Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe – Miranda Kenneally + a Giveaway {CLOSED}

Posted July 14, 2014 by Andi in Blog Tour, Books, Giveaway, Review / 11 Comments

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Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe – Miranda Kenneally + a Giveaway {CLOSED}Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally
Series: Hundred Oaks #5
Published by Sourcebooks Fire
Published: April 7, 2015
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From the bestselling author of Catching Jordan comes a contemporary YA you won't forget.

The finish line is only the beginning.…

Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can't escape the guilt that if she hadn't broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she's at war with her body, her mind-and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms...and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

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




First and foremost I will state of the bat that I was lucky enough to read a very, very early draft version of this book that was sent to me by the author. I say this because I want it clear that the opinion I have on this book was not swayed by any shape or form by the opportunity to be a BETA reader. These thoughts are my thoughts and my thoughts alone.

With that out of the way I can tell you that Breathe, Annie, Breathe is the MOST FANTASTIC book that Miranda Kenneally has ever written. It had emotion and a beautiful story and fantastic writing. It had all the things I have come to expect from a Kenneally book but on a level that was different from her other books. Breathe, Annie, Breathe is definitely a heavier subject since it deals with death and guilt and being left behind, but Kenneally hit it out of the park with this one and showed the depth of her writing.

Breathe, Annie, Breathe is the story of, you guessed it, Annie. Annie is training to run a marathon to honor her boyfriend who unexpectedly died. Filled with anger and sadness and guilt, Annie decides to honor Kyle’s memory and to do the thing he dreamed of doing and never did, run all 26 miles. With the help of some familiar faces (see the first books in the Hundred Oaks series) Annie begins training and trying to start a life that doesn’t involve Kyle. What Annie didn’t expect though was the attraction she feels to her trainer’s younger brother Jeremiah. And as Annie and Jere get closer Annie has to make a decision just where she wants her life to actually go.

This book is really hard to put into words to show how really good it is. What I can say is that it was really poignant. My heart just broke for Annie. Here she was this 17-year-old girl that had her whole life to look forward to. She was going to college and was going to make something of herself. And the rug was pulled right under her when her boyfriend died. Sure she was still going to go to college and have a career, but Kyle was supposed to be by her side for all of it and then he was just gone. I can’t imagine what that would be like at my age never mind for a 17-year-old that thinks her boyfriend is the be all and end-all of her life. Even feeling so lost Annie did the one thing she could think of and that was to run because that was what Kyle liked to do and had dreamed of running a full marathon. Actually, the running was what I really admired about Annie because it ended up symbolizing two things. It symbolized her love for Kyle and it symbolized her having enough guts to keep on going even when the wind was knocked out of her. And in a weird way, it was Kyle telling her it was okay to move on in the direction of college and life. And he brought her to Jeremiah who changed her in a way she never saw coming.

Ah, Jeremiah Brown. What do I even say about him??!! I loved him for the brief time we saw him in Things I Can’t Forget so I was over the moon when I found out he was the “hot Kenneally boy” (that is a technical term!) in Breathe, Annie, Breathe. And trust me when I say hot he was. But he was also really sweet and patient and caring. He was pretty much a typical boy with his competitiveness and his need for a rush, but he also took thought when it came to other people’s fears and worry for him. And he was the PERFECT counterpart for Annie. She was terrified of losing someone else she loves so she held back, especially after learning about his love of extreme sports and danger. But Jere was also able to teach Annie a lot more about herself through his love of the rush. Basically, they had major chemistry and that is all I’m going to say about that.

Simply put, Breathe, Annie, Breathe was phenomenal. I’ve now read it twice and it got even better the second time which was hard to do. Kenneally put her heart and soul into this book and wrote a winner. It was one of those books that I just laughed and cried and smiled and sniffled over. It was 100% Miranda Kenneally and it was 100% awesome. Can’t wait for her next masterpiece.

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About Miranda Kenneally

Growing up in Tennessee, Miranda Kenneally dreamed of becoming an Atlanta Brave, a country singer (cliché!), or a UN interpreter. Instead she writes, and works for the State Department in Washington, D.C., where George W. Bush once used her shoulder as an armrest. Miranda loves Twitter, Star Trek and her husband.

 

And because this book is so awesome here is your chance to win a copy for yourself or a BN gift card for $50. Just click on the picture below to enter! US/Canada ONLY. Ends July 29, 2014.

jere

*Jere pin created by me and Jen at Jenuine Cupcakes.

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11 responses to “Review: Breathe, Annie, Breathe – Miranda Kenneally + a Giveaway {CLOSED}

  1. This book looks great. I’ve never read any of this author’s other books, but the way you described it almost reminds me a little bit of a Sarah Dessen book, the way the worlds are vaguely connected, and are kind of bitter sweet.

  2. […] Breathe, Annie, Breathe is my favorite Miranda Kenneally book. Not only do I love Jere with everything in me, I love the struggle that Annie goes through and the changes she makes to help herself deal with loss and fear.  It is such a strong story and one I think every one should read. (It also just so happens to be only $2.99 for the Kindle right now.) […]

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