Reason to Breath by Rebecca Donovan

  

Reason to Breath  by Rebecca Donovan

Emma Thomas has a secret that no one should ever have to keep.  In order to protect this secret she keeps to herself and tries to remain as invisible as possible.  

She is a high school student who is forced to live with her aunt and uncle due to her father's death coupled with her mother's inability to care for her.  She focuses all her energy on school work and any school activities that she can participate in.  Not only is she working towards a good GPA and an athletic scholarship to play soccer, but she also uses this as an excuse to be away from her aunt and uncle's house as much as possible.  

So far, aside from her best friend Sara, Emma has done a good job of maintaining her distance from people at school and simply blending in with the crowd.  Until… Enter Evan Mathews.  The attractive new student who is determined to get to know this quiet, beautiful girl, despite her determination otherwise.

This is a heart felt story that address very serious issues and was definitely an eye-opening experience for me in regards to domestic violence.  I absolutely loved this book.  I was completely drawn into it, and I felt the range of emotions going through the characters as I read it.  I felt so swept up in it, that at times I couldn't snap out of my emotional state that the book left me in, even when I put it down and walked away.  I felt as if I was experiencing what the characters were experiencing.  It was very intense.  And the ending!  Wow.  Major cliffhanger, but perfect segue for a second book.  And thank goodness there are going to be three!!

All in all, I give this book a 5 star rating.