Breathe by Sarah Crossan
Published: October 2nd, 2012 (Greenwillow)
Pages: 400
Source: for review (proof)
Challenge: none
Series: Breathe, #1
Buy the book: Bookdepository
Rating: ★★★★★
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?
It's been a long time since I read Breathe, but I both feel like I only read it yesterday and that it's been ages at the same time. I absolutely loved this book, and have been eagerly anticipating book two ever since I flipped the last page. You can imagine how impatient I'm starting to get..
Breathe switches between the point of view between three teenagers: Alina, who has lived under the radar for a long time, Quinn, the son of an important man high up in the dystopian society, and Bea, who has had her eye on Quinn for a long time. The alternating POVs give us insight in how all of the major characters are experiencing the story, and I really liked to see how they worked together to pull the storylines together.
While the worldbuilding in this book was excellent, there was a lot of attention for the personal relationships in the story. Of course the story focused on the world and the dystopian society as well, but Crossan has worked a lot on how the characters feel about eachother and how they are experiencing the different events. I really liked how this worked out and am quite curious to see how the story will continue in the sequel!
Because of the attention to the feelings of the characters and the way they experience this journey, I think it will also appeal to a lot of younger readers. Having said that, I really enjoyed reading this book and I definitely recommend picking it up if you like dystopia.
