eleanorjane_17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sammy234's review against another edition
2.0
*THIS BOOK WAS REVIEWED FOR KISS THE BOOK AND MAY BE CROSS-POSTED ON THE KISS THE BOOK GOODREADS ACCOUNT.
My review:
Alexander, Sarah The Art of Not Breathing, 278 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. $17.99 Language: R (33 swears, 14 ‘f’) Mature content: R (sex, nudity, graphic language, severe self-harm, drinking, suicide, extreme bullying, PTSD, delusions brought on from grief, parental abuse and graphic depictions of death) Violence: PG-13 (fighting and traumatic death)
Elsie’s twin brother drowned in the sea five years ago, and her family has never been the same. Elsie is obsessed with discovering her blocked memories of that day and getting all the dark secrets her family has been keeping into the light. With the help of sweet free diver Tate and her older brother Dillon, she may be able to face the ocean and finally say goodbye to her twin once and for all.
The Art of Not Breathing is a very gritty YA contemporary with strong content that makes it feel more New Adult to be honest, though I can think of no reason for all the gratuitousness to take place. It does nothing to further the plot or the character development. I started this novel enthralled by the unique writing and the deep emotional pull of the story line, but ended it sort of baffled. The characters actions are erratic and nonsensical. You can’t get to know them because they have nothing concrete about themselves besides the issues that they face. Lastly, this book simply suffers from too many themes in too little pages. The topics discussed in this novel were not handled in a way I could appreciate and I can’t see the benefit in teens reading this story excepting its perfectly unpretentious realness.
HS- OPTIONAL.
My review:
Alexander, Sarah The Art of Not Breathing, 278 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. $17.99 Language: R (33 swears, 14 ‘f’) Mature content: R (sex, nudity, graphic language, severe self-harm, drinking, suicide, extreme bullying, PTSD, delusions brought on from grief, parental abuse and graphic depictions of death) Violence: PG-13 (fighting and traumatic death)
Elsie’s twin brother drowned in the sea five years ago, and her family has never been the same. Elsie is obsessed with discovering her blocked memories of that day and getting all the dark secrets her family has been keeping into the light. With the help of sweet free diver Tate and her older brother Dillon, she may be able to face the ocean and finally say goodbye to her twin once and for all.
The Art of Not Breathing is a very gritty YA contemporary with strong content that makes it feel more New Adult to be honest, though I can think of no reason for all the gratuitousness to take place. It does nothing to further the plot or the character development. I started this novel enthralled by the unique writing and the deep emotional pull of the story line, but ended it sort of baffled. The characters actions are erratic and nonsensical. You can’t get to know them because they have nothing concrete about themselves besides the issues that they face. Lastly, this book simply suffers from too many themes in too little pages. The topics discussed in this novel were not handled in a way I could appreciate and I can’t see the benefit in teens reading this story excepting its perfectly unpretentious realness.
HS- OPTIONAL.
livdasnapper3's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
caoimhe00's review against another edition
3.0
This book started off really well and I was really interested in what way the story line would go however as I found the storyline changing into Elsies brother and her friends having found her brothers body I just didn’t enjoy it as much. I felt the author could have done a lot here like Eddies body actually being discovered by the end or even a suspicious death. The idea that the 2 (only) friends Elise has just happened to have seen Eddies body as well as her brother is all a bit too cliche and small world to me. However the story was good up until this plot twist. I also did like the exploration of eating disorders toward the end of the story.
leer_amor's review against another edition
2.0
How do I start this. I feel like half the time the characters acted like 12 year olds and the other half they were smoking and talking about/having sex. I would have liked some sort of trigger warning for Dillons eating disorder. I have a couple friends who have e.d.'s and some parts of this book were pretty hard and hit a little close to home. I completely hated that there were several times when Elsie chose Tay over Dillon. She chose a boy she had known for a matter of months over her own brother. That made me really mad. Family shouldn't do that. Especially since she knew her brother was struggling. And when she did leave him to go f*ck around with Tay in the boathouse, when she came back she had to call and ambulance for Dillon! She definitely had a hand in that. I was yelling at her to stay with him.
And the bullying scenes were overkill and unrealistic. If anything those instances were middle school aged, not highschool. The hair pulling, putting gum in hair, destroying tech projects. It was just so immature. I know highschool teens can be immature but this was too much. Also, Elsie skipping school? This took place in 2016. There are electronic attendence sheets. The school would have her parents numbers. She wouldn't be able to get away with skipping without her parents knowing.
