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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.75 ⭐️. A thriller set against a mountain climbing expedition - where murders start happening. There’s a murderer amongst them. A great sense of place and the pacing was perfect. It kept me turning the pages. I already find mountain climbing scary enough and you throw a murder mystery in with it and I found my heart racing- which was a good thing.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was very excited to pick up this thriller because I though the setting sounded absolutely atmospheric, and the premise intrigued me. "Breathless" follows aspiring journalist Cecily, as she agrees to climb Manaslu, in the hopes of interviewing Charles McVeigh, a climber who is about to finish his record-breaking series of climbs. Cecily has very little experience mountain climbing; her only true experience ending with her needing to be emergency rescued. There seems to be something sinister on the mountain, plotting to harm anyone that gets in its way. Can Cecily make it to the top of the mountain unscathed and finally write something to launch her career?
I loved how this novel was written. I felt like the pacing was impeccable, the writing was so immersive, and we received just as much information as we needed before the next big reveal. I felt like I was truly on a mountain and there was a blizzard and possible killer with me. What fell short for me was the motivation for Cecily. I understand wanting to face your fears and challenging yourself, but it feels too unbelievable that she would agree to climb such a tall mountain with no experience and no training. People train months, even years, to attempt to do what Cecily did, and they still die because of adverse circumstances. Cecily wants to do this, and she invests the last of her money into buying the equipment she will need to be successful. We are told this is why she keeps going: because she has to. If she does not complete this climb, she will not have her interview, and she will not get paid. It just feels like loose reasoning, especially because Cecily does NOTHING to train beforehand.
The rest of the story was interesting, and I loved the reveals and how the mystery unraveled. I was a little unsatisfied with the ending, but I still enjoyed the novel overall!
I loved how this novel was written. I felt like the pacing was impeccable, the writing was so immersive, and we received just as much information as we needed before the next big reveal. I felt like I was truly on a mountain and there was a blizzard and possible killer with me. What fell short for me was the motivation for Cecily. I understand wanting to face your fears and challenging yourself, but it feels too unbelievable that she would agree to climb such a tall mountain with no experience and no training. People train months, even years, to attempt to do what Cecily did, and they still die because of adverse circumstances. Cecily wants to do this, and she invests the last of her money into buying the equipment she will need to be successful. We are told this is why she keeps going: because she has to. If she does not complete this climb, she will not have her interview, and she will not get paid. It just feels like loose reasoning, especially because Cecily does NOTHING to train beforehand.
The rest of the story was interesting, and I loved the reveals and how the mystery unraveled. I was a little unsatisfied with the ending, but I still enjoyed the novel overall!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Alcohol
Breathless
by Amy McCulloch
Pub Date: 03 May 2022
4.5/5 Stars
Cecily Wong is an adventure travel journalist with some experience in mountaineering. Definitely not enough to tackle Manaslu in Nepal, over 8,000 meters high. Even so, she is invited to be a member of the team assembled by alpinist Charles McVeigh. McVeigh has promised her an exclusive interview if she reaches the summit of Manaslu, the last of 14 mountains over 8,000 meters that he aims to climb in a year.
This story fascinated me! I have never had a desire to climb anything or push myself in the way these climbers do. I hate the cold! Cecily’s anxiety over the climb and the mounting body toll created tension and suspense throughout the book. I found myself gasping for air at times. Great suspenseful story!
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing and to Amy McCulloch.
by Amy McCulloch
Pub Date: 03 May 2022
4.5/5 Stars
Cecily Wong is an adventure travel journalist with some experience in mountaineering. Definitely not enough to tackle Manaslu in Nepal, over 8,000 meters high. Even so, she is invited to be a member of the team assembled by alpinist Charles McVeigh. McVeigh has promised her an exclusive interview if she reaches the summit of Manaslu, the last of 14 mountains over 8,000 meters that he aims to climb in a year.
This story fascinated me! I have never had a desire to climb anything or push myself in the way these climbers do. I hate the cold! Cecily’s anxiety over the climb and the mounting body toll created tension and suspense throughout the book. I found myself gasping for air at times. Great suspenseful story!
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing and to Amy McCulloch.
