THE ART OF BREATHING ~ CALI MELLE

BOOK REVIEW

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If there was ever a story that pulls on your heart; makes you cheer, makes you cry and makes you hold your breath, then Cali Melle’s The Art of Breathing is that story.

This tells of Luna Truly, who shortly after birth developed a rare genetic mutation that wrecks havoc on her lungs and other organs in her body, which results her in depending on a tracheotomy tube and a ventilator to help with her breathing.

It also tells the story of her best friend and next door neighbor Oliver Hart, who has been by her side ever since they were children. Now that they are both eighteen, things are changing between them. Neither are looking at the other as just friends.

Luna is one of the strongest characters I have ever read. She knows that she’s living on borrowed time and all ahead wants to do is have some normalcy in her life even if for a short period of time. She doesn’t want to be pitied or coddled; she wants to be treated like every other person around her living their lives.

Oliver doesn’t coddle her. He doesn’t shield her from wanting to do things, so when he helps her with her Bucket List, he does it with such sincerity and unconditional love. When he speaks to her, it’s with honesty. Throughout this book, you’ll see Oliver grow and change: not to please Luna, but to love her without motives or sympathy.

I felt my heart lurch in parts of this book. This story had so much emotion; not just between Luna and Oliver but also with Luna’s mother and father. Not only do they want to be a support system for their daughter but they are witnessing first hand how childhood friends are blossoming into the makings of first love.

I love that Cali did her research when writing this story, but I loved her story behind writing The Art of Breathing. Cali effortlessly weaved in cameo appearances from her Orchid City series, which will make loyal readers of that series smile. I love that she incorporates characters from her previous works in her current novels.

If you want a beautiful love story that will lock you in from the first chapter to the last, The Art of Breathing is one you want to have.