Breathe My Name
by R.A. Nelson
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Frances has been feeling anxious lately. The sound of an ambulance racing down the street causes her to panic. She has a secret that has been causing her more and more distress. Other than her family, only her quirky best friend Ann Mirette knows. The secret is creating a dark cloud over her seemingly perfect life. She has a loving adopted family, a wonderful house, and has just met a dreamy guy from Louisiana named Nix that grows more important to her everyday.
Eleven years ago Fra...more
Eleven years ago Fra...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Teenagers and Yung Adults
Breathe My Name a Novel by R.A Nelson.
Realistic Fiction.
Frances Robinson is the main character. She is in high school and just like every other teenager, excited to graduate. She is very small, and has a great family.
Frances Robinson was your average teenage girl. Well at least, that's how she seemed to be.
When Frances was younger her birth mother killed her three younger siblings. She, however, managed to escape. She is now living a great life with a great new family.
She meet...more
Realistic Fiction.
Frances Robinson is the main character. She is in high school and just like every other teenager, excited to graduate. She is very small, and has a great family.
Frances Robinson was your average teenage girl. Well at least, that's how she seemed to be.
When Frances was younger her birth mother killed her three younger siblings. She, however, managed to escape. She is now living a great life with a great new family.
She meet...more
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I don’t often read for plot. I enjoy a good story but if the voice of the characters doesn’t catch me, or doesn’t sound authentic I don’t usually keep reading. And Breathe My Name is a pretty good example of why that is. Frances has a secret, a secret name and a secret past and it is all about to catch up with her. Sounds pretty good right? It was - I enjoyed the story, the journey she takes. Except. Except at times the dialog rang false, even her internal dialogue and it would ja...more
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Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Frances Robinson's story has a lot in common with several news stories in recent years. Eleven years ago, her biological mother smothered her three younger sisters, and if it hadn't been for the arrival of a total stranger, Frances might have been next.
BREATHE MY NAME picks up when Frances is eighteen and a junior in high school. She lives with her loving adoptive parents in a nice home in a nice town. She is rel...more
Frances Robinson's story has a lot in common with several news stories in recent years. Eleven years ago, her biological mother smothered her three younger sisters, and if it hadn't been for the arrival of a total stranger, Frances might have been next.
BREATHE MY NAME picks up when Frances is eighteen and a junior in high school. She lives with her loving adoptive parents in a nice home in a nice town. She is rel...more
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Read in March, 2008
I read this because of my love for Teach Me, & while I prefer that novel to this one, Nelson continues to impress me. The main character is a teenage girl who once had three younger sisters, until her mother, driven insane after repeated struggles with post-partum depression, smothered her four daughters. The oldest survived, but after her mother was committed to an institution, was sent into foster care & raised by a new set of parents in a new state with a new name. Her new normal l...more
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Read in August, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
Cat, Kate
Pretty ghastly premise; 18 year old Frances Robinson lives a quiet life with her adoptive parents in a suburban town. She lived with her birth parents out in the country until she was 7 years old with her 3 younger sisters until her Mom went completely insane and killed her sisters. At the beginning of the novel, Frances learns that her Mom may be released from the facility she's been in for 10 years.
This was billed as a suspenseful thriller, so I was curious how this tragedy would be app...more
This was billed as a suspenseful thriller, so I was curious how this tragedy would be app...more
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Read in March, 2008
I picked this up off the YA shelves at the library because of the cover (I love the title written in condensation), and then because of the "my mother killed all my siblings except for me and she's now in a mental hospital" storyline. Because I find those news stories about mothers who kill their children horrifically fascinating.
