Don't Breathe a Word

Written by Jordyn Taylor

Narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya and Reba Buhr

""A fast-paced, exhilarating story about a boarding school shrouded in secrecy and the girl who will do anything to right the institution's wrongs."" —Jessica Goodman, Indiebound bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us

Critically acclaimed author Jordyn Taylor weaves an addictive thriller perfect for fans of Truly Devious.

Eva has never felt like she belonged . . . not in her own family or with her friends in New York City, and certainly not at a fancy boarding school like Hardwick Preparatory Academy. So, when she is invited to join the Fives, an elite secret society, she jumps at the opportunity to finally be a part of something.

But what if the Fives are about more than just having the best parties and receiving special privileges from the school? What if they are also responsible for keeping some of Hardwick’s biggest secrets buried?

1962:

There is only one reason why Connie would volunteer to be one of the six students to participate in testing Hardwick’s nuclear fallout shelter: Craig Allenby. While the thought of nuclear war sends her into a panic, she can’t pass up the opportunity to spend four days locked in with the school’s golden boy.

However, Connie and the other students quickly discover that there is more to this “test” than they previously thought. As they are forced to follow an escalating series of commands, Connie realizes that one wrong move could have dangerous consequences.

Separated by sixty years, Eva and Connie’s stories become inextricably intertwined as Eva unravels the mystery of how six students went into the fallout shelter all those years ago . . . but only five came out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063038912

Jordyn Taylor

Jordyn Taylor is a New York City–based writer and journalist, currently the deputy editor at Men’s Health magazine; her work has appeared in the New York Observer, Mic, and Glamour.com.

Reviews for Don't Breathe a Word

[burgandyice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My Rating: 4.5 - Caught-Me-Off-Guard GREAT book.This book is heart-wrenching and satisfying and frightening all at the same time. It is written from Joy’s perspective and the story unfolds as her thoughts do, as she tries different ways of dealing with a horrible, controlling situation. I was furiously angry with the man who caused the problems in the first place: Asher, with his obsession for crows and his fascination for their hierarchy. He experiments with controlling an young girl and it’s sickening.I was heartbroken over the damage he inflicted on so many levels, but the most painful, I thought, was the sexual. She was drawn to him even as she hated him. He had woken her physically and that awakening was always there, exposed, between her and men around her. Even when she ran, this sensual tension could not go away.The danger on the streets felt so real. It was so sad how the kids only had their bodies when everything else was stripped away. They lost possessions and shelter and were reduced to using their bodies to survive, and that is a stark reality that is hard to swallow. Horrible.I loved the way Joy changed and grew. She was completely credible to me and her decisions made sense. I was frustrated with her family, all of them. Her parents didn’t want to help or listen, not even at the very end. Her friend, Neeta, saw more, but could only help Joy as much as she would let her.Creed is amazing and I loved all of Joy’s street friends and who she became herself, Triste, to be able to see her situation more clearly and respond more truly. And I was ultimately overjoyed with her choices because she didn’t have options. I mean, this book really tugged at my heart as a Mom. I really wanted to step in and be there for her, point out her non-choices surrounding the Asthma when she seemed to ignore them indefinitely. (Partly because one of my kids rode in an ambulance and was in the ICU for a few days over breathing issues.) Joy was willing to take more risks than I was willing to let her!!But I think that’s exactly how the author planned it out. As Joy took her risks, she turned into a confident person and left the victim behind.I expected the heart-wrenching when I read this book, I guess, but I did not expect the fast pace it was delivered with. There isn’t a lull in the entire book. Only the phone stopped me long enough to grab a snack before finishing it. And I had no intention of reading it all in one day, believe me. I don’t know the depth of truth regarding the street kids, personally, but they won’t be invisible to me after this book.

[nialle-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Lots of tropes and twists. Not much else.

[bookmagic_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When Phoebe was twenty, she was passing through Harmony, Vermont living a wild life. She stops outside a housed where a young girl, Lisa has disappeared, amid rumors that she was taken by fairies.Fifteen years later, Phoebe is living in Harmony with Sam, Lisa's younger brother. Phoebe is fascinated by Lisa's story that she ran away with the King of the Fairies. Sam believes none of it, just that she was abducted and he refuses to talk about it. Then Phoebe gets a call from a little girl telling her and Sam where to find Lisa's old book, The Book of Fairies. Sam gets a call from his cousin Evie, who lived with Sam and Lisa that summer along with her mother, Hazel. Sam and Phoebe go spend the weekend with Evie and her husband Elliot. Weird things start to happen. An old woman comes to the cabin singing a song Lisa used to sing. She then stabs Evie and Sam and Phoebe run after her. But nothing is what it seems and they have no idea what is happening. No one is who they seem to be and they wonder if Lisa is still alive.The narration alternates between Phoebe today and Lisa fifteen years ago. Lisa is fascinated with the stories that her family is descended from the last remaining man of Reliance, a village that used to be in the woods near Harmony, a village where everyone just disappeared. Phoebe has her own issues as she had a bad childhood and has nightmares of a shadow man that would come through a trap door under her bed.This story was captivating, dark, and very mysterious. There were so many twists and turns that I didn't know who to trust and what to believe. This was less a supernatural novel than a thriller yet a disturbing fairy-tale like story. It was almost like following a treasure map and even when I got to the end, I'm not sure what I found but I did have the shivers.This is the second McMahon novel I read, after Promise Not to Tell. While I enjoyed that one, this one really went up a couple of notches. I could not put this down and it stayed with me even after I was done.I highly recommend this one!my rating 5/5

[hrose2931 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This novel shows just how little it takes for a girl to go from happy and somewhat normal to controlled and abused. Joy, though having severe asthma and being constantly watched by her family for the first signs of an illness, has friends that she laughs with and talks to. She is well adjusted and generally okay, though feeling a bit suffocated by all the attention at home. But along comes Asher, much older and wiser, rich, powerful, mysterious and he shows an interest in Joy. That's almost all it takes. She gives up complete control to him and loses herself to his needs, wants and desires. She believes everything he tells her, his threats, his anger-she did this, she brought it on herself, she belongs to him-she is his property. Again, she is suffocated by his attention, his "love", his threats.The book opens with her cutting her long hair off, twenty inches of it and stuffing it in an envelope. She dyes her dark hair blonde, white blonde along with her eyebrows. She doesn't want to be found. She fakes her own kidnapping. And she flees to the "safety" of the streets of Seattle. The streets where she saw a boy who told her he could help her. It's risky and I think Joy is reckless considering how close she comes to dying when she even gets a cold. She prepares with several inhalers, but what good is that against infection? She's doe eyed when she hits the streets. She doesn't realize what could happen to her. I think it's stupid considering what you read in the papers. Her goal is to find the boy who said he could help her. In the meantime, she stick out like a sore thumb. I also don't think her reaction to living on the street is quite what it should be. In just a few days, she goes from eating at a table and wearing designer clothes, to eating out of a dumpster and wearing Salvation Army clothes. But she doesn't seem to be as bothered by it as she should be. She lives in a house that smells like crap, literally and that's where she goes to the bathroom. In a toilet that hasn't flushed for years.However, I don't think this was a book so much about living on the streets as it was about Joy, being so desperate, that she gave up her life of middle class luxury and her family, to live on the streets to escape an abusive boyfriend because that was the only way out that she saw. She'd never told anyone so she didn't have anyone to turn to for help. She doesn't even confide in her "street family". There are some realities ofwhat it's like for teens living on the street and the reasons they do. Abusive parents, foster care, drugs. The reasons go on and when they hit the streets bad things can happen.But this novel shows how good things can happen, too. Not necessarily from living on the street, but from finding people to care about and care about you. How to start healing from the hurt. How to get stronger and believe in yourself. What it takes to walk away.Yes, there is some romance, not much of it, but Creed, the protector of the group and the boy that said he could help Joy is one of a kind. He's sensitive and tough all at once. But not the brooding type. Tough as in street smarts. I liked his character a lot. He was always worried about his friends/family. May, the other girl in the story was an enigma to me. I wasn't sure what was going on with her. I liked her at times and not at others and never really figured out her relationship with Santos, the other member of the "family." We never get the full story on Santos, at least not from his lips, but I think we can piece it together and it's sad. The author's note in the back of the book states that Seattle has one of the highest population of homeless teens in the United States. In the US alone we have 1.6 million homeless teens. The story in this book was just a sampling of the reasons teens leave home. For me, the title had so many meanings. Asher would not want her to Breathe a Word of what he was doing to her. She couldn't Breathe a Word to her family without jeopardizing the family's well being. And on the street she couldn't have anyone Breathe a Word because she'd be found out. Then, when she has an asthma attack, she literally can't Breathe a Word. Best use of a title ever!I liked how things worked out in the end. Not everyone can be saved from their demons, but maybe one person can help. And you will definitely fall for Creed. He's like a big wall that stands between you and the rest of the world keeping the bad things away as much as he's capable of doing. And he plays the guitar.Highly recommended for all ages. There is some drug use and reference to sex, but no actual scenes with it or descriptions.

[amyblue_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book had a few flaws that kept it from being fantastic. I still enjoyed reading it and would recommend it particularly to V.C. Andrews fans as it has the same combination of dark family secrets and Gothic elements. The characters were well done; that was definitely one of its strengths. Where it fails is in its combination of the supernatural and reality which can be tricky for a writer to pull off. The author didn't seem decided on whether or not the characters believed in the supernatural elements. I can see a character believing strongly one way or the other or not knowing if they believe or not but these characters seemed to change from page to page and that made it a less satisfying read.

