Tuesday, October 16, 2012

BOOK REVIEW - BREATHE by SARAH CROSSAN - BREATHE # 1 - BLOOMSBURY - 4.25 TREELESS STARS!!

By: Sarah Crossan
Published By: Bloomsbury
Released: November 2012
Details: Paperback for Review from publisher, 371 Pages. THANKYOU!

RATING: 4.25 TREELESS STARS!!

Blurb: Part back cover, part Goodreads

When oxygen levels plunge in a treeless world, a state lottery decides who will live inside THE POD. Everyone else will slowly suffocate.



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?




Listen to this trailer - Really think about each breath you take so freely

BOOK REVIEW by Michelle :

Imagine our planet earth, ‘The Switch’ has happened, and in various parts of our planet we are living in Pods filled with oxygen that we must pay for. 

Imagine being an ‘Auxiliary’, a lower classed citizen who does not have enough oxygen to exercise, or who could not have a ‘loving’ relationship, as that would take a bit of extra oxygen, without being able to afford it.

Imagine being a ‘Premium’. You are rich, you do not have to worry about the ‘cost of breathing’. You have only ever known life to be easier than an Auxiliaries.

Your best friend is an Auxiliary.

Imagine being a ‘Resistance’ member, and fighting for change, fighting to save the planet ,and what it takes to get past the politics and power and money that run the Pods...... 'Breathe' is that power. 

If caught , your life could be suffocated right from beneath you.

Imagine being the Pod Minister, and together with his minions, his army, they work to make sure that nobody has enough oxygen to live outside the Pod. They work to kill anything that produces oxygen.

Even people.

Imagine being a ‘Drifter’, those who were once a Premium but have found themselves outside the Pod in The Outlands, trying to survive on an oxygen tank the size of a small fridge, too weak to lift it, scavenging to survive. 

I loved the POWER in this book was named Breathe. In life that is the power in our body's. If we don't breathe, we don't survive.

I really enjoyed this book. We are reading from three POV’s. Alina, Bea and Quinn’s. I just had to take that extra few seconds to note the change as some chapters were very short.

Quinn is Premium and his best friend is Bea, an Auxiliary. A camping trip financed by Quinn into The Outlands leads them to meet up with Alina, a resistance member.

I loved the compassion of Bea. She has heart and a soul. Quinn, bless him, he grew on me. He is kind hearted but doesn’t see what is right in front of him.

He did grow on me.

Alina is a fighter and I loved Silas and Inger. I love characters that fight for EVERYBODY’s rights. They are not selfish, but they become hardened because of their cause.

The sub characters add emotion to this story. Petra and her ‘pet’, Jazz. I didn’t know what to make of Jazz, such a young child who acted all moods. I understood Petra’s passion, it hardens you, and the control needed to protect such a precious thing you are trying to hide and keep secret fills you with distrust. 

The years of devotion that can come crumbling down in minutes.

Such a sad waste of the world.

I loved the couple great twists I got from this book. I will admit this book grew on me the more I read. I felt more invested in the characters and plot. It became more frightening and believable.

There were a couple of scenes. One made me laugh out loud. It involves a tent and Silas, Quinn and Inger. Very funny J

I thought this was a great start to this series and one that left me with some questions....Abel???

This dystopian series has huge potential and what a wonderful, yet frightening original idea for a book series.

Bang. On!

I would like you to imagine when reading this book, you have not enough oxygen.

Stop and take a breath and think about how natural and easy that is.

Something as natural as a tree planted, living , that kindly provides us with oxygen.

I often joke to my kids that air is the only thing we don’t have to pay for.........not in Sarah’s world.

Now think about no trees on our planet.

Now, read this book and I hope it makes you plant a tree or be conscious of what could happen to our planet, amongst many other things we are doing to it.

Now, think about not being able to BREATHE. 

Are you feeling frightened? 

I am. 


Michelle



3 comments:

  1. Hey Muchelle! It's been too long since I've visited (things are busy-busy for me right now) but I am SO thrilled to hear you enjoyed this! I have a copy and have been really looking forward to it :D

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    Replies
    1. Muchelle! You know I meant Michelle :D

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    2. LOL!! I can be Muchelle:)

      Yes, I know busy times. I was only thinking I have to drop by and say hello to several blogs. I had inlaws visiting for a week , so a bit behind:)

      Michelle
      p.s. hope you like this too!

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