Bez dechu

by Jennifer Niven

Novinka od autorky bestsellerů Všechny malé zázraky a Tíha vesmíru. Claudine Henryová měla na poslední léto před nástupem na vysokou velké plány – trávit čas se svou nejlepší kamarádkou, podniknout životní road trip a možná si vyrazit s Wyattem Jonesem. Místo toho ale musí napravovat spoušť, kterou doma napáchal její táta, když se rozhodl, že od nich odchází. Ze dne na den se tak Claudine se svou zničenou matkou musí odstěhovat na místo, kde není ani signál, ani šance na letní románek. Dokud ovšem nepotká Jeremiaha. Je svobodomyslný, záhadný a pohledný… Jejich vzájemná přitažlivost je okamžitá a silná. Oba však ví, že ať už je mezi nimi cokoli, se závěrem léta to skončí...

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Summer, Summer Reads, Banned Books

392 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2020

About the author

JENNIFER NIVEN is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of All the Bright Places, Holding Up the Universe, and Breathless. Her books have been translated in over 75 languages and have won literary awards around the world.

An Emmy-award winning screenwriter, she co-wrote the script for the All the Bright Places movie— currently streaming on Netflix and starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith. She is also the author of several narrative nonfiction titles and the Velva Jean historical fiction series.

Her latest YA novel, When We Were Monsters, was published September 2, and she has an adult novel-- Meet the Newmans-- releasing January 6, 2026.

Jennifer divides her time between coastal Georgia and Los Angeles with her husband and literary cats.

Reviews

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow. this came out of nowhere. i think JN has been desperately trying to recreate the compelling magic present in ‘all the bright places.’ and this story does come close. its definitely an improvement from her previous book, thats for sure.

and i think its because this particular story is very personal to JN. you can feel the emotion, the heartbreak, the confusion, the love. i think its comes across very genuine and authentic.

there is also a lot of great and relatable content regarding feminism, coming of age, trusting others, sex, and everything in between. however, i found claude to be very single minded when it came to sex, borderline obsessed with it. it was just a bit much to read about and kind of deterred my interest at times.

but man, the ending completely won me over. its going to be something that i will be thinking about for quite some time.

↠ 3.5 stars

[Aahana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god.
Oh my Lord.
Jennifer Niven, what was this????!

This book...
Warning - I have just finished reading this and I am writing a review now because I don't want to forget this feeling. I don't think anything I could write could equal the feelings I am having right now, but I'll try.

Breathless is the story of a girl, Claude, who has her life planned out before her. She's 18, and it's her last summer before college.
Her summer bucket list -
i. Road trip with Saz
ii. Hanging out with my friends
iii. Hooking up with Wyatt Jones

That is, until, a few days before her graduation, her dad walks in and tells her he's "just not in the right state of mind to have a family right now" aka he and her mom and getting a divorce.

And at that moment I am staring at the place where the floor used to be. All I can think is how one minute the floor was there and now it's not. How you could go through an entire day, every day, not thinking about the floor or the ground because you just assume it will always be there. Until it isn't.

So, she's shipped off to a remote Georgia island along with her mother, where there is no cell connectivity and no chance of romance.
And there's still the missing floor...

Because after suffering a loss, you become a ghost in your own body. You observe yourself saying things and doing things that you might not normally do or say.

Until she meets Jeremiah Crew.
Oh, Jeremiah Crew.
Barefooted, charming, Jeremiah Crew.
Jeremiah Crew, who will leave this island at the end of summer, just as she will.
But maybe the summer is all she needs...

"So maybe we should just shake hands right now, agree it was nice meeting each other, and say goodbye."
"Or we could see what happens."

Before this book was released, I wrote a review.
I really want to read this book!
I don't think I can tho... cause one of the main themes is sex and virginity as you come of age.
But I just adored All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe cause her writing style? Freaking gorgeous.
You know, I'll read this. I really want to! (I won't be able cause I doubt my parents will let me read something that has "sex and virginity" in its blurb to but you get my sentiment :)
But I consider myself a mature reader... ugh this is so hard! Can someone who has read this tell me if I can read it?

Yes, babe. Read it. That blurb does not do justice to this book.
The main theme wasn't sex and virginity as you come of age.
It was life.
And how it changes when you come of age.
And how there will be people who will want to ruin it for you.
But there will also be those who are there for you.
Who can be your floor.

Our eyes lock, his and mine, and it's the single most erotic moment of my short life. There's all this heat, but more than that. Something like love.

Sarah, I was wrong. When I told you you will not need tissues. At that point, I was sure you wouldn't.
But, hon, you will.

I am not giving this book 5 stars because of it's writing style.
Or because it's probably the best of her books.
Or because I am so in awe of the author.
Or because of any such... measure.
But because it hit me. Hard. In a way that no one will be able to understand.
But it did. And that's enough for me to say:
One of my favorite books not just this year, but of all time
It's one of the greatest of all time.



Note - The rest of this review isn't more about the story. It is a collection of quotes that I never want to forget because they hit me. Hard. And never do I ever want to forget this feeling. Despite how... chaotic it is.

What makes someone stop loving you?
One day there's love, the next day there's not. Where does it go?
Something that lived and breathed like that-how can it just vanish as if it never really existed?
I imagine a room or maybe an entire planet where the love goes to live once we're done with it. Like a kind of junkyard. Little remnants of love scattered everywhere. People picking through, collecting the strongest, biggest pieces, and trying to make something of them again. Isn't this what we do every time we meet someone new or start loving someone new? Pick up the old battered bits of ourselves and try again?

All the scary stuff doesn't really compare to getting lost in your own mind.

But I have to stop because I don't know this person and he doesn't know me, and people don't like you to cry or talk about things that are hard or upsetting. They like you to smile and say everything's fine, which is why I gather all the pieces of me and put them back together enough that I can sit there.

Here is me.
All the messy unattractive things that I keep locked up inside.
Every last, ugly, broken piece.
And he didn't bat an eye.
He just opened his mouth and showed me some of his own messy pieces.
And instead of running away, he kissed me.

I'm thinking about how amazing it is that you can live without knowing someone, and then they can come along and, like that, know you better than anyone. And you can't imagine what you ever did before they knew you and talked to you about all the things they've been through and all the things that matter to them.

Life is an accumulation of aches. They fill you up and take your breath away and you think you'll never breathe again, but before you know it, you are just words on paper, gone quiet and asleep until someone finds those words and reads them.

"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For you."

"I don't get you"
"You don't have to."

I am alone in my head and alone with myself, the most dangerous place you can be.

Here is where the fire started.
Here is where the first brick fell.
Here is where the floor disappeared.
Here is where I built a new one underneath my feet.
And here is where I began.

I may have made some minor changes in the quotes here and there, but they are essentially Jennifer Niven's original words.

↠ 𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

Buddy read with Ayesha
My online sister ❤️
Ayesha's review

My review of All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven ↠ 𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, it's settled. I have to move to Georgia now.

[Catherine (alternativelytitledbooks) - tired of sickness! · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Ugh. It is so hard for me to give Jennifer Niven less than 5 stars. It pains me. All the Bright Places is one of my all-time favorite books and Holding Up the Universe has one of the most unique premises I've EVER read in YA. Both books made me cry, and though I am usually a ball of emotion in real life, it takes a special kind of book to bring me to tears. Niven is so gifted when it comes to dealing with mental health in teens, adults, and discussing incredibly sensitive topics with ease that I've come to expect that from her stylistically and in terms of content. So, when it comes to Breathless...


I just had a strange feeling based on comments Niven had made on social media about this being 'a very personal book for her', that this was a semi-autobiographical book...and essentially that is accurate because MANY facets of this book are based on her own life experience. I actually can't remember the last time I was so anxious to read the acknowledgements section just to confirm this theory, and unfortunately I was right. The upside to this is that I'm sure writing this novel was therapeutic for Niven---the downside is that this book felt more like a diary she wrote as a teen than a novel. I was hoping for all sorts of insight on the struggles about whether or not to have sex as a teenager, and what that might mean emotionally for our lead, but honestly the first third of this book was the only section that felt really authentic and moving to me.

Once Claudine went to the island, I just felt like the entire book went downhill. I couldn't buy that Jeremiah was such a dreamy dreamboat that she felt compelled to give him her virginity and share all of her darkest secrets, especially knowing this was a summer romance that had an expiration date. It also drove me crazy that he kept calling her "Captain"---not sure why, I just didn't like it. Unfortunately, this book also suffered the curse of being entirely too long and repetitive for a YA novel. I have never known Niven to come off as being wordy...until this book. I do appreciate the time and attention given to consent, practicing safe sex, etc., but that is also to be expected. I didn't feel any true conflict in the relationship whatsoever until about 70% and even that drama just felt underwhelming and not really developmental at all. I also think expecting the reader to believe that teenage boys are THAT attentive to young women sexually is a bit of a stretch---even for a committed relationship, much less a summer fling. I know it's fiction, but if Niven really did have that sort of experience I think most people could agree that is the exception and not the rule.


Honestly, although it may not have aged perfectly, Judy Blume's Forever . . . I think handles this subject matter in a much more authentic and accessible way, although I recognize it has plenty of its own problems. I hope in the future Niven will stick to exploring different facets of mental health because she is one of the few in the genre who can do that so beautifully. I do hope a younger audience can take some comfort from Breathless as they continue on their difficult yet rewarding personal journeys of self-discovery.

[Beckee❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh, this book broke me. Like, completely broke me. What a beautiful story.

[Larry H · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, rounded up.

Jennifer Niven's latest YA novel, Breathless , is emotional and enjoyable. It's a story about love, trust, family, and friendship.

“I imagine a room or maybe an entire planet where all the love goes to live once we’re done with it. Like a kind of junkyard. Little remnants of love scattered everywhere. People picking through, collecting the strongest, biggest pieces, and trying to make something of them again. Isn’t this what we do every time we meet someone new or fall for someone new or start loving someone new? Pick up the old battered bits of ourselves and try again?“

Claudine is getting ready to graduate from high school. She and her best friend Saz have a major road trip planned over the summer before they head to separate colleges in the fall.

But the next thing she knows, Claude’s life has been upended, and she and her mother are headed to a remote island in Georgia for five weeks. The road trip is off, Claude’s trust has been shattered, and she’s angry, as she realizes how easy it is for people to lie about what they promise.

When she meets Jeremiah Crew, the last thing she wants is to have feelings for a boy, but it isn’t long before both fall for each other. Miah is cocky and confident, yet he has secrets he doesn’t want to talk about, but he sees Claude for exactly who she is. (And he's the only one.) They know this is only a summer thing, but how do you prepare and protect your heart for that?

Jennifer Niven wrote All the Bright Places , which was one of my favorite books of the last decade, so I love the way she can wring emotion and beauty from simple stories. Of course, her characters speak a little more eruditely than typical teenagers, but their behaviors are fairly genuine.

I really enjoyed this and I stayed up very late to finish it. And I might have shed a tear or two while I was reading...

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.

Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[enqi ☾⋆˚*̣̩✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

You were my first. Not just sex, although that was part of it, but the first to look past everything else into me.

Some of the names and places have been changed, but the story is true. It's all here because one day this will be the past, and I don't want to forget what I went through, what I thought, what I felt, who I was. I don't want to forget you.

But most of all, I don't want to forget me.

Breathless is primarily character-driven, and nothing particularly interesting happened. The plot meanders along, predictable and mediocre. Generally, I'm not a fan of character-driven books. But here's why this book resonated so much with me: it hit a very personal chord. Essentially, after her parents separate, Claude and her mom move to a remote island off the coast of nowhere, which is really and truly isolated from the outside world. It is there that she meets a boy named Jeremiah, and it is to him that she decides to give her virginity.

To say it comes as a huge shock to Claudine when her parents separate would be an understatement. Having been secure in her parents' love all her life, Claudine feels like the floor has literally been ripped out from under her when they separate and her dad lies to her about it. She finds it so difficult to truly trust someone and open up to them afterward, because she doesn't want to risk the possibility of getting hurt and blindsided again.

In the summer of 2022, the man I loved told me, out of the blue, that he wasn't feeling it and that he couldn't see a future with me anymore. I was devastated, not only because I thought he was the one, but because it had happened out of nowhere. We'd been living together for a while and barely fought, and he treated me so well I couldn't ask for anything more. All my friends and family were supportive, and we'd been planning to buy our first house in a few months. I'd been so secure in our relationship that I hadn't seen the cracks, and by then, it was too late.

Eventually, I met someone else. But in my new relationship, I struggled with my own insecurities and emotional baggage from my last relationship, which I was unknowingly projecting onto my new partner. Having had the floor ripped from beneath me once, it was an uphill battle for me to trust that I wouldn't be blindsided again. I withdrew into myself in a misguided attempt to protect my heart, giving my bare minimum to the relationship because the less invested I was, the less it would hurt when he inevitably left. Rationally, I knew my partner saw a future with me. But that had been my ex too, once. So I believed that falling in love would only lead to pain.

I was wrong, of course. But while the grief of a broken heart fades, the pain of broken trust doesn't. And in this book, Jennifer Niven perfectly captured my internal conflict, the grief and loss I felt, and the struggles I faced in learning to let people in again. This is why the story was so personal to me. I saw myself in Claude, and I experienced emotional growth with her as she matured throughout the book.

Against this backdrop, I appreciated the ending even more. It's far from a happy ending – it's bittersweet, without much possibility of hope in it. But Claude doesn't withdraw into herself the same way she did when her parents separated. Rather, she begins to accept that some endings are inevitable, and it's the moments you experienced with the person that truly matter. It's at the end that we really see how all her character development has culminated in the way she reacts to their farewell.

Maybe there's no one answer to why they had to end, And there's no one answer to how to make love last. My parents were two people who loved each other for a long time. Until they didn't. But that doesn't change the fact that they once loved each other and that they'll always love me.

When I read this book, I thought of my ex the whole time. I loved him, once. I miss our fond memories, still. On dark, lonely nights, I pine for the emotions he awoke in me – when we were together, I felt young and golden and invincible, and there are times when all I truly want is to feel like that again. And that's why this book is so whimsical: when you read it, you can feel the emotion dripping from each word. It'll elicit memories of people whom you were reluctant to let go of even though their time in your life had ended.

By the end of the story, I slowly realised that although our love had ended, it doesn't change the fact that he loved me and I loved him, and that once upon a time the two of us had built a future together – until it fell apart. But that will never change the fact that I have left an indelible mark on his life, and he on mine. For what it was worth, I felt grateful that I'd even had the opportunity to know and love this person, rather than live my whole life not knowing he existed. I don't want to forget anything about us, simply because he was part of me, and I don't want to forget me.

That's the biggest reason why I like this book – because I might have disliked the setting or the premise or Claude herself, but reading it turned out to be an emotional journey that changed me.

Here we laughed. Here we fought. Here we loved and reamed. Here is where the fire started. Here is where the first brick fell. Here is where the floor disappeared. Here is where I built a new one underneath my feet. And here is where I began.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Here is where I began.



Oh. My. God. This book. T. H. I. S. B. O. O. K. . . . . .



This is THE. BEST. first love/first time story I have ever read. It made my old Boomer heart grow three sizes and I even squirted out a couple of tears for nostalgia sake. It was either that or the alternative . . . .



But yo girl ain’t about wasting no liquor.

The story here is about Claude. Ready to graduate high school with the rest of her life ahead of her, she hopes to road-trip with her bestie and hook up with her longtime crush before heading off to college in the Fall. But life doesn’t always work out as planned and instead Claude finds herself spending her Summer on a remote Georgia island after her parents separate. With no WiFi, no motorized vehicles and nothing to do except continue working on her neverending puppy squisher novel draft, Claude eventually ventures out and discovers the local teens – in particular Jeremiah Crew. The remainder of the book is about their 28 days together. About falling in love. About becoming an adult. About adapting to change. About the reality of what happens when you meet the love of your life a decade too early . . . .



It’s about one unforgettable summer. It made me feel things I haven’t felt since . . . well, I already said I’m a Boomer so that’s all you get. Simply put, it was perfect . . . .

“I could love you,” I whisper. “I might already love you. I just thought I should warn you.”

It reminds us all that . . . .

THIS IS A BRIEF LIFE, BUT IN ITS BREVITY IT OFFERS US SOME SPLENDID MOMENTS, SOME MEANINGFUL ADVENTURES.

Every Star.

[Bookphenomena (Micky) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve found this to be a hard one to find a comfortable rating and so I’ve settled at the 2.5 point after much pondering. Reading BREATHLESS proved to be a frustrating experience. The main character Claud felt all over the place and while she had reasons, the drama whiplash was severe at times.

I felt a little more settled in the story when Claud got to her island summer home, I liked the vibe of the place and the eclectic mix of people. Claud however, remained chaotic and sex-obsessed when she got there. I did feel that she seemed written a little young for her character’s age.

Sadly the story, whilst it had some definite highlights like the parental story line and Claud’s relationship with her father, there were a lot more dull periods. And then there’s the ending, which I hated as much as drinking a glass of sour milk. Sadly, this book didn’t hit the spot for me and there was more I disliked than liked.

There are triggers for days in this book, so if you need that information, please go and look for warnings.

Thank you to Random House for the early review copy.

This review can be found on A Take From Two Cities Blog.

[Soha Ashraf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not invested in the story at all. It felt like big chunks were missing from the tale. The island life was refreshing: a beach with baby turtles and fossils. However, Miah and Claude could have been more, so much more.

[Tilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

TW: Talk of multiple suicides, drowning, parental separation, worrying negative behaviour, use of alcohol as a crutch, sex talk and sex scenes.

I went into this book SO excited and with a great start filled with feminism and open positive talk about sex, I thought this may be a new great YA book. I was unfortunately completely let down. I have enjoyed Jennifer Niven's books in the past but for me, this book was a bit of a mess.

If I could sum up this book in three words it would be pretentious, confused and lacking.
Breathless is about an 18 year old girl called Claude and her mum who after her Dad's decision to separate with the mum are for some reason shipped off to a random island. The mum HAS to have Claude there, ruining all her summer plans with her best friend but then barely spends time with her daughter when they are there and is constantly researching a new book.
Claude meets a guy called Miah and the story begins. I won't be giving away any spoilers but here are my general thoughts.
The characters seem way too self important. Claude is incredibly selfish. Both Claude and Miah have obvious issues that they bond over and become the basis for their romance. I found it really unhealthy. Claude displays a lot of very worrying emotions and actions which noone picks up on and they seem to be glamourised rather than called out as wrong. I found both characters to be rather pretentious and constantly talking a load of hot air.
The storyline was questionable. Even once I got over the reasons leading them to be on this island, the major plot lines seemed to end up nowhere and the ending was an absolute cop out and incredibly disappointing. I didn't see why so much time and effort went into the background of Claude's ancestors as it simply didn't lead anywhere.
I could have gotten over alot of my grievances if the ending had been better.
What I did enjoy is the island. The wildlife and nature sounded incredible and I got a real sense of being there and immersed in the sounds of nature, the smell of the ocean and the feel of muggy heat. The writing was also decent which helped with the overall atmosphere.

This obviously wasn't for me and personally I don't think this is YA book as it talks ALOT about sex and so should be a 16+ book. I am hugely disappointed and sadly won't be recommending it.

Please note that I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Mihaela Abrudan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poate aș fi dat mai mult, dar totuși au fost pasaje care mi-au părut un pic exagerate.

[Aj the Ravenous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a perfectly paced summer read, one you can enjoy lazily as Claudine/Claude is to spend the summer after her senior year (against all her plans and wishes) in a remote island in Georgia. Falling in love is the last thing in her mind but well, isn't that the usual time it happens, when you least expect it? It quite helped abate the cold a little as it's about 10 degrees Celsius as of the moment I'm reading this. Ms. Niven's writing in this novel has a very hypnotic effect. The setting, the mood, the narrative tone lull me into a hazy, dreamy state, losing myself in the pages of the book.

What is notable about this summer romance is that it is told in the unfiltered viewpoint of Claude who can be obscenely but adorably honest- how she openly talks about marriage, love, friendship, and everything in between without feeling embarrassed about it. This openness, I learned in the Acknowledgments, can be attributed to the author's personal connection to the story and to the character herself, almost like telling the story of her own life at 18.

Engaging and addictive to read and on many occasions very emotional, Ms. Jennifer Niven has written yet another beautiful young adult/coming of age story about firsts- of love, of heartbreak, and of living that will surely resonate with readers whom I imagine have already gone through this phase in life as it evokes a heavy sense of nostalgia and you couldn't help but feel transported back to that time in your life. And thus, even though it's mainly a young adult novel, I think I would recommend this more to adult contemporary readers. I believe you will get what I'm trying to say when you read the book. I honestly wouldn't mind reading a sequel.

[Karen Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Jennifer Niven, for writing the book that I needed as a teenager, and showing that, even though the results may not be exactly what you want, you have to be open to the possibilities life offers.
Breathless starts slowly, and while I was enjoying it I didn’t think it was going to cause the emotional gut-punch it did. It’s a book about love, learning to accept yourself and to have the confidence to take risks as they hurt but can bring wonderful things.
The main character in this, Claude, is a curious character, who definitely grew on me. She starts the book in a fairly safe place with certain expectations, then learns that things don’t always go to plan...but it can be okay. She is definitely feeling uncertain as she’s about to head to college, her best friend has started a relationship she didn’t know about and things are changing/she’s losing control of the things happening around her. Her summer begins in an unsettling way, with her parents announcing they are going to split up and she is expected to spend the summer on an island with her mother.
Cut off from everything she knows, this actually opens Claude to the possibility of new experiences. She takes solace in the immediacy of the wonderful natural environment around her, she learns to ride a bike and she starts a relationship with someone who changes her in ways she couldn’t imagine.
It would be so easy to reduce this to a summer romance category and make what we watch between Claude and Miah seem trite. That would, I think, be missing the point. It might not be exactly what we’d wish for either, but in its own way it’s beautiful.
I will be urging everyone to read this upon its September 2020 release, and would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read it early.

[EvaSms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un livre qui fait du bien au cœur

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

i love jennifer niven but this was not it, i got so mad i couldn’t even finish it. basically she had sex and all of a sudden now she is confident? i’m sorry, so girls need to have sex to be confident? maybe i interpreted it wrong, but that’s what i got out of it. also, it was lacking something. i didn’t feel the love and i didn’t relate to the characters at all. it also felt a bit rushed. (side note: i cannot stand books where it takes place on the beach and the main characters fall in love over saving the turtles and the girl is like “oh maybe he isn’t as bad as i thought he was! he might actually have a heart!” 🥴i’m all for saving the turtles in real life but it’s so cliche and boring too me)

[bookss_addict · Rating 4 out of 5]

j’ai longtemps hésité à acheter ce livre et honnêtement je regrette, c’était tellement bien. Des le début j’ai accroché et même si Claudine est parfois un peu agaçante j’ai adoré l’histoire et la plume de l’auteure

mon cœur est un peu chamboulée 🥹🥹

[Kweeby · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s not a single good character, or even a single moment when I was invested in the story

[Sara (A Gingerly Review) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story left my heart shattered and full at the same time. It was the glorious story I didn't realize I needed.

[jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we laughed. Here we fought. Here we loved and dreamed. Here is where the first brick fell. Here is where the floor disappeared. Here is where I built a new one underneath my feet.

And here is where I began.

I am sobbing.

I said in my reading progress that if this isn’t sad in any way, I don’t want it.

I regret that now. I DON’T WANT IT.

I am sobbing my heart out on an EXAM NIGHT.

Life changing summer. One Summer Love. The most cliché trope of all time but I eat these shit up. I love it. I don’t care if it’s boring to you.

I should’ve known from the first time I saw that this book was written by Jennifer Niven that I should just… take some precautions. I don’t trust this woman. I DNF-ed Holding Up the Universe, but if I have the time I would probably pick it up again. BUT!

All the Bright Places, man. This book made me sob my heart out at SCHOOL. And to this day, I could count with my fingers how many books made me feel so heartbroken like that.

I’m not a crier when reading books. In fact, the every-tear-a-waterfall shelf, aka a shelf containing books I cried my heart out when reading, has not seen a new addition in a long time.

THAT CHANGES TODAY! Fuck this book. I hate it so much. Now I’m just… sad.

So what is this book about? It’s basically that one summer trope where… you know? Boy meets girl, they fall in love, and summer is almost over.

Let me talk about the writing. I know that Jennifer Niven’s prose is a hit-or-miss kind of thing but her writing is almost always a hit for me and I like how she described the thoughts of these two teenagers in love and I like how she handled the worries, the hopes, and the fears the characters are facing.

Claude, the main character, is unfortunately, not a very exciting character to read. Something about her just doesn’t click with me and her actions are a little… weird? I don’t know how to explain it but I’ll settle for this: she doesn’t act how normal people would act in certain situations SOMETIMES. But most of the time, as someone who have struggled with some of the themes in this book, I could relate to it. Another thing about Claude is that she sounds like she whines too much. I know the author didn’t intend it to be this way but some of her inner monologues just sound like that. Maybe she was written to be a protagonist with deep thoughts (she’s a young writer after all) but as the reader, I just felt like I was hearing her whining. As a result, she sounds younger than her canon age. She’s eighteen! Soon to be in college! And yet some times she talks like a fifteen year old.

Next, I’m going to read you some of my notes while reading this:

62%: The romance is so cliché. As if we skipped past the ‘falling in love’ part straight to the ‘in love’ part. Boy meets girl. They visit a turtle nest and make a pact despite not sharing any moments.

Which is kind of true anyways because objectively speaking the romance is pretty cliché. I enjoyed it because it was pretty cliché. It’s an okay kind of romance. But that was before the last three chapters sucker punched the breath out of me until I lived up to the title.

I love the fact that this book explored some pretty common themes in the teenage life. I also like that the characters here don’t treat sex as if it’s taboo or as if it’s something to be embarrassed about. But most of all, I like the portrayal of consensual sex between Claude and Miah. Though the book is mostly about Claude and Miah, the book actually talks about other themes such as divorce, going-off to college, etc. But some of these themes, like the divorce between Claude’s parents, seem to be pushed all the way to the background which is weird because it’s supposed to be central to Claude’s character.

The plot is kind of all over the place because it felt like an unfinished book. We didn’t get to see what happened to Claude’s parents, we didn’t get to see Claude mend things up with Saz. I would prefer an epilogue set like six months later to bring some of the ‘forgotten themes’ back into the light but we also don’t get this. Hence the ‘unfinished’ feeling’.

Also, I don’t get why Claude and Miah couldn’t just… exchange phone numbers or something. It’s never said explicitly (I think) which year this book is set in but if I do the math, I think it’s set in the 21st century which means… they can pretty much look each other up on Facebook, right? Right. It would be more heart-wrenching if it’s set in 1990s or something. The goodbye would feel more real and… final. Don’t you think so?

Objectively, it’s a 3 star book. But for the way it makes me feel, I would add an extra star.

Go enjoy being added to my cry-list. I have to study now.

[Elvina Zafril · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breathless is a well written story about a girl facing her parents divorce and exploring sex and virginity. Claudine is 18 year old girl who is dealing with anger and frustration due to her parents separation.

It sets on a beautiful remote island where there's no internet connection. A good place to connect with real human and to disconnect from modern technology world.

The characters were great. Claudine and Jeremiah are like-able characters. The most coolest character I think is Saz, Claude's best friend. However, I do hope there's more story about Jeremiah than we were given.

The plot was good and I loved almost everything about it. This story is based on the author's experience. But am I the only one who disturbed about how Claudine is dealing with her emotions? Because she always think about her first time and somehow it was very disturbing because we know that she is dealing with her parents divorce. So, personally I thought her emotions didn't match her situation that she was in.

Overall, it was a quick and nice read to me. Happy Book Birthday to Breathless!

Thank you Times Reads for sending me a copy of Breathless in return for an honest review. This book is available from 29th September 2020 onwards.

[anne larouche · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Je ne pense pas que le livre est mauvais plus que j’avais déjà l’impression d’avoir rencontré cette histoire… en soi si c’est la première fois pour vous ça va très probablement être meilleur. Je suis pour ma part restée assez hermétique aux personnages… par contee j’ai bien aimé que la sexualité soit abordée dans ce roman donc j’ai donné 2.5 pour moi mais en gros c’est un 4 si c’est un concept nouveau pour vous

[bookworm ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

BREATHLESS
3.5⭐️

-running in place by lexi jayde now playing

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7E2...

“it was one of those tragedies that my mom the writer refers to as a defining moment: that moment when life suddenly changes and you’re left picking up the pieces. she says it’s actually how you pick up the pieces that defines you”

“underwater, there is no more bottom, no more floor. i open my eyes and imagine what it would be like to live here, in the see”

how do you move on from losing someone who isn’t dead but doesn’t belong to you anymore? this is a cute and easy summertime read that would be perfect if you were on summer holidays at a holiday house. that’s what i picture after reading this, as the best scenario. if not, it’s easy to read and can be an amazing filler book if you’ve just read something heavy during another month (i read this end of winter, beginning of spring) and god i wished it was summer. the life quotes are really good. it can be cringey at times but i really enjoyed reading it.

