Thank you, NetGalley for the advanced copy of A Breath Too Late. This book was devastating and wonderful. The writing was moving and I found myself re-reading certain passages. At one point, I feared that I was going to cry my way through the entire book. Rocky Callen did a wonderful job depicting domestic violence and depression. I think what hit me the hardest was that there was no magical do-over. Ellie didn't get to wake up and be alive after she discovered that life was worth living. Her decision was final and there are no second chances. I think that is what makes the story so important.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the Earc of this book I received in exchange for my fair and honest review.

This book was not for me. There was nothing wrong with it; the writing is strong and vivid and the book has a fairly quick flow. It's just too consistently dark and heavy. Now, I know what you are thinking: it's about a girl who commits suicide, what did you expect? But the ting is, when a book is consistently so dark, even one with such heavy themes, without any kind of break in all that darkness, it just feels so overwrought. And that's the problem here. It's just too unrelenting with the bleakness.

A Breath Too Late follows Ellie after she commits suicide, the story unfolding as she watches her mother, father, and boyfriend in the aftermath of her death. The storytelling method is interesting as each chapter is addressed to one of these characters and the information of her life is given to the reader through her own memories as she accompanies each of the others. While I thought the way the story is told is clever and original, the plot and dialogue felt clichéd and predictable. The theme comes through clearly and the topics addressed are important and deserve to be examined, but I did not feel particularly engrossed in this story world.

Ellie is a high school senior who "wakes up" after she committed suicide and is able to see life after she is gone. She begins to have flashbacks or memories that help her come to several realizations about her life that provide a sense of closure but make her rethink her decision.