[shelby_kuzma · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Don't Breathe a Word is the story of the disappearance of Lisa, a young girl who lives near the abandoned village of Reliance. When a mysterious note is discovered supposedly from Lisa, the mystery begins to be revealed.When I started reading this book, I was expecting a nice, light, fantasy novel. This is not what I got.This book started off really well. However, as the novel progressed, it got very strange. I was very frustrated at times. Some clues were obvious, yet the characters in the novel took FOREVER to figure them out. Despite this, I was unable to predict the ending. Occasionally, I had a hard time keeping the clues and facts straight, and there were jumps in logic that seemed unrealistic. Some of the events that occurred in the novel would be impossible in practice (ones that were supposed to be possible without supernatural help).Also, I was not happy with ending. The whole plot line was huge and deep and confusing. The end was a disappointment. Some awful things happened to Lisa, as well as the other characters in the book. It was hard to read at times.While I found this book riveting, the ending ruined the book for me. However, if you enjoy a good mystery, this book should definitely be on your "to-read" list.

[nlsobon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

To be honest, I've had mixed emotions with this book from the get go. I didn't like the prologue and it took a while for things to get interesting, but when they did I found myself wanting to keep going. Things never play out the way you’d expect in this story and I think that is truly what makes it worth a read.“Don’t Breathe a Word” of Lisa, a twelve year old girl who went missing in the woods behind her house. Lisa was a young girl that believed in fairy tales and fairies, things...moreTo be honest, I've had mixed emotions with this book from the get go. I didn't like the prologue and it took a while for things to get interesting, but when they did I found myself wanting to keep going. Things never play out the way you’d expect in this story and I think that is truly what makes it worth a read.“Don’t Breathe a Word” of Lisa, a twelve year old girl who went missing in the woods behind her house. Lisa was a young girl that believed in fairy tales and fairies, things children like to believe in, but it’s those very things that cause trouble in her life. But it’s not just her life that gets turned upside down, her beliefs – they impact her family, too.While I may have disliked “Don’t Breathe a Word” in the beginning, the payoff at the end made me change my mind. Jennifer McMahon crafts a lovely mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Not everything is what it appears to be.

[piratejenny_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An Early Reviewer win. (And I have to say that when I read about this book, I felt like it was written just for me.)Twelve-year-old Lisa lives near the town of Reliance. Reliance no longer exists except as ruins though since the whole place, everyone in it, the animals, all just disappeared one day. Except for one baby. Lisa is not that baby--she's far too young for that. But she is convinced that fairies live in Reliance. She's seen them. She's gotten presents from them. And she knows that one day she will be Queen of the Fairies. And then she disappears, just like Reliance.Years later, Lisa's brother, Sam, and his girlfriend Phoebe receive a call from someone claiming to be Lisa, home from Fairyland. Phoebe grew up convinced that something was waiting for her, something that came through trapdoors under beds, something she didn't want to let in.Sam doesn't know about Phoebe's childhood terrors. And he doesn't believe Lisa became Queen of the Fairies. But he does want to know what happened to his older sister.I loved this book. It plays hard with our ideas of fairies. In the wayback longago (I just invented that era), fairies were scary things, beings without souls who would take children away and leave sickly fairy children, changelings, who would undoubtedly die in a short time. (In some stories, the children were even made of sticks and leaves). These were not Disney's fairies. (Although Tinkerbell wasn't really that nice even in Disney's version of Peter Pan.) Fairies were immoral and we could never understand their motives. The were the other, the ultimate outsider. They weren't little flower-clad children with wings. And while Lisa may have an image more akin to Barker's flower fairies, the hints we're given about them assure us that there are not your daughters' fairies. I alternated between being unable to put this book down and not wanting to finish it. I not only didn't want it to be over, but I didn't want to find out that fairies weren't behind Lisa's disappearance. I didn't care how immoral or evil they might be, I didn't care that they kidnapped a little girl. I just wanted the fairies to be real. But you know, even if the fairies weren't real (and I'm not sayin' one way or the other), it was a damn good read.

[booktwirps · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Twelve-year-old Lisa loves fairy tales. One summer night, she tells her brother, Sam, that she is going to meet the king of the faeries and become his queen. Once she leaves the house, Sam never sees or hears from her again. Fifteen years later, Sam and his girlfriend, Phoebe, receive a strange call from someone claiming to be Lisa. She says she has returned from Fairyland and they are to meet her at the old town in the woods where she disappeared from all those years ago.The book alternates between present day and fifteen years ago as it slowly reveals what Lisa experienced on the days before her disappearance, and what Sam and his girlfriend Phoebe are going through as they prepare for her “return”. This book is in no way a cute little fairy tale. It is dark, mysterious, supernatural and very creepy. It’s rife with mystery, family secrets, and supernatural elements. You never know where the story is headed. As soon as you think you have it figured out, it takes another twist. It balances on a precarious cliff between being believable and totally ridiculous, and that is what makes it work so well. This is an Adult fiction book, but older teens may enjoy it. I wouldn’t recommend it for younger teens.(Advanced Readers Copy courtesy of NetGalley)

[readerscandyb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An emotionally gripping story about running from abuse and finding love.



