Book review of Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard

By Raylynn Hupp

Try Not to breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard, SPEAK, published by the Penguin Group, 2012, 233 pages, $8.99, ISBN: 978 - 0 - 14 - 242387 - 5

Is life worth living? That is the question that this book is centered around. This book is in first person point of view of the main character Ryan Turner. Some of the other characters include: Nicki, Val, Jake, and Ryan’s parents. Ryan is 16 years old. Ryan is an honest character, he doesn’t try to sugar coat things. He doesn’t know how to feel. He questions the point of living. Ryan was in Patterson, a hospital, for attempting suicide. Val and Jake are his friends from Patterson. Then, he meets Nicki. She’s looking for answers as to why her father would commit suicide. Ryan and Nicki become closer as he tries to help her find the answers she seeks. This book is Ryan’s journey of learning how to feel and learning that life is worth living.

I really enjoyed this book. In my opinion this is an amazing book. It shows people that life is worth living and you have to look beyond the surface to find the real person within. Ryan seems like he has the perfect life, but in reality he doesn’t. I recommend this book to anyone. It is amazing and powerful. One of my favorite parts is on page 230. “‘If you hang on,’ Val said, ‘I promise you it does get better.’

Jake’s hand shook. He crushed the balled-up bag tighter.

‘Bull,’ he said, but his voice shook, too, and I knew he wanted to believe her.

He turned to me. ‘Does it get better?’

That was the question, and I owed him Patterson Honesty. And so I gave it to him.

‘Yes,’ I said.” This scene is when Ryan and Val go to visit Jake at Patterson. He was out, but he goes back in, in this book. This scene shows that Ryan has discovered that life really is worth living. In conclusion, this is my book review of Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard.