Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

Genre:	Young Adult
Publication.Date	June 4th 2013
Pages:	466
Published By:	Skyscape
Website	Rebecca Donovan
	Reason To Breathe on Goodreads
My review copy:	Review copy was bought by me.

Where to get:

This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. No one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?”

In the affluent town of Weslyn, Connecticut, where most people worry about what to be seen in and who to be seen with, Emma Thomas would rather not be seen at all. She’s more concerned with feigning perfection — pulling down her sleeves to conceal the bruises, not wanting anyone to know how far from perfect her life truly is. Without expecting it, she finds love. It challenges her to recognize her own worth — at the risk of revealing the terrible secret she’s desperate to hide.

One girl’s story of unspeakable cruelty, life-changing love, and her precarious grasp of hope, Reason to Breathe is the first installment in the acclaimed Breathing Series.

“What mattered most to me was that I trusted her with my life--which was saying alot, considering the unpredictability that awaited me at home each night.”

“Let me get this straight-- you want to exploit the insecurities of a bunch of teenagers so that you can write an article exposing their flaws? Don't you think that's a little destructive? Besides, we try to write news in our paper.”

“The balance of love and loss, it was love that made me struggle to... Breathe.”

“Was it better to get as much out of a moment as possible, knowing it could slip out from under you in a second?.”

This novel pulled me in and played my emotions so well, and I just loved the entire experience. Rebecca Donovan was in control from the beginning in telling this story and eliciting the emotions that were drawn from me. I was happy, sad, angry, heartbroken, hopeful, anxious, afraid and emotionally drained. The writing and story were so good, but yet so devastating and sad at the same time. This is not a light read that you can just pick up at the beach. You must get involved in the plot, be invested in the characters, and realize that this book WILL take you on an emotional roller coaster ride.

The characters are developed so well and are so mature that age was forgotten and the story could have been universal. I won't go into all of the details of this story because I want you to pick up this book and READ IT! Emma loved so much and was willing to endure anything to protect those that she loved. In this she was unselfish and yet this unselfish behavior was infuriating. You wanted to hug her and scream at her all at the same time.

The building romance aspect of this novel was sweet and Rebecca Donovan's wonderful writing let it develop at a slow pace, so it didn't come across too rushed, although I must say, it was intense.

The writing was superb from beginning to end and every chapter developed the story a little bit more. Each character was important to the storyline. As the reader, I never felt as if the author used too many characters to develop the plot.

Although you could foresee aspects of the ending coming, it still left me breathless and overwhelmed. I hope that readers will feel, as I did, the need to immediately move onto "Barely Breathing" to see how the story continues.