I hardly ever read the synopsis of a book, so I often go in blindly just based on an interesting cover or vaguely remembered recommendation. Sometimes this turns out well for me, sometimes...not. If I had read the synopsis along with the title, I wouldn't have read the book - too cliché, another one of those sappy, wanna-be renditions of Fault in Our Stars or Five Feet Apart (both of which I enjoyed, but c'mon...it's an overused trope, now). But I feel as if Cammie McGovern did put a uniqueness into this novel; Just Breathe has concepts in it that similar books don't address, and therefore made an unoriginal plot seem more original...at first. That being said, I wanted to rate this higher, I really did - the first hundred pages or so held most of the story's charm. I thought it was going to be deeper, I thought it would strike something in me. But closer to part two, the depth was lost and the out-of-body experience wasn't particularly enjoyable to me, honestly. Which is a shame, because I admired the fact that McGovern incorporated elements you don't often see approached that well in these YA novels - Eileen being a glass child, acting out to vy for the attention she didn't get, the affect it had having her parents be so overbearing to David because he was sick but treating her passively, the affect it had on both her and David. Jamie and Eileen, their differences and how they could relate to each other. Suicide, how mental health impacted not only Jamie's father and herself, but everyone else around her. Physical sickness versus mental sickness. But somehow it veered off, and two thirds of the novel just seemed forced. I wanted emotional, heart wrenching, angst... And ended up with the opposite by the end, something disingenuous. I feel like Just Breathe had a lot of potential, but fooled me into thinking it was going to be better than it was. It wasn't awful...but I wished for more, especially with the way it started off so well...