Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing.
TNT Trilogy (book 2)
Sarah Delany
Self-published 2020

 

June 22, 2021

Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing. by Sarah Delany is the second book in the TNT Trilogy series. This book is an emotional roller coaster that keeps you on your toes. Just when you think it’s heading in one direction, it does a 180 and goes the opposite way. Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing. continues the story of Tamsyn and Tate, who still have some of the same problems and mental health issues but some have been resolved. Tamsyn and Tate are learning to live life with the pains of their past and to keep moving forward despite new and unexpected events.

Tamsyn is now coping with the death of her dad and has much better friends now. She managed to ditch the toxic boyfriend who cheated on her with her best friend and those supposed best friends. The only thing that she is missing is her best friend and crush Tate.

Tate went away to his hometown for the funeral of his twin sister who passed away after a few months of being on life support. Tate decided to remove himself from Tamsyn’s life as she reminded him too much of his recently deceased sister’s personality. He is struggling to get out of bed, eat and just live and things get much worse when he has to go back to school.

The two teenagers both miss each other so much but refuse to get in contact. Tate is determined to stay away as Tamsyn brings him pain because she is just too similar to his twin and Tamsyn is determined to stay away from Tate as she doesn’t want to bring him any more pain than he is already in. But a simple phone call on most days doesn’t break these unofficial rules, right?

I would recommend Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing to older teens as it has some very dark topics such as suicide, terrible mental health and death. Readers need to be able to handle something so realistic, deep and dark.

I just loved Don’t Panic. Keep Breathing by Sarah Delany because of how down to earth and realistic it is. The characters seem real and they go through and experience a lot. Both Tate and Tamsyn experience anxiety, depression and Tate has panic attacks but the way that these are written is so real. You can’t help but feel for these characters; you want to jump through the pages and hug them.

The storyline is easy to follow and you get to read two perspectives. Tate and Tamsyn are so like-minded yet so different that it is really easy to follow along, and we are able to see how two different people are feeling and experiencing the events. As the saying goes there are three sides to a story: one person’s perspective, the other person’s and the truth. This book allows you to see all three sides of the story in a creative and insightful way.

And just like the first book in the series, this one also ended with To be continued… This series is like an addiction to me and I need to keep reading. Luckily the third one in the series was released on the first of June. I will definitely be seeking it out.

• Caitlin Fuldseth is 16 and lives in Palmerston North.