A Shadow's Breath

by Nicole Hayes

Then, things were looking up for Tessa. Her mum was finally getting her life back on track. Tessa had started seeing Nick. She was making new friends. She'd even begun to paint again.

Now, Tessa and Nick are trapped in the car after a corner taken too fast. Injured, stranded in the wilderness, at the mercy of the elements, the question becomes one of survival.

But Tessa isn't sure she wants to be found. Not after what she saw. Not after what she remembered.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Family, Survival, Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2017

About the author

Nicole Hayes is a writer, writing teacher and public speaker based in Melbourne. Her novels include The Whole of My World, longlisted for the 2014 Gold Inky Award and shortlisted for 2014 YABBAs and One True Thing, a CBCA Notable book for 2016 and the winner of the 2015 Children’s Peace Literature Award, and shortlisted for the WA Premier's Literary Award for Young Adult fiction. She co-edited an anthology of footy stories with Alicia Sometimes, From the Outer: Footy like you’ve never heard it (2016), and together they've a new book for girls about the AFL Women's competition, A Footy Girl's Guide to the Stars of 2017. She is a Stella Prize Schools Program Ambassador, and one-sixth of the first all-women AFL podcast, The Outer Sanctum.

Reviews

[Fleur Ferris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I've just finished reading and I'm a little lost for words, but the ones that come to mind are: beautiful, brilliant, unexpected, unsuspecting, seductive, shocking.

I don't want to give anything away. Just read it. Please. READ. IT. I need to talk about this book.

Nicole Hayes' best work yet.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

It might be too soon to write this review, I'm still an emotional wreck. I won't give anything away - read the blurb if you want the gist of the story. Instead I'll tell you that I read this book holding my breath. It made my chest tight. That slowly closing fist compressing my heart as I braced for calamity. Now don't get me wrong this book isn't a wallow in misery, there are wonderful moments of humour, awkwardness, tenderness, passion and joy but the cleverly constructed narrative straddling 2 timelines feeds and reflects the building tension in both. The point where the timelines converge brought me to tears. Somehow Nicole Hayes keeps the reader from despair, even though the gut wrenching moments left me wondering how can Tessa (protagonist) recover from this? But I came to the conclusion of A Shadows Breath, yes bruised and aching but, solid and secure on a foundation of hope which is a reflection of Nicole Hayes craft. Her writing is beautiful, measured, nuanced, compelling. The characters are richly drawn. The story carefully handles painful subject matter with sensitivity. I deeply admire Nicole Hayes work, she makes me want to be a better writer. All the stars.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intense and suspenseful. Also deals with some tough issues, and spills some shocks by the end.

Effective use of the 'now' and 'then' framing.

Of course, I cried.

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Happy Indulgence! Check it out for more reviews.

Alternating two points in time, the past and the present, Tessa deals with the emotional effects following domestic violence in her family. A Shadow’s Breath explores what happens after the fact – her mum is now recovering from alcoholism after getting rid of her abusive partner.

A Shadow’s Breath covers the complex family issues surrounding domestic violence. During the more traumatic years of her life, Tessa stopped trusting and started blaming her mother for letting “The Arsehole” into her life, and she also stopped painting, which was always her passion. Tessa’s mother wants to rebuild the relationship with her daughter again, but Tessa isn’t able to let her guard down after all they’ve been through. With its impactful words, the novel captures her claustrophic feelings of anger, loneliness and despair, with the only reprieve being Tessa’s new friends in her life.

Tessa’s best friend Yuki, inspires her to let loose and have fun, providing the emotional support that she needs in life. Nick inspires her to pursue her artwork further and to recognise her good qualities. You could definitely see how Nick’s dreams for the future instilled Tessa with the hope to move forward in life.

The past point of view is overlayed with the present, where Tessa and her boyfriend Nick, are trying to find help through the Australian wilderness after a car crash. Through both points of views, Tessa and her family’s secrets are slowly revealed, with both perspectives working in tandem. While seemingly covering separate storylines, both past and present capture the same emotional impact, linking together towards the end.

A Shadow’s Breath is a multi-layered and complex story, tackling the effects of domestic violence on a family with heartstopping secrets. It’s an emotional adventure that I really enjoyed, as we find out what happened to Tessa in the past and how she gets stuck in the wilderness in the present.

