ARC Review: Breathe Into Me by Sara Fawkes

Breathe Into Me by Sara Fawkes

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Expected publication: April 8th 2014 by St. Martin's Press

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How did my life get so broken?  It’s a question Lacey St. James asks herself every day.  Stuck raising her little brother in a trailer park while she works a dead end job at a grocery store, she has a stalker exboyfriend, a bad reputation, and no way out.  

And then, she meets Everett, who changes her entire existence.

Everett is an outsider who’s housesitting his family’s mansion off the coast, and for reasons Lacey can’t understand, he’s completely transfixed by her. He seems determined to show her that life can offer more than she’d ever hoped for, if only she believes in herself.  She desperately yearns to trust him, but what happens when she finds out that everything he’s told her is a lie? 

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This book follows the same New Adult pattern as I've read countless times. There is nothing new here. The story has become so depressing I'm considering putting the news on to hear some happy news. At this time I'm at 72% and don't know if I can read any further.

Some situations in the story have come across as so unbelievable that I just can't continue.

The premise is pretty bleak. Lacey has been verbally and emotionally abused, raped, and still lives in the same town as these other horrible people. She's trying to get on with her life but as she keeps saying - its a small town. As in, everyone knows everyone else or is connected somehow. The part I've just read about her visit to the police station has me so angry because I just can't believe that what happens next and that turn of events would actually happen in real life. Not where rape is concerned. Laws are in place for this no matter where you live.

As I wrote, the pattern is standard NA. The only person Lacey seems to trust is hot new boy in town, Emerson. In time she turns to him to aide her woe. Along with that I'm also getting tired of the same titles to books like this as in "...into me, ...on me, ...into you, ...around you" etc. I think the publishing companies should change their advertising tactics and become more original. The books could be mistaken for being in the same series by different authors.

I'm also wondering if the more horrific the story, the more stars the book gets. An extra star here for the writing. The author does that very well. I know readers are probably wondering why I still read NA. I'm hoping soon I'll come across an original gem :)

- CBx