Breathing Underwater
By Alex Flinn
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Don’t miss this timely contemporary young adult novel from Alex Flinn, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beastly, about a teenage boy’s struggle to break free from the cycle of abuse.
“Gripping.” —Publishers Weekly
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 and anger 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 he can confide in, the only person who understands him. But when Nick’s anger and jealousy overtake him, things begin to spiral out of control and Nick realizes that he’s more his father’s son than he wants to be.
Now Nick must confront his inner demons to stop the history of violence from repeating itself.
Winner of the Black-Eyed Susan Award
An ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults
An International Reading Association Young Adult Choices List Pick
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age Pick
Alex Flinn
Alex Flinn loves fairy tales and is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beastly, a spin on Beauty and the Beast that was named a VOYA Editor’s Choice and an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Beastly is now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens. Alex also wrote A Kiss in Time, a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty; Cloaked, a humorous fairy-tale mash-up; Bewitching, a reimagining of fairy-tale favorites, including Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid, all told by Kendra, the witch from Beastly; Towering, a darkly romantic take on Rapunzel; and Mirrored, a fresh spin on Snow White. Her other books for teens include Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and Diva. She lives in Miami with her family. Visit her online at www.alexflinn.com.
Read more from Alex Flinn
Breaking Point Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Beastly: Lindy's Diary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fade to Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloaked Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Towering Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Kiss in Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to Lose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beheld Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Diva Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love, Jacaranda Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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Reviews for Breathing Underwater
239 ratings23 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I absolutely loved this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My introduction to Alex Flinn, who, as it turns out is a female author. I was halfway through this book (hardback library copy) when I opened the back cover to find information about the author... and discovered that it was a woman. Since the story itself is about an angry young man, and since I was seeing a lot of myself in the protagonist... unsurprisingly (but surprising me with its intensity) I became angry. "How dare a woman try to write about and understand how an angry young man feels" ...Nonsense of course and I found that I learned some things about myself from the experience. Nice. The book itself is strictly YA and not terrifically original, however Ms. Flinn, much like another favorite of mine, Chris Crutcher, is able to capture teenage angst and emotion in her images and dialogue.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sent to counseling for hitting his firlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examies his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really enjoyed this book. It really was written very well. I would definitely recommend reading this.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Narrated by Jon Cryer (yes, that Jon Cryer). Throughout the first disc this came off as a ho-hum standard romance. But when Nick's violent tendencies first appear, I was shocked to realize I had been sympathizing with Nick up to that point. From then on, I was interested in the working mind of this young abuser and seeing his perspective. His perspective and actions are unacceptable, of course. Nick comes around thanks to his anger management class, his introspective journal writing, and the tragedy of Leo. His turnaround seemed to fall in line almost too easily. Still, a valuable book for teens who might be in similar situations, whatever their side.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novel precedes Diva although I did not know that when I read either of them. In my opinion this story is better and more in depth into Nick's character than Diva was into Caitlyn's. I like the way we learned about Nick and his point of view through his journal.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good book for young adults who are in the dating scene. Young people, especially females, need to know that abuse takes many different forms, and they need to take care of themselves above all else. Wish I had read this when I was younger. Could have saved me two years in an abusive relationship.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Caitlin's relationship with her boyfriend, Nick, takes a terrible turn violent one night when he slaps her. While they both want to believe that it was an isolated event, the abuse continues until Caitlin's parents take out a restraining order against Nick. Nick's journey into counseling and group therapy is painful and frustrating at times because he does not believe he has a problem with his anger. As Nick explores the darker side of his nature he discovers the root of his anger and what he must do to control it. When this book first came out it was cutting edge. It was a topic that was not discussed in young adult books. Recently authors have taken on the task of bringing this problem to the forefront of teen literature. Recently Janet Tashjian's recent book Fault Line, the subject of teen domestic violence really brings home that the teens of today are not immune from this horrendous problem.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book should be required reading for all high school students...even though not all students are abused or abusive, they know someone in the situation. I recommend this book often and the students (mostly girls) love it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The second best YA novel on dating violence (joke)
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I thought it was interesting to get into the mind of an abusive boyfriend to see what he was thinking and what caused the seemingly senseless anger. While the book was interesting and the character grew and learned from his mistakes, I just wasn't drawn into the characters enough to truly CARE or to truly feel anything from the book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Nick has been sentence to an anger managment class because he hit his girlfriend. As Nick fights against this class and Caitlyn he beings to see their relationship for what it really was, and see himself for who he really is. A great book for reluctant reader, it is short and fast paced with interesting topics like relationship abuse, alcoholism and anger management.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emotional, powerful, at times terrifying. Interesting perspective: abuse from an abuser's standpoint.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5very well-written book about a teenager who realizes he has his father's violent nature, and tries to curb that nature by attending group classes and keeping a journal.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like this book a lot less now than when I first read it. When I first read it, at the age of sixteen or so, I found it excellent and unique. However, having read more about battered women and batterers and the way the "system" treats them (The Stalking of Kristin is a good nonfiction treatment of the subject) I know that group therapy for batterers does not work out so wonderfully as Alex Flinn shows in this book. At the end of this book, Nick is practically cured and so are the other people in his group. But it usually doesn't work that way in real life. I've felt disillusioned towards this book since I found that out.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book follows the YA tragedy formula well, but spins it differently telling the story from the "bad guy's" point of view. Nick Andreas is given a restraining order to stay away from his ex-girlfriend Caitlin. The book follows Nick's anger therapy, while he writes a journal detailing the events that led up the events. The book's relatively happy ending (Nick realizes how wrong he was, stands up to his abusive father and makes up with his best friend) is slightly unearned, but probably works for its genre. Well written, it could be read by inexperienced to advanced readers. The anger therapy sessions are informative and well-done. The Miami setting of the book is well defined.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good story and interesting way of telling/showing what happened in the past. Causes reader to think how the situation relates to them. Never boring and never just rattles on. It is realistic and isn't just a fairy tale meant to make the reader happy. It leaves you thinking.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nick Andreas is a 16 year old boy that pretends to have a perfect life and he doesn't tell anyone about how his real life is until he meets Caitlin. Nick fall in love with Caitlin and doesn't want to lose her but because of all the trouble and the abuse that he suffers in his house he ends losing her. Now Nick has to attend an anger management class where he finally understands that what he did to Caitlin was wrong.I believe this book has a lot of potential in a class. This book can help teacher introduce concerns such as family violence, unhealthy relationships, and bullying. I think that the book touches in all this subjects that can be of interest to the students, especially to the ones that might be going through this situation. I can honestly say that I really liked this book because there is a lot to learn from it. This is the first book that I read from a guy’s perspective which I found very interesting. I do believe that students can learn a lot from it. The one thing that I didn't really like was the ending; I think it should have ended differently.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really, really enjoyed this book. Not only was it easy to read and hard to put down, but the issues were perfectly expressed. You found yourself hating and sympathizing with the protagonist. It raises some great questions and it feels real, never forced or cheesy. A great teen book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I was not crazy about this book. The narrator is a jerk and is supposed to be. I'm not sure I buy his miraculous epiphany. Recommended for teens wants an angsty, realistic fiction read in the vein of Ellen Hopkins.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I just finished this book and loved it. I couldn't put it down. The topic is definitely one that is more mature as it deals with a teenager who is going through court required anger management due to the restraining order that was awarded to his girlfriend.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this book my freshman year of highschool . It was so amazing and realistic . I loved every part of it .
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book should really be a required reading for English in high school. It has great lessons to learn from it.