Off schedule again a bit, sneaking in an extra post this week to bring you another book review AND a giveaway!
Today we’re venturing into YA land. Try Not to Breathe is a touching story about the isolation – and the drama – of being a teenager. My advance review copy was generously provided by the good people at Penguin Young Readers Group. You can get your very own copy when the book is released on January 19 OR you can enter the contest below to win one of three free copies, courtesy of Penguin!
Without further ado, I bring you Try Not to Breathe.
Ryan Turner has secrets. Secret fears, longings, deeds, feelings – you name it, Ryan has one sequestered deep inside. The only thing he can’t keep secret is, perhaps, the one thing he most wishes he could hide – the fact that he tried (quite unsuccessfully) to kill himself.
In the wake of his failed suicide attempt, Ryan is forced to come to terms with the events leading up to his decision to start the car in the closed garage and his subsequent stint in a psychiatric facility when a girl from school begins questioning him about his motivations to better understand her father’s successful suicide years before. The relationship between Ryan and Nikki is complex, convoluted, and occasionally a bit codependent.
But that seems to be the nature of all of Ryan’s relationships.
The parallel storyline about the messy aftermath as he and his parents live with the consequences of Ryan’s actions is equally fraught with its own series of difficult adjectives. As the family attempts to rebuild a fragile trust, Ryan is confronted by not only his own demons but also those of his parents, and the delicate manner in which Hubbard addresses the insecurities and emotional turmoil of that aftermath is heartbreaking and cautiously optimistic – often at the same.
Try Not to Breathe is Ryan’s recovery story (and a bit of a traditional coming-of-age tale), but it is also a rather fine piece of writing about the inherent nature of secrets: how they fester, how they grow in self-importance way beyond their actual impact, and most importantly how they inevitably come out, whether we want them to or not.
Throughout the book Ryan alludes to his secrets as though they were of the “I’m hiding nuclear weapons in my bedroom” variety. When I finally learned what they were, I initially rolled my eyes: “That was it?!” And then I stopped, and remembered what it was like to be seventeen, when everything in the world seemed life-or-death important, when whispered words could cut to the quick faster and deeper than any knife, when drama (well, truthfully melodrama) was the word of the day everyday.
Well done, Jennifer Hubbard. You yanked me back from an adult eye rolling perspective and made me seventeen again for just a few minutes – and believe me, those were some long minutes that I don’t care to relive any time soon.
Hubbard deftly manages to weave more than one lesson into Ryan’s tale. She manages to delicately thread parental-style wisdom in among the healthy smattering of angst, emotion, lust, and occasional F-bomb that overtly comprise her narrative style (and will surely appeal to her target audience). And she does it all in an easy-going, quick-reading way. Ryan learns a lesson or two, and you will too. A pretty good outcome for a day’s work, no?
Oh how secrets fester and grow! Especially when coupled with lies and deceit. This sounds like a great read, thanks for the excellent, thorough review!
Isn’t that the truth Stacey! It really was an engaging story, and you are most welcome for the review – thank YOU for the nice compliments and for stopping by!
Sounds like a great coming of age story. You are right sometimes we forget as adults what it was like to be that age. I always think back to The Breakfast Club when Ally Sheedy said that when you get old your heart dies. In a sense it does by non-sense we go through as we get older.
I would love a chance to read this story.
Thanks,
Mary
mary_reiss @ hotmail.com
I couldn’t agree more Mary, unfortunately. There is some magic in reading YA books and being reminded of what (and who) was once so important in our lives, I think… Thanks for your comment and for stopping by!
Wow! Thank you for the great giveaway!
Sounds great. Cannot wait to read.
I have seen this book for quite sometime now and I have my eyes on this one when it’s released. I havent read much reviews about it but reading yours seems like you really liked it. Great review!
Thanks for the giveaway!
fallendream03 AT gmail DOT com
Thanks Jayjay – I did enjoy it, and if you’ve been checking it out, think that you should give it a whirl! Good luck and thanks for visiting/commenting!
This one has been on my radar for a bit, ever since I read about it on another site when they featured it for a WoW post. Great job on the review…sounds like it was worth the wait. Count me in! (Thanks for the chance to win!) Happy reading!
You’re most welcome! Good luck and thanks for stopping by – and I love WoW, I’ve been involved in their blog tours… What a great resource they are!! 🙂
Sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing. I heard about your giveaway via bookblogs.
I’m so excited to read this book! It has been on my TBR list for a while now! Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks for the great giveaway! I’ve been waiting for this book for some time now.
I have just added this title to my ” to read” list. It sounds like a book I would really enjoy.
It’s so hard to grow up these days. I think it’s harder now than when I grew up. And suicide or attempted suicide affects the whole family. I think this sounds like a great story.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
Great giveaway hon, just stopping by to say hi and hope the start of your new year has been great.
Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net
Thanks Lainy – great to see you, thanks for the good wishes, I’m sending the same your way! 🙂
I would love to read & review this book. I would prefer a smashwords coupon, but kindle is fine. If possible, can you send kindle & epub? My email is Hannah.Hummel129@gmail.com. You can find other reviews I have done at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Elizabeth9.
Hannah, the giveaway is for a copy that will be distributed at the publisher’s discretion – Penguin Young Readers Group will be sending the giveaway copies out. If you are interested in a review copy, I suggest you contact the publisher directly – you can find contact information online or email me and I will be happy to send you what I have. 🙂
Thanks so much for the giveaway and the review. I can’t wait to read this.
Looks like a great book, reminds me of Thirteen Reasons Why.
Haha, I’m eighteen and even now I feel like I made such a big deal of everything when I was seventeen 😛 Everything aside, this was a very detailed, interesting review. I can’t wait to read this one!
I’d like to read this book. I hope I win. If I don’t I will definitely be purchasing the book.
I’m not much for depressing stories because they make me feel mentally drained. But this is a really good subject that I want to explore in YA. The thing that really motivates me though is this Nikki character because she sounds like she will be hilarious and genuine. Hopefully I enjoy this book as well!
Nice! I would definitely want to read something that affects me that much! I hadn’t heard of this one before but I usually like contemporary fiction and it sounds really good!
Coolsauce giveaway!
Ana @ BookSpark