I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it, just the setting, the writing, the amazing plot lines running parallel and working so well together.

The thing that wowed me about this book? The writing!

A Shadow's breath has a past and present time line, alternating every chapter and the chapters are really short so I was turning these pages frantically wanting to know what led up to the car accident as well as if the characters would survive in the now timeline!

Usually with stories that contain alternating time lines I'll prefer one over the other and not really enjoy one of them until they finally merge together THIS BOOK THOUGH WOW. I was torn between staying in the past and exploring Tess's friendships, her relationships, her hard home life living with her mother as an alcoholic and an abusive step father. While in the now Tessa and Nicks car has gone over a cliff and the opening scene is them trying to escape in Aussie bush.

IT WAS SO AUSTRALIAN, not that I love characters crashing and having a very high chance of dying from exposure but when they do i want it to always be set in the Aussie bush, I mean we have so many awesome things that will kill you its a great setting to make characters struggle.

Tessa's family relationship, her best friend, her boyfriend all the side characters were amazing and important. Tessa is easily one of my fave characters, she's a painter, she's had an extremely hard childhood and teenage hood, and she has so many more struggles to come.

THE ENDING THOUGH OMG I was not expecting Nick to be dead the whole time but it made so much sense and I was so sad and guttered for Tess. Tess has just had the hardest life but she has her Mum and friends now and I believe they'll get through another loss together.

The more I think on this book the more I love it and feel like re-reading it to pick up on all the little things I missed the first time now that I know the ending.

[Rob De · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing story full of heartbreak and courage with fantastic, raw and believable characters. It constantly throws up unexpected twists both from the now and the then alternating chapters that make it really hard to put down. Fortunately I didn't have to worry about that as I had enough time to read it in one sitting. It is another fantastic book by local author and super talent Nicole Hayes!

[Miffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The date I read this may be a little out, but the timing is not. I devoured this book in a sitting. It is a compelling and heart-wrenching story, and the writing is spot-on. I was taking with a friend recently about reading books that have a moment where you are thrown out of the story because of a bum note in either the plot or the characterisation - there's none of that in here. From the first page I was sucked into the claustrophobic, despairing and tense predicament that Tessa finds herself in. Hayes deftly weaves the past and present together in chapters named 'Then' and 'Now', slowly revealing Tessa's life in all its gritty, difficult, messy, shameful detail. This is reality fiction at its finest. Tessa's mother, Ellen, is clearly realised. A recovering alcoholic, we are privy to Tessa's contempt for her and her promises to go straight this time.

Then...She wanted to believe her mum - that this was it. That things would be different...But...Tessa had to fight off this feeling like she did all the other things she knew would lead to disappointment. How else would she hold it together?
Still. It had been two months, and her mum was really trying. Three weeks straight of making lunches and asking about Tessa's day. Curling up in front of the TV at night, both of them, together.
Two months of no arsehole and no booze. Half of it spent out of bed too.

Tessa's longing and distrust are palpable. Kids want their parents to be the adult, no matter how much they push against the confines of being a teenager, but it is clear that Tessa has had to be her own parent.
In addition, Tessa is negotiating her way through the endless minefield that is high school. Despite having Nick as a boyfriend, most of the students at Carrima High treat Tessa as someone to be avoided at best, and, at worst, a total weirdo to be mercilessly mocked.
Just as in real life, every character in this story has secrets, and as Hayes reveals them we are slowly dragged into terrible and shocking realisations about Tessa's past life and present situation.
To say any more would be to reveal too much. Suffice to say that tissues will be required.
I recommend this to all readers teenaged and above. All the feels.

[Bec (becklebooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and clean writing with such complicated themes (abuse, alcoholism, suicide) that punched me in the gut with that plot twist. HECK!

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard to put down, I constantly wanted to see what happened in the 'now' chapters. so I read this one in two days. Gripping stuff!!!!

[cake and madness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Holy shit. Wow.

This book was incredible. Not a single word was wasted in telling the story (alternating between the past and the present) of Tess, who comes from a broken home and who is trying to survive/get back to civilization with her boyfriend Nick after their car rolls off a cliff in the bush.

