Breathe (Gabby)

Breathe by Sarah Crossan; reviewed by Gabby R.

"The book Breathe by Sarah Crossan describes a world where oxygen levels in the atmosphere have fallen to dangerously low levels. Breathing is no longer a right, but a privilege that has to be paid for. In this dystopian society all the people live inside of a large glass dome, where the company Breathe sells air to the citizens. The book, Breathe, follows the story of three different characters, Alina, Quinn and Bea. Alina is working with the “resistance.” The resistance is an organization trying to bring up the oxygen levels in the atmosphere to once again to make it livable outside of the dome. Quinn is one of the wealthy residents in the dome, and Quinn’s father is the head of Breathe. Quinn has the unlikely friendship of Bea. Because Bea is a much more of a lower class citizen it is rare and unlikely for someone like Quinn to want to be around her. Bea’s family does not have much money and she is always struggling to stay healthy and in shape. Exercise is illegal for her because of the excess air required. Bea and Quinn decide to go on a camping trip outside of the dome, which requires oxygen tanks and masks, but at the last minute Alina shows up and Bea and Quinn decide to help her escape from the persecution by the dome’s government. Bea and Quinn want to help her reach her destination with many twists and turns along the way. I found this book interesting and exciting. I had a really hard time putting this book down; I’d tell myself that I would stop at the end of the chapter, but by the end of the chapter a new turn would have been introduced and I just had to read more. This book really made me think about how much trees are related to each individual person’s right to breathe. In Breathe the low levels of oxygen are caused by humans cutting down forests. The average person breathes about 6,286,920 times a year. And with about 7.019 billion people in the world, humans really do use a lot of oxygen. Breathe is a thrilling dystopian novel that I think all young adults would enjoy. I would give this book about four out of five stars. Breathe is a great read." - Gabby R.

If this book sounds good to you, read more here! FYI, this book doesn't actually come out until October 2012, but we're all eagerly awaiting its release!

This review is part of our Summer Reading Challenge.