I found myself entwined in Joy's story and crossing my fingers for a happy ending.

She was unlike any character I have ever read. Her mental state is broken down by her boyfriend so she decides to run away in search of the boy who promised protection. She doesn't realize how hard being homeless is though. She shuffles through the streets, gets kicked out of stores, and is attacked by other street walkers. She never runs home though.



Dangerous approaches her one night and Creed steps in to save her. He then proceeds to take her to an abandoned home. There she learns that her new friends all have secrets of their own. Together they come together to provide for one another.



What happens when Joy is forced to bring the past to the surface? Does she leave street life behind? or does she hide and continue to live in hiding?



READ, READ, READ.... You will not be disappointed! The suspense is nail biting and romance is one of a kind. I just loved Creed... He was protective, kind, awkward, and talented. He really made this a MUST READ.

[silenceiseverything · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Don't Breathe a Word is the third Jennifer McMahon book I've read. I loved Promise Not to Tell and was highly disappointed by Dismantled. So, this really could've gone either way for me. Not only because of my previous thoughts on her book, but also because I've been going through a bit of a reading slump lately, so it's been taking a lot longer than usual for me to be impressed by a book. Luckily for everyone involved, I loved Don't Breathe a Word (and am completely cured from my reading slump). Don't Breathe a Word is a novel that is VERY hard to classify because it has a little bit of everything. It's a horror, fantasy, psychological thriller, fairy-tale, and so many more things. Usually when an author throws everything but the kitchen sink in a book I get annoyed because very rarely is it done well. But in this book, it was done extremely well. I enjoyed all of the elements embedded in it and it didn't make the book seem like the author couldn't choose which direction she wanted to go in and just decided 'to hell with it'. While all of those genres are my favorites, I definitely enjoyed the horror and the psychological thriller aspects of it. This novel is creepy. Seriously, chill up your spine type of creepy. The weird thing is that Don't Breathe a Word didn't affect me when it got all dark and shadow-like at night, but it freaked me out during the daytime. I was alone in the house and getting a pen from my bedroom when I heard this huge, house-shaking type of grumbling sound. My first irrational thought was "Oh my God, it's Teilo, the King of the Fairies." I kid you not. It just popped into my head and then I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity (of course it being May 21st, 2011 my second irrational thought was "Those people are right. The world is ending!" A second eye-roll occurred.) I think I was so creeped out because we're taught as little kids that fairies are these cute, sweet, yet somewhat mischievious magical creatures (Tinkerbell, anyone?). Yet in this book, they seem very malevolent and for some reason, that scared the hell out of me. However, my absolute favorite part of the book (in that whole "what the hell? Can this be more disturbing?!" kind of way) were the family dynamics between all of the characters. It was seriously twisted. So much that I had no idea what the hell was going on most of the time and what imagined was not even half as bad as what actually occurred. In fact, that may have been more creepy than the evil fairies. All in all, I highly recommend Don't Breathe a Word. It's creepy, twisted, unpredictable (and this is coming from someone who tends to predict everything that happens in these types of novels), and one hell of a page-turner. If you're going through a particular brutal reading slump, pick this up. If you're not going through a particular brutal reading slump, pick it up anyway. You won't be disappointed.

[tammydotts · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A young girl disappears in the woods, leaving no real clues where she’s gone or who might have taken her. She told her brother and cousin she was going to live with the King of Fairies. It couldn’t be true, could it? Except her brother had chased after fairy bells in the woods, too.Fifteen years later, Lisa is still missing. Her brother, Sam, hasn’t gotten over her disappearance. His girlfriend, Phoebe, has her own suspicions about fairies. When they receive a mysterious call that leads them to Lisa’s Book of Fairies, they reunite with Sam’s cousin, Evie, at a remote cabin. Evie “knows” things, including that Phoebe may be pregnant. An old woman shows up at the door, singing Lisa’s childhood songs, only to stab Evie and run off, stripping off a disguise and revealing she’s a young woman. Phoebe and Sam give chase, but the young woman tells police the couple abducted her. Back at the cabin, there’s no trace Phoebe and Sam stayed there and no sign of Evie.Once home, Phoebe and Sam discover the Evie they met at the cabin isn’t the real Evie. They find themselves drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery of Lisa’s disappearance. Was she taken by the King of the Fairies? Or was a more sinister, all-too-human villain behind her disappearance?The bones of a good story lie beneath Jennifer McMahon’s Don’t Breathe a Word. What starts off as a young teen’s desire to believe in something magical, to be something more than ordinary pick up a sinister undertone as the plot progresses. As McMahon writes, “What if things happened to you—special, magic things—because you’d been preparing for them? What if by believing you opened a door?”Chapters flip between Phoebe’s investigation into Lisa’s disappearance and 15 years earlier to Lisa’s attempts to contact the Fairy King. The chapters from Lisa’s point of view are stronger. McMahon does well when writing about the transition to being an adult while wanting to cling to parts of childhood like believing in fairies. Her teen and preteen characters are believable, making mistakes and assumptions that real teens would. The plot in these chapters is a bit muddy at times, but that can be excused by gaps in Lisa’s knowledge of her family’s history.The Phoebe chapters are more problematic, with some inconsistencies in how characters act and one too many plot twists and reverses. A hint of deus ex machina in the form of a late-introduced character to provide answers doesn’t help.As those answers come, the end of the novel feels rushed as information is dumped on the reader through a discovered diary. The full scenes McMahon was able to portray of the young Lisa give way to quick flashes and hints of scenes that may have played better if more fully developed.

