Thursday, June 13, 2013

Review: Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

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I received this book for free from Simon & Schuster Audio in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. TuckerTen Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker
Series: Ten Tiny Breaths #1
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio on May 14th 2013
Source: Simon & Schuster Audio
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three-stars

After a terrible car accident destroys her life as she knew it, twenty-year-old Kacey escapes to Florida, where she encounters an irresistible man determined to capture her wounded heart.

Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.

Four years ago Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, holding her boyfriend’s lifeless hand and listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. They’re struggling to make ends meet at first, but Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.

Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes, deep dimples, and perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means revealing an explosive secret that could shatter both of their worlds

Am I maybe getting tired of New Adult a bit? Although I don’t feel I’ve read that many, I did read the top of the crop first. Ten Tiny Breaths was far from a bad book, I just can’t say it’s one of my favorites. The main – and really only – problem was that I got bored with the storyline that seemed to go nowhere for a while.


One thing to note in this New Adult novel is how the setting is not at college – or at any school – like most. Kacey is skipping college to be able to take care of her little sister after her parents died in a car accident. I found this gave a fresh standpoint; Kacey needs to become completely independent, if not for herself then for her sister. I loved this girl instantly. Kacey comes off as a hard shell but she didn’t fool me; she can take care of herself and is a far cry from a damsel in distress, but she uses her tough, sarcastic attitude to hide her pain. The shabby apartment she found is turned into a surprisingly cozy home that quickly fills with great secondary characters. There’s the hot neighbor for one. Then there’s Storm… Another neighbor of theirs, Storm shows up with her daughter and porn star body in tow and weaves herself into Kacey’s life. She’s initially portrayed as a flighty stripper, but ends up becoming an important and solid player in this book. Storm’s daughter, Mia, is just the cherry on top of this unorthodox family.

The romance in the book took a bit to convince me, especially when I looked at it from Kacey’s point of view. For someone so emotionally withdrawn, she fell for Trent’s charm very easily – and continually. Furthermore, Trent was leaning especially close to creepy stalker for a while, sitting in a club staring at her on a nightly basis. I don’t know if this was supposed to make me swoon but I didn’t find it especially appealing. At least they do have great chemistry which made their interactions fun to read nonetheless. And it did grow on me, whereas by the end I was completely invested in this frustrating relationship. *shrugs* What can I say?

My problems with this novel lay in the plot itself. I did love the stages of grief approach, and I was really enjoying the book during the first part, but then I realized I was thoroughly bored of waiting for something – anything – to unfold. Most of the book is used as a dramatic foreboding for an impending mental breakdown that we all know is coming. It felt like Kacey’s behavior and inner musings were mostly used to make what’s coming as tragic as possible. Even though there are fantastic characters to give the book a lot of liveliness, I still had the urge to press fast-forward on this audiobook at times. Once the lull is over, however, and even though I had predicted the twist chapters ago, the last part is so powerfully moving it makes it worth the wait. I was broken by Kacey’s situation. Her grief bleeds through so much it’s hard to bear. Some parts and reactions are a little extreme but I let that pass for how much emotional depth was put into it. If I have to believe it, at least let me feel it!

Ten Tiny Breaths is emotionally poignant and filled with animated characters that are easy to adore. The audiobook narrator was also great. I wish it would have kept my interest more towards the middle, but that aside, it’s a beautiful, heartbreaking story.

three-stars

3 Hot Espressos

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Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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26 Responses to “Review: Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker”

  1. Nick

    You’re not the only one who had issues with this book. I did too and I ended up DNFing it because the way the MC fell for Trent was quite unbelievable according to me. Plus, like you’ve said, it got boring after a while with the slow pace of the book. I feel like I’ve had enough of NA books too. They all seem to have the same repetitive plot lines.
    Great honest review, Giselle!

  2. Megan K.

    Honestly, this book was like any ordinary NA read, though I enjoyed it a little bit more than most. I found the setting a fresh standpoint too, but other than that… nothing much stood out to me. Kacey was still your average female MC struggling with a broken past, and Trent was the usual love interest with the same broken past. Not sure I’ll be reading the sequel.

  3. Melanie

    I’m attention span is the size of a goldfish- or whoever has a minute attention span. So I’m getting a little worried about this one. I saw a DNF review on this saying that it was boring as the plot was so slow. Looks like you had the same issues.

    Brilliant review though! <33

  4. Aylee

    Is it weird that I am already kind of over NA after only reading one NA book? I guess they’re just not my thing. I think I could appreciate the protagonist’s character and the emotional depth of this one though. But I am SO over that creepy stalker trope. Definitely not attractive. Haha, it’s good at least that the romance grows on you. I don’t know, maybe I should give NA another try; I’ll put this one on my “maybe” list. Thanks for the review, Giselle! Very nicely written.

  5. Amy

    The middle does drag a little and it was predictable, but I enjoyed it. The bits at the end had me listening with tears streaming down my face. Especially the one in the room with the mirror…you know what I’m talking about. I loved the secondary characters so much too!! I almost got One Tiny Lie on audio for review, but I already had four others I wanted so I got the ebook of it instead. I can only listen to so many audiobooks in a month anyways lol!! Fabulous review hon!!

