Breathing

Breathing
By: Cheryl Renee Herbsman

What if the guy who took your breath away was the only one who could help you breathe?

Savannah would be happy to spend the summer in her coastal Carolina town lying in a hammock reading her beloved romance novels and working at the library. But then she meets Jackson. Once they lock eyes, she’s convinced he’s the one—her true love, her soul mate, a boy different from all the rest. And at first it looks like Savannah is right. Jackson abides by her mama’s strict rules, and stays by her side during a hospitalization for severe asthma, which Savannah becomes convinced is only improving because Jackson is there. But when he’s called away to help his family—and seems uncertain about returning—Savannah has to learn to breathe on her own, both literally and figuratively.

summary from book

My Rating: 4/5

This book was very adorable. I love stories that revolve around first love. There's an innocence to it all yet there are so many strongly intense and fairly new emotions floating around. I think this book captured all of that perfectly. Although Savannah was at times a tad selfish and over the top when regarding Jackson and their situation, I could understand where she was coming from and could see her side of things.

I have to say that I loved the dialect in Breathing. I've read books where characters have accents, yet they're only utilized in written dialogue. This however was nothing like that. The slang and such was utilized all the way through in this novel from spoken words to unspoken thoughts. I especially loved the saying "something fierce." (i.e "I was blushing something fierce.") I think I smiled every time I read it, it's so cute.

Anyways, back to the story. I deeply enjoyed the relationship between Savannah and her mom Porscha. The mom was probably one of my favourite characters in this book. The mother-daughter relationship felt very real and I enjoyed their scenes together a lot. Also the relationship between Savannah and her brother Dog was very realistic as well. The banter between the two of them was fun to read and spot on.

I really enjoyed this book, and I like where Cheryl Renee Herbsman took it. I think it was well paced and drawn out. I enjoyed it a lot.