"I need to see you.
Please come right away.
We have to finish."
Frances Robinson is in high school now. She lives a quiet, suburban life, far from her horrifying past. When she was a child, her birthmother smothered her three sisters. Through pure luck, Frances survived. Now her mother has just been released from prison . . . and she wants to see Frances.
A new boy at school called Nix charms Frances. Together, Nix and Frances embark on a clandestine journey to visit Frances? mother: to confront the monster in its lair. This trip will help Frances at last find peace?or die trying. But no matter what, Frances will discover just what it means to finish.
(Goodreads Summary)Breathe My Name is a Young Adult novel that follows Frances Robinsons not so simple life. The story begins to unravel itself as it goes it, the more you read, the more you learn about Frances and her past.
With three-hundred and fourteen pages and seventy-three chapters, R.A Nelson makes sure that every letter and every page keeps the reader interested.
The whole story itself was very sad and twisted at times, especially when you get to the chapters from when Frances was younger.
I had read this book before in middle school- I believe, but I don't think I ever finished it, I didn't even remember reading it until I got to about the third or so chapter!
This book is very relatable for a teenager, just not as intense for most of us. Frances is just like every other teenage girl, just with a dreadful past that comes to haunt her. Just like many of us, no matter what age, we have our own skeletons in our closet.
Along with Frances trying to retrace her birth mother, she also has a love interested named Nix. He's very charming and his characteristics remind me a lot of Josh Hutcherson, so whenever I would picture Nix, I would always think of Josh (which wasn't so bad ;p). Their romance was not cheesy at all or "lame", which is great since I hate stories with cheesy romance scenes. Nix is kind of like the guy every girl would love to have around, but just like Frances, he has his own secrets and with his own family. Which I did like that his issues were mentioned as well, it made me feel as if the whole story wasn't just revolving all around Frances, but it was involving the people around her. The way that Nix, her friends, parents and siblings, both birth and adoptive, were described made the whole story easier to relate and understand.
I'm not going to include any spoilers, but just like nearly every review that I do, and nearly every book...ever, the ending does have a huge and unexpected twist, which was great. The ending itself was a great way to finish this chapter of Frances' life, it didn't leave any cliff-hangers or made you wonder: what else? It finished and flowed very nicely. Each chapter just made me want to read more about what was going on with Frances and what decisions she was going to make next.
If you are ever at the bookstore or have been wanting to read this book, totally go for it and read it. It'll be definitely worth it, it's a terrific story and I hope to read more of R.A Nelson's books in the near future.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review!
- Messi :-)