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julied's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder
oceanwriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Cecily is a journalist who has been training for months to make a climb to interview Charles McVeigh. On top of already brutal conditions, a series of unsettling events occur throughout the trek. Death isn't necessarily unusual during climbs... but they start getting suspicious.
Despite such an exciting setup with so much potential, I felt that the story dragged on with very little happening. There were too many characters, most of whom didn't have enough importance to the story to spend as much time on them as they got. It's obvious a lot of heart and research went into this, so I feel bad that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I was going to while reading the first few chapters.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
julienicole1106's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
ameliaj_adams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Just thought I’d add a note that I read the book alongside Amy McCulloch’s Manaslu climb recap which is on her Instagram in her highlight reel! I would recommend doing this (particularly if you’re not a climber) as it definitely helped me visualise parts of the route and equipment described in the book and it was interesting to see the real life journey that the book is based on - her Instagram is @amymccullochbooks
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Cecily Wong is a journalist hoping to get the interview of a lifetime by summiting Manaslu, an eight-thousand-meter peak, alongside potential world-record-breaker Charles McVeigh. But she may uncover a story of a different kind when people start dying on the mountain.
I adore a winter thriller and an And Then There Were None trope, so I was pretty excited for this one. And while I definitely didn’t hate it, I was ultimately and unfortunately a bit disappointed. I’d seen reviews that called this a slow burn, and it definitely was—I expected so much more action and adventure from a book about death-defying mountaineering, but a huge portion of the prose was dedicated to technical explanations of how to climb a mountain—fascinating, but not really the stuff a gripping thriller is made from. And, while I don’t always mind some predictability, I figured out the entire whodunit (and the major secondary twist) extremely early on, which left me with a very small payoff from a very steep trek (see what I did there?)
That said, Breathless was *incredibly* atmospheric (it genuinely made me cold while I was reading it) and it is SUPER cool that the author is an actual mountaineer who has summited Manaslu and other mountains!
Recommended if you like: slow burn thrillers; lots of atmosphere; locked-room-but-in-the-wilderness
CW: Death/murder/injury; grief/PTSD
Graphic: Murder and Death
aus10england's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death and Murder
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Murder
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death
bethancy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, and Violence
kylieqrada's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Sexual harassment