Review: Breathless by Jessica Warman

Prior to reading this book, let me just say that I did not know anything about it. I hadn't heard about it from any of the many book blogs I frequent or the book vloggers that I watch. I came upon it while scanning the YA section of my local library. The cover was interesting and the synopsis seemed promising so I picked it up. And let me say, I was definitely glad that I did.

The story is about a girl named Katie Kitrell who, in the beginning, is trying to cope with a mentally unstable/ill brother and her hard-to-get-along-with parents. The family is pretty dysfunctional to begin with. But not unbelievably so. I think it's so easy to relate to Katie's situation because I don't believe any family is without its problems and its always refreshing to see YA books take this route of depicting highly dysfunctional families rather than perfect households. Anyway, her brother is a very unhappy person and he attempts to kill himself. This sends Katie's world into a whirlwind. Her parents decide that it would be best if she lived as far away from her tiny hometown and her brother as possible. So they send her to boarding school where Katie is finally able to fit in and have real friends and a really good chance of going to good colleges. But, of course, the presence of her brother and her home situation is always at the back of Katie's mind. So, she deals with it by lying to everyone and immersing herself in her swimming--the one thing she's really good at.

One thing about this book that really impressed me was the fact that I had no idea where it was going to go. I mean, I had read the inside flap and usually those pretty much give away the direction of the story. However, I was surprised to find that I had no idea where the plot would take me or how a character would act. This book is definitely not predictable.

Speaking of characters, there are a whole cast of characters in this book that are wonderfully drawn. Katie is a very relatable and very real protagonist. Her voice really strikes a chord with me and I think it'll do the same with a lot of other people, too. She's just easy to sympathize with. However, she's not perfect. In fact, every character in the book is flawed. Even her seemingly "perfect" boyfriend. But they're flawed in a way that make them interesting, rather than annoying.

The best thing about this book, though, would have to be the writing. Even though this is Jessica Warman's debut novel, she establishes a very clear yet lyrical style. This is the kind of book where it's so easy to get overly dramatic and fill it with a bunch of flowery prose but Warman definitely keeps her writing realistic and sprinkles it with some really wonderful lines here and there that really get to you. Her writing also keeps you so absorbed in the book. I stayed up late finishing this one and once it was over I was definitely thinking about all of the characters for hours in bed. This is the kind of book that I think a lot of teens (and older people too) will really like. I'm just excited to see what this new author comes up with next. Definitely check this one out if it sounds interesting to you.

I give it a: 4/5 stars