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:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ugh. I really, really wanted to love this. I was excited that someone who has actually hiked this particular peak was writing a mystery/thriller taking place on it.
What I got…I just…Let me start with the main character because she’s sort of a mess. So a team is being assembled to climb a death zone peak. Typically, you want people who are adequately experienced and self-sufficient (Yes, wildly rich but inexperienced people buy their way into teams sometimes, but that isn’t the case here). The main character, Cecily, is admittedly unexperienced. In fact, her only challenging hike ended in the death of another hiker and she’s still clearly traumatized by it. Yet somehow she’s still invited along to hike a peak that’s significantly more challenging and technical than anything she’s done previously. I could maybe look past some of this if she were a quick learner or relatively competent, but inexperienced. Nope. They’re literally trying to teach her how to complete maneuvers as they are climbing a potentially fatal mountain and she is constantly frozen by fear and self-doubt.
Then we get into the organization of the climbing team. It is in disarray for the entirety of the story. The leader of the expedition is barely with them. There are all sorts of issues that crop up that aren’t thoroughly evaluated or challenged. No one is aware of where people are. Emergency response is lackluster. It’s just messy.
And finally, experienced hikers start dying in ways that are questionable at the very least…but everyone just seems content to let it go. Maybe the high altitude is slowing everyone’s brains down? Again, they all have to be purposefully oblivious or else the plot wouldn’t progress.
I think that last line sort of sums all of the issues up for me. You have to ignore sooo many gaping holes in logic for this book to work. I can accept a few unrealistic details here and there, but when you anchor a book in reality then ask readers to keep jumping past plot hole after plot hole, it unfortunately just makes it a no-go for me.
I will try to end this with some positives. The description of the mountain was absolutely lovely. I could really envision the setting well.
I also really loved the portrayal of the Sherpas and how the author made sure to discuss the ethics of mass hiking expeditions and the impact on the Sherpa community. They are the backbone of high altitude climbing in the Himalayas and I’m glad she showed them proper respect.
And I also loved that she tackled the issue of sexism in climbing/hiking/trekking. There are so many amazing female climbers and many of them face challenges simply due to their gender. It wasn’t a main theme, but it does get touched upon a couple of times.
What I got…I just…Let me start with the main character because she’s sort of a mess. So a team is being assembled to climb a death zone peak. Typically, you want people who are adequately experienced and self-sufficient (Yes, wildly rich but inexperienced people buy their way into teams sometimes, but that isn’t the case here). The main character, Cecily, is admittedly unexperienced. In fact, her only challenging hike ended in the death of another hiker and she’s still clearly traumatized by it. Yet somehow she’s still invited along to hike a peak that’s significantly more challenging and technical than anything she’s done previously. I could maybe look past some of this if she were a quick learner or relatively competent, but inexperienced. Nope. They’re literally trying to teach her how to complete maneuvers as they are climbing a potentially fatal mountain and she is constantly frozen by fear and self-doubt.
Then we get into the organization of the climbing team. It is in disarray for the entirety of the story. The leader of the expedition is barely with them. There are all sorts of issues that crop up that aren’t thoroughly evaluated or challenged. No one is aware of where people are. Emergency response is lackluster. It’s just messy.
And finally, experienced hikers start dying in ways that are questionable at the very least…but everyone just seems content to let it go. Maybe the high altitude is slowing everyone’s brains down? Again, they all have to be purposefully oblivious or else the plot wouldn’t progress.
I think that last line sort of sums all of the issues up for me. You have to ignore sooo many gaping holes in logic for this book to work. I can accept a few unrealistic details here and there, but when you anchor a book in reality then ask readers to keep jumping past plot hole after plot hole, it unfortunately just makes it a no-go for me.
I will try to end this with some positives. The description of the mountain was absolutely lovely. I could really envision the setting well.
I also really loved the portrayal of the Sherpas and how the author made sure to discuss the ethics of mass hiking expeditions and the impact on the Sherpa community. They are the backbone of high altitude climbing in the Himalayas and I’m glad she showed them proper respect.
And I also loved that she tackled the issue of sexism in climbing/hiking/trekking. There are so many amazing female climbers and many of them face challenges simply due to their gender. It wasn’t a main theme, but it does get touched upon a couple of times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail