This book was a quick read, somewhat interesting, but overall pretty odd. I enjoyed some of the underlying ethical questions the author presented, but the whole plot felt kind of clunky and forced to me.

In this book, the main character has reversed the entire course of his life by rescuing a swimmer in danger at the beach out of nowhere. He is discussing the event with a person he barely knew in his past and the story emerges in a conversation between the two. I really felt that the author has a unique and gifted way of bringing the reader into the story by capturing their attention and almost making the story something that you intrinsically need to read. I think that there was a just a slickness and ominous nature to this book that really created this whole feeling as I read. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and this book did not disappoint. This was a quick read and I immediately wanted to read more from this author. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley,

An interesting story but the plot felt meandering and didn't really go anywhere. The characters were not very well developed

Wow! I began this one yesterday and once I started I could not put it down and I have now finished it less than 24 hours later. What a strange but compelling story.

Once again, I read this without knowing very much about it other than it has a cool cover and I had requested it on @netgally and been approved. I had no clue where the story was going and I really loved that. A very vague description is that the narrator is flying to Berlin, but the flight is delayed. Whilst waiting at the airport he sees a man he once knew from his college days. They were not friends, just vague acquaintances. Anyway, the man Jeff, remembers him and the two sit together while they wait for their flight. During this time, Jeff regales the narrator (who I think is never actually named) with a bizarre long-winded story of his life after leaving college, centred around a specific incident that occurred and changed his whole trajectory.

Honestly, I don't even know what it was that made it so compelling or "propulsive" as I've seen it described. I didn't particularly like or care about either character, and the story is not something hugely out of the ordinary. But I just kept reading because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. The very short sharp chapters helped and definitely led me on the "just one more chapter" path last night in bed. I kept wondering where it was going, and why was he telling this all to the narrator.

Anyway, had it been me in an actual airport listening to an old acquaintance tell me this story, I probably would have been like "omg get to the point already!" but it is written in a way that did not make me think this, and it just kept leading me calmly down the path of wanting to know more. I thought it was so well done. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Loved it! Thank you @netgalley for my gifted ebook.

If you are looking for an absolutely dynamite short read, pick up Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson right frickin now.

This story all takes place in the course of one conversational confession, wrapping its spindly intrigue around your lungs and squeezing the air out so swiftly you are left gasping for more.

A truly intoxicating tale that was over before I knew what happened to me.

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 / 5 stars

This was such a fun read! I kept thinking it was going to be a way crazier story than it was and for me that's what really made it great!

Every review that mentions the importance of the final line is spot-on. This story is an unflinching look at the stories we tell in order to live with ourselves and our choices. Harrowing in the best way.

Storyline was dreadful, characters were just as bad. I really could not connect with this book and struggled to finish it.

I absolutely adored this book. Fast pace but thoughtful, the story has me engrossed from the first page. Both characters were incredibly complex and the final pages had me thinking for a long while after.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I got completely blown away by this delightful novel by Antoine Wilson. MOUTH TO MOUTH is all about the power of choices and how one decision can define us for good.

College acquaintances casually meet at the JFK airport 20 years after university. As their flight is delayed, they start chatting about how their lives turned out and, on a whim, Jeff Cook reveals to the narrator the story of how saving a drowning man changed his life.

I can only describe this book as fascinating. The plot is simple enough, and there isn't much happening in the end, but the subtext here is all that matters. There is an underlying tension in this book that will keep you turning the page, no matter what. Jeff is a charismatic character, and his ambiguity is the engine that moves the novel: is he a reliable storyteller? Does he have a secret agenda? All these questions will keep you wondering until (no kidding) the very last page.

I am sure I will keep thinking about this book for a long time! 100% recommended.

