Format: arc
Publishers: Bloomsbury
Published: 11th October 2012
Pages: 373
Main Characters: Bea, Quinn, Alina
Date Started: 23rd November 2012
Date Finished: 28th November 2012
Rating Given:
Blurb from Goodreads:
When oxygen levels plunge in a treeless world, a state lottery decides which lucky few will live inside the Pod. Everyone else will slowly suffocate. Years after the Switch, life inside the Pod has moved on. A poor Auxiliary class cannot afford the oxygen tax which supplies extra air for running, dancing and sports. The rich Premiums, by contrast, are healthy and strong. Anyone who opposes the regime is labelled a terrorist and ejected from the Pod to die. Sixteen-year-old Alina is part of the secret resistance, but when a mission goes wrong she is forced to escape from the Pod. With only two days of oxygen in her tank, she too faces the terrifying prospect of death by suffocation. Her only hope is to find the mythical Grove, a small enclave of trees protected by a hardcore band of rebels. Does it even exist, and if so, what or who are they protecting the trees from? A dystopian thriller about courage and freedom, with a love story at its heart.
As soon as I was asked by the lovely publishers at Bloomsbury (thank you so much) if I wanted to review this book I jumped at the chance as I had fancied reading it for a while.
I love the cover and one of the reasons why I wanted this book and I know that I will eventually get a finished copy just so I can have the cover on my shelf. I love the cover even more now that I have read and get the significance of the cover to the story.
When I first started this book I felt a little lost as I didn't get why the world was in such a way and it wasn't until things got explained that I really started liking this book. As well as being a little lost I also felt it was really slow and I was begging it to pick up with a bit of action which didn't really happen until closer to the end but when it did... wow it was great on the edge of your seat stuff. Even though there wasn't much action there was still loads of things happening with loads of twist and turns in the plot kept me guessing all the way through. At times Breathe did have me playing with my emotions to a point when I was nearly in tears as it was really sad. I am not usually a huge fan of dystopian novels but this one has started to help me get into that particular genre. There was a bit of romance in the book but I didn't find it believable I was expecting more sparks than what there was. There was also a bit of a cliff hanger in which made me really want to pick up the next book now but that book isn't out until next year.
With the characters I didn't really like them to start with but I felt they really grew into themselves throughout the book which then took me onto the journey too. Bea was a nice naive girl who was in love with someone that didn't really notice her which made me feel for her. Once she found out what was really going on with the life she was living she really did grow up and want to fight for the course. Quinn was a bit annoying where I wanted to tell him to open his eyes but again when he found out some horrible things he turned into a man rather than the little boy he started out as. Alina seemed a little too cold but when she spent time with Bea, Quinn and Maude she started to melt and I really started to like her. Maude was a little old lady who was a bit mean to start with a bit like Alina but Bea really did change that and I found she was a sweet and caring old lady.
Overall a little slow and confusing to start with but once it got going it had the makings of a really good book and I can't wait to find out what happens next.