And the flashbacks! That was borderline Bella Swan from Twilight having hallucinations of Edward when putting herself in danger. And there's no way Elsie trained herself to hold her breath for long periods of time that fast. As someone who has done competitive swimming for a number of years let me say, increasing your lung capacity isn't an easy and quick thing to do. I think there might have been a time skip but I'm not sure because it wasn't clear.
This book focused way too much on weight as well. If Elsie was supposed to be overweight, then how do you explain the cover art of the book. The girl on the cover is not overweight. So I don't know if they were trying to say that that's what she looked like after she lost weight when training for diving or if they're trying to say that the girl on the cover is overweight but I just felt like this was another example of unrealistic beauty standards for women. The one thing I will say I liked in relation to this is that when Elsie did start working out and losing weight, it wasn't because of the bully's at school making fun of her. She didn't seem too terribly bothered by their comments about her weight. When she started working out it was because she wanted to get better at freediving, not to purposefully lose weight to fit the standard.
I feel like this book tried too hard to jam too many things in. Between Eddie and his disabilities, Dillons eating disorder, the mom's affair, Tay the mysterious delinquent hot boy, Elsie being bullied, freediving, sex, smoking, and that whole thing surrounding Eddie's death at the end (which was completely overdone, over dramatic, and unnecessary), it was all just too much. And how Elsie could like ~feel~ Eddie inside her. I don't feel like that was ever fully addressed. I did appreciate that they all went to therapy separately and together at the end. I think they really needed that. And I'm glad that Dillon's struggles and health (mental and physical) were being recognized and that he was getting help.
I stuck through with this book till the end because it was on my list for a few years and it was a pretty quick read. But I would not suggest it.
And the bullying scenes were overkill and unrealistic. If anything those instances were middle school aged, not highschool. The hair pulling, putting gum in hair, destroying tech projects. It was just so immature. I know highschool teens can be immature but this was too much. Also, Elsie skipping school? This took place in 2016. There are electronic attendence sheets. The school would have her parents numbers. She wouldn't be able to get away with skipping without her parents knowing.
And the flashbacks! That was borderline Bella Swan from Twilight having hallucinations of Edward when putting herself in danger. And there's no way Elsie trained herself to hold her breath for long periods of time that fast. As someone who has done competitive swimming for a number of years let me say, increasing your lung capacity isn't an easy and quick thing to do. I think there might have been a time skip but I'm not sure because it wasn't clear.
This book focused way too much on weight as well. If Elsie was supposed to be overweight, then how do you explain the cover art of the book. The girl on the cover is not overweight. So I don't know if they were trying to say that that's what she looked like after she lost weight when training for diving or if they're trying to say that the girl on the cover is overweight but I just felt like this was another example of unrealistic beauty standards for women. The one thing I will say I liked in relation to this is that when Elsie did start working out and losing weight, it wasn't because of the bully's at school making fun of her. She didn't seem too terribly bothered by their comments about her weight. When she started working out it was because she wanted to get better at freediving, not to purposefully lose weight to fit the standard.
I feel like this book tried too hard to jam too many things in. Between Eddie and his disabilities, Dillons eating disorder, the mom's affair, Tay the mysterious delinquent hot boy, Elsie being bullied, freediving, sex, smoking, and that whole thing surrounding Eddie's death at the end (which was completely overdone, over dramatic, and unnecessary), it was all just too much. And how Elsie could like ~feel~ Eddie inside her. I don't feel like that was ever fully addressed. I did appreciate that they all went to therapy separately and together at the end. I think they really needed that. And I'm glad that Dillon's struggles and health (mental and physical) were being recognized and that he was getting help.
I stuck through with this book till the end because it was on my list for a few years and it was a pretty quick read. But I would not suggest it.
mtayl341's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
iggyebab's review against another edition
2.0
I could not connect to the characters in this book and the surrealist style was not for me.
bestdressedbookworm's review against another edition
5.0
There are some books that you just never want to get to the end of and for me "The art of not breathing" was one of those books. I don't know what it was that got me hooked on this book, but from the first couple of chapters I was well and truly immersed in this story.
One of the better YA novels I have read this year.
One of the better YA novels I have read this year.
by_emilymarie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
longlivebooks4's review against another edition
2.0
I honestly wanted to love this book. I really has a great story but I was not on bord for the way that Tay was with Elsie. He seemed to be very controllive and there are certain instances were things don't seem consentual. It seem like he uses her emotionalness to feel her up and eventually sleep with her. I do adore her brother and the danny character. Like i said i loved the story but the main relationship that we were suposed to love seemed a wee bit controling.