Keep Breathing

by Alexia Purdy

[Angie]

Despite that single star, Keep Breathing isn't all bad. But it is chock full of way too many contradictions, which were extremely distracting. It also has a few Romance tropes that I'm not a fan of. Luckily, it was a quick read. It's been six years since Penny last saw Seth, when he ripped her heart out and embarrassed her in front of a room of people. Now, he wants to make amends and win her back. Initially, Penny is bitter and wants to break his heart the way he broke hers, but that's just not in her, and she falls back into the abyss that is Seth. I generally really enjoy second chance at love stories, but this one just failed.

Keep Breathing started out fine, but quickly spiraled out of control. As soon as Seth explains what happened between him and Penny, I got annoyed. It's one of those break-ups where one person does it for the other person's good, since they're apparently incapable of making their own decisions. His Visa is expiring, so he has to go back to Moldova. Instead of telling Penny this, he claims he's seeing someone else and doesn't love her anymore. He's worried that she'll drop out of college and follow him, and doesn't want that. First of all, that's her decision, not his! Second of all, way to be super full of yourself, assuming that she's so in love she'll make a rash decision. On top of that, Penny supposedly knows him better than he knows himself, so wouldn't she be aware that he's not a citizen and that there's a chance he may have to leave the country? This whole situation made no sense.

My next main problem with Keep Breathing was children and the story of how Seth's son--Cameron--lost his mother. The first time Seth tells the story, Cameron's mother died from breast cancer after refusing treatment. Then somehow Penny forgets that Seth has a child, despite him telling her like the day before, so he tells the story again. This time she died of leukemia after "useless" treatments. Which is it? That seems like a major detail to overlook. I also just couldn't believe that Seth had to tell Penny twice, since how in the world do you forget something like that?

Other than that, I just don't like children in romance. This also added nothing to the story, since this reveal didn't add any drama. In fact, it added even more contradictions as Penny ponders on the possibility of kids. First, she dreamed of falling in love, getting married, and having kids. Then she never thought about kids until meeting Cameron. Then Seth mentions he remembered her wanting a large family. But then Penny doesn't think she'd be a good mother. And then she thought she'd have kids by now. What?! She either wants kids (and thought she'd have one already) or they've never crossed her mind before. You can't have it both ways. Another thing I can't believe was overlooked.

Keep Breathing really needed more editing. It was hard to stay in the story when the story keeps changing. I won't even go into the fact that Seth and Penny reunite on a Ferris wheel despite her being afraid of heights, yet went to ride it alone. Whatever.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.