Tween 2 Teen Book Reviews: Blog Tour: Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry

Monday, January 28, 2019

Blog Tour: Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry

Would you dare to defy destiny? Are our destinies written in stone? Do we become nothing more than the self-fulfilling prophesies of other people's opinions? Or can we dare to become who we believe we were born to be?

“A gorgeous, heartfelt journey of redemption and love” (Wendy Higgins), ONLY A BREATH APART is a young adult contemporary novel from critically acclaimed Katie McGarry. “Haunting, authentic, and ultimately hopeful” (Tammara Webber), order your copy of ONLY A BREATH APART now!

Title: Only a Breath Apart

Author: Katie McGarry

Publisher: Tor Teen

Release: January 22, 2019

Pages: 368

Review: 4.5 Stars

Synopsis:

They say your destiny is carved in stone. But some destinies are meant to be broken.

The only curse Jesse Lachlin believes in is his grandmother’s will: in order to inherit his family farm he must win the approval of his childhood best friend, the girl he froze out his freshman year.

A fortuneteller tells Scarlett she's psychic, but what is real is Scarlett’s father’s controlling attitude and the dark secrets at home. She may be able to escape, but only if she can rely on the one boy who broke her heart.

Each midnight meeting pushes Jesse and Scarlett to confront their secrets and their feelings, but as love blooms, the curse rears its ugly head…

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First Impressions

First off, I will read anything that Katie McGarry writes. No matter the premise, I will read it. There are a couple novellas I haven't read yet, but otherwise I've read all of her stuff. I was excited about Only a Breath Apart as soon as I discovered it. A new Katie McGarry release is always a gift. I was super excited when I got approved for the blog tour and got an advanced copy to read. As soon as I had some time, I dug in!

Characters

As far as characters go, Jesse and Scarlet weren't my favorite Katie McGarry creations, but I still liked them. Just so you know, my favorite couples are Echo & Noah and Rachel & Isaiah. Relationship goals right there. But I digress.

I really liked Scarlett. I sympathized with her, and just wanted her to get the best the world had to offer. I also felt that she and Echo would get along well. Scarlett has created the persona of 'Ice Queen' in order to handle life with a controlling/abusive father. She never knows when he might go off, so she and her family cater to his every need and whim. This makes real relationships hard. Scarlett acknowledges that, and that she is often the backup friend. She states that she's okay with that, but the reader can tell that it weighs on her. For a lot of the book, I just wanted to give Scarlett a hug. No one knew what she was going through, and so she often had to deal with issues on her own.

I wasn't a big fan of Jesse for a good bit of the book. While he was raised poor compared to Scarlett, he had a loving family behind him. That's not to say his life was easy, but by the time we meet him and Scarlett in present day, he's had a support system for a while. The only reason he doesn't have a stronger one is because he pushes people away. Jesse also has some friends, and while I find them interesting, I also found the quite rude. They routinely make fun of other kids at school, including Scarlett.

The romance between Jesse and Scarlett took some time to grow on me. I told a friend while reading that I was ready to ship it, but Jesse needed to make up a heck of a lot of stuff to Scarlett. Personally, I don't think I would have been able to forgive Jesse for everything, but Scarlett's a better person than I am. That said, the characters did grow over the course of the book, and by the end I was 100% behind their relationship.

World Building

One thing that was a big part of the world was religion/faith. It was vague, but present. I'm not a big fan of religion in books, but it stayed mostly on the supportive side and I know some teens really value that in books. So while it didn't land well with me, it wasn't necessarily a detracting factor.

Only a Breath Apart is a standalone novel. Some of Katie McGarry's books feature characters from previous ones. While there aren't any characters we already know, it seems to take place in the same general world. It would be fun to see Scarlett and Jesse run into some of our previous main characters in a side novella/extra.

Excerpt:

~SCARLETT~

Evangeline fans herself. “That boy is hot.”

