Try Not to Breathe

Jan 16, 2012 ♥Rachel♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I'm hardly an expert on suicide but I've always thought it was preceded by a momentous event, which after thinking more about it doesn't make any sense at all. If it was, less people would be successful in their attempts because others around them would be watching or worrying that this might happen. More often than not it seems that if a person commits suicide, others around are puzzled and wonder how it all came to this. They tell themselves, if they just would've seen the signs they could've...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Shae Carcar marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I like the cover but i wish it wasn't so... kissy kissy. Gosh! Sometimes, I don't want my parents to know what i'm reading and this just screams it lol

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Nov 28, 2012 Kat (Le Pauvre Cœur) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bad-ending, f-cking-brilliant, favorites, terrible-cover, must-add-to-personal-library, surprised-me-like-a-slap-in-my-face, wizard-angst

4.5 Stars

Recently released from a mental institution for trying to kill himself, 16 year old Ryan is still stuck trying to figure out his life. He has an overprotective mother who worries about him constantly, his best friend lives far away and he's still working out his feelings for her, and past mistakes still haunt his mind.
Then Nicki barges into his life, asking questions that he thought no one had the guts to ask. Nicki makes Ryan discover things about himself he never even knew, while rev...more 4.5 Stars

Recently released from a mental institution for trying to kill himself, 16 year old Ryan is still stuck trying to figure out his life. He has an overprotective mother who worries about him constantly, his best friend lives far away and he's still working out his feelings for her, and past mistakes still haunt his mind.
Then Nicki barges into his life, asking questions that he thought no one had the guts to ask. Nicki makes Ryan discover things about himself he never even knew, while revealing dark secrets of her own.

She saw him when everyone else saw through him.

I was dropped off at my library with an hour to kill when I found this book. My brother went to volunteer and I went to the Teen section. Even though I had brought my own book, I browsed the 'New Teen Fiction' shelves anyway. And by some weird twist of fate (or boredom), I picked up Try Not To Breathe. Without even looking at the description, I read the first page. And the next. And the next.
It....was SO FUCKING GOOD.

Addictive, meaningful, beautiful, and so not what I would normally pick up. Just the cover itself is enough to throw me off. If I was the cover designer, I would have put a guy standing under a waterfall, water splashing over him so you couldn't see his face or features, and maybe a girl standing off to the side. It would have fit the story much better than two people friggin' making out.
Though now that I've read it, I sort of appreciate the dark, black and white colors, and rough font of the title.

The characters felt real and not forced. There was only one time where it was really unbelievable, where Nicki was telling Ryan how she had had sex with an 18 year old when she was 14. I just...couldn't comprehend how stupid Nicki was to do that, and where the hell was her mother at that point? Nicki's mother was shockingly absent throughout the book, but it didn't really matter. You'd think her mother would be more protective after what had happened with her dad.

The ending left me feeling cheated. It was so abrupt that it felt like a knife had chopped off the rest of the ending and I can't find it.
After an ending like Seraphina had, any ending would be dull in comparison, but I was extremely disappointed with it all the same.
Jennifer could have done more with the ending, but I still think this book was AMAZING.
So amazing, in fact, that I had to write the word in all caps.

Yet another book I wish to add to my personal library. (less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it

I really enjoyed this story. Even though it's about a very serious and depressing subject, the story had a very strong positive feeling to it.

"Learning to live is more than just choosing not to die" Ryan discovers this in the year following his suicide attempt. Despite his mother’s anxious hovering and the rumors at school, he's trying his best to move on into his life again. His struggle with everything is very well depicted and relatable for anyone who's ever been there. Sixteen is a rough ag...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can honestly say that I am unsure as to how to rate this book. It is about a subject matter that I know absolutely nothing about and cannot really identify with. Even in my awkward teen years, I never felt the despair and hopelessness that we see Ryan, the main protagonist, go through.

The the above being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think Jennifer Hubbard does a wonderful job depicting what it is like to be a teen who is struggling. Ryan's story was beautiful to read. I loved se...more

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May 16, 2013 Pinkie Pie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this review and more like it at Pretty Deadly Reviews.

