Book Review: The Air We Breathe by Christa Parrish

Back Cover: Molly Fisk Needs the Courage to Face Her Fears. What She Finds Instead is a Most Unexpected Friendship.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Fisk does not go outside. For so long she has run away from a moment long in the past, but she's not running anymore, she's hiding. Ruled by anxiety, she can only stare out the window of the tiny tourist-town museum she and her mother call home, longing to go outside--to maybe take a walk with the cute boy who works in the pizza place across the street.

Then the chance arrival of a woman Molly knew years ago changes everything.

Back then, Claire Rodriguez was an empty shell. Only in the unique friendship she struck up with a little girl--a silent girl who'd only talk to Claire--did she see the possibility of healing. But one day the girl and her mother vanished, their house left abandoned.

What happened that drove them away? And how can Claire now offer Molly the same chance at finding life anew?

My Review: I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book when I first started, but the back cover sounded interesting. As I opened the book the fist sentence caught my attention ("She wanted to poke out Elvis's eyes.") As I read further the book pulled me into its spell. Each chapter led to more questions that I needed to find the answer to. The characters grew and deepened, and I could not put the book down. Even though I knew I would be regretting it the next day, I stayed up till three in the morning to finish this book. It was worth it. The Air We Breathe is a character driven book, and it is full of deep issues. The characters are interesting, and the details made me feel that I was right in the story with them. Something that I really liked about this book is the lack of emphasis on romance. It was there, but the story wasn't about romance, it was about a teenage girl trying to overcome the trauma of the past. Nicely done, Christa Perrish!
My Rating:

My Recommendation: I recommend this book to readers of contemporary fiction.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.