I honestly could not get into this book and didn't finish it. It was very slow and just not interesting to me.

I tried reading this back when I first got access and DNFed it then. I was going to try reading it again, but no longer have access to the ARC since it was on an old (now defunct) laptop of mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group, Clarion for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Finally getting through my list of books to read/review. I finally came across this YA book about loss and growing up. We learn from Elsie's POV the guilt of the loss of her twin brother Eddie, whom feel felt responsible for growing up as he was disabled.
This story was interesting but I feel like it moved a bit too slowly for me. It however depicted what I would imagine this girl's life to spiral into. Again slow to develop but overall not a bad story. I was happy with the progression and the end result was realistic.
Worth reading for fans of YA, eating disorder, grief recovery and young love.

This title was archived before I could download it - I am unable to read for a review at this time, although it still looks interesting.

*** This ARC was provided by Netgalley for a honest review***
Elise Main lost her twin brother in a drowning accident five years ago. She’s tried to remember what really happened that day on the beach but for some reason her brain is blocking it. One minute her brother Eddie was there and the next he was gone. Elise meets Tay, A cute 17-year-old at her favorite hang out about boathouse. He introduces her to free diving and she’s determined to figure out what happened that day. Sarah Alexander wrote a beautiful story that will stay with me for a long time.

The book did not really work for me. I DNF'ed it. I wasn’t able to connect with any of the many characters in the book and I found myself putting down the book a lot because it was never really catching my attention.

This was just an okay read for me. I disliked as many things as I liked and didn't feel strongly enough about the book to really warrant adding an in-depth review to the blog.

I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book. Sadly, this story was not for me and I was not able to finish.

A coming of age story with a twist. A decent debut but the flipping time perspective was confusing at some points. I was not impressed with some of the choices the characters made. It was an interesting story and kept my attention well enough.

This book had so much potential and I was honestly really optimistic about it but it just didn't hold my attention. I feel like the storyline itself could've been something amazing but the book just kind of fell flat.

I honestly don’t know where to start! The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander is a breath-taking, heart-stopping read at times while at others it’s quite dull. I received this book in 2016 when it was first released to review and attempted to pick it up more than once, failing each time. I finally decided to give the audio a try, and I’m glad I did. Colleen Prendergast brought Elsie to life for me, and I listened to the book in one sitting as a result.

The book follows Elsie, 5 years after the death of her twin brother Eddie. Elsie isn’t really living. She feels like a shadow moving through life. She’s a good kid, doesn’t get in trouble much, but is overshadowed by the piece of her family that is missing.

It’s not until Elsie finds herself a new hobby that she starts to come to life. Her new hobby: Free Diving…..y’all this is terrifying and thrilling. The author really brings this to life as you read. For Elsie, under the water she starts to remember the events surrounding Eddie’s death in a new light. She becomes obsessed with uncovering more details and diving deeper each time.

The plot is quick moving and twofold. Both plot lines follow Elsie. One focuses on the present, her learning to dive and having a little romance with her instructor. The other focuses on her family life current and past. The author addresses some tough subjects: grief, eating disorders, infidelity, and accidents. It’s not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.

Overall I did like the audio version of The Art of Not Breathing more than the print. It was easy to get lost in the unraveling mystery surrounding Eddie’s death. Elsie’s life was heartbreaking, and I found myself wanting to hug the poor girl most of the book. I’d recommend this read to anyone that enjoys YA contemporary with mystery.

4 Stars

I really enjoyed this book! The writing was good and the storyline was just as good too. I love reading books set in other countries, so this really appealed to me in TAONB.. This book definitely reminded me a little of We We’re Liars, it had an ere of mystery to it as you followed Elsie’s journey to finding out the truth to what happened to her twin brother years ago.

I just fell in love with the flawed characters in this book, they were real & had real issues they were trying to deal with.

