Early Review: Breathe by Sarah Crossan+INT giveaway!

Breathe by Sarah Crossan (Breathe #1)

ARC courtesy of Bloomsbury UK

Synopsis from Goodreads
Inhale. Exhale.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe . . .
The world is dead.
The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

Alina
has been stealing for a long time. She's a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she's never been caught before. If she's careful, it'll be easy. If she's careful.

Quinn
should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it's also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn't every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.

Bea
wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they'd planned a trip together, the two of them, and she'd hoped he'd discover her out here, not another girl.

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days' worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Release date: October 2nd 2012


Amazon  US/UK(£4.54) | Amazon kindle US/UK(£4.25) | The Book Depository US/UK | Fishpond

8/10

* * *

It was a good, well written book, which I enjoyed. My problem is overabundance of YA dystopians with pretty similar concepts. Particularly, Under The Never Sky comes to mind as something slightly more inventive.


The ideas of Breathe feel important, but I would have loved more explanation as to what actually happened to reduce the saturation of oxygen in the atmosphere that much. I would even take a foreword like in Terminator - a description of bleak, futuristic world and how we came to this point, plus the ever persistent question - what of the rest of the world? For the love of all holy, give me some idea of the global picture, not just one city-state.

Quinn, Bea and Alina are pretty decent characters, but again all three lack that desperate edge which makes dystopian teens so awesome. Alina is supposed to be the toughest of the bunch, but it's sheltered, pampered Quinn who has the most drive.

I loved the world of The Resistance and really wanted to concentrate more on their developing an ability to breathe in 6% oxygen. The leader, I kid you not, reminded me of Tilda Swinton as Sal in The Beach. 

She's got that slightly unhinged, ruthless personality which allows her to keep her people under control and relentlessly grow the trees, her babies.

Ironically, it's the secondary characters which shine in this book: the villainous alcoholic Pod Minister, half-crazy Savage pensioner and a revolutionary leader of The Resistance. They were fabulous, and felt more alive than generic Quinn, Bea and Alina.

Pardon the pun, it might not be a breathless read, but it's a very good book, despite me feeling neutral about it. Give it a chance especially if you are a teen.

Giveaway

I have a ARC which I want to give away. It doesn't have the cover but it's in a good state and only been read once.

Just tell me what was the last dystopian you read that blew you away?

Open to all.

Ends October 8th 2012.

+1 for comment, +1 for being a follower in any way, +1 for tweets.

Please leave me a way to contact you.

Good luck!

* * *

Неплохая книга "Дыши", хотя особого восторга не вызвала. Скорее всего, я начиталась подобных антиутопий, и хотелось бы чего-то более проработанного, детального и сильного драматически.

А то выходит, что главные персонажи - не рыба, ни мясо, и сияют как раз-таки второстепенные игроки - сумасшедшая Дикарь-пенсионерка, которая делится воспоминаниями о прошлом, гадливый и противный тиран и алкоголик - Министр города-государства и лидер Сопротивления, носящаяся со своими деревьями как с детьми и отказывающаяся их оставить умирать в одиночестве.

Есть в почерке Сары Кроссан хороший потенциал, но вот недожали редакторы, надо было её домучить и заставить всё переписывать до посинения, пока из книги не вышли бы новые Голодные Игры... А так, для среднестатистического подростка пойдёт, для всех остальных - довольно незрело.

Контест, если хотите книгу выиграть, описан выше. Удачи!