Breathe by Abbi Glines

About the book

Breathe is the first book in the New Adult Sea Breeze series by Abbi Glines. The book was published by Simon and Schuster on 29^th August and the book is 352 pages long.

Plot Synopsis

Sadie White’s life is far from easy. Her single mother struggles to get by even with a decent job but now she’s pregnant again and ready to give birth any minute, she can’t cope with working any more. Sadie is forced to go to work in her place just to be able to pay the bills but she doesn’t know she’ll be working in the house of Jax Stone, one of the hottest teen rock stars around. She’s determined not to let his presence phase her though as money is more important than a hot boy.

However, Jax can’t help but be drawn to Sadie, the normal girl who doesn’t throw herself at him (because that’s what every other girl seems to do). But, Jax knows that in his life of work, relationships just don’t work and he knows he won’t be able to have Sadie for keeps. By the end of the summer though, Jax and Sadie are inseparable. Surely there is a way to make things work?

What I thought

So far, I have read all of Abbi Glines’ Sea Breeze and Too Far novels apart from the first book, which I read last. I know that might sound a little strange but it was one of the books published later on as the rights hadn’t been acquired. Luckily though, the books don’t actually need to be read in the correct order, only in order for specific character stories.

Sadie was a character who I loved from the very beginning. She has a really rough time of it at home with her very pregnant mother being whiney and annoying, and not really being a mother to Sadie at all. Sadie comes across as a character older than she actually is because of the responsibility she has to take on. When her mother finally gets too pregnant, Sadie has to go to work in her place or the bills just won’t get paid. I really did feel quite sorry for Sadie because of what she had to do. Luckily, her job is working at a young rock star’s house and she could have ended up doing much worse.

I also really liked Jax. Although a rock star used to living a life of luxury, he wasn’t nearly as cocky as I thought he would have been. While he knew he was good looking and talented he was still a really nice guy. From the moment he arrives at his Sea Breeze home, Jax shows that he cares about his staff and the people around him which was really nice to see. It made a change for the male lead to not being an asshole player who didn’t really care about much around him.

The plot revolves around Sadie and Jax’s initial attraction to each other and how they both deal with it. Neither character is in a position for a relationship that can last but neither can deny their attraction to the other. Abbi Glines writes a wonderful story about two people getting to know one another and their friendship growing into something more. I really enjoyed watching Sadie and Jax’s relationship progress from one level to another. They were extremely sweet together and as they were from quite different worlds, they each had a lot to learn about one another.

However, although the characters and the plot were great, the writing wasn’t as good. The dialogue was very stiff a lot of the time and it didn’t read like an actual conversation between two teenagers/ young adults. The style of writing and unrealistic dialogue made Breathe really hard to read at times because it didn’t sound like the characters talking. Their personalities didn’t shine through like I know they could have at certain points and each character was made to seem so much older than they really were.

Due to the dialogue problems, I have to knock a this down from a five star book to a four. Other than that though, I was highly engrossed in Sadie and Jax’s story.