Review: The Place Between Breaths, An Na
The Place Between Breaths is an intense and thrilling exploration of the causes and effects of schizophrenia.
In An Na’s The Place Between Breaths, 16-year-old Grace struggles with the onset of schizophrenia in her life, the same illness that stole her mother’s sanity and tore her family apart. Jumping between various points in Grace’s life, this new release investigates the ways schizophrenia affects those have it, as well as the impact it has on their loved ones.
Grace interns at a lab teeming with scientists that believe a cure is possible, if only they discover the right genes associated with the disease. Grace’s perspective is bleaker.
While it’s understandable that a character with mental illness might have a less positive outlook on the situation, I’m also wary of having a main character tout the message that mental illness is inescapable and worse, not worth living with. It’s believable that Grace would feel this way, but the story needed to do more to challenge her beliefs.
Despite Grace’s problematic viewpoints, the quick pacing and frequent twists littered throughout this book will keep readers turning the pages. The author’s ability to lead up to her twists using small, seemingly unimportant details to pave the way is also undeniably impressive.
The story is broken up into changing seasons of different years, so the frequent time jumps could be disorienting for the reader. While this could be problematic in some books, it functions brilliantly in this one. The reader is never certain of what’s actually happening, which gives them a glimpse into the dubious perception of someone struggling with schizophrenia.
While The Place Between Breaths does manage to place readers in the shoes of someone with schizophrenia, it also heavily emphasizes the science behind mental illness. Unfortunately, the narrative is ambiguous as to whether the scientific outlook is an optimistic or pessimistic one.
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The Place Between Breaths hits shelves today. Fans of dark, thrilling stories are bound to enjoy the unique reading experience, particularly if they’re interested in reading from a new perspective.