Pink Polka Dot Books: Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Ryan lives in a world of solitude. He recently was released from a mental hospital over a semi-suicide attempt and people at school steer clear of him. Ryan hangs out at the waterfall near his house because he feels like he can block out all his thoughts while he's there... that is until Nicki shows up. Nicki wants to talk to Ryan, to know why he wanted to die. And surprisingly, Ryan trusts Nicki. She's bold and somehow different, which makes him feel like he's not living behind glass anymore. As Ryan opens up more and more to Nicki, he starts discovering that she has secrets of her own...

Ok Jennifer R. Hubbard can for real write a male character! I read The Secret Year last year, and fell in love with Colt, and now I feel the same way about Ryan. She just has this way of writing these guys who maybe aren't your typical teenage guy, because they're sensitive and are sort of self-aware, but they're so freaking real! I fell for this book.

Ryan lives in a world that from the outside looks pretty idyllic... and even from the inside it looks pretty good too. His house sounds pretty amazing, his parents are more than attentive, he played sports. He really doesn't have the big problems that one would think would lead to suicide, but I don't think that that's always where depression comes from. I think some people are just depressed and don't know why... and that's Ryan. He starts feeling like he's invisible at school and after some embarrassing social situations, he's just doesn't want to keep going. I love that he wasn't abused or traumatized... he was just a normal kid with normal problems who didn't know how to cope with what he was feeling.

Nicki on the other hand, was not depressed. She was a ball-full of life. She was just what someone like Ryan needed. Someone without a filter, who would just straight-up ask him the hard questions. He responded to her bluntness and he didn't even know why. She was just one of those people that you tell things to. Ryan had the friends that he made at the hospital, and those were people who maybe related more to how he was feeling, but Nicki wanted answers, she wanted the why of it even if there wasn't a why.

I seriously LOVE the way this author writes male M/C's. I can't wait to read more because her first 2 books were just my kind of books!

Quote:

"Learning to live is more than just choosing not to die."

OVERALL: Amazing, beautifully written, something you can read in one night! If you liked The Secret Year, you will like this.

Add it to your To-Read List!