January Release: Don't Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala

Yes, another one of these posts. God knows Tora will probably kill me for it, but since I am going to absent for large parts of this year I've decided to make the time I have to blog count.

I'm not sure how much of the story
it conveys, but the cover really
catches your eye, doesn't it?

My Pick: Don't Breathe A Word by Holly Cupala
Release Date: January 3rd

Joy Delamere is suffocating... 
From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.  Joy can take his words - tender words, cruel words - until the night they go too far. 

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe... if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late. 

Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.

Well, this certainly is more my style. I love the idea of using the homeless network as a plot device, and later, the base for most of the characters in a book. And speaking of characters, we already know we're going to hate Asher, but it will be interesting to see what we think of Creed. I for one already love his name, and I mean; "If you ever need help, you know where to find me" - Hello? Who wouldn't love that?! And I love how we know the relationship between Joy and Creed is going to happen, but it will take an agonisingly long time to get there, as each character refuses to give in to the other, but in that it-really-is-for-both-our-own-good kind of way. It makes me itch in excitement just thinking about reading it. 

There's also May and Santos - the former a product of the streets with a drug-addict Mom, and the latter taking Joy - or Triste  as she's known on the streets - under his wing. This really is a character-run story, but the plots will always be looming in the background; abusive Asher searching for her, her parents going out of their minds, the danger of the street threatening to overtake all Joy has worked for, from her health to her new-found half-life. We know it's going to end in confrontation, but it'll be the journey that takes us there that all our expectations will ride on.

(Hope I haven't added to the hype too much...)

Allie

(It should also be noted that this story is not for anyone younger than their mid-teens, as this book contains swearing, violence, drug use, theft, and reference to abuse and prostitution. Definitely not an easy read, so you should stay away from it unless you can look past each of those themes.)