This was a weird one. Not really sure how to feel about it, to be honest. It was quite an emotional read and I did like the relationship between the two brothers, but everything that related to Covid-19 and the pandemic was weirdly handled, and I frankly don't think it added anything to the novel. It felt a bit forced, just to have a book set in this context. Everything else, I quite liked.

I really enjoyed this book. ‘Breathe deep & swim’ follows two brothers who, in light of their father’s recent passing due to COVID-19, try to travel across America in search for their mum. It’s an emotional and heartfelt story that deals with identity, family, and grief but somehow leaves you feeling optimistic to fight your own battles that the pandemic throws at you.

I think that both the plot and the characters were well developed and I particularly loved the brothers’ relationship. The story was very easy to follow; I actually read it in one sitting.

The only thing I didn’t like was the ignorant views that both the brothers and their dad had towards COVID-19. But that is no criticism to the author or the book as it’s sadly just a representation of how many people in society think, so my annoyance was purely at the characters themselves.

But overall I really enjoyed this, and I think it’s a story that has made a permanent impression on my heart.

Wolfgang and Van Gogh are two brothers living in the age of COVID-19. Unfortunately their father is a non-believer and ultimately passes away from the illness in their home. Wolfgang and Van Gogh find money in the house, steal their deceased father’s car, and hit the road in search of their estranged mother. This book was a bit bizarre and I just couldn’t get into it.

I was somewhat interested when i read the blurb, and hoped that i`d like it and care about the characters and the story. But Wolfgang was whiny and needy, always turned to Van Gogh for help or guidance. Van Gogh seemed sour and flat most times, yes he found places and what to do. But the story was boring, But their running away felt like it made no sense... yeah they ended up finding something good. But I did not feel like the characters were interesting and their travel was just... boring? The COVID-19 part (i feel) wasn`t needed in the story.

I can’t.
I liked it. It was like me in a personal experience. Recommend this.
I have to BREATHE DEEP & READ.

An unpleasant and highly unbelievable story about two brothers who travel from Florida to NYC in search of their mother who left the family 11 years before. The brothers' journey is prompted by the death of their father who succumbs to COVID-19 and fears that the two young men, who are 14 and 16 respectively, will be separated by social services. The journey is interspersed with stories about the two boys' pasts, memories of their racist, ignorant father, and letters written from their previously unknown grandmother to their absent mother. Like many other reviewers I think the inclusion of COVID-19 was a significant mistake on the author's part. Any empathy the reader might have had for the boys, particularly the older brother, is radically reduced by his repeated decision to expose others to what he knows to be a highly deadly, highly communicable disease in a number of scenarios including a 24-hour coach train trip (at least book a sleeper, for the love of God!). The inclusion added little to the story beyond an unnecessary increased sense of peril and fodder for reader anger.

3.5. This books it’s good: it’s really emotional and breathtaking. The suspense during the book keep us there. The only thing that is a bit sad is that sometimes it seems just like a kid wrote it.

At first, I would like to thank Netgalley and Booksgosocial for allowing me to review this book. Keep in mind that my review, however, is my true opinion on this book.

“Breathe Deep & Swim” by Jenna Marcus is a new YA-book for your summer reading.

The main character, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Thomas (quite the name), has a lot of plans for his life, but a global pandemic (yup - coronavirus) makes it difficult for him to succeed. And when his father dies from the virus, Wolfgang has a lot of new difficulties along with his brother.

The relationship between the two brothers is outstanding. They stick together through all of the pain. They fight for each other and stand up for each other. They are a true inspiration for each other and for other young people who go through the same or something similar.

The topic of a global pandemic and coronavirus is interesting as well. Yet, even though coronavirus almost could have been called the main character of the story, there are other topics displayed in the story as well, which are relevant to mention. For example the loss of a close family member and how to deal with the emotions this causes.

A true coming of age story and YA-literature with a highly up-to-date topic. It is a story of pain, misery, and sorrow. But it is also a story of love, hope, and life.

This was a touching coming of age story of two brothers (16 & 14) who stick together and will do anything to keep from being separated. Van and Wolf, short for Van Gogh Vincent Thomas and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Thomas, grow up with a single, distant father, and basically no extended family. The one Uncle they knew has recently died and their father also dies from the Corona virus right at the start of the book. Thus starts their journey to find their mother who disappeared years before. With only distant memories, a few clues, and their fear of being split up by social services, they run away. I liked the relationship between the brothers, and I think YA readers could relate to some of their fears. Would pair nicely with Mosquitoland by David Arnold or The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. I like that it could provide a nice contrast with its male main characters. I would suggest the grade range of 5-9, there is no content inappropriate for middle grades, but there are some gritty enough topics that give readers something to question and ponder.

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review! all thoughts and opinions are my own.

i thought that this book offered an interesting view into how the pandemic has affected so many different families this year. i enjoyed reading about how the two brothers, wolfgang and van gogh, stuck together and tried to survive together.

when their father catches covid and dies, wolfgang and van gogh can't afford to be separated because of foster care. since it's unlikely they will be able to stay together, they decide to run and try to find their mother, who they haven't seen in 10 years.

at first, they drive and try to get as far towards new york as possible, but a bad run-in at the gas station forces them to change the plan. they ditch the car and smash their phones and continues the rest of the trip on foot.

wolfgang, the younger brother and the narrator, firmly trusts his older brother no matter what and follows him throughout the journey. van gogh makes the crucial decisions but values wolfgang's opinions as they finally reach a train station.

at this point, van gogh has been sleeping terribly and coughing wildly. wolfgang secretly suspects that there might be something wrong with van gogh, but his brother doesn't let anything on. after they notice that they've been on the news as runaways, they make sure to wear masks and sunglasses.

when van gogh collapses after the get off the train, wolfgang has no choice but to admit his brother into the hospital. this turns out to be the right move, because van gogh gets treated for covid, and his closest family member gets contacted.

in the end, the boys find out crucial parts of the family history that they never knew about and get accepted into their uncle's house. van gogh is recovering and wolfgang discovers that he was asymptomatic but had covid-19 as well.

i liked this book because it showed the strong bond between the two brothers that would do anything for each other and trusted each other unconditionally. it was a touching and emotional story and showed a new view onto the pandemic. i thought that it was a good novel to demonstrate the effect the pandemic had on different people.

on the other hand, i didn't like how the brothers were careless about endangering other people since it was obvious that they might have covid as they were in contact with their dad before. this book was encouraging this kind of behavior, which definitely shouldn't be happening.

nevertheless, this was enjoyable and an overall decent book. while the writing style wasn't my favorite, it was an easy read!

Thank you to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and Jenna Marcus for the opportunity to read Breathe Deep & Swim in exchange for an honest review.

It was only a matter of time before novels about (and taking place during) the COVID-19 pandemic would come to light. There were plenty of nonfiction books that came out early in the pandemic, but finding a young adult fiction novel was a bit harder. When I read that this novel takes place during the pandemic, I was eager to see where it went and how it would be executed. The pandemic has affected all people, and this is just one possibility that people have had to work through in their own COVID-19 experience.

Van Gogh and Wolfgang are brothers. When they find their dad has died, they know it was due to COVID-19, only to later have it verified by the news. Their mom left when Wolf was a very young age, and it's been eleven years since the brothers have heard anything from her. Not wanting to be wards of the state with a fate of ending up in the foster system, Wolf and Van make their way from Florida, leaving their dead father behind, taking his car and Money, and make their way to New York in hopes of finding their mom.

Along the way, their faces become known on the news when their father's boss finds the dead body. The goal: to make it to New York before anyone recognizes them, ruining their chance of finding their mother. It sure doesn't help when Van uses his father's gun to stop a robbery at a gas station, which goes viral...

As they make their way to New York, things seem promising...until Van starts showing COVID symptoms. This novel really emphasizes how masks must be worn and how people judge anyone who coughs. It also shows the hidden side of people just trying to go through their daily lives and achieve what they need to do, even if that means hiding their symptoms and putting others at risk.

I found this to be a very quick read and quite resonating with the pandemic. While it is contemporary fiction now, it will soon fall under historical fiction, as hopefully one day soon, the COVID-19 pandemic will be another blip in the history books. Some of the events in the novel seemed a bit too coincidental, such as the gas station robbery which just happened to be the first stop they made, or the friendliness and acceptance of the people when the boys pay in cash for things like a hotel--don't you have to be a certain age for that? The way they got through their journey just seemed too perfect with no problems. Regardless, I really enjoyed the characters ads the reader gets to know more about their past and as they learn about their own family history. The end was kind of what I expected, with a minimal twist that was close to my prediction. It was a great ending, perfect for this stand-alone young adult novel.