After reading The Secret Year by Jennifer R Hubbard, she has been on my auto-read list. I loved her writing and the use of dual voices, and mostly that she wrote a male protagonist that actually sounded like a male protagonist. And so when I hear she had a new book coming out, I was super excited, and of course, it landed the top slot of my wish list. This time around, while I did appreciate the book, I wasn't quite as enamored.

As before...more Read this review and more like it at Pretty Deadly Reviews.

After reading The Secret Year by Jennifer R Hubbard, she has been on my auto-read list. I loved her writing and the use of dual voices, and mostly that she wrote a male protagonist that actually sounded like a male protagonist. And so when I hear she had a new book coming out, I was super excited, and of course, it landed the top slot of my wish list. This time around, while I did appreciate the book, I wasn't quite as enamored.

As before, the shining star of Hubbard's work is her characters. Ryan and Nicki are beautifully wrought, and complicated and broken. They each have their own secrets and peeling back the outer layers was both compelling and frustrating. We never really get to the bottom of Ryan's depression, at least in my opinion. And I'm not really sure how I would react to Nicki and her secrets. The novel is also laced with quite a cast of side characters - Ryan's smothering parents, Nicki's own family, and of course, the friends Ryan made inside the walls of the psychiatric institution.

The novel fell flat for me in the plot, though. Where I expected there to be a little intrigue, a small mystery to figure out along the way, I was actually met with little to no plot lines. There was Nicki chasing her father's ghost by hiring one psychic after another. But that quickly fizzled out. There was a side romance that lasted about half the book. It seemed like there were small threads of stories woven within that Hubbard left to fray instead of turn into the fabric a story is made of. I was left feeling pretty let down by the whole thing.

I do think there is an audience for this book though. It was beautifully written, all the way down to the individual sentences. Ryan has a clear, fresh voice, and the side characters are enough to entertain those who love dark, character-driven contemporaries. But for me, I need a little more plot to my books. Even so, I will still be looking out for whatever Hubbard has up her sleeve next.(less)

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Apr 27, 2013 Abhishek Shrivastava rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Try Not to Breathe is the story of 16-year-old Ryan, newly off a suicide attempt, and his friendship with Nicki, whose own recent tragedy gives credence, and substance, to their relationship. Ryan, the son of wealthy parents, struggles with their understandable over-protectiveness, and his long-standing Outsider isolation. Nicki, from a poorer background, is a vibrant contrast to his family’s stultifying way of life. Each provides the other’s path to resolution.

As Ryan tells his story, the autho...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Deborah Takahashi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-fiction

After returning home from Patterson Hospital, Ryan is trying to resume a normal life. Despite the fact that everyone at school know what he did, he tries to stay under the radar. Ryan lives in an amazing glass house near a beautiful waterfall, which is where he spends most of his time. Every day, Ryan wades the slippery rocks to stand under the mighty waterfall; the feeling of the cold water and the pressure makes him feel alive. One day, as he makes his way down to the waterfall, Ryan meets Nic...more After returning home from Patterson Hospital, Ryan is trying to resume a normal life. Despite the fact that everyone at school know what he did, he tries to stay under the radar. Ryan lives in an amazing glass house near a beautiful waterfall, which is where he spends most of his time. Every day, Ryan wades the slippery rocks to stand under the mighty waterfall; the feeling of the cold water and the pressure makes him feel alive. One day, as he makes his way down to the waterfall, Ryan meets Nicki. Although he can't remember her name, Nicki is different than most girls. In fact, she happens to be the sister of one of the resident "bad boys," but according to her brother, Kent, she is more screwed up than he is. Besides Nicki, Ryan really only talks to two other people and that's Val and Jake; they met each other at the hospital and are really good friends. Until recently, Ryan has kept to himself avoiding people as much as he can, but when Nicki asks him the inevitable question, he learns that her own father committed suicide. Unsure how to handle this question, Ryan finds himself on a journey that will not only help him admit the truth behind that night in the garage, but learn how to feel alive again.

