5 Star
Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.
Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.
But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgiveable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.
Lydia - 5 Star
I loved this book and read it in a day at the beach. Ten Tiny Breaths is a fabulous novel that falls under the ‘new adult’ genre that has recently emerged and I’ve found now, after a couple of these, that I appreciate this new genre more than Young Adult novels. Unpredictable and shocking, yet uplifting and heartfelt, Ten Tiny Breaths is a compelling, compulsive read.
Kacey and her younger sister, Livvie, have run across the country to escape their aunt and dodgy uncle who had been raising them since the car accident that took not only their parents but Kacey’s boyfriend and best friend. The same car accident Kacey survived-physically. Emotionally though is another story. She is plagued with nightmares and guilt and has walled off her heart forever-with one exception, her little sisiter, Livie.
Unable to let anyone but Livie in, Kacey is left to cope with raising her younger sister and starting a new life with a just handful of cash. Determined to remain distant, she eventually consents to Livie’s pleading to be nice to their new neighbours, to at least try. Kacey reluctantly agrees and finds her life shifting, not only by Storm and her adorable daughter, but by another, much sexier neighbor-one that Livie didn’t even ask her to be nice to. Both change her life in ways she never imagined possible.
I love how Tucker blasts away the stereotypes of dodgy apartment complexes, strippers and strip clubs and I loved the support and friendship Kacey finds in that world. I loved watching Kacey come into her own and find her place in the world. There are some unforgettable, quirky characters in this novel, and I enjoyed reading about them all, particularly Livie and Storm.
I really felt for Kacey. I felt awful for what she had to go through, what she was still going through. I was desperate for her to work through the emotional trauma she carried with her, to heal, and to turn her life around. I loved watching her let down her guard and banish the barriers she’d built around herself. I thought the past was portrayed perfectly as we are not overburdened with it, but it is always there, lurking.
I think Ten Tiny Breaths would make a fabulous movie and I can’t wait for the sequel, One Tiny Lie, which is Livie’s story when she goes off to college!
Thank you to Atria Books for our review copy. All opinions are our own.
Connect with K.A. Tucker:
Website
No comments:
Post a Comment