Reason to Breathe - Rebecca Donovan

Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan

Date Released: May 10th 2011
Pages: 374 pages
Date Read: April 26, 2012
Format:  Kindle Edition
Source: Book Lending

Summary:

"No one tried to get involved with me, and I kept to myself. This was the place where everything was supposed to be safe and easy. How could Evan Mathews unravel my constant universe in just one day?"

He knows there’s something more to the girl sitting in the back of the class the moment he sees her. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and athletic – but she slips quietly through the crowded halls, trying not to exist. Determined to get to know the elusive girl, Evan soon discovers…

Emma Thomas is hiding a terrible secret.

Reason to Breathe is an electrifying page turner from start to finish, a unique tale of life-changing love, unspeakable cruelty, and one girl’s fragile grasp of hope.

From Goodreads

My Review:

It's kind of a funny story...

So, you know when you're in an exiting or scary situation in a book and you read like a maniac? your eyes travel through the page flying and more than reading you sorta guess the words, 'cause you just want to travel to the next page and know what happened? Yeah, well, that happened to me with the last chapter of this book, I was so anxious to see what was going to happen and then I read the last line. I was in shock and infuriated. How could this book end this way? What kind of story is this? I was so incredibly sad and crushed and mad. Then I went to goodreads and saw that the book was a series - Wait, what? how can a book that ended that way is a series? So I went back to read that last chapter and realized.... I read the last line wrong. EPIC FAIL.

LOL, turns out it did have some kind of happy ending x) after realizing my mistake I was again happy with the book. Now let me start my actual review:

Emma Thomas has had a tough life, her dad died years ago and her mother had troubles with addictions, with no one to take care of her she went to life with her uncle, but her aunt does not welcome her into her family and she is willing to make Emma's life as miserable as she can, hurting her in any way she can: emotional and physical.

When Evan arrives to town he wants to know more about Emma, who's a mystery for everyone at school - except her best friend - and he's determined to figure her out, but she is not willing to let them in, to protect herself and her nieces, and all the secrets she has to face everyday when she arrives home.

Following Emma's life was very frustrating and even painful, being a part of the tough life she had to endure, but you also see her begin to hope. At times it was also stressing to watch her push Evan and her friends away to protect herself, you understand why she's on her guard at all times, but you just can't help but wish that she'd loosen up a little bit more, let herself believe.

The end was, like I said before the ending was shocking - even without my bad reading x) If you like dramas and are willing to go through some stress I totally recommend it. It was an emotional roller coaster ride, a heartbreaking story and I am looking forward to reading the next book :)

“We were engaged in a very intricate dance of touching without touching, knowing without saying, and feeling without expressing. We were friends walking along a ledge, a very thin ledge - and I was too caught up in my heightened awareness of his existence to realize how close the ledge was to crumbling beneath my feet.”