Book Review: Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel

**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, YA
Release Date: November 5, 2019  
Description:

"The Swarm is unrecognizable, untraceable, and unpredictable—random attacks on the streets of Chicago by a mob of crazed teens that leaves death in its wake. It’s been two years since the last attack, but Lia Finch has found clues that reveal the Swarm is ready to claim a new victim.

Lia is the only one still pursuing her father’s killers, two years after attorney Steven Finch’s murder by the Swarm. Devastated and desperate for answers, Lia will do anything to uncover the reasons behind his death and to stop someone else from being struck down. But due to debilitating asthma and PTSD that leaves her with a tenuous hold on reality, Lia is the last person to mount a crusade on her own.

After a close encounter with the Swarm puts Lia on their radar, she teams up with a teen hacker, a reporter, and a mysterious stranger who knows firsthand how the mob works. Together, they work to uncover the master puppeteer behind the group. Though if Lia and her network don’t stop the person pulling the strings—and fast—Lia may end up the next target."

This was a pretty solid debut novel. Centering around Lia, a teen girl, is on the hunt for her dad's killer but ends up finding herself entangled in a much darker plot. Granted the concept of the Swarm itself is very dark, as it was a mystery on why groups of people would ruthlessly beat a seemingly random person to death. 

Lia is a pretty interesting character. She may be stubborn, smart, and determined, but physically she is weak as her asthma has hindered her actions quite a few times. Despite this, I enjoyed her character. Even though Lia might not be the best at covering her tracks, she is so determined in cracking the mystery of the Swarm and the killer behind her father's death. The secondary characters were also pretty interesting too, especially Adam and Ryan. They both helped keep Lia in check and safe.

The best part of the story is probably the plot. We the readers aren't provided much about what the point of the Swarm was, as Lia herself doesn't know much about it either. The plot and mystery unfold at a pretty good pace with some nice twists. When I was reading the book, I found myself more focused on the danger that might be creeping around the corner than the perpetrator behind the Swarm. Because of this, the reveal of the mastermind behind the mystery was pretty unexpected. However, I feel like the ending fell a bit flat. With everything going on and everything that had unraveled, I feel like the case of Lia's dad wasn't being brought with complete justice. 

Overall, this was a pretty solid read. 

Overall rating:  3/5