I’ve been a Jennifer Niven fan since reading All the Bright Places. If you haven’t read that one yet, please read it! But don’t watch the Netflix film first…trust me, the book is better. ALWAYS. Anyhow, I’ve read all of her other books, and this new one is now my favorite! I listened to it on audio, and I felt like I was wandering around the island right alongside Claude and Miah.
Breathless is the captivating story of Claudine Henry. It is a realistic fiction story, packed with a diverse cast of characters, and a coming of age story which tackles the subjects of divorce, sexuality, friendship, loss, and grief with great care. Claude is the type of character that readers will never forget.
I love this story of Claude and how she handles so many heartbreaking things in her 18th year of life. After her parents suddenly inform her that they are splitting up as soon as she graduates, she is whisked away to a remote, albeit beautiful, island to stay with her mom for the summer. Away from her best friend, away from her possible new love interest, to a place of strangers and new beginnings. It is on the island she meets a boy who wears no shoes, a tumultuous past, & an irresistible nature. A boy who will change her life forever – Jeremiah (Miah) Crew. The story is heartbreaking but also so very beautiful. It is the story of first love and friendship, but also of family and forgiveness. I laughed, cried, and smiled like a goon while reading it. I hope you love it as much as I did!
It’s my favorite Jennifer Niven book yet. What is even better is that it’s based loosely on what happened to the author when she was 18, and that she also met her own Jeremiah Crew when she went to the island to research and write this book, and now they are married. How wonderful. I highly recommend this book!
A big thank you to the @prhaudio Volumes app for the complimentary ALC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Librarian Laura 
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