I taught this book during a 14-week student teaching placement in a 12th grade English classroom. It is written at an approachable reading level and opens up numerous opportunities to discuss relationship dynamics and red flags in dating, friendships and family relationships. [SPOILER AHEAD] I continue to appreciate that by the end of the book, the protagonist has begun to 1) not only acknowledge how he abused his girlfriend and how he learned violent behavior from his father 2) but also taken some emotional distance from his father's insults, and ALSO that with all this work, the protagonist does not get his girlfriend back. He grows and learns and she is not obligated to reward that by re-entering a toxic relationship.

I first read this when it first came out. I remember so clearly ranting on LiveJournal about a "Breathing Underwater" fanfiction I'd read a day after finishing the book. The fanfiction was well-written but utterly missed the point. Other people commented on my LJ entry and I felt validated. I'm not sure what it says about my teenage self that I remember my LiveJournal entry more clearly than I do the book. I felt the need to point it out, anyway.
Recently, I re-read the book. Two and a half stars. The writing is vivid and engaging. The teen friendships are believable for the most part. The relationships Nick slowly builds with other men in his program are ones I was grateful took place, even though I remembered clearly how the book would end. I kept wanting to set the book down and not finish it, but I bought the book, so I did. It took awhile. I didn't want to have sympathy for an abuser. And I don't. I was annoyed with him a -lot- to say the least. The book was blatantly unrealistic in some parts--he performed certain actions -so- many times after being told he couldn't anymore, and -no one- called the cops. He got thrown out of a bar with only getting yelled at? Unrealistic. He felt sorry for himself a -ton-, where I was encouraging Caitlin to stick to her decisions. He and I share a particular background, though, and -that's- when I felt sympathy for him. My heart downright ached in some parts for a few seconds.
There are two minor character deaths that infuriated me. They happen twenty pages from the end, there's buildup and foreshadowing, yes, but something so shocking needs more page time. I wanted to see Nick grieve. He turned it around to himself, which, whatever sympathy I had? Gone in that moment. -And these are poignant deaths in a YA novel.- They needed to be handled so, so differently than they were. Every time Liana was on the page, I winced at what a horrible stereotype she was. There are others, but she stood out the most in terms of being portrayed horribly. Elsa annoyed me as well, but less and for different reasons. On another note, there is also 'blink and you miss it' disability rep--one of Nick's teachers uses a motorized wheelchair. Nick gets a friendship back that he originally lost, in the last few pages of the book, and this upset me. Sadly, it's very realistic. I'm glad the author did write this book, but it's still two and a half stars for me. ( )

This book should really be a required reading for English in high school. It has great lessons to learn from it. ( )

I rate Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn a three and a half out of five. I recommend this book for people who enjoy reading about courtcases and the outcome of them involving teenagers. ***plot may be revealed***
The main theme of this book is Friendship. This is the main theme because Nick struggles to keep his friends after the incident with his girlfriend Caitlin bringing him to court and having to go to Family Violence Class. Nick lost Caitlin and his Bestfriend Tom.
Overall I enjoyed reading this book it was a nice read for the summer and i completely recommend it. ( )

Narrated by Jon Cryer (yes, that Jon Cryer). Throughout the first disc this came off as a ho-hum standard romance. But when Nick's violent tendencies first appear, I was shocked to realize I had been sympathizing with Nick up to that point. From then on, I was interested in the working mind of this young abuser and seeing his perspective. His perspective and actions are unacceptable, of course. Nick comes around thanks to his anger management class, his introspective journal writing, and the tragedy of Leo. His turnaround seemed to fall in line almost too easily. Still, a valuable book for teens who might be in similar situations, whatever their side. ( )