Every Stolen Breath

Gr 7 Up–Two years ago, Lia’s father was killed by the Swarm, a vicious mob of teenagers who seemingly choose random victims to beat to death in the streets. Lia thinks her dad may have been researching who is behind the attacks and that he was targeted because he was close to an answer. With the help of her techie friend Adam, she works tirelessly to try to find the teens who killed her dad. But the Swarm is everywhere, and now they might be after Lia. As the danger to her increases, she encounters Ryan, a young man with a shady past who is hell-bent on protecting her, but she’s not sure she can trust him. Pushy reporter Emi Vega is also investigating the story, but Lia questions her motives, too. While the concept of this book is original, unfortunately the characters are not, falling into cliché as soon as readers meet them. The plot moves quickly, but most of the turns fall flat, and while there seems to be the promise of romance, that fails to deliver.