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julia_stark 's review for:

Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
4.0
dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

90s slasher in a modern day book? Hell yeah! Breathe In Bleed Out has all the magical tropes and OTTness of a classic slasher movie, set round a modern theme of self-care and wellness. It's gory, it's dramatic, it's "why do they always split up when there's a psycho on the loose!" fun! 

The characters appear one-dimensional, until McAuley changes tack and writes from their POV, giving the readers their tragic back stories, their motives, and a brief attempt at connection. There are certainly the beginnings of character development, though short-lived, and Hannah seems to 180 on her character in the blink of an eye (after so much time suffering, it's a bit of a whiplash, though I did say there was trope fun!) Classic plot twist ending, the motive there is much less believable and very out of left field. Overall though, as a slasher/horror fan? I can breathe happy and say I had fun.