
Author: An Na
First Published: March 27, 2018
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Pages: 192
Genre: Contemporary, Mental Health Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating:

Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Grace is in a race against time—and in a race for her life—even if she doesn’t realize it yet…
She is smart, responsible, and contending with more than what most teens ever should. Her mother struggled with schizophrenia for years until, one day, she simply disappeared—fleeing in fear that she was going to hurt those she cared about most. Ever since, Grace’s father has worked as a recruiter at one of the leading labs dedicated to studying the disease, trying to lure the world’s top scientists to the faculty to find a cure, hoping against hope it can happen in time to help his wife if she is ever found. But this makes him distant. Consumed.
Grace, in turn, does her part, interning at the lab in the gene sequencing department daring to believe that one day they might make a breakthrough…and one day they do. Grace stumbles upon a string of code that could be the key. But something inside of Grace has started to unravel. Could her discovery just be a cruel side effect of the disease that might be taking hold of her? And can she even tell the difference?
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The Place Between Breaths is an emotionally raw story about mental health and the ways that it can weigh heavily on our lives. Schizophrenia is difficult to treat because its causes are unknown and require lifelong treatment to keep symptoms under control. Story progression is difficult to pin down and there are a lot of questionable plot holes that won’t be wrapped up nicely, which was oddly fitting given the subject matter.
I appreciated this book for the way that it attempts to open a discussion about mental illness. Severe depression and mental illness can be disorienting and it can affect anyone. It becomes clear pretty quickly that the main character is unstable, but to what extent is a mystery. I felt connected to Grace and felt just as confused and stressed as she did while reading, and for that, I have to appreciate the writing for the way that it was constructed.
The research and lab portion of the book had potential but it was left largely unexplored. Everything about Gnentium and the schizophrenia research was there mostly as a backstory for the main character’s father and to be a reminder of hope. Some of the science that happens in the novel is either made up or questionable, and I could have done without it.
Speaking of mental health, I’m not sure what to make of this book’s message about it. Is it difficult? This book was pretty bleak in its conclusions about the hope of recovery. The cycle with children and mental health issues and not having any hope for a decent life was just too dark, too depressing. I honestly found it a little unfair to the millions of people struggling out there that do try and carve out some semblance of a good life for themselves. An okay read overall but the book is definitely not without its faults.
Quote
“I see the cliff’s edge drawing nearer. I must jump or I will fall.”
Content Warnings
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