Indie is trying to find her way at the age of sixteen while hiding a pregnancy. She will find her way where she least expects it. Heart warming and sad.

Heavy, heartbreaking, and hard to read - this slow moving, but beautifully written story stuck with me for quite a while after reading it. Beautiful, breathtaking, and brutal, this is a powerful story about pain, trauma & heartache - but also a story about resilience, strength, and the community we make.

I really liked the unique POV for a pregnant teenager. I talked about this in a YouTube video and I voted for this to be an Indigo Teen SPOTM.

Wow, this wasn’t an easy read. It deals with a lot of difficult subjects that some teens have to have.
I would recommend to someone who is not looking for a typical term novel and is ready for this emotional roller coaster.

In Learning to Breathe, sixteen-year-old Indy is trapped and trying to find any sense of freedom and identity she can. She thought being seen as the continuation of her mother’s reputation would have stopped once she was shipped off to her aunt and uncle in Nassau from a neighbouring island in the Caribbean, but it only got worse. The nickname “Doubles” followed her. Her cousin Gary only sees Indy’s body as his for the taking, and now Indy is pregnant. Indy tries to hide her growing belly as best she can, even when she has to duct tape bras together (and to her). She can’t confide in her family, she doesn’t have any friends except Churchy (a boy from her town who also moved to Nassau), and she’s too busy being scared of Gary to think about much else. It’s hard to run from someone who lives in the same home as you. One day in a rare act of rebelling against her environment, she jumps in the water, swims, and ends up down the island at a yoga retreat.

It’s at the yoga retreat where she will find her lifeline and people with compassion. Indy must find a way to take control of her fate, face down people’s perceptions, and letting the right people in after building up so many walls. And along the way she learns some yoga, which teaches her how to take a moment to herself.

Being in Indy’s world is heartbreaking, and you only want her to find the help and love she so desperately needs. She’s always been trying to live her life under the radar; she doesn’t want to be seen by anyone except her mother, grandmother, and friends. Janice Lynn Mather does an amazing job at putting you right there with Indy, right there with her fear. It’s uncomfortable, of course, but it will not deter you from reading. Indy is in an extremely tough place but she powers through it – her voice never comes across as dark as it could, because she is learning she has strength and has to believe things will get better in order to survive. I found it interesting how Indy doesn’t think about how there’s actually a baby growing inside of her (she’s at 5 months) – she just refers to her growing belly – because thinking about a baby acknowledges her trauma and who knows what else. There are so many times when she could just tell someone what happened, but of course to her, that’s terrifying, and admitting it means surrendering to embarrassment and failure.

I also admired how the yoga retreat played into the story – it’s different and a great scene for what Indy needed. It provided such a starkly different environment than everywhere else Indy goes, and it’s where she finds adults who care and connect with her. While Churchy and her cousin Smiley provide their own types of support for Indy whether they realize it or not, she still feels safer at the retreat. Any time she ends up there is a breath of relief.

The pacing of the book was perfect. I was hooked immediately and wasn’t unhooked until… well I still feel hooked. This is the kind of book you will want to hug. I loved it and think you will too. It’s gorgeously written. It’s sad but hopeful, this story of a girl who just wants a stable and safe home.

This is one of those books where it's a little weird to say I enjoyed it because it tackled such hard issues but I did enjoy it. There was a lot of character growth, which was my favourite thing. I can see this being a popular book with our YA readers, especially those who already enjoy contemporary and who have loved books like Written in the Stars and What We Saw.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Learning to Breathe. Powerful story, really hard to read but worth the journey. It is eye opening, and it is just heart wrenching. Great writing from the author. Highly recommend

Difficult read in subject matter, lots of triggers, overall hopeful narrative. Find my video review here: https://youtu.be/Adu0UcUhIgA?t=8m11s

Heartbreaking. Powerful, Memorable. All words that fit this book. A must-read for everyone who enjoys strong contemporary YA. It's not really my cup of tea, but a great book for the right audience.

How refreshing it is to dive into a book directed at Teens and YA that isn't a dystopian, a fairy retelling, and/or a teen romance where someone is going to die. Don't get me wrong, I lap those types of books up like they're chocolate, but every once and awhile I like something that is not any of the above. Leave it to me to seek out a challenging topic.

TW: Sexual Violence

Learning to Breathe isn't an easy novel to read. This is as the book synopsis reads a teenage girl who finds herself pregnant after being assaulted. Indira(Indy) finds herself so alone, apart from the grandmother that always protected her, and living with a relative that perceives Indy to be a "bad seed."

