Brooke's Pick: A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callan

The incredibly heart-breaking and poignant A Breath Too Late opens with a teenage girl learning that she has died by suicide. Ellie has killed herself and now finds that she is living in some sort of limbo, able to look in on the lives of those who played a pivotal role in her life and how it ended. In amusing anecdotes and sorrowful vignettes, Ellie narrates her life story, examining her relationships with her steadfast, yet broken mother; her volatile and abusive father; and the boy who has always had her heart. Through reflection and observation, Ellie attempts to put together the pieces of her fragmented life and make peace with where she finds herself today.

Rocky Callen's debut novel will break your heart, so don't come reading without tissues. This story of a young girl whose hope and spirit are dashed and destroyed cuts in the worst ways, leaving you feeling bruised and battered by the end. But the tragic nature of this book is the exact reason why it needs to be read. As author Callen states, "you are not alone." It is up to us to see those who are hurting and left without a voice; to be the light in someone's life; to help them find hope. If books such as A Breath Too Late can build compassion and help us truly see one another, then they are worth every tear shed while read.

A Breath Too Late is recommended to readers who love intimate novels with excellent character development, and who do not mind feeling something deep and dark when reading a book.

Additionally, the audiobook of A Breath Too Late comes highly recommended. The narrator encapsulates the voice and spirit of Ellie and creates an immersive, believable performance.

Availability: Book

Rating: ***** Stars (I loved it)
 Reviewer: Brooke, Public Relations Librarian

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 A Breath Too Late

GENRE: Epistolary Novels; Psychological Fiction
 WRITING STYLE: Spare
 TONE: Bittersweet; Haunting
 SUBJECTS: Abusive Men; Best Friends; Family Violence; Ghosts; Memory; Regret; Spirits; Suicide; Suicide Victims; Teenage Girls

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