Barely Breathing

Rebecca Donovan has done it again. A sequel to the mind-bendingly amazing first book in the series, we trace Emma's path from surviving to reconnecting with her mother. She makes a decision that is dumbfounding at first, but then I realize why—from my own experience. She moves in with Mom, a woman she has barely ever known, to grasp desperately for the mothering she never had. Mom's (Rachel's) alcoholism never went away though. To say that fixing things with her is complicated is a gross understatement. Evan and Sara can only watch helplessly as Emma and Rachel are drawn into the dark whirlpool of a past that won't let them go, grasping for Emma's hand every time she goes past. Then, enter Jonathan. He starts out as Rachel's boyfriend, but there are hidden depths to him that only one other person ever really understands: Emma. He has a past mired in pure pain. It only gets more complicated from there.

As a writer, I stand in awe of what Donovan has done here. People, tension, events, and subplots pass as tenderly as a breeze, or as hard as a thunderstorm, completely seamlessly. Romance is less prominent here than in Reason to Breathe, but drama is definitely not. The suspense is riveting. Descriptions, emotions and actions are rendered so well you can't see the joins. This is a work stupendous fluidity, as the depths and back stories of each character are gradually revealed, and the way they act begins to make sense. Emma is in trouble. Everything else in my life is on hold until I finish the series.