Try Not To Breathe is an honest, evocative, and compelling story about life and death. Although Ryan tried to commit suicide, he doesn't fully realize the reasons as to why he wanted to die until he met Nicki. Although Nicki built her relationship with Ryan around pursuing the truth about her own father's suicide, these two characters were brought together to help each other with their loss and confusion. The main theme of this story revolves around the ability to feel. Ryan has lived the last few years looking through a pane of glass he sees what's going, but he is numb to everything. For Nicki, she is the complete opposite. Since the death of her father, she has been constantly looking for the reasons as to why her father would kill himself, which leads her to many different conclusions and foolish quests (i.e., seeking out a psychic). She is so wrapped up in finding the truth that she puts her heart and hope in the open where she risks being disappointed and hurt. Nicki, unlike Ryan, is a go getter, which makes her the ideal partner Ryan. As for Ryan's friends, Val and Jake, it turns out that they both needed him to get through their difficulties. Although Ryan does acknowledge the fact that Val and Jake were the ones who made him change, it was his transformation that inspired them to want to get on with life. However, Ryan had something important to help him cope with his problems: he had a kindred spirit. Ever since he met Nicki, Ryan slowly re-discovers his own strength, which helps him to deal with his problems and, most importantly, being honest with himself. Now that he has someone he can actually talk to, other than a therapist, he has faith in himself to do the right thing. (less)

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Feb 27, 2013 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age, death-and-dying, family, mental-hospital-settings, relationships, sex, survival, young-adult-literature, depression

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. "There was never a magic moment when I knew why dying had called to me, just like there was never a magic moment when I decided I wanted to live instead. My mother had been looking for the same magic reason, I knew. She wanted an explanation. Hell, she deserved one, too.

Nicki also wanted the magic reason - more for her dad than for me - but what I'd told her was all I had to give, this spewing of the worst that was inside me.

'I'm sorry,' I whispered. My knee ached and burned under her hand.

'For...more "There was never a magic moment when I knew why dying had called to me, just like there was never a magic moment when I decided I wanted to live instead. My mother had been looking for the same magic reason, I knew. She wanted an explanation. Hell, she deserved one, too.

Nicki also wanted the magic reason - more for her dad than for me - but what I'd told her was all I had to give, this spewing of the worst that was inside me.

'I'm sorry,' I whispered. My knee ached and burned under her hand.

'For what?'

Where would I begin?"

Sixteen year-old Ryan has recently been released from Patterson, the mental hospital where he was sent after a suicide attempt. His friends from the hospital, Val and Jake, have also been released to their respective homes, and Ryan is trying to manage his days on his own, while also under the watchful eyes of his parents. As a way to get away, he regularly goes to a waterfall near his house. There, he meets Nicki, a girl who initially seems to ask too many questions, but who eventually discloses to Ryan that her own father had committed suicide. Nicki is trying to find answers to why, and Ryan may be her best hope to figure out what would push a person to that brink. For Ryan, Nicki is the first person who hasn't treated him with kid gloves, who isn't afraid to ask him tough questions. As the two become closer, he begins to open up to her about the events that drove him to his attempt, and trusts her more than anyone else in his life. But when he discovers that Nicki has been lying to him about important things,

This is probably more of a 3.5 star book for me - I appreciate the fact that Hubbard has written a book about recovering from suicidal depression, but the plot moved slowly for me, and while that helped give space and time to develop Ryan and Nicki's characters, the secondary characters all felt somewhat flat - even Val, who had a key role in Ryan's development. The dialogue rings true, and I did like how the resolution was positive, without being overly so. And I liked the way Hubbard emphasizes that Ryan's depression was not brought on by any one traumatic event, but rather by a series of seemingly-minor episodes, and how depression can happen to anyone, even those people who come from "good," stable families. The effects of Ryan's suicide attempt, and its aftermath, on both him and his family, are powerful. Overall, a very good read about an extremely important subject. (less)

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Jan 02, 2013 Connie Peters rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ryan is a 16 year old kid who is living life on the outside. He doesn't feel like he's a part of his world, he's invisible, a non- entity. So what does someone who is invisible to the rest of the world do? He attempts suicide by carbon dioxide poisoning, in the garage, in his mother's car. But he can't go though with it and ends up at Patterson, a state run mental health facility for teens. At least while at Patterson, he starts to feel things again and makes two good friends. But when he's rele...more

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May 08, 2012 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bullies, death, depression, families, ncbla2013, school

