Official Synopsis:

Kate’s father has been pressuring her to be perfect for her whole life, pushing her to be the best swimmer she can be. But when Kate finds her dad cheating on her mom, Kate’s perfect world comes crashing down, and Kate is forced to leave home and the swim team she’s been a part of her whole life.

Now in a new home, new school, and faced with the prospect of starting over, Kate isn’t so sure that swimming is what she wants anymore. But when she decides to quit, her whole world seems to fall apart. But when Kate gets to know Michael, the cute boy that lives across the hall, she starts to think that starting over might not be so bad. There’s only one problem: Michael has a girlfriend.

As the pressures of love, family, and success press down on her, can Kate keep her head above water?

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Review:

A captivating story about love, reinventing yourself, and what it means to start over, Vicky Skinner has created a compelling debut that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you breathless.

You guys, this book is so sweet. I love it so much. Kate, our protagonist, has to deal with getting her whole life uprooted and turned upside down, and that absolutely sucked. Kate, like all of the other characters, is very well developed, and I loved experiencing the story through her eyes.

Her connection with her neighbor, Michael, we definitely super adorable and super sweet. They had a great friendship, which was something that came across extremely well. Her other friends, Marisol and Patrice, felt very realistic too. They were so welcoming to Kate when they first met her, and it was great to read a book where all of the new classmates didn’t immediately go against her as soon as they met her. Her sister, Lily, was a great addition to Kate’s story too, showing the consequences and repercussions of divorce on that couple’s children.

Swimming was such a huge part of Kate’s identity, so now she has to start figuring out who she actually is when being a swimmer is taken out of that equation. That can’t be easy, and all things considered, I think that she handles it well. I liked seeing her with her old swim team friends back in Salem, because it was cool to see Kate in different settings with different people—seeing her as the Kate we have come to know, and the part of her life that isn’t quite as familiar.

Overall, this is a really sweet and refreshing read, and I highly recommend it. ‘How to Breathe Underwater’ will be released by Swoon Reads on August 14!

Stay tuned for my interview with the author, Vicky Skinner! It will be posted on Monday!

PREORDER ‘HOW TO BREATHE UNDERWATER’:

Amazon

Target–best price as of posting

Barnes & Noble

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

You can follow Vicky on Instagram at @vicky_skribenten and on Twitter at @vickyskribenten!