Charles Sheehan-Miles-Just Remember to Breathe

This is another book I got through librarything.com.  It was put on by the author and I checked that I would be interested in reading it.  It was an e-book and I read it on my iPhone  on the subway of course.  I read the book from start to finish in one day and spent much of that time in tears.  Although it was not necessarily the tightest writing-I'm not sure if I read a pre-edited version or the story behind the publication, this is a book that really touched a nerve with me and I'm glad I read it.

The story is about a couple who is no longer together when we first meet them.  Alex is a student at Columbia University, originally from San Francisco.  Dylan is an army vet who was just released, after an injury from a road bomb, originally from the south.  They met during high school when they were both chosen to participate in a tour of Israel.  It's not a huge part of the story, but it was fun to read about their experiences as high schoolers touring in Israel.  It was also interesting because it wasn't a religious group which is usually what is talked about with groups in Israel.

The story is somewhat cliche in that they run into each other when they're both assigned work-study with the same professor at the last minute.  They hadn't seen or spoken to each other in several months, after Dylan thinks he sees something while they are Skyping.  He reacts by cutting off all online communication.  She is devastated and makes some bad decisions, as we are apt to do in college.  Alex is unaware that Dylan has been injured, both physically and mentally.

There were some inconsistencies that I know were for literary reasons but I kept thinking, if Dylan is so upset about his relationship with Alex, why would he choose to attend Columbia, knowing that she was a student there.  Clearly, this had to happen for the story to occur the way it did.

The story alternates from Dylan's view to Alex's view which helps us to see both perspectives differently.  Being that much of the book was set around the Columbia University campus on the Upper West Side, and I lived there for my first year in New York, it was fun to read about sites and places I've been.

This book overwhelmed me from start to finish.  As someone who has been injured in a terrorist attack, I completely identified with Dylan, a war vet.  On the other hand, having cared for someone who also has had struggles, I also identify with Alex.