I don’t often find myself in a reading slump but I think I might after finishing One Last Breath. It’s going to be difficult to find a book that will rival the way Ginny Myers Sain has yet again left me feeling about her writing, and I can confidently say that she is one of my favorite YA writers I’ve come across in years.
In her newest book, we are drawn in to the life of recent high school graduate Trulee, a small-town girl who is haunted by the secrets and death that seems to permeate the small Florida town she lives in. Years ago, two young girls were murdered in a small area near the springs that attract tourists and locals, and although Trulee wasn’t born yet, the murders have always fascinated her. No one was ever arrested or found guilty, and the twentieth anniversary of their death is coming up, which means the stories and rumors about what happened that night are surfacing again. And then there’s the other murders in nearby towns that have never been solved, making Tru wonder if there’s a serial killer who’s still out there.
Trulee has close ties with the town of Mount Orange, and although her life certainly hasn’t been easy, it’s all she knows. Her best friend and boyfriend, East, has been a constant in her life, helping her stay steady under all sorts of circumstances. I’ll admit that I’m not much for romance, so their lovey-dovey-kiss-at-every-opportunity relationship was a bit tough to get past at times, but it’s a common theme in YA so I get it.
I loved reading about how simple yet difficult Trulee’s life was. She’s a young girl who has been through multiple losses of loved ones. Her sister was killed years ago in an unsolved hit and run, she doesn’t have any idea about where her dad is, and although her mom is still with her, she’s slowly slipping into her habit of drinking much more than she should. In some ways, Tru has grown up parenting herself, but she’s always had people around to help her along the way and they all hold very important places in her life.
Tru loves her home and the fresh springs that she is enamored with free diving in, but she knows it can’t last forever. Someday soon she’s expected to go to college with her boyfriend and probably get married and settle down, but she’s just not there yet mentally. But then Rio shows up out of nowhere and knows way too much about Tru and the entire town’s past and yet no one knows anything about Rio. One thing that Rio and Trulee have in common is their love for free diving in the springs, and that’s where they begin to get closer and form a friendship that feels different from any that Tru has ever had. Rio seems to be able to look into her eyes and just know things. And she’s fearless- offering to help Trulee look further into the murders that occurred years ago. The appearance of Rio is like getting something you didn’t ask for or know you needed; they just click and understand each other in ways Tru has never experienced. Good things can never last, especially in books that are part mystery. From the first page to the last, I wasn’t sure what would happen. I almost laughed out loud at a few of the twists just because they were so cliché and yet still fit in with the story so well.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-read book that is hard to put down, with characters that seem like they could be your best friend themselves, then I’d recommend you pick up One Last Breath. And when you’re finished, you’ll be pleased to know that the author has two previously published books you can run to, because I’m pretty sure you’re going to be left wanting more. Ginny’s books are just that good.
Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Penguin Young Readers Group
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 30 religious exclamations; 45 mild obscenities; 12 religious profanities; 2 derogatory names; 63 scatological words; 11 anatomical terms; 52 F-Word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: A girl thinks about murders that occurred years ago and imagines she is one of the dead girls; a girl on a free dive panics because she goes down too far and worries she will run out of oxygen; a girl thinks she saw a dead girl floating in water; a report is made of an adult dying in a boating accident; a brief scene mentions a girl reading and looking at old articles and photos of a murder that occurred 20 years ago with some mention of blood and how the girls were killed and left to be found in horrific ways; a girl is mentioned to have died in a hit and run; a mention is made of the previous murders that the knife used to kill the girls broke in the stabbing, some brief detail is given to how the murders occurred and bodies were found; a group of teens hears noises in woods and wonders if someone is watching them; the murders are mentioned again with some detail about how the murders took place and other similar murders in the area, including how the bodies were staged; young adults mention they are worried they might be stalked by a killer or someone dangerous, several times they mention feeling like someone is watching them; a brief mention is made of a fire that occurred years ago that killed a young boy while his mother and older sister survived; a brief scene occurs where someone is hit over the head with a baseball bat and it is mentioned that they have a sore bump on their head; a tent at an inhabited campground is found slashed just like one in a murder scene from 20 years ago; a man makes verbal threats while holding a gun; a girl tries to escape a man who is chasing her and he grabs her hard by the wrist; a girl is on a dive when she feels like she is being pulled underwater by someone; a boy is attacked from behind and then thrown into a small body of water face down, a rescue is attempted but despite CPR he is declared dead, some blood is mentioned; a girl has a memory or a vision of a girl having her throat slit and then being thrown into a body of water; two people have their tires slashed by an unknown person; a brief scene occurs where two girls are being chased by a man and he eventually catches up to them, threatening them with a gun and pulling one girl by her hair; a man is briefly described to be hit over the head with a rock and mentioned to crumple to the ground; a man is mentioned to be bleeding into a body of water after being attacked, possibly dead; a woman admits she found a bloody knife in the woods after murders occurred.
Sex/Nudity: A minor girl and her boyfriend kiss each other multiple times in a brief scene; an adult woman is mentioned to get drunk and flirt with men; a minor girl and her boyfriend kiss each other multiple times and nuzzle each other’s necks, press each other close; a girl is mentioned to be dressed in only a bikini top and tiny shorts, it is implied she’s trying to get a boy to like her; an adult woman sits on her boyfriend’s leg in a brief scene; a minor boyfriend and girlfriend lay on the same bed together and sleep curled up against each other; a minor girl is mentioned to get distracted by the proximity of another girl her age and how their thighs are touching; a minor girl and her boyfriend kiss and touch in a brief scene; a minor girlfriend and boyfriend kiss and touch each other under their shirts on the waist in a brief scene; a minor girl is subtly implied to be flirting with another girl and a brief scene occurs where they touch foreheads and one of them thinks they might kiss; a girl flirts with another girl and calls her hot, touches girl on thigh; a minor boyfriend and girlfriend kiss, undress each other, and lie together naked for a while until girl decides to pause things; a girl pulls another girl onto her lap in a flirtatious way; two minor girls that like each other sleep in the same bed but nothing sexual occurs; minor girls kiss each other in several brief scenes.
Mature Subject Matter:
Death; murder; loss of a loved one; same sex romantic relationship.
Alcohol/Drug Use:
Adult smoke cigarettes throughout the book; an adult woman is mentioned to be a notorious drunk and have to be picked up by her daughter from the bar; minors are mentioned to have an adult friend that buys them cheap beer for parties; minors drink beer and wine in several brief scenes; a brief scene occurs where minors drink and smoke weed and the protagonist mentions feeling hazy; adults are mentioned to grow weed and share it, possibly sell it; people are mentioned to be drug addicts, particularly to meth; adults doing drugs is mentioned; cocaine is referred to.