This book is set in the middle of a global pandemic and follows two brothers Wolfgang and Van Gogh. After their dad dies due to Covid-19. They want to avoid foster care so they will go on the trip to find their mother who ran away 11 years ago. During their ride, they find out the pieces of the truth.

It was interesting to read the book which includes the pandemic. It has been my first book like this and I have never thought I read a book where people wear masks etc. It was really strange to read about these things and I am not sure I get used to it.

The first part of the book was very slow, but the second part was too quick. I think the book should be more sophisticated. Also, it has potential but had been unexploited. It doesn´t mean it is bad, but I miss something in the book.

I received this e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

at first i thought this book was really confusing but then i realised it is set in the current world in a pandemic so after that i really enjoyed

DNFd 100 pages in. This book wasn’t for me but it isn’t a bad book by any means.

From what I gathered, this book was about the main character’s dad dying of COVID so the main character and his brother go to look for their mom who hasn’t been around for a long time.

I don’t know why but I found the main character really annoying and that’s one of the reasons I DNFd it

3.5/5 Stars This book is obviously relevant and some may choose not to pick up a book with a COVID-19 plotline because we've all had enough of this horrible pandemic and want to find our new normal whatever it may be. COVID hit close to home for me during the latter part of 2020 when my own father contracted COVID pneumonia and was hospitalized. Luckily he overcame the virus and recovered. This book featured a strong brotherly bond that would go to the end of worlds even with many curveballs thrown their way.

I went into this so ready to care and yet I just...didn't. I think it was partly because of the sheer amount of telling instead of showing, and partly because we were so wrapped up in Wolfgang's POV. I wish we had been able to see the world outside of that.

Unfortunately I was not able to finish Breathe Deep & Swim. Based on the synopsis alone I thought this would be a good book to read. After I picked up the book I kept having to force myself to pick up the book. I could only read one chapter at a time. I'm not sure what exactly was keeping me from continuing the book but we just weren't getting along.

However, I'm sure there are others who would enjoy this book.

“Breathe Deep & Swim” is the 2nd published work by author Jenna Marcus and I became interested in reading it after seeing the cover and reading the synopsis, so I’m thankful to have been given an e-ARC copy of the book by NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.

Our story follows two brothers, 16-year-old Van Gogh and 14-year-old Wolfgang, who seek out their long-lost mother in New York in a desperate attempt to stay together and out of foster care after their father passes away as a result of COVID-19.

I feel somewhat conflicted about this book overall, but I can say that I did enjoy my time with it and as with any book I review, I’ll start by listing the positives: I think it’s a very quick, timely, well-written book and I enjoyed the brotherly relationship between Wolfgang and Van Gogh.

My criticism of this book stems from the fact that it was very predictable. I was able to guess what would happen LONG BEFORE it actually DID happen, which caused the emotional and climactic moments of the book to lose some of their effectiveness, which in turn, affected my enjoyment of the story as a whole.

For that reason, I give the book 3 stars.

It’s a quick, well-written, timely novella and I could especially see younger readers enjoying it, so if anything I’ve said in this review appeals or resonates with you, and you can handle a pretty predictable storyline, I definitely recommend giving this one a chance, at least. It’s just not a book that I could ever see myself re-reading.

Thanks again to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC copy of the book!

3.5 STARS,
This was an emotional read, but fast paced.
It’s set in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, a story of 2 brothers seeking to find their Mother, who abandoned them 11 years ago, after the dead of their Father.
Wolfgang and Van Gogh are practically inseparable, the trust and loyalty between them in inspiring. What they find at the end of their journey is tear jerking.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc of this touching story.

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book was compared to The Thing About Jellyfish, which is a well loved book of mine, and let me tell you this wasn't anything like that.

Two teenage brothers Wolfgang and Van Gogh go on a mission to find their estranged mother after their father dies of COVID-19.

The premise sounded promising but the execution was poor. Repetitive sentences, unlikeable characters, and a very weak story line sadly made it a 1/5 star read for me.



Review published on my Instagram. Username: booknookcook04