Death…the final rider of the apocalypse. Breath is the story of Death, but also the story of life. Death has never been like the other riders. He isn’t human even though he takes a human shape. He doesn’t feel things like we do, but today he is feeling like the end is near. He is ready to say goodbye to the world and the world needs to get ready to say goodbye. The other riders are concerned of course. What happens when Death dies? He is the source of all life not just death so can the world continue without him? This is also the story of Xander, a young man in love and ready to start his life. Or is he?
This series is a great one. I love that it tells a different kind of story. It makes you think and it is fun to read. I have enjoyed each and everyone of these books. I really enjoyed that we got Death’s backstory in this book. He has been a fascinating character throughout the series, but one we hardly knew. Now that we know him, he is just as fascinating. I liked that this book resolved all the other Horsemen storylines. We do know what happened to them in the end.
Xander’s story is a little confusing. You have no idea what is really going on until the very end. You keep getting hints and flashes of things, but it doesn’t all tie together. I loved his interactions with Death and how that turned out though.
The ending? What happened here? I am not going to spoil it, but it does leave you with big question marks.
Mac and her family have just moved into the Coronado, an aging LA hotel-turned-apartment building. Mac is not particularly thrilled about it. The move was precipitated by the death of her little brother and Mac’s not ready to let him go yet. This unwillingness to let him go is beginning to severely interfere with her secret job as a Keeper for the Archive. The Archive isn’t an ordinary repository; it is a place where the lives of the dead are stored. These are called Histories. Each History has his or her own coffin-shaped shelf. Each History is physically similar to its former living state. Trained by her late grandfather, Mac was the youngest Keeper in history. Most Histories are calm and remain in the Archives, but a few “wake up” and escape into a sort-of-purgatory called the Narrows. It is here that Mac must apprehend these escaped Histories, who typically become increasingly distressed and violent the longer they are “awake”, and return them to the Archive. Mac’s pretty good at her job, but things start going awry shortly after her arrival at the Coronado. For one thing, there’s another Keeper on the premises. And Mac might have a tiny crush on him. This, however, becomes eclipsed by the volume of work skyrocketing to unprecedented levels. It’s normal for a few Histories to wake up now and then, but multiple instances every day? And then there’s the strange boy lurking in the Narrows whose presence makes no sense. And the mysteries of the hotel itself….Mac’s got her plate pretty full. Assuming she survives her work.
