Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Breathe by Sarah Crossan
Release Date: October 11th 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Add to: Goodreads

Goodreads: 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?

My Review:
Wow, wow, wow!! Breathe is absolutely amazing. I was in such a horrible reading slump and every book I was trying failed to deliver, but this kept me hooked from the very first page. ‘Breathing is a right, not a privilege, so I’m stealing it back.’ * Instantly this made me ask myself a lot of questions.

Crossan sets out a terrifying world, with citizens having to live in a Pod where oxygen is regulated. The Pod Minister claims that people cannot survive outside the Pod because there isn’t enough oxygen in the air, so there is a big divide between the lower class (who can’t afford a lot of oxygen) and upper class citizens (who can obviously afford a lot). There aren’t enough trees for there to be a great amount of oxygen and this is a significant message that the environment is very important.

Breathe is set out in a split narrative, so we get to hear from Quinn, Bea and Alina. Quinn is the spoilt rich kid (a Premium) whose father is high up in the Breathe hierarchy, Bea is Quinn’s best friend, but she is an auxiliary (a lower class citizen) who has no prospects and Alina is the rebel, a member of RATS (the Terrorists) she wants to expose the corruption that is taking part in the Pod. It was very interesting to read from each view point as they all had their own personalities and it was great to see them all from each other’s perspectives. 

All of the characters develop so much as people from who they were when the book started, even Old Maude Blue changes. Most of the characters change for the better, although some don’t. You’ll grow to care about them and wonder what’s going to happen to them and scream at them to run.

This book has so much action in it, as you can tell from the first sentence; this book starts with a bang and refuses to let you go. There’s action from the very start and all the way throughout. Corruptions are sneakily unravelled as the novel progresses, which leave the characters facing a huge amount of problems and dilemmas.

Some of the scenes are heart breaking, especially with Alina and Abe, Quinn and his father and Bea with her parents. This isn’t a fairy tale and not all of the characters make it, sometimes there has to be sacrifices.

Overall, you should read this book very soon! It has action, romance and a lot of unexpected events which will leave you gasping for more.

5 out of 5 stars.

*This quote is from an uncorrected proof copy and is subject to change.

*Thanks to Bloomsbury for letting me review this book in exchange for an honest review.