Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)

by Rebecca Donovan

Out of Breath by Rebecca Donovan is the much-anticipated, explosive and stunning finale in The Breathing Series.

Reason to Breathe and Barely Breathing , the first two books in the trilogy, are both US bestsellers. All fans of Jodi Picoult and new adult authors such Colleen Hoover, Tammara Webber and Abbi Glines will love Rebecca Donovan's incredible writing. A must-read.

Those she trusted betrayed her. Her broken heart still wounds her. Only love can save her.

Emma can't even think about trusting others in her life again. She can't let anyone in, not when she knows all they'll find is darkness. But some people won't let go; won't take no for an answer and Emma has to decide whether the hidden truths and painful secrets are enough to let go of the possibility of love. Forever.

www.facebook.com/thebreathingseries
www.rebeccadonovan.com
@BeccaDonovan

• ISBN10: 0141348461
• ISBN13: 9780141348469
• Publish Date: 2 July 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 11 October 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 496
• Language: English

Reviews

[Pigpen.Reads]

The Breathing Series

I think overall this series wasn't that great. The first book held my attention. The last two, I found myself skimming through each page. There was a lot of drama for this poor girl. Mostly, I wanted to scream "just talk already! Use your words!"

I don't know how to feel about this series. Reason to Breathe was a good debut novel, but it missed the mark. Barely Breathing was amazing and made me extremely emotional. Out of Breath was my least favourite book in the Breathing Series.

In Barely Breathing, I was able to fully connect with Emma and that made me love Barely Breathing to bits and pieces. In Out of Breath, Emma is a shell of her former self and is drowning in her own sorrow. Because of this she loses her sunshine and starts doing things that the old Emma wouldn't do. I understood that Emma was broken and the extent of her pain needed to be shown, but it was difficult for me to like her as a character.

Many of the old secondary characters come back into the picture, but many new characters are introduced. I felt as though too many new characters were introduced into the story and as much as I loved them, I felt as though they weren't developed enough. Sara is still the best friend that every girl dream of, Emma's roommates are hilarious and Evan's friends brought some much needed humour to the story. A new character, Cole, gets introduced in the story as Emma's love interest. I felt as though he was a good guy, but he WASN'T EVAN and his relationship with Emma was more of a sexual relationship than a loving one.

Evan is also MIA for half of the story. Even although I understood that there was consequences from the previous book that needed to continue in this one, I just wanted there to be more Evan. When he does appear, he gets his own POV, which I should have been happy about, except that I wasn't. His POV was in italics, which made my brain hurt. It also confused me. Evan and Emma have their alternating POV's in the same chapter, but their voices sounded similar. I would be reading the chapter from Evan's POV and then it would jump to Emma's POV. I had to keep on checking if the writing was in that brain-torturing italics or not to see whose POV the story was in at that particular time.

I did however, enjoy the manner in which this story was handled. Rebecca Donovan doesn't shy away from abuse, a serious issue that affects someone's life and the aftermath of it. The realism of Emma's brokenness, even although I hated her character, and her healing process was what made the book extremely enjoyable and the last page of Emma's story, believable.

[Kelly]

2.5 Stars
I was taken with the story of Emma and the emotional turmoil that she has never been able to escape from. Her father dying in her birthday, her alcoholic mother blaming her with vicious insults, her aunt physically and mentally abusing her, while Emma quietly continued to allow the abuse to continue. Out Of Breath takes place two years after Emma walked away from Evan, and Emma isn't the same girl anymore... She's worse.

Perhaps it may be harsh, but before I had even begun Out Of Breath, Emma was grating in my nerves. She's a tormented girl who can't save herself, but needs constant reassurance and attention, as she clearly doesn't have the emotional capacity to care for herself. Listen honey, if your that disturbed, a man isn't going to miraculously cure your insanity. The highlight were the remaining few chapters, and I wish I has skipped the rest. Perhaps I've reached my tolerance for broken, abused girls who wallow in self pity... But seemingly find enough confidence to find a random male for sex.