Risa's Review Shop

•REVIEW 27: JUST BREATHE•

Genre: fiction
Author: rustiefoxie
Chapters read: three (available number at the time)
Trigger warnings: depictions of bullying

A mini review
Star rating: 🌟🌟🌟

°🌼°

Sometimes, we only see the bad.

Risa's summary: Alana Cresswell sees life through a damaged lens. After her father's death, her mother loses her mirth. Now, Alana struggles to deal with life on her own, refusing help from those who are willing to give it. Her brother -- Benji -- becomes the center of her world, and she joins in his fight against bullying and selective mutism. How long can she protect Benji? How long can she keep herself from falling off the ledge?

Fluid, and fitly engaging.
The storytelling was rippleless, for the most part. I fancied the equable stream of words, especially, at the start.

My one nitpick was how Alana's persona seemed to shift at some point. To most, this could pass as nothing, but it boldly stood out and meant a whole lot to me. More so because I got no explanation behind the unexpected reaction.

As regards her selectively mute brother, Benji, the starting parts of the book gave me this impression of Alana: a loving and protective big sister who was angered by the way her little brother was being bullied, one who would stand up for him and not let him get hurt if it was within her power. So, I wasn't expecting that part where she sat there and watched them call her baby brother rude names. She watched them tear the bag of lettuce from his hands, stomp on it, and insult him. She watched Benji cry. And suddenly, the next paragraph tells me she looked to the adults expectantly before finally deciding to stand up for her brother? Please, pardon me; I rolled my eyes.

The only valid explanation I gave myself was that the writer was trying to show readers how Benji was being bullied. But in my opinion, that could have been done even while staying true to her personality -- except my impression of her was wrong, of course. If there'd been another reason behind this, I sincerely would like to know.

Another question I couldn't get an answer to was this: if she'd been friends with Gen at some point, and their families were close at some point, why/how couldn't she recognize Gen's brother at the park? Instead, she thought the nanny looked familiar, not even the boy who bullied her brother, the one whose name she knew.

Fine work was done with regard to descriptions. Grammar was also very impressive, although, there were errors scattered here and there. A good edit should fix them quickly.
I wasn't a fan of the book's cover. The book's summary I found so-so.

Just Breathe is a beautifully written work of art that deals with themes that should be talked about more often. I'd absolutely recommend this to anyone who'd enjoy a book centered on love, family, and a search for happiness.

🌼 Risa Quill 🖋️

rustiefoxie, please let me know what you think of this mini review.