Book Review: Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala

Don't Breathe a Word
Author: Holly Cupala
Pages: 320 pages
Reading Level: YA
Release Date: January 3rd 2012
Review Source: HarperTEEN
Available: Amazon
 / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound

Summary: (from goodreads) Joy Delamere is suffocating...

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.

Joy can take his words—tender words, cruel words—until the night they go too far.

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe…if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.

Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.

Don't Breathe a Word doesn't release till January but don't wait that long to order it. I picked it up from my shelf to read because it did have a release date this month but it was changed to January. I open the book with a very open mind since I knew going in this is not a genre I usually read or care for to much. Well Don't Breathe a Word made me a believer. What genre can it be called exactly, I would say a realistic contemporary fiction. Its a story that I'm sure is happening to someone everyday out in our world. It saddens me but this books sheds some light that they might have a chance after all. Holly Cupala writing is genius. She wrote not worrying if the faint at heart would turn their backs on the book instead she wrote from her heart and this novel shows that. You feel every emotion, you experience every action and you love with all your being. 

Joy is your typical teen, with her cute boyfriend that live in a nice part of town. Her only flaw is that Joy has asthma. In everyone's eyes Joy is at her happiest, while only Joy know' she is suffocating. Joy's boyfriend is a cruel person, that has everyone believing he is the good guy. Joy has learn to take what he throws at her until that one night he went overboard. Joy has decided that to be free from him or not cause any trouble to her family, she will have to disappear. She heads off to live in the streets of Seattle and hope to come across the one boy she met once in the street. Creed left a impression that one night when he told her to find him when she is ready. Well guess what, Joy "Triste" is ready and finds him, or you can say Creed found her and saved her. Its not easy to live in the street. You have to know who avoid and where you can stay. "Triste" hits many bumps along the way. "Triste" begins to build character and even though they are slumming it and eating trash, "Triste" feels that she can finally breathe. That is until one day she sees her brother and once again their are poster of "Triste" all over looking for her. What will "Triste or will it be Joy do and is Creed part of her future plans. 

This book is not for the faint of heart. Be ready to feel Joy's pain. Now you might say, why do I want to read something that will make me sad or angry, because of Holly's writing alone. Its amazing and worth the suffering. Now Holly ends the book perfectly but I wont say how. Expect your heart to smile in those last pages. This book teaches us to understand abuse, family and our strengths. There are so many words I can use to describe Don't Breathe a Word, so just saying its a novel that will scare you yet captivate you and completely compel you.