16th out of 304 books
—
382 voters
Breathing Underwater (Breathing Underwater #1)
by
Alex Flinn (Goodreads Author)
Like father, like son.
Intelligent, popular, handsome, and wealthy, sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas is pretty much perfect on the outside, at least. What no one knows not even his best friend is the terror that Nick faces every time he is alone with his father. Then he and Caitlin fall in love, and Nick thinks his problems are over. Caitlin is the one person who he can...more
Intelligent, popular, handsome, and wealthy, sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas is pretty much perfect on the outside, at least. What no one knows not even his best friend is the terror that Nick faces every time he is alone with his father. Then he and Caitlin fall in love, and Nick thinks his problems are over. Caitlin is the one person who he can...more
Paperback, 263 pages
Published
October 15th 2002
by HarperTeen
(first published April 24th 2001)
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Breathing Underwater is a staple in my clasroom. This book is written so well that it becomes the hook for my non-reading students. I learned about the thought process of someone that abuses mentally and physically. I also learned about why someone might stay in an abusive relationship. I found myself having empathy for the main character even though he had made large mistakes.
In this extraordinary novel by Alex Flinn, we experience a violent teen relationship from the point of view of the boy who beats his girlfriend. Nick is everyone’s friend and seemingly has a perfect life. What his friends don’t know is that his father is abusive. Before he knows it, Nick finds himself following in his dad’s footsteps as he becomes both verbally and physically abusive to his girlfriend Caitlin. When Caitlin’s parents file a restraining order against him, Nick is forced into a fam...more
I know if I don't try to type out my feelings now, I will lose what I am thinking/feeling.
I don't want to say that I didn't like the book, but I have very few good things to say about it. Yes, it captured my interest and I read it quickly. I wasn't ever bored and anxiously waited to see how it ended. There were so many things that I didn't like though.
1. I don't like books that are written for YA that try to "capture" what it is really like in high school. I don't want my kids reading those kind...more
I don't want to say that I didn't like the book, but I have very few good things to say about it. Yes, it captured my interest and I read it quickly. I wasn't ever bored and anxiously waited to see how it ended. There were so many things that I didn't like though.
1. I don't like books that are written for YA that try to "capture" what it is really like in high school. I don't want my kids reading those kind...more
May 07, 2008
Annette
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
teens and adults
Recommended to Annette by:
Tambre
Shelves:
ya
It makes me sad that a book about teenage violence has become required reading for all freshman at North High,(where my kids attend). On the other hand, I'm glad that someone took the time to write a book about such a serious and much needed topic. I'm sure that the author wrote it thinking that if she could make a difference in even one person's life it would be well worth it. I feel that if the reading of this book is accompanied with a great deal of classroom discussion it could prove to be v...more
A fast simple read that was gripping, shocking and honest.
Was this really challenged to be banned from a school? This is exactly the type of book that teen girls should be reading......yes he's hot, yes he's popular and sexy, but he's mean, he's controlling and he hits you, this is not a romantic relationship you want to be in.
Even though the entire book is from the abusers POV and Flinn gave us hope for his character by the end, she made her girl SMART and able to do the right thing once the da...more
Was this really challenged to be banned from a school? This is exactly the type of book that teen girls should be reading......yes he's hot, yes he's popular and sexy, but he's mean, he's controlling and he hits you, this is not a romantic relationship you want to be in.
Even though the entire book is from the abusers POV and Flinn gave us hope for his character by the end, she made her girl SMART and able to do the right thing once the da...more
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I really enjoyed breathing underwater. I enjoyed it because it was in the boys perspective and he is the one who abuses his girlfriend Caitlin. Both in dreamland and breathing underwater Rogerson and Nick abuse their girlfriends because they get abused by their fathers (that's not a good excuse as to why they did it). I couldn't put this book down when I started reading it. I don't know what I'd do if I was in an abusive relationship, it's not fair to have to go through that. At first I thought...more
Sadly, this book may be a work of fiction but in many ways it isn't. I know people in similar situations or even someone like Nick. It's not fun. It's sad to think growing up in a hostile home and not having the love from your parents that you need can mold you into a certain person who lashes out on the ones who care most about them (girlfriends/boyfriends and friends). It's a hard cycle to break and there's only two routes that it could end up at. I think this book could be very helpful for ce...more
When I started reading this book I was kind of iffy about it. I do not like fiction books and never really have. This book is fiction and I could defintiely see it happening in real life. While I was reading this book I just had to keep telling myself to relate it to someones life so it would seem realistic.
I would recomend this book to anyone, It goes threw so much. I could not relate to anything in this book but it could very well happen to someone in real life. Breathing Underwater was a very...more
I would recomend this book to anyone, It goes threw so much. I could not relate to anything in this book but it could very well happen to someone in real life. Breathing Underwater was a very...more
Breathing Underwater Andrew Broderick
Alex Flinn
I would give this book a four out of five stars. It was published by HarperCollins Publishing in 2006. It has 263 pages, of a fun to read kind of book. It’s a fiction, and the genre would probably be teenage life.
In Breathing Underwater, is an exaggerated version of teenage girlfriend boyfriend drama. It involves a pretty popular boy named Nick, and a girl who is starting to become popular because she’s dating him, named Caitlin. Nick has a rough l...more
My overall rating of the book Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn is a 5 out of 5.
Everyone’s friend, a great athlete, good looking, and fairly privileged are all words to describe sixteen year old, Nick Andreas. Until he abuses his girlfriend. This story is about Nick and how he goes from being on top with a beautiful girlfriend, to being all alone and in deep doo-doo with the law and his anger management class. Nick goes through many struggles in this book, and you get to be with him, in all of...more
Everyone’s friend, a great athlete, good looking, and fairly privileged are all words to describe sixteen year old, Nick Andreas. Until he abuses his girlfriend. This story is about Nick and how he goes from being on top with a beautiful girlfriend, to being all alone and in deep doo-doo with the law and his anger management class. Nick goes through many struggles in this book, and you get to be with him, in all of...more
My rating for Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn, I give a 5 out of 5 stars.
Nick Andreas is a comfortable suited child with money to go around, and a beautiful loving girlfriend named Caitlin who he thinks brings out the best in him. After living with his Dad for 16 years he picks up on the feelings he can’t even tell are there, and soon realizes he can hurt people who he thinks he loves. He soon realizes that money isn’t the only thing someone can lose.
In all of the book I loved the fact that...more
Nick Andreas is a comfortable suited child with money to go around, and a beautiful loving girlfriend named Caitlin who he thinks brings out the best in him. After living with his Dad for 16 years he picks up on the feelings he can’t even tell are there, and soon realizes he can hurt people who he thinks he loves. He soon realizes that money isn’t the only thing someone can lose.
In all of the book I loved the fact that...more
May 16, 2013
Nixtjac
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
realistic-fiction,
young-adult
My overall rating for Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn is a 4 out of 5 stars.
Sixteen year old Nick Andreas had it all. He was a good student, he had great friends, and most important to him was his girlfriend Caitlin. But along the way he gets a restraining order, he loses all of his friends, and he loses his girlfriend. While taking classes on his anger problems, he may just find out how he got from point A to point B.
What I liked most about this book was the way Flinn showed us what it was l...more
Sixteen year old Nick Andreas had it all. He was a good student, he had great friends, and most important to him was his girlfriend Caitlin. But along the way he gets a restraining order, he loses all of his friends, and he loses his girlfriend. While taking classes on his anger problems, he may just find out how he got from point A to point B.
What I liked most about this book was the way Flinn showed us what it was l...more
My overall rating of Breathing Underwater is a 5 out of 5 stars.
After Nick hits his girlfriend multiple times, he has to go to court because she wants to get a restraining order. Nick has to go to anger management classes, there is where he finds out what real life is like. In the anger management classes Nick meats a lot of people just like him, and finds out some stories also, and along the way realizes his mistakes.
What I like the most about Breathing Underwater is that Nick messes up, he me...more
After Nick hits his girlfriend multiple times, he has to go to court because she wants to get a restraining order. Nick has to go to anger management classes, there is where he finds out what real life is like. In the anger management classes Nick meats a lot of people just like him, and finds out some stories also, and along the way realizes his mistakes.
What I like the most about Breathing Underwater is that Nick messes up, he me...more
My rating for Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn is 4 out of 5 stars.
Meeting the girl of his dreams Nick decides to ask her out. She says yes not knowing that Nick has a dark past with his dad, and resembles his dad’s behavior. After starting the perfect relationship it ends as it begins. Nick and his friend Tom just hanging out like good friends do.What I really like about this book is that it has really great messages and really pulls you in to the point where you don’t want to put it down. Fl...more
Meeting the girl of his dreams Nick decides to ask her out. She says yes not knowing that Nick has a dark past with his dad, and resembles his dad’s behavior. After starting the perfect relationship it ends as it begins. Nick and his friend Tom just hanging out like good friends do.What I really like about this book is that it has really great messages and really pulls you in to the point where you don’t want to put it down. Fl...more
May 15, 2013
Ian Hesse
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
realalistic-fiction
I would rate Alex Finns book Breathing Underwater a 4 out of 5 stars
Nick lives at home with him dad and has ever since his mom left him. Ever since his mom left his dad. Nick now fight to keep control of himself but it’s not always easy to keep himself in check. Nick like most teens though make a mistake and ends up hitting his girlfriend Caitlin. He has been taken to court for a restraining order which is approved, he is also sentenced to anger management. Nick also has to wright in a journal t...more
Nick lives at home with him dad and has ever since his mom left him. Ever since his mom left his dad. Nick now fight to keep control of himself but it’s not always easy to keep himself in check. Nick like most teens though make a mistake and ends up hitting his girlfriend Caitlin. He has been taken to court for a restraining order which is approved, he is also sentenced to anger management. Nick also has to wright in a journal t...more
My overall rating of Breathing Underwater By Alex Flinn is a four out of five stars
Nick Andreas is a sixteen year old kid a great football player and even a egghead. But thats what people see its not what his girlfriend sees when he hit her. And his father is a single parent that loves his child and provides a good life for him and even gives him a car for his birthday. But Nick sees a part of his father that he has never seen.
I feel the main strength of the piece is that Nick is an average gu...more
Nick Andreas is a sixteen year old kid a great football player and even a egghead. But thats what people see its not what his girlfriend sees when he hit her. And his father is a single parent that loves his child and provides a good life for him and even gives him a car for his birthday. But Nick sees a part of his father that he has never seen.
I feel the main strength of the piece is that Nick is an average gu...more
I would rate Alex Flinn’s book Breathing Under Water a 4 out of 5 stars.
Breathing Underwater is about a Nick, a teenager, he gets abused by his dad a lot, so when he’s around his girlfriend Caitlin, he is very controlling. To one point he starts punching her until she’s on the ground crying and her face is all bloody. This book is not only about that though, after Caitlin puts a restraining order on Nick, Nick has to take a class to help with his anger. The class ends up very helpful and he und...more
Breathing Underwater is about a Nick, a teenager, he gets abused by his dad a lot, so when he’s around his girlfriend Caitlin, he is very controlling. To one point he starts punching her until she’s on the ground crying and her face is all bloody. This book is not only about that though, after Caitlin puts a restraining order on Nick, Nick has to take a class to help with his anger. The class ends up very helpful and he und...more
My rating for Alex Flinn’s young adult novel Breathing Underwater is a 4 out of 5 stars.
While in a relationship Nick Andreas has a problem. That problem is his anger issues. His anger issues have led to a wide variety of problems. From losing friends and his mind he now realizes he needs help. He will go onto a journey that will be a roller coaster like ride.
What I really like about this book is that this book is a fast read. I really was confused if I felt bad for Nick or not. I understand what...more
While in a relationship Nick Andreas has a problem. That problem is his anger issues. His anger issues have led to a wide variety of problems. From losing friends and his mind he now realizes he needs help. He will go onto a journey that will be a roller coaster like ride.
What I really like about this book is that this book is a fast read. I really was confused if I felt bad for Nick or not. I understand what...more
I give Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn, 3 stars out of 5.