Hot isn’t exactly the word I would use for him. Hot somehow feels…lacking. Hot is for some boy in our gym class who has recently grown facial hair. Jess Lachlin is no boy. He has fire-red hair, a sun kissed tan from all the hours working on his land, deep green eyes and a body made to handle rough, rugged days.

I might have been ignoring Jesse for years, but I’ve seen him. Every girl in this school has gone out of her way to drive or walk along one of the country roads to watch Jesse as he works his land. Living across the street, I’ve had a front-row view. His shirt off, drenched in sweat, muscles rippling as he moves, the way he sometimes pauses in his front yard and looks across the road as if he knows I’m watching. A fluttering in my chest and then—

“Would you date him?” Evangeline asks.

“No.” Camila’s answer is swift. “And it’s not like he dates anyone. Except for his friends, the boy is a recluse.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” The kneejerk question surprises even me when it pops out of my mouth. Camila and Evangeline look at me as if those were the first words I’d ever spoken. If I could hide under the circulation desk without making this moment worse, I would.

“Besides the fact he’s cursed and anyone a Lachlin falls in love with drops dead?” Camila walks toward me and Evangeline follows. Camila watches me with more curiosity than I care for, but it’s nice that she’s moving the conversation in my direction. “Jesse’s a train wreck, and he taints anyone in his vicinity. Dating him would be a social, emotional and literal death sentence.”

I’m familiar with the curse, and it’s no truer than Glory and her prophesies. “That sounds melodramatic.”

“It’s not.” Camila has a swear-to-God seriousness to her. “Mom and Dad had Bible study at our house last night, and Pastor Hughes came. Everyone thought I was in the basement, but I went to the kitchen for something to drink, and I heard Pastor Hughes ask everyone what they knew about Jesse.”

Eavesdropping. How Camila.

“Did you know that before Veronica started hanging with Jesse that she was on track to be a concert pianist?” Camila says.

“Seriously?” Evangeline tilts her head in disbelief, and I’ll admit to putting down my cell.

“Seriously. And Leo Wheeling was a star soccer player, predicted to be the first freshman to play varsity for our high school, and then he started hanging out with Jesse.”

Faint middle school memories of hearing Leo’s name over the announcements regarding soccer emerge in my mind.

“Then someone said that before Nazareth Kravitz moved here, he had taken the ACT in the seventh grade and received a perfect score. He moved here, met Jesse and the rest is history.”

Nazareth sleeps through most of our classes, that is, when he bothers showing for school.

I nibble on my bottom lip as I’m not sure how much I like the Jesse-is-the-devil enthusiasm. I may share the opinion, but that doesn’t mean anyone else should.

“Of course, then there’s Jesse himself. Drinking, drugs.”

“The fights,” Evangeline pipes in.

“Don’t forget the suspensions—”

“And he’s been arrested!” Evangeline finishes Camila’s statement like the two share a brain. Her eyes sparkle like that precious piece of scandalous gossip was just too good not to spread.

“The boy is a walking disaster,” Camila continues. “Anyone who hangs out with him wants to become a loser. It doesn’t matter he’s going to be a millionaire once he sells his grandmother’s land. Anyone who spends time with Jesse is asking for hurt.”

“And death.”

“Gritty and real, Only a Breath Apart is a story of hope conjured from pain, strength drawn from innocence, and love earned from self-respect. Beautiful, poignant, and fierce.” ―Kristen Simmons, critically acclaimed author of the Article 5 series

Author Bio:

Katie is the author of the PUSHING THE LIMITS series, THUNDER ROAD series, SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME, and the upcoming YA novel, ONLY A BREATH APART. Her novels have received starred reviews, critical acclaim and have won multiple awards including being a multiple Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for YA Fiction, multiple RT Magazine's Reviewer's Choice Award Finalist for Best YA Fiction, including a win in the category, and she was a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick.

You Can Find Her At:
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