Breathe

Breathe (Breathe #1)

Sarah Crossan

Pages: 400

Publisher: Greenwillow

Format: ARC

Source: Southern Book Bloggers

Age Group: Young Adult

Date Published: October 2, 2012

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.
Alina
has 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.
Quinn
should 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.
Bea
wants 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?

Wow. This book was AMAZING. I love a good dystopian, and this is right up there with The Hunger Games and Divergent. The story was so unpredictable and I just ate it up. I felt for each of the characters, and loved all of them. The story was brilliant and suspenseful, and I lovedlovedloved the way it was written. The alternation between POVs for each chapter was done really well, and I still never really knew what each character was going to do. It was so cool.

The book starts off with Alina stealing tree parts from some place called Zone One. As the story progresses we learn about the restriction of oxygen and the "terrorists" who are trying to rebuild the outside world. Then there's Quinn and Bea, best friends who are from different sides of the "tracks." He is a premium, who lives in Zone One, and she is an Auxiliary, less privileged and lives in Zone Three. She desperately wants him to notice her, so when he offers to take them camping, she jumps at the opportunity. Unfortunately for Bea, this is where they get mixed up with Alina and the RATS (and/or the "terrorist" group that Alina is part of). From then on, the story has a lot of action and self-revelations. There is a ton of suspense, because each chapter is written from one of their POVs, and they each have a different story. In other words, the plot rocks.

Bea was most definitely my favorite character. The blurb makes you think that she's going to be annoying and whiny, and she totally isn't. She's sweet and smart and so human that I just had to love her, and root for her and Quinn. I wanted her to be happy!! Alina was really cool, too, and extremely considerate, despite the image she tries to put off. She's really good at what she does, and can be extremely diplomatic. I liked that about her. And then there was Quinn. He was smart and sweet, but was extremely dense (like so many other boys. ugh) when it came to Bea. He didn't even freaking notice her eye color. I mean, really?! In the end, though, I ended up really liking him, so he gets an A for effort in my book.

That cover is totally neat, too, and it really fit the setting of the story. I totally love the bubble and the outlands ground on the outside, and it is just too cool.

This book was SO GOOD, like my review did not do it justice. Therefore you should read it, yes? And see what I mean by "SO GOOD". Please? Obviously a 5 'stache book.