Breathe is a story of a world where there is no oxygen so the human race is forced to live in a dome. A dome where the government controls the amount of air you receive and you have to pay for what you use. Obviously since it is a dystopian, there are underhanded government games at play and the three main characters, Bea, Quinn and Alina, are the ones that need to expose Breathe for what it is and force changes to happen. And when I say ‘force changes’ we all know that is code for start a revolution.
Oh Breathe..I have mixed emotions about this book. I’ll be honest, I spent the better part of this book cringing and rolling my eyes. However, towards the end, I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.
Dystopian novels are always my absolute favorite. With Breathe, the world just wasn’t explained very well. I didn’t get connected to the world like I have with other dystopian novels. It was all just very flat to me.
Speaking of the world that was created in this story, I really was left wondering why the trees had disappeared. Did the government destroy the trees so people had no choice but to depend on them for air? Was it a freak environmental disaster that took all the trees out and the government took advantage of the people in their desperation? I really hope that this topic is covered more in the second book. It could be really interesting to learn about how Breathe came to be.
As for the characters, this was a really weird experience for me. I usually always connect with at least a few of the characters. I become invested in what happens to them and am eager to see the outcome. I didn’t get attached to any of the characters. We weren’t really given a lot of information about them and what we did get felt flat.
One thing I need to vent about for sure is the relationship between Bea and Quinn. It drove me absolutely insane. It felt so forced! Bea was pining for Quinn this entire time and he made it completely clear that she was in the friend-zone and nothing would ever happen between them. Then all of a sudden, after he almost dies, he realizes that Bea is the girl he wants to be with? I understand what the author was trying to do. I think it could have been achieved if there had been more dialogue and possibly even some confusion from Bea regarding Quinns changed feelings toward her.
And while I am on the topic of characters, it REALLY bothers me that I didn’t like Silas more. I’m always a sucker for the secondary characters and I love learning about them and seeing what they add to the story. Unfortunately, Silas was just kind of there and didn’t really do much for me. Bummer.
One last thing about characters.. who the heck is Abel?! He was the character that we encountered the least and the one I am most interested in. After what happened in Breathe, I believe that Abel will be a key character in the second book. I hope so anyway! Would love to learn more about that mysterious guy.
I think the reason the last part of the book got me more excited was because there was actual action. Events were actually happening and making the story more deep and interesting. However, I still think a huge issue with this novel is that there isn’t a lot of explaining that happens. When a big event or situation takes place, it is described without really any depth and just doesn’t paint the picture I need as a reader.
So, it probably seems like I didn’t enjoy Breathe at all. I will admit, it was disappointing at times. HOWEVER, with how the book ended, I do have faith that the second book will hopefully dive more into the characters and the world of Breathe.
If you are a lover of dystopian novels and the concept of the human race depending on the government for oxygen and the repercussions of that, this might just be the book for you!