“addy once told me, ‘don’t lose today’. as in don’t hide behind yesterday or hood back from tomorrow. we’re going to make this an adventure, claude. if any two people can, it’s us”


﹒⟢﹒ CLAUDE HENRY 🌊

”stuff your eyes with wonder…live as is you’d drop dead in ten seconds. see the world. it’s more fantastic than any dream
- ray bradbury, fahrenheit 451”

“i see flashes of myself as the girl i think i used to be- happy, secure, a floor beneath my feet”

“all the boys and girls in the world are happy, but me. i, claudine llewelyn henry, will be alone for ever”

claudine struggles after her father decides he doesn’t want to be apart of her life anymore (as anyone would) and gets the chance to find herself during a vacation to the island where her great aunt lived.

“here is me. all the messy unattractive things that i keep locked up inside. every last ugly, broken, complicated piece. and he didn’t bat an eye. he just opened his mouth and showed he some of his own messy pieces. and instead of running away, he kissed me”

﹒⟢﹒ JEREMIAH CREW ☀️

“you could never be a consolation prize, captain. you’re like that giant purple carnival bear, as big as a fucking SUV, that costs a bazillion tickets. the one you knock yourself out trying to win by playing whac-a-mole and shoot-the-duck and whatever else you have to do so that you can bring it home”

“my photos are a way of telling stories but without the pressure of all those words. i used to think of them as a way to capture everything that’s good. everything in my life wasn’t. but now i take pictures of all of it: the sad, the disturbing, the ugly. it’s kind of why i collect bones. they tell a story”

“captain, not talking with you when both of us is here, under the sky, is better than talking with anyone else about anything”

when i picture him, i picture the fisher brothers from the summer i turned pretty. (but only one of them of course) he had his flaws but he was sweet.

”recycled love. now that’s something to think about. i don’t know. maybe it’s stronger because it’s forged from all the different types of love, all the parts that survived”

other characters: jared is just a cutie and wednesday is a baddie.

“there’s beauty in every story. and there’s a story in everything”

“one day there’s love; the next day there’s not. where does it go? something that lived and breathed like that- how can it just vanish, as if it never really existed? i imagine a room or maybe an entire planet where all the love goes to live once we’re done with it. like a kind of junkyard. little remnants of love scattered everywhere. people picking through, collecting the strongest, biggest pieces, and trying to make something of them again. isn’t this what we do every time we meet someone new or fall for someone new or start loving someone new? pick up the old battered bits of ourselves and try again”

[Ink&Paper · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm ashamed of myself for being excited about this book. Jennifer Niven is my favourite author and All The Bright Places is one of my favourite YA novels.
Coming to Breathless, this was a DNF. I do not stop reading a book until it's finished, but this one? I had no choice. A few pages in I began to HATE it. I know hate is a strong word and I shouldn't use it, but still, I have to come outright and say it.
The main character was just too much. I hated everything about her too

Please DO NOT read this book

[madame Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

quelle belle histoire de première fois et d’amour. ce sont toutes ces questions qu’on se pose par rapport à LA première fois. c’est aussi une histoire d’incompréhension, d’amitiés — des hauts et des bas de l’amitié — et de déchirements et de divorce. oui, c’est tout ça en même temps et — comme le roman porte bien son nom. surtout, c’est l’histoire romancée de l’auteure et ça doit être ce pourquoi on s’attache tant à Claudine et qu’on veut donc tout le meilleur pour elle. c’est une lecture parfaite à lire en ce bel été 🏖📚

[Ayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating:- 4.5 stars to be more specific ( can be turned 5 any time in future ).

Guess who can make you long for a weird island with beautiful stories, which does not exist?? Her Gorgeousness, Jennifer Niven and our ( her and mine ) all time favourite Harry Styles!!! Umm...Does anyone ever longed for the island named Eroda?? Just me?? Okay.

Jennifer Niven did that to me again, made me feel everything all at once. It was awful in a weirdly amazing way.
Breathless is about unexpected events in our lives that change us and make ud what we never imagined ourselves to be. Like the quote I posted a few days ago...

Defining moment: that moment when life suddenly changes and you’re left
picking up the pieces. She says it’s actually how you pick up the pieces
that defines you.

Claude Henry, always the person who had her life sorted out. And suddenly everything changed for her when her parents decided to separate. She had to leave her hometown and ditch a road trip with her bestfriend as her mother needed her to live on an 'island' with her for the rest of summer.
'The island' has a mass of stories about women ( who were apparently Claude Henry's ancestors ) leading their brave and mysterious lives. And if I have not mentioned it before, this book screams FEMINISM in every chapter. It is obvious because topics like female virginity, sex and pleasures are mostly covered under feminism. And Jennifer Niven has talked about it in every beautiful way.
When Claude thought that her life will not be same again and she will never be the same person again, she changed, for better. She came out of her comfort zone and for her mother and embraced the changes ( with great difficulties ) within her and her life. All through which Jeremiah Crew ( my barefooted hero ) helped her and saved her from herself. He had suffered what she was suffering and he knew what it was like, how people end up damaging themselves.

