Review: Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Book: Breathe (Breathe #1)
By: Sarah Crossan
Published: October 2, 2012
Published by: Greenwillow

Description: 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.

Alinahas 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.

Quinnshould 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.

Beawants 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?

My Thoughts: Breathe was a good book with an interesting premise. In an effort to advance technology and society trees in the natural world have been cut down to build towers. As a result, much of the world's oxygen supply has been depleted causing many to suffocate or go crazy from lack of oxygen to the brain. Breathe, a company who had found ways of manufacturing oxygen, has created a pod and allowed some of the population (the rich people, the important people, and those who won lotteries) to live under their protection. Here, you much pay for the use of oxygen, much like we currently pay for electricity or air conditioning. Society is spilt into classes based upon their benefit to the Pod, but as most dystopians go, its this control over society that ultimately becomes Breathe's downfall.

We follow three characters. Bea, Alina, and Quinn. Bea is an auxiliary, pretty much the bottom of the totem pole in the Pod society. Her parents are struggling to pay for air for them to survive, for that reason, she can't run, or kiss or work out, or do anything that would use up more oxygen than necessary. She's determined to pass a test that would allow her to join the ranks of Breathe and become a Premium so that her family would no longer have to struggle.Quinn, on the other hand, is Bea's best friend and the man she's been pining for since forever. He's a premium, and life is pretty much easy for him since his father works for Breathe. He too, wants to work for breathe and has been practicing with Bea so that they both can make it. Finally, there's Alina, the one person who causes the whole story to go in a completely different direction than everyone else meant it to. She's part of the Resistance. She's practiced her ability to survive off of low oxygen levels so that she can eventually survive outside of the Pod. She practices running in areas where speed cameras aren't located (yep, speed cameras) and after something horrible happens, she must flee the Pod or die, an action that brings all our characters together.

I enjoyed seeing Breathe develop. It was an interesting story. The corruption that filled Breathe was absolutely believable and the events that took place outside of the Pod were as well. I can see us as humans ruining the world's oxygen supply due to the excessive way we cut down trees and I can see a corporation using it to their benefit. All of it was realistic and I loved reading about it.

Though there were some parts that weren't completely realistic in that they were a little too convenient, or I couldn't see the attraction between some of the characters, it didn't take away from the appeal of the story at all. There was a bit of a love triangle, but not in the sense that one guy loved two people and vice versa, but in the sense that there was tons of unrequited love/like between characters. I would give this story 3.5 stars. It was a good story, but didn't keep me on the edge of my seat like I'd hoped and besides an interesting premise, it didn't offer anything that I didn't already expect from normal dystopians.

 

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Book: Thirteen reasons Why
By: Jay Asher
Published: October 8, 2007
Published by: Razorbill

Description: Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.


On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.
Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

My Thoughts: For those of you that watched my you tube book haul, you know that I got Thirteen Reasons Why as an audiobook from the library. I don't normally read contemporary novels, so when I do, they tend to be in audiobook format. This particular story is one that I heard a lot about. I was told it was heart wrenching and deep and moving and all that. I'm not sure I totally agree, but it certainly was an interesting read.

The story follows Clay Jensen. He's a high school student who comes home and finds box of tapes for him to read. Those tapes hold a step by step account from Hanna Baker, his former classmate and crush, who killed herself. In the tapes she explains the reasons she committed suicide and the people involved in the process. The audiobook, narrated by a man and a woman to give the voices of Hanna on the tapes and Clay's thoughts, really captured the intended feelings.

Clay panics most of the story. He obviously liked Hanna despite her"reputation." and seemingly feels guilty about her death. He seems to think that people can read on his face the fact that he's listening to an account from a dead girl and just acts all around strange the entirety of the book. That being said, he seems to be your typical "nice guy" and is wondering why he's included in the tapes at all.

As for Hanna, I must say I don't respect her. The whole book is her explaining the reason she killed herself and she is, in my opinion, doing whatever she can to bring everyone else down with her. She seems to have a thin skin, is extremely naive and just basically annoyed me the entire book. I found myself wanting to go through the book and strangle her myself, before I remembered she was already dead. I mean seriously, the things that bothered her, on their own or piled together, do not warrant suicide in my opinion.

I must point out though, that this book was one big snowball effect. As I said, on their own, the events that contributed to Hanna's resolution don't warrant suicide. However, when you stack them up, one on top of the other, on top of the other, you can understand why she was so depressed. I still don't agree with the suicide, but I guess I can follow how these things affected her so deeply. It's interesting to read how everything connected and ho, one little mean/selfish thing one person does can affect that person's entire life from then on. It reminded me of when I watched time travel movies as a kid, and they said if you change just one thing in the past, the entire future is different. Likewise, a small insult, or comment in the past can affect the way people treat and view other people, and often this grows into something in the future that becomes bigger than it was.

Hanna understands that she's giving up, and near the end of the book, we realize that she's doing whatever she can to just ruin her life further, so that there's nothing left to salvage. Ultimately, her bad judgment was part of the reason she continued to ruin her life, and she expected others to see her actions and stop her. Admittedly, I can sympathize with that feeling. Often, when I was her age I remember feeling a bit like a failure, like my life was ruined, and I began to act accordingly. Many of my decisions were hurried and destructive (although no where near as serious as suicide or cutting or the like). I just didn't hold myself up to the level I should have because I didn't think I deserved it. Luckily, I grew up, and began to understand my own worth. I understood that no one can help you if you don't try to help yourself. Hanna killed herself before she could learn.

Thirteen Reasons Why was an interesting story about seizing great opportunities and chances, being a good person, understanding how things you do affect others, and understanding how the things you do affect yourself. It was about accountability and immaturity. While I was reading, I couldn't wait for it to be over, just as Clay couldn't. It kept you thinking and reflecting.

That being said, I gave this story a low rating. It really was wonderfully written and accomplished everything it sought out to do. Nonetheless, I just couldn't bring myself to give it a higher rating. My rating was merely a reflection of how I feel about Hanna, and Clay, and their view on the world. It's also low because I don't like the idea of the tapes and the blame game that ensues. I don't agree with her suicide. Nevertheless, I would without a doubt recommend this story to all middle schoolers/high schoolers. I would also recommend it to those of you who like contemporary novels that teach a bit of a lesson about life and make you reflect on your own decisions. It was a great book, though I will probably never read it again. Yes, my review is kind of all over the place, but that's how my feelings are for this book. My Rating is 3 Stars.