Barely Breathing (Breathing, #2)

by Rebecca Donovan

My emotions are a mess right now! Hopefully I'll be able to say everything that I need to say about this book, before I start blabbering nonsense.

I felt like giving Emma a humongous hug. She has been through so much. She is dealing with the physical abuse that she endured in Reason to Breathe and in this book, she suffers emotional abuse at the hands of her own mother. I connected more with Emma in Barely Breathing. I understood her pain and flaws and I admired her bravery and strength.

The secondary characters were written with so much of depth. Rachel, Emma's mother, made me angry, but I couldn't help but sympathize with her (even although I didn't want to). Sara was an amazing best friend that every girls wishes that they could have. There is a new character that is introduced in the story, Jonathan, and I still don't know how I feel about him (Right now, it's a fierce loathing, but who knows whether that might change). I kept on feeling that there was something sinister and creepy about him (But I won't tell you whether my gut was on point or not). He is introduced as Rachel's much younger boyfriend and plays a huge role in Barely Breathing that I don't want to talk about, because of the fear that I might divulge spoilers.

I do feel that I need to devote an entire paragraph to Evan and his relationship with Emma. Evan is a sweetheart and the ultimate boyfriend material. He was always cool, calm and collected. He was always there for Emma: to listen, to understand and to support. I'm a true believer that love is shown not only by your words, but also by your actions. Evan's swoony actions and words showed that he really loved Emma. Evan and Emma complement each other and I shipped their relationship.This is why I hate Jonathan so much. He got in between the most perfect couple ever and destroyed their relationship.

I was so emotionally invested in this book! Every little feeling that I had, turned into a roller coaster ride of overwhelming emotions. I felt as though this aspect made Barely Breathing more relatable than Reason to Breathe.

This book ends in another cliffhanger (WHHYYY?). There were so many twists and turns, revealed secrets and a continuous feeling that something worse was going to happen, even when certain scenes in the novel, were light and happy. If Rebecca Donovan wrote a psychological thriller, I would definitely read it. I will be sitting here, barely breathing (pun intended) and waiting for Out of Breath.