Don't Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Summary: Joy Delamere is suffocating.
From asthma, from her parents, and from her boyfriend, delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.
Joy can take his words—tender words, cruel words—until the night they go too far.
Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe...if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.
Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.
My Thoughts: Wow, whoa, insane! I know this review is going to be difficult to write because that is how awesome of a book it is. I started Don't Breathe A Word late on a Thursday night before bed. I figured I'd just read a few chapters and than go to bed. So much for that! I read the whole book in one sitting and lost track of time. I looked up at the clock when I was finished and it was 3 in the morning. Yes, that is how good it was.
We are introduced to Joy who lives with her family. Don't Breathe A Word is mostly told in recent segments but there are also flashbacks to let us learn about her important past moments. Joy also has asthma really bad. She has to carry an inhaler around in her pocket because she never knows when she will get a breathe of bad air which will cause her to go into a coughing fit. Joy is used to this by now but I never got used to going through it with Joy. That could be because I also have asthma and I know what its like to experience an asthma attack.
Joy meets Asher. Asher is a bad boy. He comes off as sweet at first. We think he's just a bit protective of her (in a nice caring way) but within moments I knew there was more to the story and he was really possessive and controlling. Example: Joy went to visit her brother and Asher was mad about it and asking her if they went to a party. You could tell he thought he should be in control of everything. Things only get worst over time. When Joy says or does the wrong thing, she's scared because she knows she will get punished for it. I hated seeing Joy so vulnerable. I wanted happiness for her.
Joy finally decides she must do something about it and take control of her life. She decides she's going to run away and live on the streets. It’s the only way to protect herself from Asher and how much worst its going to get if she stays. A while ago, while she was with her friends, she ran into a homeless kid living on the streets and he told her if she ever needed help to find him.
Joy knows she must make everything look like a kidnapping so she sets up the scene perfectly. I hated seeing Joy change her appearance. Yes, it was a good idea but I hated that she had to cut off her hair and dye it. She had to become a new person.
Joy finally escapes Asher's grip and runs away. She tries to survive living on the streets with just the backpack on her shoulders. Joy was very very brave.
Joy meets a group of homeless teens and starts to live with them. They live in an old abandoned house. It doesn't even have running water and is moldy and stinky. The teens she lives with are very unique. The only other girl of the group is May. At first, I didn't like May very much. She came off with the attitude, "I'm kind of better than you are", but I soon started to like her. Next, is Santos. Santos always made me laugh. He also helped Joy get more inhalers and medicine and that made me me realize that he did care what happened to her. Last, is Creed. Creed was everything I was looking for in a main character. He was sweet, caring, protective, just a plain good guy. He was the guy who told Joy, if she needed help to find him. There are more characters throughout the novel that bring their own quirks to the storyline, such as Maul (insert all the bad names for a jerk here).
Each character has their own story and why they are out living on the streets. Most of them are downright sad. After a few months of living on the streets, Joy is starting to deal with being homeless until she's put in a position to do something brave for one of the group and her life drastically changes again.
Throughout the novel we never learn anyone's real name. But by the end we know Creed's real name and it fits perfectly. I loved seeing him in the aftermath of what happened.
Joy was such a brave character in her own way. I wish she would have stood up to Asher but once she left him she knew she had to become brave and take care of herself. She stood up for herself. She didn't let anyone boss her around. She became her own person. With Creed by her side, Joy became a whole new person.
Please please please pick up this novel and devour it. You won't be sorry.
Overall: I loved Don't Breathe A Word. It was everything I was looking for in a novel. I loved the romance, I loved Joy's voice, I loved it all.
Cupala's Don't Breathe A Word won't disappoint. It was raw, emotional, intense, and heartfelt.
Cover: Love it! The cover even hints that the book is emotional!
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Summary: Joy Delamere is suffocating.
From asthma, from her parents, and from her boyfriend, delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.
Joy can take his words—tender words, cruel words—until the night they go too far.
Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe...if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.
Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.
My Thoughts: Wow, whoa, insane! I know this review is going to be difficult to write because that is how awesome of a book it is. I started Don't Breathe A Word late on a Thursday night before bed. I figured I'd just read a few chapters and than go to bed. So much for that! I read the whole book in one sitting and lost track of time. I looked up at the clock when I was finished and it was 3 in the morning. Yes, that is how good it was.
We are introduced to Joy who lives with her family. Don't Breathe A Word is mostly told in recent segments but there are also flashbacks to let us learn about her important past moments. Joy also has asthma really bad. She has to carry an inhaler around in her pocket because she never knows when she will get a breathe of bad air which will cause her to go into a coughing fit. Joy is used to this by now but I never got used to going through it with Joy. That could be because I also have asthma and I know what its like to experience an asthma attack.
Joy meets Asher. Asher is a bad boy. He comes off as sweet at first. We think he's just a bit protective of her (in a nice caring way) but within moments I knew there was more to the story and he was really possessive and controlling. Example: Joy went to visit her brother and Asher was mad about it and asking her if they went to a party. You could tell he thought he should be in control of everything. Things only get worst over time. When Joy says or does the wrong thing, she's scared because she knows she will get punished for it. I hated seeing Joy so vulnerable. I wanted happiness for her.
Joy finally decides she must do something about it and take control of her life. She decides she's going to run away and live on the streets. It’s the only way to protect herself from Asher and how much worst its going to get if she stays. A while ago, while she was with her friends, she ran into a homeless kid living on the streets and he told her if she ever needed help to find him.
Joy knows she must make everything look like a kidnapping so she sets up the scene perfectly. I hated seeing Joy change her appearance. Yes, it was a good idea but I hated that she had to cut off her hair and dye it. She had to become a new person.
Joy finally escapes Asher's grip and runs away. She tries to survive living on the streets with just the backpack on her shoulders. Joy was very very brave.
Joy meets a group of homeless teens and starts to live with them. They live in an old abandoned house. It doesn't even have running water and is moldy and stinky. The teens she lives with are very unique. The only other girl of the group is May. At first, I didn't like May very much. She came off with the attitude, "I'm kind of better than you are", but I soon started to like her. Next, is Santos. Santos always made me laugh. He also helped Joy get more inhalers and medicine and that made me me realize that he did care what happened to her. Last, is Creed. Creed was everything I was looking for in a main character. He was sweet, caring, protective, just a plain good guy. He was the guy who told Joy, if she needed help to find him. There are more characters throughout the novel that bring their own quirks to the storyline, such as Maul (insert all the bad names for a jerk here).
Each character has their own story and why they are out living on the streets. Most of them are downright sad. After a few months of living on the streets, Joy is starting to deal with being homeless until she's put in a position to do something brave for one of the group and her life drastically changes again.
Throughout the novel we never learn anyone's real name. But by the end we know Creed's real name and it fits perfectly. I loved seeing him in the aftermath of what happened.
Joy was such a brave character in her own way. I wish she would have stood up to Asher but once she left him she knew she had to become brave and take care of herself. She stood up for herself. She didn't let anyone boss her around. She became her own person. With Creed by her side, Joy became a whole new person.
Please please please pick up this novel and devour it. You won't be sorry.
Overall: I loved Don't Breathe A Word. It was everything I was looking for in a novel. I loved the romance, I loved Joy's voice, I loved it all.
Cupala's Don't Breathe A Word won't disappoint. It was raw, emotional, intense, and heartfelt.
Cover: Love it! The cover even hints that the book is emotional!
What I'd Give It:
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2 comments:
I loved this one as well. It was chilling the things that Joy had to put up with, it is no wonder she left home. I loved how I was able to connect with her story even though I have never been in her situation.
I'm glad you loved this one, thanks for the great review :)
Thanks for the review :) ! I was already planning on reading this one but now I'm dying to .. Besides the cover looks stunning !!
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