Breathless by Jennifer Niven
Niven, J. (2020). Breathless. Ember. ISBN 9781524701994
🚨Content warning: Alcohol, Drowning, Talk of Sex, Sex Scenes, Suicidal Thoughts🚨
In Breathless, we follow Claude as she finishes high school and faces many new situations. Claude's after-high-school plans don't go as planned when she finds out her parents aregetting divorced and is sent to a remote island to live on for the summer with her mom. On this remote island, she meets the mysterious Jeremiah Crew, who she ends with sleeping with. As she tries to convince herself that what's happening between her and Miah is just sex, nothing more, she and Miah try to enjoy their little time together before the summer ends.
Breathless was a highly anticipated read because I love Jennifer Niven's other two highly popular novels, All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe. After reading Breathless, I found it to fall short of my expectations. The first 50 pages are slow, and not much happens plot-wise until Claude leaves for the island with her mom. Even when Claude is on the island, the plot only moves forward once she meets Miah. The relationship that she and Miah have isn't perfect, and that is 100% okay. It shouldn't be perfect since this is her first real relationship, and both characters have their life problems they are dealing with. Despite being warned about it, I was unprepared for all the sex talk and scenes in this book. It felt as if, at times, sex was all that Claude thought about, and that made me almost DNF (did not finish) the book. Other than all the sex talk and scenes, most of the book was written well. The relationship she and Miah share is special. You get to read quotes such as
"Here is me. All the messy, unattractive things that I keep locked up inside. Every last ugly, broken, complicated piece. And he didn't bat an eye. He just opened his mouth and showed me some of his own messy pieces. And instead of running, he kissed me." (Niven, p. 140)
Quotes like these are sprinkled in the story, letting you see that Claude and Miah care about each other. So much so that they are willing to bear their darkest and ugliest parts to each other, and even then, they still have feelings for each other. Quotes like that are the reason I keep reading. The book's ending is bittersweet as the summer ends, and so does Claude and Miah's time together. You will finish the book rooting for them to meet again.
Jennifer Niven has a way with words. If you were a fan of Breathless, I highly recommend All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I read that book the year it came out in 2015, and it was and still is a book I recommend everyone should read! You can see the story come to life with the movie version in 2020, starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith. Just be prepared with a box of tissues!
Breathless has mixed reviews. Kirkus describes Breathless as "A sex-positive summer romance worth reading." @Megshelf from Tiktok stated she felt "nothing huge really happened throughout the book," while Sophie from Beware of the Reader blog said, "The story was vibrant, alive, and I wanted to walk on these beaches, looking for old turtles and shark teeth." Make your own decision and share your thoughts in the comments below! If you liked Breathless, I highly recommend you read All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe, which are both novels by Jennifer Niven! If you like them, make sure you let her know as she might comment back to you as she has done with other readers in the past, just like she did with me in 2017 when I read All the Bright Places. A photo of our tweets can be seen below!
- Jennifer Niven is a #1 award-winning author
Meg. (n.d.). Tiktok. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@megshelf/video/6939439148268817670?_r=1&_t=8dbdE5Xk8je
Niven, J. (2020, September 29). Breathless. Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jennifer-niven/breathless-niven/
Sophie. (2020, November 1). Breathless by Jennifer Niven . review - beware of the reader. Beware Of The Reader. https://www.bewareofthereader.com/breathless-by-jennifer-niven-review/
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