This book is a middle-of-the-road read for me. It was good but it also didn't leave me with any big emotion - I wasn't stunned, I wasn't in love with it, and likewise I didn't dislike it, or find it boring. I think this is a good "take a break" sort of book... enough to stay interested and like it, but nothing that is going to blow your socks off.
I liked the setting quite a bit and I think that is what is the best part for me - a mysterious thriller taking place during a remote mountain climbing expedition was a nice change of pace for the genre.

𝙈𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

This was such a fun blend of survival thriller and murder mystery—and the setting absolutely steals the show. Breathless takes place on one of the most dangerous mountains in the world, and Amy McCulloch (who’s actually summited Manaslu herself!) uses that firsthand experience to build an atmosphere that’s tense, icy, and claustrophobic in the best way.

The story follows Cecily, a journalist climbing with an elite group to secure a career-defining interview—until one of the climbers dies under suspicious circumstances. From there, it’s part locked-room mystery, part survival story, all under the threat of altitude sickness, avalanches, and the creeping realization that someone in their group may be a killer.

The pacing lagged a little in the middle, and Cecily makes some choices that made me side-eye her, but honestly? I didn’t care. I was too busy flipping pages and holding my breath. If you love a thriller that drops you into a remote, extreme setting and slowly ratchets the dread, this is a good one to pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley, Anchor Books, and Amy McCulloch for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

📚 Breathless is available now.

Ever since reading Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air (published in 1997) about the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, where eight climbers lost their lives, I’ve been fascinated by mountain climbing… not that I’d ever attempt it myself. That curiosity is what drew me to Breathless.

Since this is a thriller, you can imagine that everything that could possibly go wrong does… or worse, is deliberately sabotaged. A killer is literally picking off climbers one by one (not a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis), turning a daring adventure into a desperate fight for survival. And let’s not forget the mountain, which is an unrelenting and dangerous force in and of itself.

I did find the characters a bit one-dimensional, but in this case, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. There’s so much happening that survival becomes the focus. Who has time for deep backstories when someone is trying to kill you, right? This book is all about fear and adrenaline, with just enough depth to keep things interesting.

I read this ebook alongside the audiobook, and the narration by Katie Leung was fantastic.

If you’re into survival stories, mountain climbing, or high-stakes thrillers, you’ll probably enjoy this one!

Thank you @Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Anchor for the eARC, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I have now learned that mountain climbing is not a sport for me.....BUT......reading great books about a team of climbers who not only face the inherent dangers of climbing the eight highest mountain in the world, but also a killer amongst them, is much safer for me than it was for them. Loved the book. Lots of tension built between characters that left the door open to any one of them being the killer. The clues were there, but I missed most of them. Who knew you could have this much entertainment with both feet on the ground?

A thriller on a mountain top and one of them is a killer?? Sign me up. The author has amazing synopses but the execution isn’t my favorite. There were some plot holes and it was a bit too unbelievable for me. Still, if someone is newer to the thriller genre, they might like this more.

I am a thriller/suspense reader through and through and this one brought the lost in the wilderness with a killer trope to the next level. I loved the setting, the characters, everything.

I found this a little boring for a "thriller", and didn't feel like the author did a great job of building suspense. Generally in a thriller you keep reading to at least see what happens, but I found myself not very invested in how it would end. The premise was interesting, but the main character's POV couldn't carry the story.

For a chance to interview the esteemed mountain climber Charles, Cecily has to join his climbing party. Even though she is inexperienced, this is the chance of a lifetime. As they climb, people start to go missing. This is the story of what happens when you are trapped on a mountain with no place to go.

This was ok. I had higher hopes for this book based on the description. It just seemed to drag on and on. There were so many circumstances that I just felt Cecily was being ridiculous. I wondered why she did the things she did. Why did she let people walk all over her like they did? Yes, it’s a book but there are so many things that happened that just did not seem believable. It made it really hard for me to stick to the book and want to finish it.

I usually really like survival thrillers but the slow pace made this a hard one to read. I am positive that there are readers that would love this book but I found it not as interesting.

Tense survival thriller, I will recommend to fans of The Couples Trip by Ulf Kvensler and Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for digital review copy.

I really thought I would enjoy this book based on the description, but it just didn’t work for me. The pacing was too slow and the book did not hold my attention. I am sure a lot of others readers will enjoy it though!

thank you so much to netgalley & the published for this arc!!

this one was okay! definitely not my favorite thriller but I did enjoy my time while reading it. I didn’t really vibe with the characters and I wish they would’ve been expanded upon more so that we could’ve been rooting for them.

I do think this was super thrilling, and I know a lot of people will enjoy it. The description and appreciation for the mountain and scenery alone was beautiful!

**3.5 stars**

I love mysteries set in settings I’ve never been to and Breathless definitely fit that bill. I am never ever going mountain climbing especially at 8000 feet. While I feel like the pacing during the first half was a bit slow overall I enjoyed this one. I kind of guessed part of the ending but not all. Cecily was a little annoying but this was a good adventure-mystery. Loved the ending.

Thanks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I love this book and the main character is quite believable. If you haven’t read this book you really should give it a try. Thanks for writing such a great story!

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

The first half was very slow paced and mainly focused on the climb and all the steps involved to reach the summit. I did learn a lot about mountain climbing though and how cutthroat it can be. How hard it is to tell reality from hallucinations due to lack of oxygen. The second half picked up just enough to get me more invested, but not enough to win me over.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this eARC.

Wow, I love a natural closed environment thriller, and this one was immersive and entertaining with great character development. I was clenching my teeth and feeling the chill throughout. I didn’t know anything about mountaineering, but felt like I learned a lot through this book. I was googling terms and sites on the side, trying to imagine where this novel was taking place. Definitely a type of thriller I’d love to read again.

A heart pounding thriller! Breathless is a story of redemption, overcoming fear and chasing down a killer. Cecily has a strong set of demons to banish as she takes on the story of a lifetime. She can interview a world renowned climber, only if she reaches the summit and as she'll learn as the expedition goes on, only if she can survive what lurks in the wild. A great, fast paced read.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. A truly thrilling thriller (no pun intended). Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. A woman chasing her career, leaving everything behind, only for the path ahead to lie with fear and the unknown. Truly an enjoyable read.