Out of Breath by Blair Richmond

Nineteen-year-old Kat Jones has been a competitive runner since she was a young girl, but after her mother's death, the path her life was supposed to take begins to crumble around her -- until one day, she finds herself on the run in a literal sense, this time in a race for her very life.

Kat's journey takes her to the Pacific Northwest town of Lithia, the place of her last good memories, of the days when her mother was still alive. But soon after her arrival, strange things begin to happen in Lithia -- and when one of her new friends disappears under mysterious circumstances, Kat begins to realize that Lithia's inhabitants are not all of this world. Worst of all, she is falling in love with one of these otherworldly locals, and the friend who hopes to save her has secrets of his own.

As Kat tries to rebuild her life, she is also training for a race that will turn out to be her biggest challenge yet, as she must outrun not only the demons of her past but the demons of the here and now, who threaten her very existence and that of the entire town...

This was an interesting beginning to what promises to be a satisfying trilogy.

What I enjoyed most, even more than the characters themselves, was the setting. There’s a great ambiance to the book, creating this feeling of mystery and possibly danger around the plot. I think it’s worth reading just to experience that feeling of being completely taken in by the story.

But the characters didn’t disappoint, either. Kat, the protagonist, was the kind of resilient heroine that we need to keep in most young adult books. She is a fully-capable young woman who you immediately start cheering for. I did, however, think that the love story, the love triangle, was not as well handled as the rest. It’s too abrupt, a bit jarring to the reader, for this love triangle to sprout without too much warning. I would have preferred to have read something more gradual.

But this is a fun book that can be easily read in a day or two, so if you’re willing to be forgiving to the “insta-love” thing, then actually it’s a great choice.