Review: Breathe

Breathe (Breathe #1)
by Sarah Crossan
Published October 2nd 2012
by Greenwillow
ARC from Edelweiss

Summary 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?

Thoughts:
The book is told from the point of view of three characters; Bea, Alina and Quinn and are divided into five parts. To be honest, I'm growing tired of the whole dystopian trend. There are some that truly outshine all the others but most of the books have been using the tried and true plotline over and over again.

A government which oppressed its citizens, secrets unfolding, teenagers fighting for survival, strong female character and a love triangle in the mix. Yes Breathe has all of that and I nearly give it up by Part II since I did not particularly enjoy the love triangle which was set up very early in the story. Bea; a poor teenager living in the Pod has been in love with her best friend Quinn for the longest time. But Quinn being the quintessential spoiled rich guy fell hard for the lovely Alina at first sight.

Alina is actually a member of the Resistance; a secret movement planning to toppled the current government who is controlling the Pod and creating the manufactured air. When one of her mission goes astray, Alina is forced to flee the Pod using Quinn's privilege and status as a Premium. In the Pod, Premiums are the rich and powerful elite who live in Zone One while Bea and Alina live in Zone Three and are known as the auxiliaries.

I found the main characters to be extremely frustrating especially Alina and Quinn. Alina is supposed to be this strong, feisty heroine but I found her to be rude, selfish and ungrateful most of the time. And Quinn just reminds me of Peeta from The Hunger Games. A nice good looking guy who is a bit clueless as to what's really going on around him.

As much as I hate the two main characters, I'm glad that the author did not waste any time in developing the actual conflict or prolonging the so-called secret of the sinister Breathe corporation. The secret is out by the middle of the story and what's left are for the characters to deal with the outcomes of their actions. The action-packed tone of the book sort of make up for the lack of interesting characters. And by the end of the story, I'm only rooting for the survival of Bea due to her kindness and compassion for others and was so glad that Quinn finally realised that she's the right one for him. I definitely read the rest of the series just to find out what's going to happen next.

Verdict: 3 stars.
In my Debut Author Reading Challenge 
Available on: Amazon