Review Detail

I'm feeling a little o the fence about Breathe. I liked it for the most part, but it's one of those that I just enjoyed while reading and will probably forget about shortly after returning it to the library.

Three Narrators: I don't really feel one way or another about multiple narrators in general because I've read quite a few books that it's worked really well in and I don't think about it much otherwise. I'm not really such a fan in the case of Breathe, though. When I imagine the story without three narrators, it doesn't work and yet, I still don't care for it. Maybe it's because I really didn't like Alina. I would have been fine reading just Bea's point of view and I wouldn't even have minded an alternating Quinn and Bea, but I just really didn't like Alina.

Characters:
Bea – I really liked Bea. Some people will probably complain about how quickly she changed sides, but I thought it was actually really refreshing. Normally the MC (especially girls) refuses to believe anything could be wrong with the system when their given clear proof there is. They sit there and live in their little world of denial for a good half of the book usually, but not Bea. Alina tells her of the corruption in the pod and the lightbulb immediately goes off in her head as she puts the pieces together. She did get a smidge desperate and whiny in the end, but considering the traumatic and dramatic changes in her life I can understand it.
Quinn – Quinn, on the other hand, refused to believe the corruption at first. I know he's been fed lies all his life, but so had Bea. He ends up coming around fairly quickly, though, so it really wasn't too bad. I found it mildly amusing how much he cared for Bea as a friend but was too blind to see that she was n love with him. Come on, dude, everyone else could see it.
Alina: The only real explanation I can think of for my dislike of Alina is how angry she is towards the beginning. She's really not a bad character and has a good amount of growth throughout the story, but she just didn't jive with me.

The backstory is pretty straight forward. The world got too full, they cut down on the trees in a fit of idiocy, and BAM no more air. Since there wasn't really anything I could get out of more backstory I was hoping for more info on the rest of the world or something. I know, I'm greedy with dystopian details.

The Nutshell: Breathe was an enjoyable read, but one that likely won't stick out in my mind. There was never really a “no way” moment for me and the story felt a little predictable, but it didn't hinder my overall enjoyment. Breathe is a nice, quick dystopian read, but much more (for me.)

Near Miss