Book Review: Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Breathe
Breathe #1
Author: Sarah Crossan
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Dystopian
Release Date: October 2nd 2012
Review Source: Harper Teen
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe . . .

The world is dead.

The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

ALINA

has been stealing for a long time. She’s a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she’s never been caught before. If she’s careful, it’ll be easy. If she’s careful.

QUINN

should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it’s also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn’t every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.

BEA

wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they’d planned a trip together, the two of them, and she’d hoped he’d discover her out here, not another girl.

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Can you even begin to think of a life where we have to pay for the oxygen we breathe everyday, what would happen to us if we did? Chaos! In Breathe Sarah writes a story like its never been written before and the message is loud and clear. We need to conserve and take care of our planet. It's such a talent when an author can write fiction to entertain her reader but also get an important message across without over bearing the story itself. Just look at the cover of Breathe, this is possibly what our planet can look like if we don't begin to care more. Are you ready to start walking around with oxygen tanks and mask on all day, that's if you can even afford it!

Breathe is told in 3 different point of views. You follow along Alina, Quinn and Bea as they deal with the everyday life of living with manufactured oxygen. The world has been killed to the point that no trees exist and we need fake oxygen to live. The people are separated in sections depending on how wealthy they are and how much they can afford when it comes to buying oxygen. In this world you have to watch or see if your can afford to do any strenuous activities that would require tons of oxygen, if it does and you can't afford, its simple you CAN'T do it! To say you want to run in a marathon, that's for the rich to indulge in. 

Quinn and Bea are long time friends from different classes. Quinn has never had to worry about how much oxygen he uses and Bea well she has. Bea secretly has a huge crush on Quinn and she hopes he does too. Her parents hope she can marry Quinn to live a life without worry. So when Quinn plans a trip for them both to travel out to the Outlands, she jumps on the opportunity. This is finally her chance to be alone with Quinn. Thing about plans they don't always work out the way you expect. That's when Alina comes into the picture. She appears at the crossing line and Quinn and Bea have to help her get across. They end up traveling together and trying to figure out what is going on with Alina. She seems to be running away from something or someone. Will the oxygen that Quinn has last for all 3 of them to keep traveling in the Outlands? What will be discovered or uncovered while this adventure is taking place? Simple, read and find out. 

I LOVEDDDDD everything about this book. The book feels so real, like it can happen and everything Sarah wrote makes sense. The characters play their parts very well. You literally feel like you step into these pages and are traveling along with Quinn, Bea & Alina. I can't wait for the next installment to come out next year.