Mundie Moms

Thursday, January 24, 2019

ONLY A BREATH APART by Katie McGarry / Book Review & Blog Tour: Spotlight #OnlyABreathApart


By: Katie McGarry
Published by: Tor Teen
Released on: January 22, 2019
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Rating: 4 Stars 
Source: ARC from publisher in exchange for my honest review

Jesse Lachlin is cursed. 

So the town folklore says, but while Jesse’s had his fair share of tragedy, the only curse he believes is in his grandmother’s will: in order to inherit his family farm he must win the approval of his childhood best friend, the girl he froze out his freshman year, Scarlett Copeland.

Scarlett Copeland is psychic.

Glory Gardner tells Scarlett she has hidden psychic abilities, but Scarlett thinks Glory is delusional. What is real is Scarlett’s father’s irrational fears, controlling attitude, and the dark secrets at home. Scarlett may have a way to escape, but there’s a hitch: she’ll have to rely on the one person she used to trust, the same boy who broke her heart, Jesse Lachlin.

Each midnight meeting pushes Jesse and Scarlett to confront their secrets and their feelings for each other. But as love blooms, the curse rears its ugly head…


Katie McGarry is back with a brand new wrong side of the tracks YA contemporary romance. True to other stories, this is a gritty, realistic story that will make you cheer on two characters whom you want nothing more than to see them end up together. When it comes to contemporaries, McGarry is one of my go to authors. She's yet to disappoint me when it comes to reading her books. Only A Breath Apart is a heartbreaking, realistic story full of hope, and strength, and finding out what happens when you claim your own destiny. 

THE LONGER REVIEW 

Do you believe in destiny? Today I'm thrilled to team up with InkslingerPr to spotlight Katie McGarry's newest YA release, ONLY A BREATH APART, which was released on Tuesday from Tor Teen. I'm always intrigued cover the topic of destiny and fate. Especially one it's in a YA book. At the heart of this story is the theme of destiny. 

I love how Scarlett and Jesse dare to defy their own destinies. Each doing so in their own way. Yet, both of their destinies are fated together. I absolutely love the courageous person Scarlett is. I'm going to warn readers, their is domestic violence in this story. Both Scarlett and Jesse are victims of seeing it first hand. I love the steely determination Scarlett has to break free of it. 

In taking a stand against her parents, and point blank calling both her parents out on the situation, she makes an extremely hard and costly decision. Though it's the right one. I like that McGarry doesn't sugar coat the process or the decision Scarlett makes. It's hard and effects her entire family, including her little sister. Thankfully Scarlett has some good people in her life she learns to trust, and turn to in time. 

The moment Scarlett takes her stand, she takes own destiny in her hands. While it will be hard for her to achieve her dreams, she can and does. In the process, she teaches Jesse how to claim his own destiny. His story is even more heartbreaking. Jesse and Scarlett are fighters, and each in their own way. While they have so many things going against them, they both offer each other strength and support that no one else can give them. I love how interwoven their destiny together is. 

True to Katie McGarry's writing style, she has a cast of characters whom I enjoyed getting to know. There's a few who ended up surprising me in a good. Some ended up being the saving graces Jesse and Scarlett ended. The villains in this story are the parental figures. I absolutely despised Scarlett's father. The stand Scarlett takes against him is huge. I couldn't cheer her on more for doing so. 

Over all, this gave me all the ingredients I have some to except in a Katie McGarry book. At times it's a story that makes you root for the characters, at other times it makes you feel completely heartbroken for them. While reading this book I felt such a wide range of emotion, but in the end this book left me feeling hopeful for Scarlett and Jesse. 

* This book doesn't shy away from hard topics. There is some violence in this book. The subject of domestic violence is a huge one in this book, and things are not sugar coated. The rippling effect of violence is seen in this book. While this story is fictional, domestic violence is a real thing. If you're a victim of domestic violence, please do what Scarlett does, and seek help. Even if it's just talking to a trusted adult like Scarlett does. 

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