Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. 

Love them.

Four years ago Kacey Cleary's life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside the wreckage, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, twenty year old Kacey and her fifteen year old sister Livie escape Grand Rapids, Michigan to start over in Miami.

With little money and even less food, Kacey needs to figure out how to get by. But Kacey's not worried. She can handle anything - anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.

 

Star Rating

 

I received this book from Simon & Schuster, through Net Galley, for an open and honest review. 

"Just breathe," my mum would say. "Ten, tiny breaths...Seize them. Feel them. Love them."

What the hell does a tiny breath do? Why not a deep breath? Why ten? Why not three or five or twenty?

Ten Tiny Breaths tells the story of Kacey Cleary, a troubled and damaged young woman struggling to cope with life after the harrowing accident that killed both her parents, best friend and boyfriend. The explosive opening chapter was very reminiscent of some of my favourite YA novels such as 'The Memory Game' and 'The Lovely Bones' with the reader being taken straight to the scene of the accident. Told in the first person, through the eyes of Kacey, the reader is thrown slap bang into blind panic. "Dim lights...voices...I see them. I hear them. The smashed windshield. The twisted metal. Dark smears. Liquid pools. Blood. Everywhere."

Sufficiently gripped from the start, the reader is taken on a journey with Kacey to discover how she will ever heal and overcome this terrible tragedy.K.A. Tucker cleverly reveals this process through the use of chapter names. The story is organised into nine stages: Comfortably Numb, Denial, Resistance, Acceptance, Dependence, Withdrawal, Breakdown, Recovery, Forgiveness. These headings set the reader up with an idea of where the plot is going and I found myself racing through to find out what the 'breakdown' was going to entail for Kacey and Livie.

Eager for a new start, Kacey and Livie move to a run-down apartment block in Miami which is where Kacey meets Trent Emerson with his 'smouldering blue eyes and deep dimples.' As with nearly all YA novels, the story wouldn't be complete without a love interest and Kacey very quickly falls deeply in love with her handsome, new neighbour. Trent tries with all his might to make Kacey smile again but it becomes clear that he has his own demons that he needs to resolve first.

As explained in the synopsis,

'Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey's guarded heart - even if it means that an explosive secret could shatter both their worlds.'

Where this novel fell down was in the revelation of Trent's secret. I am usually one of those people who doesn't see things coming, who always fails to anticipate the twist ending to a good film. However, I did see Trent's secret coming. Very early on! So when the 'explosive' secret was revealed it was more of a 'meh' moment for me.

However, this is still a great novel packed full of emotional ups and downs. Anyone who has undergone similar traumas in their life will, without a doubt, be able to empathise and resonate with Kacey's story. A recommended read for lovers of YA fiction!