Flashbacks show her and her mother putting their lives back together after her mother's abusive boyfriend (whom Tess refers to as The Arsehole) finally leaves for good- but Tess is suspicious and can't let herself believe that things really are changing for the better - her mother has relapsed into alcoholism and letting The Arsehole back in too many times before. As more time passes, she starts to slowly open her heart and allow herself to be optimistic that things really are getting better and even starts painting again.

There were three moments that hardcore punched me in the gut but I won't say what because I want people to read it for themselves and feel the same emotional hits I did. When I finished the book I sat there in stunned silence with tears drying on my face and just stayed there for a good 10 minutes, thinking.

YOU NEED THIS BOOK! It's stunning. Go buy it!

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: car accident, blood, broken bones, domestic violence (off screen), death of a parent (in the past), alcohol abuse (in the past), bushfire, suicide of a parent, death of a partner

I sped through this in a couple of hours - I really enjoy stories that cut between the present and the past in alternating chapters as a story telling mechanism because it really keeps the story moving along. There's a lot of darkness in this book, but the main gist of it is that Tessa and her boyfriend Nick have been in a car accident in the middle of nowhere and they have to find their way back to safety through the Australian bush.

I found myself far more interested in that section of the story than in the "then" section, but it was still fast paced and compelling.

I will say that I had very little emotional reaction to the story where others have said that they cried a lot. So either I'm cold and dead inside (possible) or the fact that I read this so quickly meant that I didn't have any emotional investment in the characters. So...take your pick?

[Tracey Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason I enjoy YA fiction is the honesty of a genre that cannot hide behind contrived writing or obtuse metaphors, relying instead on strong narratives and substantial character development. The challenge is then to achieve this without being too predictable, which is where Nicole Hayes succeeds. The story centres around Tessa, a teen in a small town that knows all her secrets, who seems to have entered a purple patch, or has she? The story maintains its tension, weaving between past and present, and reconciling the fragmented perspectives of the important people in her life. At times I found the relentlessly-negative voice of Tessa jarring, but even this has a purpose as the story is revealed. Hayes excels in capturing character dynamics through dialogue, through what is said and what remains unsaid. Without revealing too much, it is an incredibly satisfying story, even as it broke my heart a little.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know where to begin. It's not often you find a book like this: engaging, beautiful, subtle, deeply moving, yet easy to read. "A Shadow's Breath" is a story to be treasured and read over and again. I rate it all the stars. All of them. Every single one.

[Bron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. I really loved the way the 'now' and 'then' stories built and then came together - starting with an event and then filling in not just what led to that but what happens next. Hayes does such a good job of capturing the uncertainty of teens about where and how they fit into the world

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

- #loveozya
- read in on sitting
- past and present
- well rounded characters
- !!!

[Kelly (Diva Booknerd) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sixteen year old Tessa is conscious, her arm dislocated, bloodied and bruised as the car left the highway that promised a new direction. Nick rests behind the wheel and on a lonely, isolated road in country Victoria, the fragmented debris a contrast to the Australian landscape.

After her father's passing, the darkness emerged. Her mother unable to care for her only child and used alcohol to paralyse her grief while her daughter felt isolated and alone. Alcoholism is an illness that in many cases also accompanies domestic violence, incidences which continue to haunt Tessa. During the depths of despair, the handsome and intelligent Nick reaches out to Tessa and offers her solace from the alcoholic fueled violence of home.

The narrative is profoundly resonating. Alcoholism and domestic violence are issues rarely encountered in young adult novels although predominant within our communities. Ellen is an alcoholic. Throughout the nonlinear narrative Ellen is determined to maintain her sobriety after the breakdown of her former relationship, her partner abusive and creating a toxic environment. The remnants of abuse and neglect weigh heavily upon the parental and daughter relationship and understandably, Tessa is reluctant to place her confidence in Ellen.

Family violence. No one had been brave enough to use that term, given there were no charges, no evidence.

Atmospheric and vibrant, the portrayal of our arid land was immaculate as the two adolescents attempt to survive. The arduous Australian climate scorching the barren Victorian landscape while on the horizon, fire approaches. It was captivating.

A Shadow's Breath is a compelling nonlinear narrative, breathtaking and atmospheric. Resonating and personal, a reminder of human fragility.

[Pam Tickner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book club choice. Interesting use of alternating chapters telling the story from the current Now and historical Then. A somewhat bleak coming of age story.

[Emily Mead · Rating 3 out of 5]

THAT TWIST THOUGH.

