Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Breathless

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Breathless by Jennifer Niven

19 reviews

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to read this book because I wanted to read more work from authors that I've enjoyed previously. I enjoyed All the Bright Places and I’ve seen this book in bookshops and online that I thought I would give it a go. This book hurt my head and I didn’t really care for the main characters.

This book is based on Claudine Henry, and she wasn’t supposed to be spending her summer on this remote island off the coast of Georgia. She was supposed to be on a road trip with her best friend and spending every minute together before they go to college. But after her father makes a shock announcement, she is exiled with her shaken mother, with no phone service and no one she knows. She is completely cut off. Until she meets Jeremiah who is free spirited, mysterious and beautiful. Their chemistry is immediate and irresistible. They both know that whatever they have can only last the summer, but maybe one summer is enough.

My issue with this book is that nothing happens. Absolutely nothing interesting. It just sort of moves along, there are no twists, no turns. It was very predictable. Coming of age learns her father is a cheater and now she has daddy issues and she hates her mother for ruining her summer, she falls out with her best friend because her mother ruins their summer, she falls in love with the bad boy, they have sex, they fall out, get back together and then they leave to carry on with their lives. I wasn’t shocked or hooked, I was getting bored, and I had a headache from rolling my eyes too much. Claudine was annoying me for like 65% of this book, her thoughts were exhausting, and she was making everything sound like the end of the world. Miah was just shut off and then became too emotional when the flip was switched, I would’ve liked to see more of a slow change. The ending wasn’t the ending, because it felt like it was setting itself for a sequel that hasn’t happened.

Like most people, I liked the island aspect of it and I would have LOVED for this to be a self-growth journey for Claud rather than the fact that she spend 20% complaining about the fact that she was a virgin and wanted to sleep with someone else and then she loses her virginity and all of a sudden she’s not self-conscious or overthinking anything? Bullshit.

I just wanted more from this book, I think my expectations was way too high after All the Bright Places and I don’t know if I will be reading Holding Up the Universe after reading this.

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ivulikkivulik's review against another edition

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0.5

Yikes. Very unlikeable character(s). I am sorry to say that I hated this story so much when it is so personal to the author but the character was just not for me. Or the lovestory.

The audiobook of the narrator was also not the best.

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jennastopreading's review against another edition

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This was an absolute trainwreck with the most unlikable characters I could ever imagine. I've loved Niven's past work, but this was shallow and terrible. Even on audio I couldn't force myself to listen while doing chores and mindlessly finish it.

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simbarabbit20's review

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3.0

The book is told by Claude as she navigates her parents splitting up and spending her last summer before moving to college (America) on an island with no wifi and cell signal. She falls in love with a guy and they spend the summer together on the island.

The book was good and based off a true story. The ending is sad and a little abrupt. Leaves you wondering what happens next. I probably won’t read it again as it was more aimed for teenagers. The book focuses on hetero relationships and I found it focused on teens wanting to have sex 24/7 which is not reliable. There was minor LGBTQ+ content but again it only really mentioned sex.

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carolinacortez's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Jennifer Niven nunca me decepciona, fácil le hubiera dado las cinco estrellas si hubiera sido su público target (adolescentes de 16-18 años), como cuando lo fui con all the bright places y holding up the universe, pero la verdad lo disfrute mucho, es una gran historia coming of age, claro que es de romance y claro que como cualquier libro de ella, te destroza el corazón.

An we are all this and almostness and maybe

All the scary stuff doesn't really compare to getting lost in your mind

I can be your floor

En serio esta mujer es experta en excribir personajes muy relacionables, ame a todos, y aunque claude (la protagonista) a veces me desesperaba un poco, con el tiempo te das cuenta que esto suele pasar por que es a la única a la que le lees el pensamiento, e incluso nosotros mismos a veces no nos caemos bien por que sabemos lo que pensamos, así que hay que ser un poco más comprensivos con las/les/los protagonistas de las historias.

Otra cosa en la que es buenísima es en escribir las notas de autor, lo que llore con esta nota, ufff no tienen ni idea, leer sus palabras, de ella, no de su protagonista siempre es bellisimo, y como siempre te muestra qué ella escribe sobre lo que conoce

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_mm_'s review

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I liked the vibe of this book and the way this story is very personal for the author and there really is a reallife Jeremiah! Butttt it felt like there was no plot at all!

And why include ghosts in the story if you’re not gonna do anything with it?! (Such a short piece in the story) Andd at the beginning of the book we heard about the splitting from the parents and i was like okay so the dad has cheated. So in my head i already knew the plot so for me there was no plot at all! I was very disappointed by that.

For me this book was such a slow read because nothing really happend! The ending also didn’t really surprise me (it was kinda predictable) So i’m disappointed. 2.5/5

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grace_p's review

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inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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aura_rurubele's review

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emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book's main characters were completely unlikeable to me, I'm not sure why, but the ending was quite sweet.

I enjoyed the emphasis on goodbyes, and the fact that sexual intimacy was discussed from the point of view of someone completely new to the practice.

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busybookreporter's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What an emotional rollercoaster this book was! This was such a good read. It felt wholesome and I felt very connected to the main character while reading. Breathless is a YA novel about two teens who find themselves on the same island one summer. These characters both have had life events that brought them to the island, and they end up finding each other and start to make peace with their pasts. I loved the setting of this book. It’s set on an island off the coast of Georgia, and I appreciated the nod to all things southern. Everything from the mossy live oak trees to the need for insect repellant to the noisy cicadas of summertime, it was all described beautifully. This was a coming of age story centered around our main female character, Claude- short for Claudine. At 18, she is discovering so much about herself, her friendship, her sexuality, and her family. There were moments where I could reminisce on my angsty teen years, especially in her relationship with her mother. This story touches on family trials, the importance of friendship, and first loves. I took off one star because I simply wanted more closure for the two main characters. I was so invested in their journeys, and I wanted so much more for them. As a reader I hope they both got what they were searching for, but I wanted to know for sure. There are some things that could be triggering so check the warnings or DM me if you can’t find any. Amazon says 14+ but personally I feel like there were themes that were more mature so I’m going to say 16-18+. There was a lot of focus on sex and while it wasn’t graphic or “on page,” I still feel like it would be a little too mature for 14.

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cath_'s review

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adventurous reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

3.5 stars

I wanted an easy, romantic read and this delivered. Like most romances, it was predictable.

Breathless did, however, feel like JN was trying to hit a word count. It dragged on in some sections but then strangely enough didn't conclude a lot of the plots.

It was clear one ofJN's intentions for this book was to address the construct of virginity, heteronormative sex ideals along with a few other mature topics which are relevant for young adults.
These discussions weren't seamlessly placed in dialogue. It was very obvious when JN wanted to insert a long paragraph of 'casual' conversation between friends to blatantly get her point across. It sometimes came across as preachy.

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