Emotionally Charged and Real! Only A Breath Apart by Katie McGarry [ARC Review]

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Holy moly, this book! Only a Breath Apart was a test in emotion and angst that I did have a hard time finishing but ultimately enjoyed!

Trigger Warning: there is physical, verbal, emotional, and mental abuse in this book.

Only a Breath Apart was everything I expected and Katie McGarry did not disappoint! This book touched me in all the right places despite the hard subject matter and tone of the book. I expected angst but I got even more!

Jesse and Scarlett were childhood best friends but had a falling out in freshman year. They are also neighbors but both come from very different backgrounds. Scarlett comes from a rich and affluent family, while Jesse comes from a family known to be cursed, rich in land but poor otherwise. I am all for enemies to lovers and initially, Jesse and Scarlett were not really friends. I loved how Katie McGarry fleshed out the story of each main character through their alternating POV, and it made me understand both on a deeper level.

However, as much as I liked this book, I had a hard time dealing with the triggers in this book and I was definitely triggered. While I never suffered any of the situations featured in this book, but I was just disturbed. It was quite obvious that despite the glittery and rich facade, Scarlett lived a lie and tried her best to hide it from the public. Her situation was really what made it hard for me to read and I really wanted to skip a few pages at times.

While it was hard for me to read Only a Breath Apart, I am glad that I soldiered on and finished it. Ultimately, this book spoke to me.

Only a Breath Apart also has a mystical aspect to the book and this theme is seen throughout the book. I also felt that the atmosphere was a little bit Peter Pan-like, most especially because Jesse calls Scarlett as Tink. Not only that, I just felt that this book had a touch of magic.

Katie McGarry writes books about real life situations and I love that about her. She handles it really well. I understood Scarlett’s fear and really felt so much for Jesse and the cards that were handed to him. He was really broken at the start and had a really bad reputation surrounding himself and his family.

I highly recommend Only a Breath Apart, but please note that there are triggers, so please proceed cautiously.

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Do you like reading books that deal with real-life situations?