Try Not to Breathe: A Novel

Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon is supposed to be a novel of suspense. Amy Stevenson was fifteen years old in 1995(this is where the story starts) went she disappeared on her way home from school. She was found a few days later severely beaten. Fifteen years later Amy is still alive (sort of). Amy is in a persistent vegetative state and living on the Bramble Ward at Tunbridge Wells Royal Infirmary. Amy has some brain function, has cycles of asleep and awake, and can breathe on her own. But she has yet to come awake. The police have never found who did this to her. Who did this to Amy? Alex Dale is a freelance journalist (it is now September of 2010) who was at Tunbridge Wells Royal Infirmary doing research for a story on Dr. Peter Haynes (who is researching if people in vegetative states can communicate). Alex saw Amy on the ward and remembers her story. Alex and Amy are the same age. Alex starts digging into it hoping for a big story. Alex could use a break. Alex has ruined her career and life with alcohol. She refuses to get treatment, however, she cannot work past noon because she has to start drinking. Alex is hoping this story will help her career. Will Alex be able to discover what happened to Amy? Will killer try to stop Alex from writing her story? Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon was an extreme disappointment. It was a slow paced novel that had no suspense or mystery. The culprit was extremely obvious. I compare this novel to waiting for water to boil. You know how you sit there and wait and wait and wait. That is this novel. It goes on and on and on. There were no surprises or a great twist. Alex is an extremely unlikeable character (she drinks voraciously, acts idiotic, wets her bed). The story is told from different points-of-views which makes it harder to get into the story and it also goes back and forth in time. I give Try Not to Breathe 1 out of 5 stars. I just did not enjoy Try Not to Breathe. I received a complimentary copy of Try Not to Breathe from First to Read and NetGalley in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.

The publisher recommends Holly Seddon's debut novel, Try Not to Breathe, to "fans of Lianne Moriarty, Paula Hawkins, and Tana French." I can't comment as to Lianne Moriarty, as I haven't read any of her work, but, while Seddon is no Tana French, I enjoyed her book more than I did The Girl on the Train. I solved the mysteries of both quite early on, so it wasn't the plotting that gave Seddon the edge; instead, it was her use of Amy Stevenson, the victim of a terrible crime who has been in a coma for 15 years, as one of her multiple narrators, that kept me engaged. The underlying premise is that Amy, far from being the "vegetable" such patients are often compared to, has actually been conscious for much of her hospital stay, albeit unaware of the nature of her condition or the amount of time that is passing. She can hear what others around her are saying and process that information to some extent in her still 15-year-old mind. Of course, this means that she may ultimately be able to identify her attacker. I was fascinated by the research of her treating physician Dr. Haynes, who, while not making much progress with Amy herself, has been able to engage in two-way communication with other patients by watching on an MRI which portions of the patient's brain light up when they are told to imagine themselves playing tennis. Once the patient's baseline has been established, she can answer binary questions by thinking "tennis" for "yes" and remaining calm for "no." While writing an article on Dr. Haynes's research, protagonist Alex Dale discovers Amy on his ward and becomes determined to bring her attacker to justice. Like Paula Hawkins, Seddon was a journalist before turning to novel-writing, so I wouldn't be surprised if Try Not to Breathe had its genesis in her own unrelated research on persistent vegetative states. The image which lingers in my head is not so much one of Amy and Alex (although Seddon's closing scene is memorable), but rather of a hospital ward stretching to infinity, filled with "vegetables" who are, in fact, thinking beings trying desperately to communicate with the world around them: a more chilling vision than any fictional thriller has the right to deliver. I received a free copy of Try Not to Breathe through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Exciting and fast paced book. Couldn't put it down. Kept me guessing until the end and wrapped up the story perfectly.