[stephengoldenberg · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I can't remember what made me put this on my 'to read' list. Some good reviews, the popularity of the writer's previous novels? Most likely it was the setting in London's fringe theatres of the early 1970s. And Sadie Jones does a good job of bringing to life that particular time and place. The problem is that this is just not my type of book. I had very little interest in what seemed to be fairly shallow characters (I was unconvinced by their artistic creativity, especially Luke's supposedly ground-breaking plays) and found their intertwined sexual relationships interminable.
However, I wouldn't want to put off other potential readers of this basically well written book who might find it more their cup of tea.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Any book that keeps me reading incessantly for 2 days has to be rated 5 stars in my book. I seriously could not put this book down! I had never thought of fairies as evil or creepy until I started this book. Lisa, Evie, and Sam were all young children 15 years ago when they started to have contact with the fairies that lived in the woods. Many years before that, a small village had reportedly disappeared overnight in the woods and nobody knew what had happened to the people. After Lisa (then 12) went missing (stolen by the Fairy King?), Sam and Evie were left not knowing exactly what had happened until Lisa made contact with them and seemingly reappeared from the land of the fairies. Each character in the story had their own secrets regarding their role in Lisa's disappearance which they hadn't shared with the others, including the primary character, Phoebe, who just happened to come upon the town after Lisa had been abducted. Throughout the entire story, the reader is left not knowing what to think? Is this a fantasy book about fairies or did something more human and evil take place in the woods many years ago? This "fairy tale" was magical, intoxicating, creepy, and thrilling. Though the book left some threads hanging and the character development wasn't very deep, the constant movement as the story unwound from alternating viewpoints (past and the present) kept the action moving at a breakneck pace. I was enraptured by this story and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a little whimsy and a suspenseful and creepy storyline to keep them up at night!

[bookswithbite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved the way this book is written so detailed, so perfect, that it left me in awe. The plot, the characters, the beautifully detailing of emotions had me reader faster and faster!I loved the plot line of this book. It was something different yet realistic in every way. I love the the story takes you on a journey that has been coming all along. The author presents the story as the main characters is falling so deep, you can't help but fall with her.The characters of the book have so much great diversity as well as personality to them. I love that each characters carries their own dark secrets and each of them is revealed. Not all are happy, but I am glad that some manged to find their way back home.The love interest in the story left me grasping for hope! While their is so much dark aspects to the book, the love interest paved a way for redemption. It gave me the meaning that even though things look bad, in the end, it will all be okay.This is a great book of several characters trying to get out of the darkness that their in. They do what they can to survive and the fact that they make it, makes me happy. Don't Breathe a Word is a great book of darkness then of light. A journey to find who they are and where they are going.

[missreadstoomuch · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

What do I think? It's written well enough(but in a disjointed way, due to chapter by chapter changes in time frame) but, honestly, I wish I had never read it. It's creepy as heck and a really unpleasant story.

[justabookreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I want to say this was a fantasy story but I’m held up by reality on this one. Did I like this book? Yes and no. Yes, in that the story was well paced, full of twists, and slightly disturbing in a way that makes you keep reading because you must absolutely know what happens and are afraid to put the book down for fear of not finding out. No, in that sometimes reality is too disturbing and you want to walk away and forget what you read and imagined and go back to a life happy without disturbing images in your head. Lisa is an imaginative child so much so that she not only imagines but believes she has found the fairy king in the woods behind her house. Woods full of strange tales, horror stories, and dilapidated stone homes. When she goes missing, there’s more to the story of a girl and a fairy king and it’s so much more disturbing than anyone, especially her brother, may have wanted to imagine. Her brother, now a man in his twenties happy in his life and relationship with his girlfriend, Phoebe, Sam would rather forget parts of his childhood and move on but it’s not meant to happen. When a woman claiming to be his sister appears saying she’s returned from the land of the fairies, the simple life Sam and Phoebe have together is ruined. Sometimes when you’re reading, especially a story about a young girl gone missing, you know it’s going to turn out badly and all that was at work was sad, despicable, human behavior. But sometimes you also want to believe there is another fantasy world where she could have been taken and McMahon does a good job of making you really wonder about that. Is it all an elaborate ruse to fool you and hide psychotic behavior? Why can’t there be a happy ending here? I can tell you, without ruining anything, there is no happy ending here and yes, at times you will find yourself repulsed by the characters behavior. You’ll be uncomfortable with the lies they yield and live. You’ll be utterly disgusted and disturbed by what they do. Sadly, it’s also compelling and I’ll admit I had a hard time reading and putting this book down. That’s also what’s making me a little wishy-washy on this. Did I not like it because it made me uncomfortable? Well written books should do that to a certain extent. But ultimately, I can’t say I loved it and I don’t honestly know if it was because of the subject matter. Having a visceral reaction to something I read doesn’t mean it’s not good if my reaction was negative, does it? Either way this book gets credit for holding me nearly hostage for several hours to finish it before my heart stopped pounding. If nothing else, McMahon knows how to get hold of a reader.

[bornbookish · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was quite an intense book! I enjoyed it but also found it to be emotionally upsetting. I tried reading a little before bed one night. Not a good idea. Small doses during the day turned out to be the better route, for me anyway.The story is about Joy who has severe asthma and has almost died from it more than once. Her family has become so protective of her, never letting her out of their sight, they don’t realize that they are the ones who are suffocating her. Joy’s boyfriend Asher is rich, good looking, seemingly sweet, the perfect boyfriend, on the outside at least. Nobody knows the real Asher, the one who abuses Joy in more way than one, the one controlling her every move, her every breathe.Finally when things go too far, Joy decides there is no other way to escape then to run away. She runs to the streets of Seattle, which serve as home to thousands of homeless adults and teens.I wanted to wrap Joy in a huge hug and tell her that everything would be okay! I hated that she put up with Asher and all his abuse for so long. I wanted her to tell someone! But I understood why she couldn’t.Once on the streets, Joy finds her place with three other teens: Creed, Santos, and May, who live together in an abandoned house. They take her in, accept her as part of their family, and teach her how to survive on the street. All three of them were such great characters, that I immediately fell in love with them all. I can’t get over how well written Asher’s character was. He was absolutely revolting; I wanted to both punch him and puke all at once. The terror that he used to control Joy completely jumped off the page and scared the crap out of me.I thought the story was very well written and I really liked how it was set up. We slowly learn about Joy & Asher’s relationship through flashback chapters. This added a sense of suspense and mystery to the story, and it also helped it from being too overpowering. I think if all the chapters about her and Asher were all at the beginning I would never have kept reading. It would have been too much to handle. As for objectionable content, there was quite a lot of swearing especially the f bomb. There were some sexual things that were referenced but never described in detail. Lastly, there were a few instances of violence and blood, mostly not bad except for one instance that was a little graphic.I think what made reading this book so hard, was knowing that this stuff really goes on everyday. It serves as a great tool in bringing attention to the world of teen homelessness. It definitely pulls on your heart and makes you want to do something to help.

[larissagbrown · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Taking out the word fairy would eliminate half the volume of this book. It got to where I could not concentrate on any of the genuinely creepy characters or immerse myself in the terrifying story, because every time they breathed they mentioned the fairies.

[toobusyreading · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Missing children and fairies. This novel alternates between current time and the time that the little girl Lisa disappeared. Apparently, the fairies took her. Or she went with the fairies willingly. Or she was kidnapped. Whatever happened, she is gone, and modern-day Phoebe is in love with Lisa's now-grown brother, Sam, and is dragged into the mystery..This sounded like an exciting book, but it just dragged on too long. I thought I'd never stop reading about the dang fairies. The six-fingered glove, and multiple dysfunctional families. The tale was rather convoluted, and I occasionally had to stop and think about who did what to whom. The story got quite dark towards the end, but I really didn't care much about the characters and the suspense certainly didn't keep me reading until the wee hours of the morning.

