Sarah Crossan has come up with an unbelievably great idea with Breathe. A world with no trees, no vegetation, no oxygen. Life moved to pods, entire cities built inside bubbles, with air pumped in and controlled by the Breathe, the company who supplies oxygen. Can you imagine it? Sounds interesting, right? The problem is...it was unbelievable. I kept waiting for the story to take hold, to explain what caused 'The Switch', why did the trees die, how were the pods created, where does the oxygen come from, how did Breathe came to be in power. Crossan gives snippets to these things but never really filled all the holes. For me, this was a story that needed a healthy dose of world building and it just did not quite deliver. The world is interesting in itself it just needed more background, more detail, more ooomph. (That's a real word, right?)The story is told in three different point of views. Bea, Quinn and Alina.Bea is not a 'premium'. Her family is of no importance inside the Pod, they don't get extra air for exercise or recreation. She hopes to become part of the elite in order to help her family, she studies and works hard and doesn't break the rules. Bea is a bit plain, bland, boring and almost annoying at the start. Quinn is a 'premium'. His Dad is a higher up and they can afford all the air they need or want. At times, Quinn is the typical popular, rich, jock type. At other times, he shows a softer side. A side that cares about other people regardless of their caste. It was tricky, at first, to get a feel for who Quinn really was. Especially when Alina entered the picture and he became all 'fanboy' and obnoxious.Alina. Alina is the rebel, the tough girl. Again, I felt a disconnect with her. She didn't fulfill my vision of a rebel. She's daring but maybe not ruthless enough.Bea is in love with Quinn, Quinn is infatuated with Alina, Alina is just trying to escape the Pod. As I stated, Bea was a bit annoying when Alina entered the picture. Her constant need for Quinn to notice her bothered me. Once she got over that, I enjoyed her character so much more. I guess I just like a strong female character. I don't mind them being in love but I don't want it to consume their every waking moment either. I think that was my problem with Quinn at first too. Too much Alina, Alina, Alina. Again, once over that he came in to his own and I liked him so much more.I feel like I am really focusing on the things I didn't like about the book. There was plenty to like. There is a wealth of interesting characters and the pacing throughout the second half of the book is great.Though I enjoyed Breathe, it was a full book of set up to the real story. The war. A battle for the right to grow trees, for the right to oxygen, for the right to freedom and life. Sarah Crossan has such a diamond of a storyline here and I really, really hope the next installment delivers a larger punch than Breathe did.