A review by amandalorianxo
The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles

emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

3.75

This follows two Brazilian girls with two diverse minds/lives who somehow bond for life. Graça is spoiled rich plantation owner’s daughter who basically has never heard the word no. Dor is a kitchen girl who is “adopted” by the kitchen staff since she doesn’t have a permanent family to speak of. These girls discover they have a shot at making it with their singing and we follow them through their rise and fall. I know characters aren’t always meant to be likable but I truly couldn’t find anything redeeming about Graça. Dor was pitiful in the doormat behavior that festered on even as an adult. Yet despite the character flaws, the author does a wonderful job at highlighting parts of Brazilian history you don’t see pointed out in historical fiction so I appreciate this immensely. Speaking of the lgbtqi rep - I think Dor was possibly bisexual and I think Graça wasn’t but knew that Dor had feelings for her so used that to manipulate her a lot. 
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