I absolutely loved Indy and felt anger towards many of the adults around her that seemed so blind to her situation. Especially that guidance counselor at school, what an idiot!

But I find myself reluctant to haul out the "big stars," on this one. First, the ending was rather rushed to conclusion and fit a perfect scenario of what we all hope would happen when anyone reports a sexual assault. Second, Indy makes a particular choice that impacts the rest of her life, yet, apart from a very brief conversation with her physician there isn't much explored on that situation. Third, the writing was a bit rough around the edges and I felt the characters were a bit stereotypical and one dimensional.

Still thinking on this one for a bit.

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart I would totally recommend this to any adult and for the older teens as this novel deals with some heavy issues, and maybe not recommend this for anyone younger than 16. Indira (Indy) Our protagonists is told she must go live with her aunt and uncle as her mother with questionable morals can no longer care for her .As Indy stays with her Aunt she is attacked repeatedly by her cousin and subsequently gets pregnant.. This follows Indy having to deal with being a teen pregnancy and the stereotypical/ prejudices teen and WOC get. As well as the generational trauma and the neglect that some communities especially black dominated communities get .I cannot recommend this book enough it`s a book that needed to be written and a must read.

Starts off a little slow, but before you know it you become so captivated in the story. A heart wrenching tale of a girl trying to find her way after someone she should of been able to trust takes advantage of her. Before you know it, you’ve been swept up in the story and it finishes.

I can never tell her about him, what he did. We're so different and the words from my world don't translate anymore.


Thank you to Netgalley & Indigo for the ARC.

I'm kinda...hunting for the right words here. This wasn't a bad book by any means but I had the bare minimum passion for it the entire time. The words are beautiful, the meaning and payoff are satisfying, the little town is homey and comfortable. And yet it didn't really have any bite or charisma. It's a dreamy, lofty little read. So like, not bad, but not my taste - it maybe deserves more like 4 stars but 4 doesn't reflect my enjoyment or engagement.

Still hunting for a phrase or two. Nothing really stuck with me. Oh, man. Everything was,,,just enough. And I feel soooo bad saying it, I don't know. It's definitely an important book and an impactful book but it didn't have the right tools to really get into my brain.

A lot of ratings are similar to mine and yet everyone mostly summarizes the plot and compliments it in their review. Please are we all at a loss for what exactly works well and what doesn't?! I felt lost in it, but like, a comfortable lost, you know? I can't go on nitpicking because everything worth nitpicking just floated by me because of the style.

Anyhow...it's a rainy day read, but you've likely already read it before.

*Trigger Warning for Sexual Assault*
Janice Lynn Mather's "Learning to Breathe" took my breath away. An absolutely stunning portrait of love, loss and perseverance, the novel follows sixteen year old Indira who finds herself unexpectedly dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. This book was truly different from anything I've ever read before, and featured beautiful prose and well-drawn, complicated characters. My only qualm is that it ended too quickly, wrapping up a little too briskly.

This book contains subject matter that no teen should have to contend with, but until we can eradicate rape culture, everyone should pick up this book and educate themselves about its very real ramifications.

Learning to Breathe is the debut YA novel by Janice Lynn Mather. It is a beautifully written and completely engrossing coming-of-age novel. Although it deals with some very tough and emotionally charged issues including sexual assault, Mathers treats them with sensitivity and empathy while providing a story that is unputdownable. And much of this is down to Indy, the sixteen-year-old protagonist who is strong, resilient, and most of all likable making the reader care deeply about what happens to her. The story is aimed at 14 and up but it is the kind of book that adults can appreciate. However, due to some of the content, I would suggest it might not be suitable for younger children.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

The writing is really strong and the story was well told. I loved that the author didn’t shy away from anything. She didn’t write the book with rose coloured glasses on for the characters or for the reader. However, personally I didn’t really like it. Contemporary teen isn’t my favourite genre. Indira “Indy” or “Doubles” is a strong character who really comes into her own throughout the book. When she finds her voice she realizes it is strong and deserves to be heard. The characters are all great and make you want to know mor about them. The use of yoga was also fun.

What a beautiful book. The writing is lyrical and gorgeous and the story is heartbreaking but also uplifting. I’ll definitely be recommending this book to fans of YA contemporary authors like Sarah Dresden, Sara Zarr and Jeff Zentner.