In Breathing Underwater Nick Andreas has a restraining order on him. This book follows how he learns to become a better person and how he deals with the fact that because his father hits him thats why he hit his girlfriend.
I really enjoyed how Nick had to fill out a journal which allows the reader the opportunity to read about the events that lead up to the angermanigment classes and what happens in real time also. I felt that this styl...more
In Breathing Underwater Nick Andreas has a restraining order on him. This book follows how he learns to become a better person and how he deals with the fact that because his father hits him thats why he hit his girlfriend.
I really enjoyed how Nick had to fill out a journal which allows the reader the opportunity to read about the events that lead up to the angermanigment classes and what happens in real time also. I felt that this styl...more
Breathing Underwater Book Review
My rating for the fictional book, Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn is a four out of five stars.
This book is about Nick Andreas, a sixteen-year-old cool kid who has his life all figured out, or so his friends think. The book starts out with Nick on trial for hitting his girlfriend and and he recounts the events leading up to the incident in a court ordered journal that he must write in every week. He is also required to go to an anger management class and learns...more
My rating for the fictional book, Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn is a four out of five stars.
This book is about Nick Andreas, a sixteen-year-old cool kid who has his life all figured out, or so his friends think. The book starts out with Nick on trial for hitting his girlfriend and and he recounts the events leading up to the incident in a court ordered journal that he must write in every week. He is also required to go to an anger management class and learns...more
This book was a bit of a tough read. There are parts when you feel sorry for Nick and the way he's being treated by his peers then it goes more into his relationship with Caitlin and you hate him. I think it was a very bold choice for Flinn to write a story from the eyes of the abuser instead of the victim -an abuser who truly believe he's done nothing wrong. Of course you delve deeper into the story and inside Nick's character and you start feeling sorry again before you start to hate him again...more
My overall review for Alex Flinn’s novel Breathing Underwater is 5 out of 5 stars.
Nick Andreas is a typical teenager on the outside. On the inside he is anything but. Nick has anger management problems. And when he hits his girlfriend; he ends up in anger management classes because she now has a restraining order against him. He has to write all of his feelings while he was with Caitlinn in a journal. Flinn tells the story between a present and past timing in Nick’s life.
What I really loved abo...more
Nick Andreas is a typical teenager on the outside. On the inside he is anything but. Nick has anger management problems. And when he hits his girlfriend; he ends up in anger management classes because she now has a restraining order against him. He has to write all of his feelings while he was with Caitlinn in a journal. Flinn tells the story between a present and past timing in Nick’s life.
What I really loved abo...more
I give Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn 5 out of 5 stars.
Nick Andreas was a charming, popular athlete that seemed to have it all at the beginning of Sophomore year, but was practically the most hated person in the school by the end. To his friends Nick had everything, a cool car, an amazing girlfriend and talent. Soon the brutal truth comes forward after Cat, Nicks former girlfriend, takes him to court for abuse. He is sent to anger management classes and soon realizes his life is far from per...more
Nick Andreas was a charming, popular athlete that seemed to have it all at the beginning of Sophomore year, but was practically the most hated person in the school by the end. To his friends Nick had everything, a cool car, an amazing girlfriend and talent. Soon the brutal truth comes forward after Cat, Nicks former girlfriend, takes him to court for abuse. He is sent to anger management classes and soon realizes his life is far from per...more
Breathing Underwater begins with Nick going to court. His ex-girlfriend Caitlin is taking the stand against him, accusing him of hitting her, and after being found guilty, he is sentenced to family violence classes and must write 500 words a week in a journal. Flinn wastes no time in getting right to it in this book. Nick comes across as an arrogant, full of himself teenager who doesn’t want to admit that he has done something wrong which is why he ends up having to write a journal. To begin wit...more
My rating for Alex Flinn’s book Breathing Underwater is 4 stars out of 5.
In this book it tells how nick deals with a major break up and what he tries to do to get her back. It tells what they did in their relationship and how and why things ended.
