Rachel Rambles About Breathe

Breathe by Sarah Crossan
From Goodreads:

Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe . . . 

The world is dead.
The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

ALINA
has been stealing for a long time. She’s a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she’s never been caught before. If she’s careful, it’ll be easy. If she’s careful.

QUINN
should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it’s also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn’t every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.

BEA
wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they’d planned a trip together, the two of them, and she’d hoped he’d discover her out here, not another girl.

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

First of all: WHAT A GORGEOUS COVER.

Second: WHAT AN AMAZING BOOK.

Breathe is such a fascinating concept. Basically, the world has run out of oxygen because those stupid humans kept cutting down trees. So the main characters live in a pod, which is a big glass dome where the people in charge can control the amount of oxygen everyone receives. It is one of the most compelling and believable futuristic societies I've ever read.

The story is told from three different perspectives, and each character comes from such a different place. Quinn is a Premium, which means he's rich and is allowed to use more air than everyone else so he can exercise and stuff. Bea comes from a poor family, and she is determined to get a job and become a Premium so she can take care of herself and her parents. Alina is a member of the Resistance, and when another Resistance member disappears, she has to leave the Pod so that they don't come for her next.

I absolutely love the way these characters interact with each other. They are all so different, and they complement each other really well. Throughout the book, you get to know each of the main characters, and by the end I felt like they were my friends. I adore all three of them.

This book kind of terrifies me, to be honest. Everyone has always taken oxygen for granted, as something we don't need to worry about because we'll always have plenty of it. But what if that wasn't true? What if there were no trees to create oxygen?

SCARY, RIGHT?

Breathe has quickly made its way to my favorites shelf (if I had a favorites self because that's not actually how I organize my books but whatever you get the point). I think this book is going to become huge and ALL THE PEOPLE are going to read it and love it and think about it forever and ever because it is awesome. So yeah, you should probably read it.

-Rachel