Breathe My Name wasn't bad - when her mother's released from prison and leaves her a mysterious message, Frances and the new guy at her school, Ni...more
Breathe My Name wasn't bad - when her mother's released from prison and leaves her a mysterious message, Frances and the new guy at her school, Ni...more
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Well... At first I was pretty into this book. It deals with a teen who was the only surviving sister of infanticide. Her mother suffocated her 3 younger sisters in a post partum, isolated, depressed situation. I think many aspects of how she may feel growing up, and why this could have possibly happened is interesting. I also feel like many of the characters were fairly well flushed out. So why the 2? Towards the end of the book the author throws in what i felt was a totally superfluous plot twi...more
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2 comments
Read in March, 2008
recommended to ms.cherry by:
Sugieryrecommends it for: TO EVERYONE
THIS BOOK HAS JUICY DETAILS this book comes from the truth of what happens to francine jelks this is one quote from the story made by nixs
it's okay when he is talking to francine he says it's okay because she is going through a tough time but he knows that it will all be over soon
here is the letter that mr carruthers handed to francine from her real mother
we have to finis
h what we
started
francine doesnt know what it means till s
he finds her dad and gets him to tell where her m...more
it's okay when he is talking to francine he says it's okay because she is going through a tough time but he knows that it will all be over soon
here is the letter that mr carruthers handed to francine from her real mother
we have to finis
h what we
started
francine doesnt know what it means till s
he finds her dad and gets him to tell where her m...more
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1 comments
I thought this was quite good. A few reminders of "Beloved" but in a much less caustic manor. My only complaint is one I have of many YA novels, which is, girls meets boy and suddenly they are in love with one another within a few days time period. It's a common trope and I guess useful for perpetuating the novels momentum, though I wish a more realistic pace would be shown as an example to young readers.
side note: also the third appearance of a romantic interest with the name Nix ...more
side note: also the third appearance of a romantic interest with the name Nix ...more
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Read in August, 2007
A haunting portrayal of what it is to live with a truly terrible event. The main character's mother killed her sisters and tried to kill her when she was little. Suddenly, she hears that her mother is being released from the mental institute she was sentenced to.
In the midst of the main tragedy that takes place, the main character goes through a very real and convincing first teenage love that. While the beginning was solid, the end felt forced and confused. Something so terrible could never w...more
In the midst of the main tragedy that takes place, the main character goes through a very real and convincing first teenage love that. While the beginning was solid, the end felt forced and confused. Something so terrible could never w...more
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1 comments
Read in February, 2008
I had a different impression about the plot of this book when I read the jacket. It turned out to be nothing like I thought. Really, I would have liked the plot I thought it was better. It wasn't a bad story, but there was so much internal thinking that I got a little annoyed with the MC. The MC was scared and it was understandable, but it was constantly mentioned. The climax was also over quickly and I thought it should have been a little more.
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If you've read "White Oleander" you will likely see many similarities in "Breathe My Name". A young woman struggling with her past with monster who happens to be here mother looming over her. Nelson adds the dimension of abuse to the mix but both protagonists find salvation in the new relationships that they create.
Affecting narration and a sense of suspense kept me going once I recognized the similarity of plot points.
Affecting narration and a sense of suspense kept me going once I recognized the similarity of plot points.
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Read in August, 2008
I loved the idea for this book - and most of the book itself. The twist ending was really strange and out of left field and didn't need to be there. Of course, the author had to find a way to get her to see her mother, otherwise there wouldn't have been a story. And for going through so much, Francine/Frances was oddly unaffected.
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Read in May, 2008
Huh. I was really liking this book, until some weird stuff happened toward the end that I found implausible. I think it would have been better without that little twist. Overall I liked the style and the characters and I thought it was a good treatment of a rather ghastly, if all too realistic, premise.
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Read in January, 2008
this is a story about family secrets and the main character's journey on letting go of her past. i found the novel to be engrossing and i like that chapters alternate from the past and present. the ending was a bit jarring, and i felt it wasnt as strong as the earlier parts, but still a very good book.
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A tale of a girl whose mother killed her sisters and attempted to kill her. It gives a interesting look at how much more insight children have than we think, and how not all bad people are evil.
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Read in May, 2008
This book was really haunting-but really a page turner. It had disturbing subject matter, especially if you have children-but it was really good overall. There was some language in it as well.
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Read in October, 2007
recommended to Sayuri by:
Myselfrecommends it for: older teens
This book was somewhat weird and slow. Much cursing ruined it a bit for me but the romance in the book was amazing and at the end there was a giant surprise that i didn't even see coming.
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