Although it seems highly unlikely that someone who hasn't ever experienced profound depression can understand the feeling that leads to suicide, this book gives a glimpse into that unfathomable experience through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Ryan, who has just returned home after a stint in a mental hospital following his suicide attempt. It also manages to describe the pain and guilt of those left behind when someone dies or attempts to end his/her life. For Ryan, there was no event that sent h...more Although it seems highly unlikely that someone who hasn't ever experienced profound depression can understand the feeling that leads to suicide, this book gives a glimpse into that unfathomable experience through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Ryan, who has just returned home after a stint in a mental hospital following his suicide attempt. It also manages to describe the pain and guilt of those left behind when someone dies or attempts to end his/her life. For Ryan, there was no event that sent him spiraling into depression; rather, his depression is described as feeling as though he were behind glass, and a series of events prompted him to feel that he was disappearing, that no one was paying attention to him. Now that he is home again, he must deal with over-protective parents, growing distance from the friends he made in the hospital, and classmates who treat him with kid gloves, as though he might crumble again with too much handling. As he tries to sort things out, he finds himself drawn to a waterfall under which he stands as the water pounds down against him. As risky as this action is, it helps him feel alive. On one particular day, he meets Nicki, the daughter of a man who recently committed suicide. She is desperate for clues as to why her father decided to end his life and assumes that Ryan might have some answers. Despite the fact that both of them aren't telling the truth about everything, Ryan is drawn to her since she asks questions that others have avoided. As she seeks answers through psychics, the two draw closer, and Ryan starts to trust someone again. The author makes it clear that ultimately, there may be no explanation for what prompts suicide or depression, and that it is pointless for those who are left behind to wonder what they could have done to prevent their loved ones' death. This title is sure to stir up controversy about suicide and life choices among teens. As I read it, I kept thinking about how hard it must be to return to the same world you left when you went into a treatment facility. Since the world isn't going to change, you must do the changing. How challenging that must be! How hard it must be for friends and family to trust that someone like Ryan won't try to die again!(less)

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Apr 04, 2012 Chelsea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, contemporary

Also seen on:
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Try not to breathe is essentially about a young man named Ryan who is fresh out of a mental institution after attempting to kill himself. He has to live with a stigma over his head and finds that his life is no longer his own to control. He finds little ways of defying this like his trips to the waterfall but he is no longer a regular teenager. One day he meets Nicki, who seems fascinated by his past and wants to get to know him better. Bit b...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Kit Grindstaff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Try Not to Breathe is the story of 16-year-old Ryan, newly off a suicide attempt, and his friendship with Nicki, whose own recent tragedy gives credence, and substance, to their relationship. Ryan, the son of wealthy parents, struggles with their understandable over-protectiveness, and his long-standing Outsider isolation. Nicki, from a poorer background, is a vibrant contrast to his family’s stultifying way of life. Each provides the other’s path to resolution.

As Ryan tells his story, the auth...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Abria Mattina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bought

Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard was just what I needed to get out of my YA slump. Lately I’ve been disappointed in my YA reads for being trite or overly simplistic, and Try Not to Breathe was a refreshing change of pace. Hubbard takes on some serious issues in this novel, but she never belittles her teenage characters or simplifies their problems.

Narrated by the protagonist, Ryan, Try Not to Breathe is a story about mental illness that feels completely genuine. Hubbard writes Ryan’s pe...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People struggling with depression; people who want to understand a loved one who is depressed

Recommended to Jackie by: Horn Book

With her two main characters -- Ryan, a teen who tried to commit suicide, and Nikki, a teen whose father killed himself -- Hubbard gives voice to the two main audiences for this book: people who have suffered from depression, and those who haven't, but want/need to understand. Ryan's narrative struck me as dead-on about what depression feels like: how pathetic you feel for feeling so bad when nothing really that bad has ever happened to you; how your emotions seemed walled off; how when you do f...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Sarai rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

I liked this book. The characters were interesting and had depth. Everyone felt real to me, perhaps because they were shown with warts and all. I liked their confusion; it made sense given their situations. I liked the way the relationship developed between Ryan and Nicki. I liked the way Ryan's parents were drawn. I liked the ending, not all wrapped up in a pretty bow. Nothing felt rushed or prolonged. I just found it to be a very good read!