This was a good read. It's not my favourite of Nicole Hayes', but the switching back and forth between the "then" storyline and the "now" storyline (where the two characters are trying to survive after a car crash) was a really interesting addition.

[Eleni Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved every one of Nicole Hayes’ books. She’s a storyteller of great skill. However with A Shadow’s Breath she takes it to the next level.

I loved the rawness of the characters and the suspense. The gritty reality and the striving for something better. The heartbreak and courage and… that twist! This book is unputdownable. A story about survival that stayed with me ever since.

Whatever you do, make sure you read this book and when you’ve finished you’ll want to look up Nicole Hayes’ other novels.

[S.C. Karakaltsas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbly constructed and well written, this novel is a page turner so much so that I was holding my breath toward the end and couldn't put it down.

[Steph Cuthbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

My. Heart.
And the ending? Utterly perfect.
I'm in no fit state to write a proper review right now

[Tiarna Georghiou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am lost for words. All I have to say is: Brilliant. Raw. Heartbreaking. Magical. You must read it.

[Catherine Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Shadows Breath is told from the perspective of Tessa 'then' and 'now'. 'Then' things for Tessa's are starting to look up. She meets Nick who is crazy about her, her mum has finally left her abusive boyfriend and is starting a new life of her own as a recovering alcoholic, and she is putting her very public breakdown at school behind her. 'Now' Tessa and Nick are stranded in the wilderness after a car accident. The focus becomes one of immediate survival. But the continuing flashbacks to 'then' make Tessa question everything.

This book has more than one twist I didn't see coming. It's heart wrenching and engaging.

[Stef (Noveltea Corner) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Shadow’s Breath is the first book by Nicole Hayes that I’ve read, and I’ll definitely be checking out more of her work now. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend her book launch party in Melbourne (my first one!) because it introduced me to her book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story opens with Tessa waking up in a car wreck next to her boyfriend, Nick. Hayes frames her story using the titles ‘Now’ and ‘Then’ as chapter headers to tell Tessa’s story leading up the events that lead to the car wreck, as well as her efforts to survive and make her way home. Tessa comes from a broken home - her father’s died years earlier, her mother’s a recovering alcoholic who’s only just kicked out an abusive boyfriend, and Tessa’s trying to build a small friendship group even though she has trust issues.

Hayes did an incredible job to build a picture of Tessa’s life as a Year 11 student living in a small town, feeling trapped and wanting to escape. This feeds into the present-day story of her survival, wherein Tessa finds herself wondering whether she even wants to survive; whether there’s anything to go back to to salvage from her life.

I don’t often cry in books, but towards the end I had tears in my eyes as the reality sets in for Tessa - and Nicole, if this is that moment that you spoke about at your launch, the idea that your editors suggested you change? I’m so glad you didn’t, because it was poignant and heartbreaking and beautifully written.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic young adult novel. Cleverly written, heart breaking with twists and turns.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another incredibly interesting Australian YA novel from Nicole Hayes. A Shadow's Breath is told through both Then and Now narratives. Then tells the story of Tess's complicated relationships with her mother, her best friend, and her boyfriend, as summer and the end of the school year approach. Now tells the story of a horrible car accident involving Tess and Nick, and their attempt to survive their injuries and the harsh Australian bush. There isn't much more I can write without revealing spoilers, but this is a tightly woven novel. Tess was a great character, and I really appreciated the complexities of her relationships. I also appreciated the youthfulness of her voice - Tess read like the 17 year old she was meant to be. Mature, and yet quick to anger, quick to make assumptions about those around her.
Nicole Hayes is quickly proving to be a great contemporary Australian YA author - definitely one to keep reading, and keep recommending!

[Sarah Gryfenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful YA novel! I loved the main character, a strong young female that had so many hurdles to climb. A story of love, tragedy and amazing resilience.

[Michael Earp · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you're desperate for a change at the end of year 12, but that change comes in the form of a car accident in the middle of the bush, what else can you do but take your boyfriend's hand and keep going. Tense, well written YA with a distinctly Australian flavour. And hope, painted like the sunset.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
My goodness that was an adventure!

[Josie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I ended up skimming through this because I guessed the twist so I had to see if I was right (and I was). I disliked the constant back and forth, and overall, I wasn't engaged by the writing style.