Reviews with content warning for Racism - Juliet Takes a Breath

I read "Juliet Takes a Breath" yesterday. It is a totally delightful story of Puerto Rican queer girl from the Bronx growing into her own personal revolution in 2003. There is supportive yet complicated family, white feminist idols with clay feet, loving queer BIPOC community, and Portland hippies. The main character is competent, thoughtful, funny, and just a little neurotic. Highly rec'd

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oh_bother's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Cute!! The writing style/voice was a little annoying and unrealistic sometimes but the characters were real and fun. Love hot romances with mysterious lesbian librarians.

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

“You are your own person. If liking girls is a phase, so what? If it’s your whole life, who cares? You’re destined to evolve and understand yourself in ways you never imagined before. And you’ve got our blood running through your beautiful veins, so no matter what, you’ve been blessed with the spirit of women who know how to love.”

I am SO glad I read this, OMG! This is a new adult coming of age novel with a splash of romance and existential crisis. Nineteen-year-old Puerto Rican lesbian Juliet Milagros Palante is from the Bronx, and reads a book called "Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind" by Harlowe Brisbane, and writes a letter to Harlowe right after discussing how it opened her eyes as far as feminism and her relationship to her body and her sexuality. Harlowe then recruits her for a summer internship to join her in Portland, Oregon, so a few hours before Juliet goes to the airport, she comes out to her family in the kitchen, leaving her mom speechless and locked in her bedroom, refusing to hug Juliet goodbye. Juliet's college girlfriend Lainie has also been evasive in not calling or texting Juliet at all, and constantly leaving her hanging. It's safe to say there's a *lot* on Juliet's mind right now.

I enjoyed this book because it showed the importance of nuance, especially as a young adult who is learning about the injustices of the world (moreso history and examining others' complicity in it, because Juliet is fully aware of her own reality and situation; however, this perspective gets expanded and she takes a closer look at it for sure!) for the first time. Juliet indeed does learn so much by spending time with Harlowe. Harlowe's main partner is Maxine, a Black woman, and this comes into play with how Juliet comes to understand Harlowe's tendency to center whiteness even more. Throughout the summer, Juliet unfortunately learns that your heroes or your mentors are not always what you imagined, and not everyone is "all good" or "all bad".

Besides the dynamic with Harlowe, this was illustrated really well with her short phone calls with her mother, who refused to accept that Juliet was a lesbian. You can tell that Juliet's mom loves her, but she continues to fumble and fuck up. Juliet is patient, but also does not let her mom project her shame and guilt onto her, which is so admirable. I really appreciated the fact that Juliet knew she had others in her corner though, like her Titi Penny and her cousin Ava in Miami.

Juliet learns to name her emotions and her needs, which is a MASSIVE LESSON TO LEARN AS A YOUNG ADULT! She holds others accountable for the harm they have done, and she does it confidently! As a 19-year-old, I did not implement these things! I, like Juliet, would just word vomit my ideas, and offer up so much emotional labor to others or forgive & forget, without a second thought. However, by the end of the book, she learns to take a pause, and to ruminate on how she'd like to respond next, and even further, how she'd like to participate or if she even wants to continue participating in the relation/friend/mentorship.

I love Juliet's curiosity, and the way she yearns for more and more knowledge. By the end of the book, she doesn't have it all "figured out," but she certainly has made so much progress in her self-education and examination of:

the types of relationships she wants to have moving forward
the books she wants to read
the experiences she wants to learn more about (she was introduced to why asking others their pronouns is important in this book!)
the history that was erased and never taught to her in classes
the bare-minimum allyship she will no longer applaud or accept gratefully
her voice, her thoughts, her hopes, her dreams!

The subplot romance with Kira the librarian was what "summer love" ballads are made of! Give me a novella of them meeting up again in 10 years serendipitously!

Anyway, I will read anything Gabby Rivera writes because holy shit, this was so good! (that's an understatement lol)

cw: microaggressions, racism, homophobia, classism, cultural appropriation, cursing, toxic relationship, mild sexual content, references to colonialism and erasure of nonwhite history

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hobbithopeful's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

An essential queer read for anyone and everyone, both extremely thought provoking and insightful. Juliet Takes a Breath encapsulates the poc queer experience and captures the difficulties of dealing with racist white queers. (Who don't think they're racist!)
So much of this book feels alive with rage and feeling and want for change. It quite honestly felt like Gabby Rivera was looking into my brain and pulling out my emotions and fears.
I have lived in the north and I have lived in the south and when I tell you that Rivera hit the nail on the head in regards to white queers and just how they act and talk is so incredibly accurate. (The personal hygiene thing was so real, like why can't they just use deodorant and shower every day!)
Harlowe is the epitome of a white "savior" who is doing more harm than good and instead of taking ownership she instead for most of the book victimizes herself. I have met people like this in real life. They are totally amazing until they let slip a phrase or do something incredibly racist and you're just like...WAIT EXCUSE ME. And then if you try to confront them about it....let's just say it never goes well.
So much of this book follows Juliet forming her own thoughts and beliefs and discovering how much more there is to the world. I really loved the relationship she had with her cousin, and how in the end she is learning how to find community and her people. Wherever she ends up, I just know she's going to be okay.
SERIOUSLY Y'ALL. READ THIS BOOK. It will change how you view feminism, queerness, just challenge your worldview entirely.

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anibenfrad's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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abigailbat's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I read this when it was first self published and reread the newer edition for our book club. This is a must read for anyone interested in intersectionality or allyship and how white fragility can pop up in unexpected places. It would be a great primer for queer young adults and it’s such a great mix of queer joy with other weightier topics.

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shutupiamreading's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was such a great book and would work really well for a teenager or young adult who’s looking to learn more about feminism, intersectionality, racism and gender identity. There are some great discussions about intersectionality in particular, and I loved that it’s written from the perspective of a character who is learning about these things as the book progresses.

There were a few instances where perhaps some more editing might’ve helped (e.g., I’m not sure the timeline always worked out) but it didn’t get in the way of enjoying the book.

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cheesepuppy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I feel like I say this often, but this may legit be one of my new favorite books. It’s a book I wish existed when I was a teen. I’m still processing all the things but the most important takeaway would be “accomplices not allies” and to never stop checking your privilege

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