The strength in this book is how Nick has to write in a journal. I like how that is in a different font and color so the reader knows that it is a journal entry. I think this works well for the book because it separates how Nick is narrating the book...more
In this book it tells how nick deals with a major break up and what he tries to do to get her back. It tells what they did in their relationship and how and why things ended.
The strength in this book is how Nick has to write in a journal. I like how that is in a different font and color so the reader knows that it is a journal entry. I think this works well for the book because it separates how Nick is narrating the book...more
I hated the book. I didn't like how Nick thought it was okay to abuse Caitlin, and Caitlin just stood there and let him abuse her. I think this book is sexist. The message of this book is that it's okay for women to be abused as long as your boyfriend buys you something afterward and tells you he's sorry. Plus, women have no use other than just pleasing her man, and cooking in the kitchen. No, just no. Nick needs to find some new hobbies other than Caitlin. He's so protective of her, it's abusiv...more
Wow, I found this book to be really dark and deep. It's actually quite perturbing and disturbing, but creepily realistic.
I've read Alex Flinn's Beastly, and I found there to be quite a few similarities. Nick Andreas is now an outcast, and he's put into a sort-of therapy group/classes. This occurred in Beastly as well, but with a paranormal aspect involved. "Intelligent, popular, handsome, and wealthy, sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas..." and meet "...Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, wit...more
I've read Alex Flinn's Beastly, and I found there to be quite a few similarities. Nick Andreas is now an outcast, and he's put into a sort-of therapy group/classes. This occurred in Beastly as well, but with a paranormal aspect involved. "Intelligent, popular, handsome, and wealthy, sixteen-year-old Nick Andreas..." and meet "...Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, wit...more
Main characters: Nick and Caitlin
POV: Nick
Setting: Present day
Lexile: 510L
Age group: Middle Grades
genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Summary: Nick is sitting in the courtroom. He can see Caitlin, but he can tell she does not want to meet his eyes. She is testifying against him. She says that he hit her, and Nick feels that it was "just" a slap. Nick goes back and forth telling the story about his relationship and first love with his first girlfriend Caitlin. He tells it from flashbacks and thr...more
POV: Nick
Setting: Present day
Lexile: 510L
Age group: Middle Grades
genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Summary: Nick is sitting in the courtroom. He can see Caitlin, but he can tell she does not want to meet his eyes. She is testifying against him. She says that he hit her, and Nick feels that it was "just" a slap. Nick goes back and forth telling the story about his relationship and first love with his first girlfriend Caitlin. He tells it from flashbacks and thr...more
Breathing Underwater is written in the point of view of Nick, a 16 year old high school student who abuses his girlfriend, Caitlin, both mentally and physically. Nick portrays himself as having the perfect life. He’s good looking, popular, and an excellent athlete. However, what most people don’t know is that Nick’s father is abusive towards him. Along the way, Nick starts to pick up on his father’s bad habits. Nick had been emotionally abusive towards Caitlin throughout most of their relations...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| teen abuse in relationships | 1 | 27 | Sep 22, 2009 06:41am |
I was born in a log cabin in the Big Woods of . . . okay, maybe not. I was born on Long Island, New York. When I was five years old, my mom said that I should be an author. I guess I must have nodded or something because, from that point on, every poem I ever wrote in school was submitted to Highlights or Cricket magazine. I was collecting rejection slips at age seven!
I learned to read early. But...more
More about Alex Flinn...
I learned to read early. But...more
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“Anyone else feel like that? Like your life's a big act. Like you're trying to be a man when you're just a scared kid, trying to keep under control when you really want to scream, cry, maybe hit someone. Ever feel like you're breathing underwater, and you have to stop because you're gulping in too much fluid?”
—
46 people liked it
“What happened December 12?” Polyester asks.
I look at the wall, my attention suddenly riveted by a palmetto bug, feelers writhing. I could kill it if I wanted.
He hit me.”
The bug slides to the floor.”
—
6 people liked it
More quotes…
I look at the wall, my attention suddenly riveted by a palmetto bug, feelers writhing. I could kill it if I wanted.
He hit me.”
The bug slides to the floor.”

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Nov 04, 2012 03:38am