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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Love me a good thriller! I loved the different setting of this story - and mountain climbing was a topic I didn’t know much about so I found this story very engaging. This one kept me guessing until the end.
***Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
2.5* rounded up.
Breathless is Amy McCulloch’s debut adult novel. She has previously written some young adult and middle grade.
This book follow our protagonist, journalist Cecily Wong. Cecily has the opportunity to interview the famous mountain climber, Charles McVeigh, who is on the last leg of a record breaking journey. His only stipulation? She has to climb the mountain too. This mountain would be scary for a very experienced climber, which Cecily is not. And when someone dies in a freak accident, Cecily begins to question whether this climb that could change her life could also end it.
I love isolated snowy books. Put a small group of characters somewhere where they are stuck in the snow and I will pick it up. When I saw that the author had actually climbed a mountain and had personal experience with it, it made me even more excited to pick up this book. That is unfortunately one of the reasons that the book didn’t amaze me. We spend so much time learning about mountain climbing, I think I could go do it myself now. It does really slow the pace of the book, unfortunately. This is a book about mountain climbing first, and a thriller second. I would have much preferred a book about someone really coming into their own through the life changing experience of climbing this mountain than to have this kind of muddled thriller plot scattered through.
A lot of what is going on in this book felt so real. Like I really could see the characters working against nature going up this mountain. And then the last 75 pages just kind of went off the rails.
I do think that it was well written. So I am interested in seeing what this author writes next.
2.5* rounded up.
Breathless is Amy McCulloch’s debut adult novel. She has previously written some young adult and middle grade.
This book follow our protagonist, journalist Cecily Wong. Cecily has the opportunity to interview the famous mountain climber, Charles McVeigh, who is on the last leg of a record breaking journey. His only stipulation? She has to climb the mountain too. This mountain would be scary for a very experienced climber, which Cecily is not. And when someone dies in a freak accident, Cecily begins to question whether this climb that could change her life could also end it.
I love isolated snowy books. Put a small group of characters somewhere where they are stuck in the snow and I will pick it up. When I saw that the author had actually climbed a mountain and had personal experience with it, it made me even more excited to pick up this book. That is unfortunately one of the reasons that the book didn’t amaze me. We spend so much time learning about mountain climbing, I think I could go do it myself now. It does really slow the pace of the book, unfortunately. This is a book about mountain climbing first, and a thriller second. I would have much preferred a book about someone really coming into their own through the life changing experience of climbing this mountain than to have this kind of muddled thriller plot scattered through.
A lot of what is going on in this book felt so real. Like I really could see the characters working against nature going up this mountain. And then the last 75 pages just kind of went off the rails.
I do think that it was well written. So I am interested in seeing what this author writes next.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I couldn’t get into this book and it had to much a how “whodunnit” from the get go instead of letting it naturally unfold
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Blew through this in two days! I feel it was much better written than other thrillers I've tried (though I'm still new to the genre)--probably because the author could draw on her own Manaslu climb to create a world with rich and specific detail. Plot was not too complicated but did have a few twists. I enjoyed feeling in the know but still being surprised!
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes