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NetGalley Review of Room to Breathe

Posted on December 26, 2025October 27, 2025 by caritagardiner
Screenshot 2025-10-23 at 8.52.49 AM

title: Room to Breathe

author: Kasie West

publisher: Delacorte Romance

publication date: January 6, 2026

pages: 272

peppers: 2 (on this scale)

warnings:

  • alcohol use
  • marijuana use, mentioned
  • vandalism
  • fighting parents
  • nightmares
  • parental legal troubles

summary: Indy and Beau used to be best friends, but when Indy's mom forbids her from telling anyone what's going on with their family, Indy acts out and Beau gets angry. Now, months later, they're stuck in a bathroom together and have to come to terms with their past mistakes and feelings.

tropes:

  • family drama
  • friends-to-lovers
  • forced proximity
  • dealing with our past
  • dual timeline
  • turning to the wrong guy

what I liked:

  • dual timeline, well done
  • both have reasons to be angry
  • forced proximity, well done

what I didn’t like:

  •  n/a

overall rating: 5 (of 5 stars)

As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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