Out of Breath

The Breathing Series, Book 3

By: Rebecca Donovan

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Out of Breath is the third book in the million-copy bestselling Breathing Series.

“My insides still burned. I considered what I could do to push the torment back into the dark and return to my numb state. I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed help. I was desperate.”

Emma Thomas is hiding. From everything and everyone...including herself. But she can’t hide forever. Her past will find her, and her secrets won’t remain quiet - not if she wants to be forgiven. Emma learns that honesty can hurt worse than betrayal, and the truth may cost her the only love she’s ever known.

The highly anticipated conclusion of The Breathing Series will have readers holding their breath until the last page.

©2013 Rebecca Donovan (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

wow this series is an emotional rollercoaster

please please please read this series, you won't regret it!! Evan and Emma's story is amazing

All three books

I decided to wait and post a review for all three books. I was mad but I am also laughed. It just goes to show you how people hide abuse. I am so glad that they got together finally. I wish it was a series of books to follow. I would like to hear about the children and grandma. Sarah is something else. She needs a series of books on her own. I hope the Author thinks about her.

Emotional Raw

This book, 3rd in it’s series, was the closure i wanted for her! It was hard to listen the sheer abuse and psychological warfare she endured, but knowing she finally came to terms with it was worth the emotions i felt hearing the story. I felt the emotion and turmoil through this entire series. It made me feel like it was me. Absolutely amazing and yet hard to read/listen to book!

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Captivating

If you could sum up Out of Breath in three words, what would they be?

tragic, boy meets girl, happiness. Great series

Who was your favorite character and why?

Evan wow does a boy like that really exist.

good for a teen girl lol

if you were a teen girl you would enjoy this book much more than I did lol

Enjoyed part 2 as much as first book.

great performance. can't wait to start the 3rd book in the series. really like this author

My heart is full

Excellent ending to this mini series. I laughed. I cried. I’ll probably listen again... like right now...

Emotionally exhausting

Narrator: Kate Rudd is the solo performer. As I’ve stated before she executes the voice of Emma’s character perfectly. Although, I grew tired of her performance for all the other characters. I needed a break from Kate’s voice. I really wanted to hear a man’s voice perform the male characters.
Kate added words and altered sentence structures to fill in missing dialogue. This hadn’t been done in the prior two books, those had been read word perfectly.

Story: Being ripped open by several traumatic events Emma refused to move forward. Rather than heal Emma succumbed to a variety of toxic coping mechanisms none of which gave her the clarity she needed to make healthy choices. Her stubbornness won, allowing her to sink further into her grief choosing pain over happiness.

She’s just a girl trying to evade her past. Maybe it’s Survivor’s guilt...maybe it’s being told she wasn’t wanted or loved...maybe it was believing she wasn’t worthy. In the end Emma had to find forgiveness.

I struggled with Emma’s character. She is probably the most controversial character I’ve ever read with her inability to tell the truth. Every choice she made moved her into unhealthy areas. I kept waiting for her to take control of her own life instead of allowing others to make the healthy choices for her. She was an exhausting character. I understood her reasons for her self destructive thinking, yet I hoped for her to persevere those thoughts.

Overall: The first book I understood Emma’s pain, it wasn’t her fault her aunt had issues. I even understood her pain in the second book with her mother’s issues. This book is her own pain and her own issues. She succumbed to her circumstances almost giving into the words spoken about her. I’m so over her pain. If it wasn’t for good friends who protected her she would have continued with her self destruction. This bothered me. Reading about a girl who couldn’t fight for herself while relying on others to lift her up is not a survivor.

I loved the dual point of view. Having Evan’s voice within each chapter made it feel like a conversation taking place. I liked having both characters voicing their feelings. Once Evan entered the story my heart started to release some of the tension.

I started to recognize a pattern in these books. With each book Emma choose another guy over Evan following the same formulaic pattern. Each book addressed some form of abuse. First her aunt. Then her mother. This time it was Emma. She was a hot mess. I wanted to give up on her. If it hadn’t been for Evan’s determination I’m not sure I would’ve finished.

Rebecca wrote an emotionally charged book. It’s written beautifully. I’m just not sure I needed the extent of all these circumstances to truly understand Emma’s reasoning for hurting herself and Evan.

I must admit this was a difficult story to both read and listen to. The best strategy was to finish it in one sitting otherwise I would start to overthink emotions and the questions would build.

Great Read!!!!!

Reading this story I felt every emotion of each character. The narrator was really good at expressing each characters point of view. Would definetly recommend this book.

LOVE steals your breath away!!!

Which scene was your favorite?

One of the simpler scenes actually was my favorite. She found Evan's photo where he was about to grab the camera and you could see his eyes. You could tell he was smiling. You could tell he loved Emma so so much.

Any additional comments?

True love is in the forefront of this book. I admit I kept crying in the most unexpected moments, where the simplest though of Evan, of his voice, his smile, his eyes exploded Emma's (and mine) heart.
Rebecca Donovan conveyed their true feelings in an amazingly understated tone that touched you deeply. I love the dual point of view as Evan's thoughts were as critical as Emma's.
Thank God there is a happy ending... I wouldn't accept anything else. <3 :)