Monday, October 14, 2013

Audio Review: Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

17837641Title: Ten Tiny Breaths
Author: K.A. Tucker
Narrator: Elizabeth Louise
Published by: Simon and Schuster Audio
Length: 8 hr and 58 min
Source: Review copy from Simon and Schuster Audio*
Format: Audio
Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads: 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.

Ten Tiny Breaths was an emotional, heartbreaking story that was quite complex yet beautiful.  This story has it all. 

I am not really sure where to start with this novel.  There were so many layers to Ten Tiny Breaths and I can't believe how well K.A. Tucker weaved them together.  The first thing I want to discuss is the title.  Ten Tiny Breaths happens to be a coping mechanism that Kacey's mom taught her and let me tell you it definitely came in handy in this novel for Kacey during difficult times (and for me listening to them).  I loved how this was incorporated throughout the story and really connected Kacey to her past.  


Kacey herself was an emotional mess.  However, no matter what happened in her life she protected her sister.  Everything she did was for Livie and to keep her safe and happy.  I loved the relationship between these sisters and how they helped each other heal.  K.A. Tucker wrote the relationships between the women/girls in this story so well.  It is often difficult to write female relationships that are real and appropriate for different age groups and yet K.A. Tucker nailed it.    


Besides the female relationships, the interactions between Trent and Kacey left me frustrated and sometime breathless.  The tension between these two was ridiculous .  And I do not mean like it was silly ridiculous I meant it as  I do not know how other people could be in the same room as them and not feel suffocated or that they were witnessing something that was about to get inappropriate for an audience.  On another note, I am happy though that their relationship started slow (much to the disappointment of some readers and that tension that was swirling around) and progressed in a natural way .  Call me old fashion, but I did love how Trent came to the rescue all the time.  It was sweet.


I do not think you can discuss this novel without talking about the secrets and twists.  They are everywhere and take you by surprise.  At times I had to reread (re-listen) to parts just because I could not believe that just happened.  However I must admit that there were instances I felt like I had heard this story before.  It is not that I did not enjoy it, but it had many similar elements to other books out there.  


Elizabeth Louise was a great narrator.  Her edge to her voice fit Kacey perfectly and made me imagine the tough, protective, and broken character she was.  The audio help me with some of the pacing issues and also from stopping myself from skimming parts because I wanted to get to the "good stuff."  Sometimes I get too caught up in a story line and want to skip all the minutiae and only read the stuff relevant to the situation at hand.  


If you are looking for something that is beautiful but in a broken way, Ten Tiny Breaths is for you.



*I did receive a copy of this audio book for review, but all opinions are my own.

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