  6. Jenni @ Alluring Reads

    It seems like all NA is really starting to blend together for me and it’s driving me insane. I mean there must be something fresh and new that they can do with the genre. These aren’t the only things that happen to college aged kids, I mean why not a horror one, that’s cool (haven’t read Captive in the Dark yet, do plan to.) Great review, i think you captured your frustrations really well.

  7. Christianna Marks

    I have this one on my Kindle from when it was self published! I haven’t read it yet though. I think I’ll have to be in the right mood to enjoy it, so I’ve been holding off. Glad you enjoyed it though! Great review!

  8. Melissas Eclectic Bookshelf

    This was my first NA read/listen and although I wasn’t blown away…I really enjoyed it. It convinced me to give NA a shot. I completely agree though that the middle did drag on a bit and seemed to serve no other purpose than to build up to the pretty predictable ending.

  9. ~Sara @ Just Another Story

    I’m with your on the NA thing. They are all starting to blend together for me. There is nothing unique about them anymore. I read Ten Tiny Breaths last week and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t uh-maz-zing! I also guessed the twist pretty early on.

    Thanks for the review!

  10. Candace

    I listened to the audio of this one and I’m with you. It felt like it went on a bit long and I found it pretty predictable, I even guessed that twist long before it happened. I also was pretty annoyed with Kacey. I GET why she was the way she was but all her angst and drama was hard for me to read, it just got to me. However, it was still a decent book, I managed to enjoy it still, but I did decide to skip the second one that’s about her sister.

  11. Soma Rostam

    Well, this is clearly a little disappointing
    I am technically YA but I do read a lot of NA
    And for me, the line between NA and YA has blurred somehow. Its frustrating
    And I am getting a little bored of NA ,too
    But this book looks cool but I think I have already figured out the twist
    even before reading it
    Your reader,
    Soma
    http://insomnia-of-books.blogspot.com/

  12. Hollie

    I do like how the setting for this one isn’t a college, it’s a nice change for an NA novel. I haven’t read that much of the genre so I’m not getting bored of it (yet!). But I’ll definitely keep in mind that nothing really happens for a long while. I’m glad you did enjoy this one overall, great review!

  13. Jenea Whittington

    I think there are so many NA’s coming out, it is hard to find one that really stands out anymore. Glad you enjoy it some. I read the next one, and it really wasn’t as good as this one. Great review. 🙂

  14. Eileen

    I think NA’s starting to burn out slowly, because there are so many people deciding to publish books in that genre, and tons of people are reading them because of the amazing ones that came out earlier, like you said. But I’m glad that you still enjoyed this one, because I can definitely see where insta-love would start to detract from your love for the book, and then the fact that the plot burns out also is really unappealing D:

    Fantastic review, Giselle!

  15. Aneeqah

    I haven’t been a huge NA fan from the start, and because plot is a huge deal for me, I think I’m going to have to pass on this one. Because honestly, even with good characters and some emotional depth, I really dislike somewhat creepy romances and lack of a plot. Because come on, staring at girl you like for hours is definitely not my idea of romantic. =P

    Lovely review, Giselle! I think that this is one I’m going to skip.

  16. Shooting Stars Mag

    I haven’t read much NA, but I don’t think it’s the genre per se…just a matter of finding things that sound more unique. No offense to the book, as I haven’t read it, but the summary doesn’t really scream anything new to me. Doesn’t sound like something I’d enjoy all that much, as I’m not into the “creepy stalker” type of guys. Really not attractive.

    -Lauren

  17. Savannah Bookswithbite

    You know, I have been reading some great reviews on this. This is the first review that I read that it not all hyped up. I have the other books by this author and I’m excited to see what this story is all about. Thanks for sharing.

  18. Molli Moran

    Gonna be honest, this is the first review (of so many) of this one I’ve read that didn’t just rave about it, so yours is actually really refreshing, chica. I always side-eye a book when ALL the reviews are positive, because although it does really make me want to read it, I start going “can it BE that good?!”

    So, re: waiting for something to happen. Ew. I haaaate that. It’s really hard to stay invested in a book when you’re just waiting…and waiting… Eeep. Glad this was a 3 star for you though!

    Molli | Once Upon a Prologue

  19. Aman

    Sorry you didn’t love it as much. Ten Tiny Breaths is one of my favorite NA’s, though I wasn’t a fan of Trent in the beginning, he was very stalkerish. Kacey and Livie rocked this book for me, I loved their relationship. The story did drag in the middle but the end part was so intense and heartbreaking for me, that I just couldn’t help but love overall product. I’m glad you gave it a try. Lovely review, Giselle!

  20. Christina

    The biggest weakness of the book for me was definitely how Kacey was immediately drawn to Trent. I mean, yeah, he’s hot, but COME ON. Why would that immediately make your walls drop? Your panties, sure, but your emotional walls, just no.

    Ha, I liked the emotional breakdown part, though.

  21. Alexa Y.

    I’ve been hearing quite a bit about this book, but I’m still wary of it. I really don’t read a lot of New Adult, though I’m not sure I could tell you exactly why that is. Still, I do like that this one has grief and a sibling relationship and unconventional families woven into it, so I *might* try it.