I went in and out of interest with this one! I liked so much of it but felt like some was slow.. which feels weird saying with such a short book. I felt like the story within a story was sometimes unnecessary

nd a juicy ending twist. Set in the arcane world of high-end art galleries, it recaps a young man saving an art dealer's life and then insinuating himself into the other man's life. It's not easy to maintain control of a narrative told to another in a short time, avoiding the shaggy dog aspect of the setup, but the author carries it off with aplomb, eking out the tension. A patina of unreliability clouds the entire tale, to good effect. Mouth to Mouth is concise at under 200 pages and I read it in a single satisfied sitting, although after the climax, even with the nifty surprise, I was left with an impression of a modest achievement. Nonetheless, Mouth to Mouth will grace many a book club's considerations, I am certain.

This was such a compelling read, I could not put it down. The style reminded me of Rachel Cusk in that you are a witness to one character's story. The twist at the end was perfect.

Quite an interesting novella—an author runs into an old acquaintance, Jeff, at an airport, and while their flight is delayed Jeff tells him a story. Jeff’s story starts with administering CPR to Francis Arsenault, an art dealer, saving him from drowning in the ocean many years before. It continues with a strange sequence of events connecting Jeff to Francis, and ends with a shocker.
The book filled me with a sense of dread and suspense, and that last sentence had me thinking about humans and our motivations, the stories we tell and why, and how the truth matters less than perception.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Two college acquaintances are reunited by chance in an airport lounge, where Jeff Cook begins telling our nameless narrator a story about the time he saved a man named Francis from a drowning death in the Pacific Ocean. Jeff tells our narrator about how he infiltrated Francis' world, curious about the man whose life he saved, and changed the course of both men's lives forever -- and not necessarily for the better.

There's a sentence in Mouth to Mouth that perfectly sums up the way I felt reading this novel: "As his story proceeded, I felt an increasing indefinable discomfort." At just under 200 pages, this is a short book in which not a word is wasted. Every exchange, every interaction between the characters, is loaded with meaning in a narrative that is claustrophobic and engrossing, with something sinister hovering just beneath the surface. It's a slow-burning but suspenseful story with ominous undertones, and I was captivated by it, feeling both eager and apprehensive about the direction it was taking. It's incredibly well-crafted with a stunner of an ending.

The character work is stellar, too, which is especially impressive considering Antoine Wilson didn't have a huge page count to work with. Exploring themes of art, identity, unreliability, ego, and obsession, Mouth to Mouth is an intriguing take on the "story-within-a-story" narrative. Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for my digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was told in a really unique way. Our main character comes across a man he knew from school years ago in the airport, and with many hours to kill, the man shares a story about how he once rescued a person from drowning, and then loudness his way into that person’s life and learned who he really was. The entire book was one character telling the other that story, which I haven’t come across before.

I had a hard time deciphering my feelings about this book. The writing style is a slow burn, as if the story is building and building to a twist, and that can be a fun type of read. However, it felt like the burn fizzled out on this one, I hoped for a bit more character development and action within the plot, I think, because it could have gone in some crazy directions, All in all, an ok read.

I expected so much more from this book than it delivered. From the blurb, and after the big event, I thought there would be a thrill or two, or that at the very least there would be intensity; there was neither. Instead, it was a book about a guy telling a story that sounded like it might be a tall tale, but wasn’t.

Without the last line, this book would fall pretty flat for me. As it was, the last line made me think oh okay, the narrator was as unreliable as I thought; and then the book was done for me. It’s a good enough read, just not that great a one.

Decent to read while on a journey, or just before bed. Also, I do like that cover!

Rated: 5/10.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Avid Reader Press.

Now THIS is a Shorty September book, although it also worked quite well for a January read. Two acquaintances run into one another at an airport and catch up over drinks while waiting for their delayed flight. The man with access to the first class lounge launches into a story that is claustrophobic and unsettling, picking up pace as we barrel toward the zinger of an ending on page 179. Wow.

So, so bad. The premise was intriguing but the flat storyline and one dimensional characters made this book a chore to finish. Save your money and your time.

What I really liked about this book is that it made you think and question people's intentions and ours included. It was a really thoughtful and interesting book that seemed like a classic.