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nerfherder86's review against another edition
3.0
Folows high school girl Katie, swimmer, over the course of three years as she deals with school and her schizophrenic brother and dating, friends, cliques, etc. Telling her friends that her brother is dead seemed easier than dealing with the reality, but it comes back to haunt her.
simplyreading's review against another edition
5.0
Breathless starts with 15 year-old Katie when her father(who they call Ghost) decides to send her off to boarding school after her schizophrenic brother tries to commit suicide.And when she gets there rather than saying why she was sent there(because who starts sophmore year?)she decides to just tell everyone that her brother is dead.When he's not.
The book takes place over the years that Katie spends there till she graduates.
Definitely not a light read because of some of the things talked about in it but a book that keeps you want more.
The book takes place over the years that Katie spends there till she graduates.
Definitely not a light read because of some of the things talked about in it but a book that keeps you want more.
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
2.0
This was such an uneven read for me. I didn't care for any of the characters and over the course of the entire story, never found sympathy for any of them. I thought that the time changes/years were very sporadic and made the reading sloppy for me. I felt like the book had a lot of build up for very little action, and what happens was just not exciting. I think this might be a hard sell because it requires being okay with a lot of ambiguity -- the scenes and people keep changing and there is not really a coherent story. I didn't feel like there was enough in literary merit to warrant so many subplot and ideas. For the praises I heard on this one, I was a little disappointed.
hadashi1919's review against another edition
2.0
This book is probably a 2.5 star book but I didn't like it enough to give it three stars. Katie is a girl who has a rough past. Her parents are detached and her brother is a schizophrenic. She gets shipped off to an elite boarding school. There was so much potential in all of these parts of Katie's life but not enough attention was paid to any of it. A lot of it was sort of brushed over. The book read more like a teenage girl's diary where for the most part nothing happened.
It also didn't help that none of the characters were deep nor were any of them particularly likable. Katie was "so perfect" (her words, not mine) that it was hard to feel sorry for her. She was great at school, great at swimming, and was pretty. Sure she had some issues but none of them (until what happens to her brother) were all that different from any other kids's issues. She dealt with boy issues, school issues, and friend issues. Her brother's illness did not really phase her past the beginning or the big thing that happens to him. Estella was so one note with her meanness. So much could have been explored about why she was how she was. Drew was a Christian but instead of being a positive force in Katie's life, he was just a stereotype of a judgmental, narrow minded Christian. The only character with any depth at all was Mazzie. She was mysterious and had many levels. Too bad the book was not about her instead.
It also didn't help that none of the characters were deep nor were any of them particularly likable. Katie was "so perfect" (her words, not mine) that it was hard to feel sorry for her. She was great at school, great at swimming, and was pretty. Sure she had some issues but none of them (until what happens to her brother) were all that different from any other kids's issues. She dealt with boy issues, school issues, and friend issues. Her brother's illness did not really phase her past the beginning or the big thing that happens to him. Estella was so one note with her meanness. So much could have been explored about why she was how she was. Drew was a Christian but instead of being a positive force in Katie's life, he was just a stereotype of a judgmental, narrow minded Christian. The only character with any depth at all was Mazzie. She was mysterious and had many levels. Too bad the book was not about her instead.
amyjoy's review against another edition
3.0
I found this story really compelling and the language wistful and dreamy
erika_kate's review against another edition
2.5
2 ½ stars
*UPDATE: So I did finnish this, once I got to page 100 I was interested in the whole Katie and Drew dynamic, which kept me going. It was alright, but at least for me it's the kind of book you read and forget about*
DNF - 25%
It is so difficult to actually admit that I am not enjoying a book and that I will not be continuing it. Part of me still thinks 'oh, it's only 300 pages and I'm 80 pages in so might as well finish it'.
I was so excited about this book: our main character lives in a family that is falling apart - her older brother is suffering from schizophrenia, her mother always has a drink in her and her father spends all his time at work as a psychiatrist. To help the situation, Katie gets shipped away to boarding school, where she quickly finds herself lying about her brother, pretending that he is dead. The one thing that pulled me in initially was the sport focus - Katie spends all her time swimming.
But, I was just so bored throughout, I had to force myself to keep reading and found that I just wasn't enjoying it. Yes, it's raw and perhaps eye-opening for some people, showing how a mental illness can affect the whole family, but I just feel like there are other books that deal with this in a better way.
Perhaps if I'd read this 5-7 years ago, then I would have enjoyed it.
*UPDATE: So I did finnish this, once I got to page 100 I was interested in the whole Katie and Drew dynamic, which kept me going. It was alright, but at least for me it's the kind of book you read and forget about*
DNF - 25%
It is so difficult to actually admit that I am not enjoying a book and that I will not be continuing it. Part of me still thinks 'oh, it's only 300 pages and I'm 80 pages in so might as well finish it'.
I was so excited about this book: our main character lives in a family that is falling apart - her older brother is suffering from schizophrenia, her mother always has a drink in her and her father spends all his time at work as a psychiatrist. To help the situation, Katie gets shipped away to boarding school, where she quickly finds herself lying about her brother, pretending that he is dead. The one thing that pulled me in initially was the sport focus - Katie spends all her time swimming.
But, I was just so bored throughout, I had to force myself to keep reading and found that I just wasn't enjoying it. Yes, it's raw and perhaps eye-opening for some people, showing how a mental illness can affect the whole family, but I just feel like there are other books that deal with this in a better way.
Perhaps if I'd read this 5-7 years ago, then I would have enjoyed it.
reahabarnes23's review against another edition
3.0
This book, what I remember, is about a broken family whose older son is mentally unstable.
This book was in first person in Katie's voice. I felt like Jessica Warman showed how a family slowly drifts apart, but can still have a lot of love for each other. Especially after.
I felt sad for Will because you hear about how smart he was, but then he started to deteriorate mentally. He doesn't really make sense when he talks, but that's a cause of his mental state. Katie struggles with her brother's mental health because she still has unconditional love for him.
This book was in first person in Katie's voice. I felt like Jessica Warman showed how a family slowly drifts apart, but can still have a lot of love for each other. Especially after
Spoiler
Will attempts suicide, tries again while pointing a gun to his dad's head, and kills somebody while in a hospital.I felt sad for Will because you hear about how smart he was, but then he started to deteriorate mentally. He doesn't really make sense when he talks, but that's a cause of his mental state. Katie struggles with her brother's mental health because she still has unconditional love for him.
cinnabunsun's review against another edition
3.0
First of all, I didn't really like how each "section" had a space in between them. And, those sections should have been a little bit longer. I found it kind of annoying, but eh, who cares. The story was going pretty good, until Will dropped the cat off the roof. Kind of a turn off for me, kind of disgusted. I loved the plot, great ideas. But, I feel as though something was missing. Not enough detail, and missed some major marks that just left the characters in the story to be bland, and normal. I also think she missed the mark of "normal high school kids." Not all of us go out and party, drink, and smoke. Katie was pretty dumb for a smart kid. I think she didn't get the fact that she can't swim if her lungs are full of smoke. It's just pretty pointless. Overall, Jessica Warman had some pretty good ideas, but just left them as that. I read [b:Between|10397655|Between|Jessica Warman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312049408s/10397655.jpg|15195711], and the writing was so much better that I found myself comparing the two. I know I shouldn't do that, but I couldn't help it. I'm giving it 3 stars because, even though it covered a whole new topic, it was just too typical. A teenager goes and gets drunk every night and then wonders why she's always tired, goes to parties every night instead of worrying about her grades in school or swimming, and then makes up a lie about her brother so no one would know the truth. Although she could have said, "My brother... I don't want to talk about him... He's, uh.. Dead to me." And even though the front cover says some secrets are best kept beneath the surface it wasn't even that big of a secret... She could have just said that she didn't like her brother, so she basically disowned him. Who cares if a family member is crazy? It doesn't mean the whole family is.
marierossi's review against another edition
4.0
Whoops, reviewed the wrong book at first!
I thought Breathless was a great read because it didn't put a heavy interest in dissecting a romantic relationship. Finally! I have been waiting and waiting for someone to pick up a pen and write about relationships other than boyfriend/girlfriend. Don't get me wrong, love is great, but it is easily oversold and overrated in so many YA novels. What Jessica Warman does is try to get a handle on other relationships that a teen might have in their life. From the sibling relationship to parents to roommates. It was wonderful seeing Katie connect (and have trouble connecting) to all these different people in her life because it felt so real. Warman is always delightful when it comes to rounding out a character with a strong sense of emotion and it definitely shone through in Breathless.
I thought Breathless was a great read because it didn't put a heavy interest in dissecting a romantic relationship. Finally! I have been waiting and waiting for someone to pick up a pen and write about relationships other than boyfriend/girlfriend. Don't get me wrong, love is great, but it is easily oversold and overrated in so many YA novels. What Jessica Warman does is try to get a handle on other relationships that a teen might have in their life. From the sibling relationship to parents to roommates. It was wonderful seeing Katie connect (and have trouble connecting) to all these different people in her life because it felt so real. Warman is always delightful when it comes to rounding out a character with a strong sense of emotion and it definitely shone through in Breathless.