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Monday, June 08, 2009

My review of Breathe by Lisa Tawn Bergren

ABOUT THE BOOK

To make a new life, she'll have to learn how to breathe again...

By the time Dominic and Moira St. Clair get their ailing sister, Odessa, to Colorado Springs in the winter of 1883, she is nearly dead. Odessa has been seriously aling for the past year from consumption, an illness that claimed the lives of four of her younger brothers, prompting her father, to send his only surviving children west to chase the cure.

Moira is beautiful and dangerously headstrong; and pugnacious Dominic is charged with establishing a new arm of the family business--a business he doesn't want.
Several days after her arrival, Odessa witnesses what she fears is the murder of miner Sam O’Toole, friend and neighbor to the charming Bryce McAllan.

What’s more, Sam leaves her a poem containing clues that seem to direct her to his mine, which is purported to carry a fantastic vein of silver. But if she is ever to rise from her bed again, she must first concentrate on conquering the giant that threatens her─consumption. Indeed, she must learn to breathe again─daring to embrace her life, her future, and hope in her God.

My review:

Breathe was a decent story. But it wasn't great. It seemed to last a bit too long for me. I finished it and that means it didn't bore me to tears. There were situations where the author did a great job when it came to tension and showing abusive situations, and there were times when I was worried the characters would get hurt. But I didn't connect with them as much as I would have liked to. I did appreciate the realism when it came to romantic scenes including those after marriage. Those scenes made me smile. I also appreciated that the ending wasn't rushed. But the story was a bit too drawn out, in my opinion, and would have been better if some of the storyline had been drawn tighter so that it didn't lag in some areas. The feel of the story was more of a mystery than a western, too. I would recommend this book, just not with a lot of enthusiasm.

Breathe was published by David C Cook and released in June 2009.

2 comments:

Linda said...

Just the fact that you feel this is more a mystery than western, draws me to the book. The picture on the cover has drawn me all along. Thanks for your review.

Anonymous said...

I had planned to read this book. I'm glad to hear it's not bad! Thanks!

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