Out of Breath - Review

Out of Breath (Breathing #3)

By: Rebecca Donovan

Published: July 2, 2013 by Skyscape

422 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

(Goodreads /Amazon)

Summary:

Emma leaves Weslyn and everyone in it behind to attend Stanford University, just as she always intended. A shell of her former self, she is not the same girl. She is broken, and the only way that she’ll be whole again is through forgiveness. Emma must find a way to forgive herself and recognize her own worth before she can receive the love she deserves. This final installment will have readers holding their breath until the very last page.

MY REVIEW:
Though I was a little sketchy on some details surrounding the ending of book two, and it may have been a detriment to my understanding of what is going on with book three, I still found myself with these two main thoughts through a great portion of the book: "wait - what about Evan?" and  "she better not be using this Cole guy just to fill some void within herself".

Book three takes place two years in the future from where book two leaves us. Emma is in college and is now 19 years old. She hasn't dated anyone since Evan and still has lingering issues even when thinking his name. Her well-meaning pushy friends continue to take her to parties and get her drunk and try to set her up with this guy named Cole. (Side bar: What kind of friends do that knowing her past with her alcoholic mother?!) Though Cole is probably a lot more calm than her inner self reaches for, being the adrenaline junkie she seems to have become, he is a great guy and treats her well. But they don't "date". That's not something she's ready for in a relationship. Basically....their friends with benefits.

I found book three to be exhausting and irritating in the way Emma copes with her problems. After all she's seen and lived through, an alcoholic mother for one, why would she EVER choose to drown her own emotions in alcohol?!? Her friends aiding and even encouraging the behavior was downright disturbing to me. True friends just don't do that.

The ending felt rushed to me as well. This book doesn't have the hot factor that book one had, though really all three of them are quite dark in nature given the issues of Emma. But this book focuses so much on her still struggling with not being able to forgive herself or let Evan forgive her and then all of a sudden - within the last 5% of the book - there's resolution. Anyone looking in from the outside would agree that Emma could benefit from professional help, even Evan suggests it in a round about way. But there's never any mention of that occurring. I don't know....it just seemed almost too "neat" of an ending for there to be peace after just talking to a few people and finally opening up to Evan. She had been on such a destructive path that I feel like, "in the real world", more intervention would've been needed for a healthy relationship between them.

All in all, I liked the ending. I mean, I am a happy ending kind of girl - no matter in what form in presents itself. I would classify this as having a "bumpy happy ending".

Favorite Quotes:
"You've worn guilt like an iron mask, welded to you, because you're convinced that you're to blame for what happens to everyone else. You martyr yourself for things you're not responsible for. And you end up hurting the people you care about because you push them away, believing you're protecting them."

"Living in the mistakes of your past isn't going to do anything but destroy your future."

"Because we need to always be honest, even when it's hard."

Final Rating - 3.5 stars