[amusingmother · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a difficult book to read. At the same time, once I started it, I couldn't put it down. Cupola writes a compelling story and it must be said, it is edgy and not a book you read, put down and forget about. Cupola creates a set of circumstances that believably drive Joy to the streets. Feeling trapped and unable to "breathe" both literally and figuratively, she plans ahead and leaves her life behind. She is fortunate in that she lands with a small group of teens who watch each others' backs, keep secrets they discover, and take care of one another. As the story unfolds, the reader understands more clearly why each character is a homeless teen, what drove them out of their homes, why they feel safer with each other, and what they want for their futures. The "edgy" part of the book is mostly allusion and not specifically spelled out which is truly a gift of a great writer. The author clearly writes the difficulties of being homeless in Seattle. It is hard and dangerous. In order to survive, alliances need to be made. Some alliances keep you safe. Others use, abuse, and eventually might kill. One statistic quoted in the book is that 25% of the homeless in Seattle are registered sex offenders. Joy/Triste has her fair share of run-ins with a few of them. This is where helpful alliances come in handy.Language is strong. Swearing is abundant, depending on who is talking. Violence is a part of life on the streets and within the pages of the book.Definitely worth reading.

[xxlovelyxladyxx · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Words can't even begin to describe what a beautiful story this book turned out to be. Luckily enough, I was able to buy this with a gift card and it was pretty much impossible for me to put this book down. Even now, the emotions of this powerhouse novel are still spinning in the pit of my stomach. Its hard for me to describe how I feel though so...Let me start from the beginning.Joy Delamere is suffocating. Pretty much everyone can - or already has - relate to the feeling...moreWords can't even begin to describe what a beautiful story this book turned out to be. Luckily enough, I was able to buy this with a gift card and it was pretty much impossible for me to put this book down. Even now, the emotions of this powerhouse novel are still spinning in the pit of my stomach. Its hard for me to describe how I feel though so...Let me start from the beginning.Joy Delamere is suffocating. Pretty much everyone can - or already has - relate to the feeling. But everything Joy went through was so painful, so tormenting, that I really could relate to her. She felt so real, so pained, so alive, and yet so strong in her basic need to survive. I was glad that she was able to escape Asher's hold on her because after everything she went through, she deserved something more.I asbolutely loved Creed. My only complaint is that I needed more of him. He was strong, vulnerable, passionate, and a musician. What's not to love? But he and Joy also had a connection. Their relationship grew throughout the book which I loved to watch and they may not be the ideal couple but they were imperfectly perfect for each other.I also loved Santos and May in their own right. Two troubled homeless teens with their own story to tell and that I was desperate to hear. I felt a connection with every single character and it was incredibly admirable that these characters created a family in an otherwise cruel world.Overall, I loved this book. The setting was gritty but very realistic. I loved the characters, the plot, the ending, it was all so amazing! And even though I would love to hear more about Creed and Joy, I think their story is done. Because they got their happy ending and they don't need anyone to mess it up again. :)Rating: 5 out of 5 StarsP.S. I'm in serious need of a happy go lucky book right now lol. All I seem to be reading lately are dramas and tear jerkers and I need something disgustingly gooey. Anyone got any ideas?

[ccathee17c · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This. Book. Is. Heartbreaking.

[brandileigh2003 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a powerful book where the main character Joy goes on a desperate journey to figure out who she is without an overbearing boyfriend and her hovering parents. To learn to breathe on her own. Literally. She has severe asthma which her parents micromanage. When she first met Asher, it felt dangerous, fun and like a break from the controlling--boy was she surprised when he begins to question her, be obsessed with her every move, and even hurts her. She takes very dramatic precautions to escape, and I couldn't believe the minute details that she thought of in order to pull it off. It shows a world that I haven't gotten much exposure to, especially in the ya genre. The flashbacks are a little jolty, but overall I liked the character that it shows, how she got where she was, and why she felt that way. I could see the measures she took and the end picture, and then little by little what got her into that situation. I just wish there was more indications when the time frame was changing to orient me a little more. I really loved reading the dynamic and loyalty with the Aves. The lengths they go to protect and care for each other as well as what they're running from and what they have to do to survive really takes my breath. It is powerful, gritty and I couldn't get enough. The ending wasn't what I expected, but I was still satisfied with the emotional wrap up and the depths of emotional development. It was sweet and powerful, and perfectly imperfect. Bottom Line: Powerful and emotional, character driven contemporary.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Phoebe and Sam don't talk a lot about their pasts - Phoebe because of her dangerously unstable mother, Sam because of his sister, Lisa. Lisa disappeared the summer that she was twelve and Sam was ten, the same summer that she was obsessed with fairies. She claimed she'd found a doorway to Faerie in a ruined house in the woods behind their Vermont home, and that Teilo, the King of the Fairies, would meet her there and take her away to be his queen. When she disappeared, some people believed that she really had been abducted by fairies, but Sam has always maintained that it was a thoroughly un-supernatural kidnapping. Until now: fifteen years later, when he and his girlfriend Phoebe start receiving notes and calls with information that only Lisa could know. And then strange things start happening that make them wonder if Teilo is real after all... real and coming back to claim his end of some long-forgotten bargains.Review: There are a lot - a lot - of fairy-related books on the market at the moment. But Don't Breathe a Word is the first that I've read that takes the skeptic's point of view, and as such, the first that I've read that I think would appeal more to mystery/thriller fans than fantasy buffs (although fantasy readers will certainly enjoy its take on the genre conventions, as well). The book is told in alternating chapters from Phoebe's point of view, and flashbacks to Lisa's point of view during the summer before she disappears, and McMahon does an excellent job at ratcheting up the tension in both storylines to a fever pitch, and maintaining it at that level throughout the book. Everything and everyone is just a little shady, a smidge of not-quite-right, a half-degree shift away from normal, that you can't ever figure out who to trust, or what's really going on. I absolutely loved the fact that as I read, I couldn't ever decide whether or not I thought there really were fairies, or if the explanation was something more mundane - both explanations seemed simultaneously completely implausible and yet the only possible explanation. It's a hell of a balancing act, keeping the reader constantly second-guessing everything they thought they knew, and McMahon pulls it off right through the very last page. Her prose is not the smoothest I've ever read, and there are places where the writing got noticeably choppy or info-dump-ish. Likewise, her characterizations were not always particularly deep or multi-layered, and sometimes the characters seemed to be keeping secrets or acting like jerks for no good reason. But even when I noticed these things, they didn't really bother me; I was far too hooked by the story. 4 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: I think if you go in expecting either a straight-up fantasy novel or a straight-up mystery, you're going to be disappointed. This book vacillates between the two, and if you want a book with a clear genre, that vacillation might be seen as a weakness. But if you're looking for a book that can flirt with the conventions of both, while using that uncertainty of genre as a means of building suspense, then definitely give Don't Breathe a Word a chance.

