Review: Room to Breathe - a story of courage and recovery
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 11, 2012
This book pulled me in from the very first line: "Most days I can almost forget someone murdered my sister."Jasmine wanted to be an ordinary teenager, like everyone else, but the fact that her sister's murderer had never been caught and the incessant media attention on her and her family meant they were always on edge. She and her family moves from Burbank, California to a small town in Louisiana. For the first time, she could be anonymous, the new girl in school, unburdened from her past.I cheered for Jasmine as she made new friends, took on a lot of responsibility for her younger siblings, and falls for the hottest guy on campus. Little things disturbed me and I knew the drama would not be over. However the author painted life in the small town vividly and still gave time for pranks, pep rallies, and normal girltalk. She contrasted the familiarity of the small town where residents knew each other for generations and were often related, with the impersonal atmosphere of California.Once I hit 55% I knew I wouldn't sleep until I completed the book. The villain was cold and calculating, and the story unfolded in an edge-of-your-seat cat and mouse game. The narrator's voice was authentic and engaging, and I absolutely loved the boys in the story, from the loquacious Trenton to the bratty younger brother to the heart-throb boyfriend.Extremely well done and fast paced, with a heroine you can't help loving and rooting for.