Book Description
Publication Date: January 19, 2012
A da...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Estíbaliz Martín rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Ryan es un joven post-suicida, es decir, tiempo atrás se intentó suicidar. Estuvo en el psiquiatrico Patterson, donde conoció a Val y a Jake, sus actuales mejores amigos. Pasa la mayor parte de su tiempo en la cascada. Ahí conoce a Nicki, una joven que parece no tener miedo a poder romperle com si fuese papel. Le trata como a una persona normal y corriente, y eso hace que Ryan confíe en ella y le cuente todos los secretos de su intento de suicidio.

Nos encontramos con un libro fuertemente emocion...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction, suicide, mental-illness, friendship, relationships

A brooding and ominous look at the dark side of human emotional issues. Ryan, after attempting suicide, has been recently released from a mental health facility. He is shaky and unsure, has an overly protective father who is on constant alert, and an OCD mother who shuns physical touch but claims to love him. Ryan finds solace under a crashing, thundering waterfall of hammering pressure. He is trying desperately to find a way to move beyond the memories that brought him to this place.

Val and Ja...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people looking for thought-provoking, insightful, simple, somewhat-depressing books

Shelves: 2012, realistic-fiction, trauma-emotional

And, you know, suicide. How do you explain it when it is so unexplainable? It's a tricky business, but Jennifer Hubbard is pretty good at it.

There was never a magic moment when I knew why dying had called to me, just like there was never a magic moment when I decided I wanted to live instead.

This is one of those novels that touches on the stuff that goes unsaid during rickety occurrences. People hear about suicide, and they think that it happens because those people had bad environment. Jennife...more And, you know, suicide. How do you explain it when it is so unexplainable? It's a tricky business, but Jennifer Hubbard is pretty good at it.

There was never a magic moment when I knew why dying had called to me, just like there was never a magic moment when I decided I wanted to live instead.

This is one of those novels that touches on the stuff that goes unsaid during rickety occurrences. People hear about suicide, and they think that it happens because those people had bad environment. Jennifer Hubbard really stresses that suicide is all about inner workings, and holds a certain clarity when she's explaining it in this book. In other words, her writing makes me feel like she's telling me, "Here's how it is."

I wanted to push myself again. To find the edges of things.

Ryan is fresh out of a mental hospital and still trying to figure out his life after a suicide attempt. His mother worries over his every move, as if it would signal where he stands on the crazy/sane meter. The only one who seems to really see him is Nicki. But even as Ryan tells Nicki everything, they're both holding back. All of this makes Try Not to Breathe a really strong contemporary voice. The book isn't overly emotional; it didn't make me cry. But it holds a candid insight to a more taboo subject, kind of like a more downplayed version of Barry Lyga. This book feels so real that I don't really remember why I ever hesitated in picking it up.

These were the kinds of secrets I had. Not the big secrets where anyone would feel sorry for you, would understand your pain - like losing a parent or getting a serious illness. Mine were the shameful, horrible kind. The grubby little twisted secrets, the ones where people would shrink away from me if they knew how pathetic I was.

Try Not to Breathe looks like one of those rickety proceed-with-caution books. The plot seems almost too simple, and a lot of the grown-ups are a bit, well, flat. The funny thing is that these blatant shortcomings actually contribute to accentuating the real theme-slash-message of the whole shebang - "Things happen, but it gets better."
(less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Sumney rated it 2 of 5 stars

Hmm I give this book 2.5 stars. It was right in the middle.
The pacing is super slow and boring. If this story was an animal it'd be a snail. Even though she's a minor charcter I sort of identified with Val in some ways and I grew to like most of the characters. That's why I finished this book, so I could see how things played out for the people in the story.
However, I found this book to be whiny and annoying and I couldn't stand Ryans parents! They SMOTHER that poor kid, especially his mother!!...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Shelley Daugherty rated it 5 of 5 stars

Understanding why people try to commit suicide is a difficult thing to cover, and make it not sound like a text book, or preaching. But this book is a great example of what life is like, after. Life isn't easy but that is part of the experience, and sometimes we have to dust ourselves off and try again. The book also shows how important it is when the right person comes along who really "gets you". Overall a very good depiction of real life during this kind of trauma.