I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I started reading this YA book last year on holidays, then put it down. I picked it up again, and tried to really like it, but couldn’t. I skimmed to finish the book. Maybe teenagers love all the drama, angst, & depression but a little goes a long way. While I think teenagers need fiction about mental illness, family issues, eating disorders, death this was just too many issues, and just too much…and there was a sense of let-down about Eddie’s death in the end. Enough said. This was definitely not for me.

As a debut novel, I feel the author has a lot of promise and look forward to reading her next novel. This book brings the reader into the life of Elsie Main, whose twin brother, Eddie, drowned five years previous. Elsie does not have a good memory of what happened that day, and her family has since fallen apart. Elsie hides herself in a clubhouse by the water, although she has been given strict instructions by her father to stay away from the water. Once day, Elsie meets the mysterious, Tay, who has just returned back to town. Tay, his cousin, and friends are free divers (underwater diving that relies on breath holding, not scuba gear.) Tay teaches Elsie the basics of freediving and Elsie hopes to use her new skill to search for Eddie.

This book is full of secrets - perhaps too many and the story begins to get bogged down. Elsie, her older brother Dillion, her parents, Tay, and numerous others have secrets that all lead back to what happened the day Eddie died. I feel the story would have been more effective had the secrets revolved around Elsie and her family and did not include everyone else. Overall I enjoyed the writing style and the characters - I felt Elsie was a typical sixteen year old girl wrapped up in her own grief and first love at the expense of others.

I actually also own a hardcover copy of this book. It starts off kind of slow and didn't grab my interest from the start.

A beautiful novel, The Art of Not Breathing showcases the survivor's guilt of a young girl who lost her twin unexpectedly. Her journey to acceptance is heartbreaking, yet so understandable to anyone who has experienced loss.

A coming of age story with a twist. A teenage girl spends the entire story trying to say goodbye to her twin brother while finding out what really happened and dealing with the ramifications to her family. I found this an interesting story, but at times I struggled to understand why certain people acted or reacted the way they did. Some of this was answered by the ending, but I still had some questions afterwards. I also found it difficult at times to follow all the past and present situations.

The story is well written and based on an interesting premise of how/ why everyone felt guilty and how that had manifested itself over the years. I enjoyed reading about Él and seeing her development, but I did not like her mom at all...especially as the ending played out and Dillon went through all that he did. I loved the portrayal of Danny and Tay and feel bad about how their story ended in this book. Overall I thought this was a good read.

Thank you NetGalley and HMH Books for the chance to read and review this story.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to download this title before it was archived

I liked this book. I have had a review copy of this book for about a year and a half and put it off after I started seeing mixed reviews. That was a mistake because this book worked really well for me. It is a rather short book but I think it moved fast for me because of how the story flowed. I just didn't want to quit turning pages once I reached a certain point in the story.

I was curious about the characters and their histories from the start of the book. The more that I read the more that I hooked. These characters have a lot of issues to deal with and I really wanted to see things work out for them. I am kind of surprised by how many tough topics found their way into this story but it worked.

This story follows Elsie. Elsie's twin brother, Eddie, died in a drowning accident 5 years earlier. Elsie and the rest of her family are just trying to keep moving forward but in many ways they are failing. Elsie's dad leaves for long periods of time and nobody knows where he is. Her mom drinks more than she should. Elsie isn't doing well in school and has no friends. Dillon seems to doing the best in the group but that's not really the case.

Elsie doesn't remember exactly what happened the day that Eddie died but she wants to remember. When she meets Tay and the other diving boys, she ends up learning to dive and finds that she feels closer to her lost brother under the water. She is remembering things and hopes to learn what happened just as her family is falling apart.

There were a few times in the story that I wanted to shake the characters for some of their actions but I always felt that what they did felt authentic. People don't always do what they should and as teenagers it can be even harder. While I didn't always like what the characters were doing, I understood why they made the choices that they did.

I would recommend this book to others. It was a book that had a really strong finish that made me feel for the characters. I am really a bit upset that I put this one off for as long as I did. I would definitely read more from Sarah Alexander in the future.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group - HMH Books for Young Readers via NetGalley.

Recommend to readers looking for an emotional tale.