks for the great review. I really like dystopians and bet I'd like this one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the review!
    I will be moving this up my to-read list :-)

    Also I am a new follower!

    Cassie
    GreatMunchieReads

    ReplyDelete

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