Reason to Breathe

"Loooove this book. The trilogy is amazing. It talks about dark subjects in a brilliant way 5/5 ⭐ "

"it’s so good omg!! i literally read the whole series in like a month in 5th grade and it’s been my favorite ever since… im in college now 😅😅"

"One of my favorite series. I reread it abt every year. It's just good to me. #breathingseries #rebeccadonovan "

"Loved!"

"I love all three books it’s such a great story. I have reread the three book countless times"

"Twist and turns of child abuse, prince charming coming to the rescue. "

"I have been contemplating how many stars to give this book. It's a well written nov, kept me up ALL night because I couldn't put it down, I really liked the characters and it induced a variety of emotions (frustration for the bystanders was a reoccurring emotion). However, I was disappointed. Unlike many other people that have reviewed this book, I had trouble really crying for Emma but the pain she suffered did impose on me... Don't get me wrong, I was indeed shaken. The *extreme* wrong doing to Emma was intense and it did hurt my soul, but I perceive that it was nothing as compared to other peoples' experience with this book. <br/><br/>I loved falling in love with Emma and Evan's relationship; the reluctance, the grinning, the blushing and the whole wonderful world of awkwardness! <br/><br/><br/>The book flowed very well up until Evan left. I felt myself grieving his absence and the appearance of Drew. Drew? Who the hell cares about Drew! I think he was more of a filler character. I didn't feel any sort of reasoning behind their relationship...as I think was Ms. Donovan's intention. I found myself barely skimming the pages until Evan came back to town. I have absolutely no idea how much detail I missed during his absence. Don't slap me with the following comparison, but Evan's three-month retreat reminded me a lot of Edward's *gasp* abandon in New Moon. I almost felt uninterested after he left, but I craved not only for resolution to her relationship with Evan, but most importantly I desired to see Emma triumph. <br/><br/>On another note, there was more than one time that I wanted to inflict a little violence myself *cringe at inappropriate comment*. First, of course at Carol. I can't imagine how black one's soul must be to want to inflict pain on others especially a child. Secondly, Sara...I have to say my frustration with her was excessive. It's hard to imagine that a friend would just stand by and allow this to happen...no matter what excuse the victim offers. Again, I think in terms of a teacher and human...I am bound to report any infliction and I don't think I could live with myself knowing that someone is hurting at the hands of another. What the heck! Ms. Donovan successfully illustrated how it might be natural for our brains to piece all these negative things and allow them to continue to happen with excuses such as "I survived" and "It won't get worse"... Third, Emma herself frustrated me with the usual stuff that victims say such as what I stated previously. My frustrations aside, I can't say that her excuses were out of the norm: "I don't want to hurt the kids (her cousins)." Again, more points for realism. In contrast, props to Evan (I'm not sure if it's because I'd add him to my list of book boyfriends); he did not want to be a bystander and proposed an exit plan *GO EVAN!*. <br/><br/>Emotions aside, there were quite a few editing errors. This disappointed me. Books are supposed to be perfect...otherwise I'd be writing books left and right!<br/><br/>As I've already stated, Ms. Donovan's piece was a perfect/realistic exhibition of domestic violence. Many witnessing teens might reluctantly accept the situation, hope for the best and move on until it happened again and continue this cycle. Therefore, rating time: the realistic portrayal, abetting emotions including my favorite emotion (falling-in-love), and the KILLER cliff-hanger-ending, I think I might just decide to give this book a 4 out of 5."