pickKendra is a successful author under pressure to finish her latest book which is being translated into German. She convinces her editor that she will be more productive if she returns to Hidden Lake, Michigan to the cabin she recently inherited from her grandfather. The return brings mixed feelings and unanswered questions as she revisits memories from her past. Trigger warning topics:child abuse, drug and alcohol use and resulting tragedies.
pickAbout half way through the book, I could predict the plot and the eventual ending. Many stories accepted as truth as a child prove to be anything but the reality of the situation. The story does address some potentially triggering topics regarding child abuse, drug and alcohol use and resulting tragedies. Ultimately, the book does include a side love story and the truth of Kendra's past.
pickI feel like I should start by saying this isn't “my“ kind of book. This book is sad, and the ending is bittersweet. But I didn't mind it as much as I usually do, because this book also felt real, and sometimes in real life it actually is too late to fix something you desperately wish you could fix.
Kendra is telling this story to her best friend, Cami, so the book is a mix of first person with a strong second person aspect, which was a little ⬇
HUGEST CONGRATS TO YOU GUYS FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE READING STATS!!!! I saw three friends who'd read over 200 books this year! WOWZA! I bow at your feet. :) Happy New Year, everyone! xx
HNY to you all, my beautiful, much treasured friends! I love you. ❤
For the past 5 yrs, I've aimed to read 52 books in 52 weeks, a feat to me that seems impossible every year. I also love film, tv, puzzles, music, family time, and I refuse to give any of that up. This yr, I didn't I think I'd made it, but somehow I exceeded my goal. 61!! (not 62 as it shows. I think goodreads is too overwhelmed by other NYE partiers for correction bandwidth. ;))
pickErin Bartels is an awesome writer. She is now on my list of authors who are automatic reads. Kendra Brennan is a novelist who is having trouble writing her 2nd book. She has received a letter from 'A Very Disappointed Reader' who claims that she did not tell the truth in her first book. She is planning to confront Tyler, the man who she wrote about, & prove that she told the truth about what happened at the lake where she spent long-ago summers.
“You had more friends than I ever would. Each summer you dropped their names more and more. They were tributaries that flowed into the Great River Cami, feeding you, always feeding you. I was the dry creek that, paradoxically, only ran in the summer. Was I even on the map?”
NOTE: this is not a mermaid book, I just couldn't help but to pair these two. Gorgeous.
The Girl who Could Breathe Under Water: A Novel | 