[raeadav · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was creepy, but a great read! I loved the ending and has me hoping there's a sequel.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel had been lurking in my Amazon wishlist for ages before the price finally dropped - and I'm glad I didn't pay full price. I can't even remember why I wanted to read it, but I still feel slightly let down. Some sort of love triangle between a bunch of horrible, bland characters in the 1970s might have worked, only nothing really came of the whole story. Sadie Jones captures the era well, with some lovely descriptive passages, but I couldn't stand Luke, the 'attractive genius' who has all the girls falling for him - I imagined him to be a sort of wishy Ben Whishaw type - and could make neither head nor tail of the opening chapters, hinting at a sort of 'star cross'd' attraction between Luke and Nina. Reminded me too much of Nick Hornby's Funny Girl, which completely missed the mark for me too.

[chrisbookarama · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Creepy!!!! Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole book.

[mckait · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If I had stopped reading halfway through, I would have regretted it. Halfway throughI wasn't sure what the story was meant to be. I only knew that the one character that I found appealing was dead.That never changed.A young girl walks into the woods and vanishes. She was twelve when it happened and she left behind a younger brother, a cousin and a mother. There was a search, but she was never found. Fast forward fifteen years. The brother, Sam, is a man now, and oddly, his significant other is a young wman who had made her way to the town where he had lived as a boy, to see what there was to see when the young girl vanished. She is older than he is, and had left her own home to find her own life. Her name is Phoebe. Phoebe has never told Sam of her visit to his home town. She never told him that once there, she saw him through a window. That she was in the woods where his sister had once played then vanished was a secret too. The book is filled with secrets. We time travel often in this book.. back to when Sam was a boy, and back to the present where he is a grown man, trying to carry on with his life. Things begin to happen in the present that are echoes of the past. Evil echoes. Sam isn't sure what to believe, or who to trust. Phoebe is a great keeper of secrets. There are some she should have told. But she never breathed a word.

[myheartheartsbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.Review:Joy is an asthmatic teen, who has almost died several times. Her illness is a big part of her world. When her older brother, the elder J, goes off to college the responsibility of taking care of Joy is placed on her boyfriend Asher. Asher who takes more than her gives. After that night, realizes that Asher is suffocating her inside out, more than her Asthma ever did. So she does the only thing that she thinks she can do, Joy runs away. Running in the direction of the mysterious boy who knew, when no one else knew, when all the people who were supposed to know her couldn't see that she was suffocating. So sheltered Joy takes off to the streets of Washington, where the rules she's know don't apply and nobody cares. The Washington streets at night is like a whole other universe to the one she used to see during the day. It's every man for himself, until she meets Creed. Creed who is the only twinkle of good, surrounded my all the bad stuff. Cupala does a unique and wonderfully accurate job of recreating the dirty, gritty, hard, and unfair life of Joy and all of the other homeless people. It's like the reader is given a chance to get a glimpse of the life of a homeless person. It's the opposite of reading a pamphlet, it is hard not to become emotionally involved, especially when you realize that everyone has a story. A story explaining how the life the they left behind was so horrible that they'd choose the wild and dangerous streets. Don't feel sorry for any of the characters in the novel however, because they have a better ending than most real homeless people do.