The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah AlexanderMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The trope of teens dealing with loss in destructive and questionable ways continues with The Art of Not Breathing, a novel that deals with a girl's continuing quest to move on from the drowning death of her twin brother by meeting a dreamy, edgy boy and taking up freediving.
Under normal circumstances, I'd have a ton to say on the matter, but this almost has a paint-by-numbers aspect to it. Take a protagonist, make her lose X to Y, insert Z love interest that exposes her to A activity, and add in a few risky scenes and we're all set. This is a very straightforward, mainstream approach to a well-worn narrative.
The Start of Me and You does this much, much better, and with characters you actually want to root for along the way. This just feels a little melodramatic throughout, but will likely appeal to the readers who are actively seeking books like this. If you're looking for a little more meat, though, you'll have to look elsewhere.
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