Remember to Breathe

I thought I would dislike him. I wanted to dislike him, but I couldn't. Even in the depths of self-pity and self-loathing you sense Samuel Grant knows exactly what he's doing - that he's watching and judging the performance. He's blisteringly funny. I laughed myself to tears. Remember to Breathe is character driven rather than plot driven. You can attach all sorts of tags to it - rom-com, coming-of-age - but if you enjoy characters who come off the page and behave outrageously and a storyline that's insightful then this could well be the book for you. I do hope that there'll be a sequel. --Sue Magee, reviewing for The Bookbag

Pont's narrative pace alternates between the breakneck giddiness of a nihilistic night out, and the sad, slow burn of healing and waiting. Sam's experiences are so well drawn and the novel's powerful sense of place, with certain parts of London described so vividly, that I can smell them - and the social history angle, which evokes the recent past in a way that is always accurate and interesting without veering towards the sentimental. The main strength of Remember to Breathe is its honesty about men, women and how they hurt each other. It's frank about the way that feminism and femininity has been politicised and masculinity marginalised as a series of trends. And Sam's advertising role gives Pont the opportunity to reflect on how lives are ruined by sloganeering - Having It All is always going to clash with Happy Ever After. It holds its own as a Generation Y coming of age title, and reminds us that no-one is immune from being derailed by extreme emotion, no matter how grown up you think you are. --SEX, DESPAIR & THE INTERNET BOOM Daisy Buchanan, reviewing for Sabotage Times