This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
Emma isn’t a typical sixteen year old, she doesn’t hang out with friends, shopping and gossiping, nor does she date boys or go to parties. Emma studies hard, pushing herself more and more, and excels at sport because this is the only way Emma knows how to escape from the life she leads at the moment. Emma attends high school but instead of enjoying her youth, she hides away, trying to disappear. She doesn’t really live – she exists, biding her time before she can move away from college, away from the clutches of her abusive aunt. Then Emma can start to really live, to experience the kind of life her peers take for granted. She’ll be able to date and accept party invitations and have fun, but until then she will continue to blend into the background, counting down the days until she can make a bid for freedom.
Then Evan arrives at school. Good looking and oozing confidence, Evan could have focused on any of the girls at school, but he doesn’t focus on just any girl. It is Emma who catches his attention, who intrigues him. Evan is persistent, refusing to be deterred no matter what Emma throws at him. He is determined to win Emma round and her resolve starts to crumble.
Emma does have one friend at school. Sara knows Emma’s secret, the life she tries to conceal from those around her. She trusts Sara to keep her secret, but can she trust Evan? She barely knows him yet she can’t seem to keep away from him. Deciding the best way to keep Evan from discovering the truth about her is to keep him at arm’s length, Emma pushes him away. But staying away from Evan becomes increasingly difficult when Emma realises she is falling in love for the first time.
Reason To Breathe is the heart breaking tale of a girl struggling to survive. On the surface, Emma is a normal teenage girl. She appears withdrawn as she pushes herself to achieve the very best grades she can but nobody would guess the reason why she is so determined to get into a good college. Emma’s home life is disturbing to say the least. After her father died and her mother couldn’t cope and turned to alcohol, Emma was sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who make it quite clear she isn’t welcome in their home. While it is mainly Emma’s aunt who instigates the abuse – both physically and mentally – her uncle turns a blind eye and allows it to happen. Emma’s uncle actually angered me more than her abusive aunt. The aunt was clearly unhinged, but he did nothing to stop the abhorrent treatment of his niece, piling the blame on Emma for somehow provoking his wife’s violent outbursts.
As well as obviously feeling sorry for Emma, I also felt for her friend, Sara. Sara knew what was happening, though Emma was vague on the details, but couldn’t do anything to help. While Reason To Breathe is quite simple in style, it is very emotional at times. It could have done with a few less ‘twisting stomachs’ and Emma’s heart did an awful lot of stopping and starting, but other than that I found it to be an captivating and moving story. As the first in a trilogy, it would be interesting to see what happens next in Emma’s eventful life.
8/10
Reason To Breathe was published by Penguin Paperback on 17th January.