Every Breath

Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Age: Young Adult
Category: Mystery & crime; contemporary; romance
Rating: 4 stars

“I admit to being a moron at lots of things. Being a moron in one or two areas serves to highlight my extraordinary brilliance in everything else.” -James Mycroft (beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world, too pure)

Melissa Thinks: I was not emotionally ready for this book. Like most people, I was absolutely fascinated by BBC’s Sherlock when the first season aired. Not only that, but I also grew up with at least one parent who loved Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series. It’s safe to say I love Sherlock Holmes. When I saw that Every Breath was a modern day retelling (of sorts) about teenage Rachel Watts (Watson) and James Mycroft (Sherlock’s brother was Mycroft Holmes, for those of you who don’t know), I just knew I had to read it.

The writing was more than I ever hoped it would be. It portrays teenagers in a realistic way, by not underestimating or sugar coating them. The prose was poetically beautiful in places in which it seemed appropriate, was precise enough so that I was almost never confused about what was happening, and also held a (distinctly Australian) unique and humorous voice.

Rachel, the main character, was my absolute favorite. When she moves from the country to the city (four months-ish from the start of the book), she doesn’t want to get too attached, knowing that the city life just isn’t for her and one day she’ll end up leaving. Rachel is such an open character—she’s loyal and takes care of her family and Mycroft, though she doesn’t have to. Like most kids her age, she doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life and genuinely struggles to find her place. She’s also incredibly intelligent and even though Mycroft is technically the shining star genius character, nothing would get done if it weren’t for Rachel. She isn’t a sidekick, nor is she a passive poorly written lady character; she’s equal to her male counterpart.

Then there’s the second main character, Mycroft. Oh boy, Mycroft. He is a deeply flawed character. He is erratic, selfish, struggles with mental health issues, and can sometimes be downright stupid. What I loved about him was his passion and eccentricity. Similarly to Rachel, he has a strong sense of loyalty as well as a need to seek justice for those who cannot do so themselves. And even though I am a grown adult woman, and he’s seventeen, I found him to be just adorable. He has curly hair, he’s British, he’s funny, and you can tell he is so devoted to Rachel. What a cutie.