Ryan is recently released fr...more

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May 17, 2013 Nathaly Alvarez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: escritores-favoritos, increibles, leido-en-2013, nada-es-lo-que-parece, para-recordar, perspectiva-masculina

He sido invisible en mi nueva escuela, excepto por los rumores de suicidio que traía. Sin embargo, que la gente sepa sobre ti, no es lo mismo que te conozcan.

Tratando de aprender a vivir después de recuperarse de un intento de suicidio, Ryan lucha por olvidarse de la oscuridad que lo llevo a intentar suicidarse, pero esto puede ser realmente difícil mientras lucha contra algunos secretos de su pasado. Entonces Ryan conoce a Nikki, quien esta usando psíquicos para intentar contactar a su pad...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Judith Rowen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A mantra one hears when learning to work with psychiatric patients is that if you feel depressed after working with a specific patient, it is likely that the patient is depressed. I still feel fairly melancholy two days after finishing this book, so you know it is an excellent depiction of the ravages of depression. I must confess that I know the author, which is why I initially picked up the book, but I will be recommending it to parents who struggle to understand their depressed child's detach...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Fiona rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 25, 2013 Elas Büchertruhe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wie verzweifelt muss ein junger Mensch sein, um sich das Leben nehmen zu wollen?
Ryan kennt diese Verzweiflung nur zu gut. Sein Selbstmordversuch ist missglückt und seitdem lebt er recht zurückgezogen ohne jegliche Kontakte zu seinen Mitschülern. Einziger Rückzugsort für ihn ist ein Wasserfall, wenn er unter diesem steht und das Rauschen des Wassers hört, fühlt er sich frei.
Eigentlich ist er dort stets allein doch dies ändert sich, als er Nicky kennenlernt. Nicky scheut sich nicht vor Ryan und ve...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Htoo Thein rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Try Not to Breathe" by Hubbard is about a post-suicidal teenage named Ryan who meets bouncy Nicki, a girl as determined as Ryan is reclusive. After being released from a mental hospital for attempting suicide, Ryan floats about his home, spends an incredible amount of time at the local waterfall and is seemingly seem disinterested in all other activities when he meets Nicki, whose determination and energy drag Ryan back into the world of the living.

The book is compelling, and a very fast read....more

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May 29, 2012 Arlene rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cover-pda-fave, read-2012, ya-contemporary, young-adult

I struggled with Try Not to Breathe for over a week. I had about 70 pages left, and I was seriously considering abandoning it, but my resolve is stronger than my instinct and that’s where I went wrong. This book depressed me, took me no where I wanted to go, and left me wondering where the hale I went. It’s no secret I like to push the boundaries of my reading choices every now and again, and a book about suicide definitely falls into that category.

I’m not calling foul to the fact that I never r...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Carhyne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this book is about a boy dealing with the rumors and the struggle in his so called life. he attempted suicide and now everyone judges him before they get to know him. except for one girl names nicki who wants to know him becuase of all the rumors she heard about him. nicki's father had killed himself and she hopes that ryan can help her figure out why he did it. but she learns that only her father knew why he had killed himself.her questions dont rlly get answered in this book.

pain, and sacrif...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Carmen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

A Dark Subject Matter. A Highly Enjoyable Read

Cut off from friends but for the two he met at the mental Hospital he has just left after his suicide attempt, seventeen year-old Ryan spends his summer trying hard not to go back to the black place he so well remembers.

But living takes courage, more than he can gather on his own. Luckily for him Nicki intrudes into his life.

Nicki, a girl he barely knows, dares to ask him the questions neither of his traumatized parents have ever asked. Little by lit...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Jennifer Burke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen-books

I really enjoyed this book, despite it's serious subject. Ryan is home after an attempted suicide lands him in a psychiatric hospital. He befriends Nicki, who is dealing with her own secrets. As they confide in each other, Ryan finds reasons to come out of his shell and start living again. The story was extremely hopeful, especially towards the end, and I feel this book could help many teens who are dealing with feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, or their own thoughts of suicide. Without bein...more

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