Sometimes you do things just to make it worse.
Back when I was thirteen and life was at its absolute shittiest, I wanted
something to numb the pain and I found it. It worked for a little while,
but the problem is, you want more, you need more, and before you
know it, you can’t feel anything.” He stares down at his hands. “But
you know what I finally figured out?” He looks up at the fire again.
“You have to feel it. You have to feel it even if you think it’s going to kill
you.”

He made Claude open up to him. Listened to her when she needed to be heard.

And maybe it’s this strange, magical night or the way his voice has
gone soft or the flash of his smile in the dark or his bare feet, but for
whatever reason, I do something I haven’t done in weeks. I open my
mouth and talk.
I tell him without editing.
And he listens.
And listens.

He was basically the person we all need. The person we all should become. We never no what anyone is going through. It was like an epiphany. Imagine what a beautiful world it would be if we all can accept our pasts, heartbreaks and the person we used to be?? And move on, become a better person, someone who can love as if their heart has never been broken.

It started with Zelda Fitzgerald quotation in epigraph; my love forBreathless. And suddenly it was everything I love, a feminist who is an aspiring writer, surprising turn of events, beautiful characters and a great writing style. What more a heart wants?? Except that it had more than that. Words like right nows and almostness. And quotes like...

Little remnants of love scattered everywhere. People picking through,
collecting the strongest, biggest pieces, and trying to make something
of them again. Isn’t this what we do every time we meet someone new
or fall for someone new or start loving someone new? Pick up the old
battered bits of ourselves and try again?

“Where do you think love goes when people stop loving you? Do
you think there’s, like, a junkyard where all the lost and discarded love
is collected?” I open my palm and arrange the teeth in the shape of a
heart.
“Where love goes to die?”
“Yeah, or waits to be recycled.”
“Recycled love. Now, that’s something to think about. I don’t know.
Maybe it’s even stronger because it’s forged from all these different
types of love, all the parts that survived.”

And again matters like suicide, heartbreak, trust issues, anxiety and depression are explained with such complex and amazing style. They felt relatable, so relatable that I had to shut the book and because it felt like my own story and my eyes itched with curious tears.
Saying that Breathless is all about sex and virginity will be disheartening, though it was a part of it. An important part actually; writing of first sex for young adults must have been a tough part. It was measured but at the same time not-so-measured.
I have so much more to say, however I should end it here like Claude would have,

"I loved this book more than rainbows, my crescent-shaped scar and sunflowers."

Buddy read it with Aahana.
She is just so sweet!! <3
Looking forward to read more books with her. :D

Aahana's review.

[Briney (semi-hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty sure I can sum up this story a lot more concisely than ~380 pages: Meet Claud(ine), a teen whose coping mechanism is limiting her emotional experience to feeling angry and/or horny. The end.

I felt really conflicted reading this book. I wanted to like it, I did. And if we remove Claude, I probably would. She's just so goddamn unlikable! While I generally really love and appreciate morally grey characters that portray the complexities of life and nuances of human behaviour, I swear this girl had zero redeeming qualities. How can one person be that obnoxiously and annoyingly self-absorbed?? For every one decent thing she says, there are five outrageously shitty, rude and/or painfully immature things also being said.

This book had the potential for 3 stars, until page 312 happened and my opinion of Claudine plummeted beyond the realm of retribution and firmly sunk into 2 star territory. I just hate this I'm-hurting-so-I'm-going-to-lash-out-and-make-those-that-love-me-suffer-more attitude. It's immature, unproductive and destructive. While, I get the realism JN's trying to portray I never felt that Claudine actually ever faced or dealt with the consequences of her actions. She never learns from those mistakes (imo) and just heavily relies on people's generous forgiveness. And they did, everyone just forgave her and moved on? That's not character development, that's exploiting other peoples' love for you. By the end of the story, I still felt she was the selfish brat throwing tantrums from the start. Her character felt static.

I did like Miah and Jared was a little sweetie, why couldn't I get more of him and his story?? There were some other positive points but they've been outshone by the frustration for Claude's character. So, it's a no from me for this one. I'm not having all that much luck with JN's work so far but hopefully I'll really enjoy All the Bright Places as this seems to be the most popular and well received.

[Joana da Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

My February pick for the Clube do Livra-te, my podcasts' book club. Wasn't expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did. Claude was very annoying, yes, but I totally get her, I was exactly the same when I was your age, babe. Jeremiah... What can I say about Jeremiah? So troubled yet so perfect. I am currently on the market for a vacation on a small island.

[alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my God I couldn’t finish this book at all. It was so boring and the author just wrote about sex and how sex makes girls more confident (that’s a lie btw)
Characters were unlikeable asf and Claude was too dramatic + she fell in love WITH. EVERY. BOY. in this book.

The plot was nonexistent lol just some boring stuff and a lot of cheap instant love.

I’m disappointed because I really enjoyed “All The Bright Places” but this book was just… ew.

[Reading_ Tamishly]

Worst 2020 book cover award goes to...