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A review by ihateprozac
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
5.0
THIS NEEDS TO BE REQUIRED FUCKING READING.
Juliet Takes a Breath is the story of a lesbian Puerto Rican gal from the Bronx as she learns about her own queerness and feminism over the summer break. Through an internship with a famous white feminist, she’s able to learn about her own identity and discovers that feminism just isn’t feminism unless it’s intersectional.
A key theme of this story is that nobody is born woke, and we need to stop being elitist gatekeepers of knowledge. Nobody is born with the language and tools to navigate queerness and feminism, and Juliet doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. Policing people for how much or little they know while simultaneously preventing them from learning is just counterintuitive.
Juliet isn’t going to get it right the first time, and she doesn’t. She makes mistakes, she learns, and it's through talking with others and a willingness to learn that she becomes a completely different feminist by the end of her internship. I got into feminism over a decade ago and am constantly learning, so I feel for Juliet in trying to absorb all of this info over just a few weeks!
The way in which Rivera tackles white feminism and intersectional feminism within the context of a YA contemporary is honestly just masterful. There’s such nuance to the way this book discusses privilege, queerness, and intersectionality, and that white people “letting” marginalised groups “have space” and exist in these spaces isn’t actually helpful.
Set against this huge learning experience is a narrative of Juliet coming out and not being accepted by her mother. Often with YA coming out narratives it’s the father that isn’t accepting (and it’s usually couched in “but I’m just worried about your future” homophobia), but in this case Juliet’s mother is the one who reacts negatively. A key theme of their relationship throughout the story is communication, and that while running away may be the easy option, sticking it out and having the hard conversations can be valuable.
I legit have no criticism of this story or the writing. It was just incredible and every bit as lifechanging as I thought it would be.
It deserves a MILLION stars.
Juliet Takes a Breath is the story of a lesbian Puerto Rican gal from the Bronx as she learns about her own queerness and feminism over the summer break. Through an internship with a famous white feminist, she’s able to learn about her own identity and discovers that feminism just isn’t feminism unless it’s intersectional.
A key theme of this story is that nobody is born woke, and we need to stop being elitist gatekeepers of knowledge. Nobody is born with the language and tools to navigate queerness and feminism, and Juliet doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. Policing people for how much or little they know while simultaneously preventing them from learning is just counterintuitive.
Juliet isn’t going to get it right the first time, and she doesn’t. She makes mistakes, she learns, and it's through talking with others and a willingness to learn that she becomes a completely different feminist by the end of her internship. I got into feminism over a decade ago and am constantly learning, so I feel for Juliet in trying to absorb all of this info over just a few weeks!
The way in which Rivera tackles white feminism and intersectional feminism within the context of a YA contemporary is honestly just masterful. There’s such nuance to the way this book discusses privilege, queerness, and intersectionality, and that white people “letting” marginalised groups “have space” and exist in these spaces isn’t actually helpful.
Set against this huge learning experience is a narrative of Juliet coming out and not being accepted by her mother. Often with YA coming out narratives it’s the father that isn’t accepting (and it’s usually couched in “but I’m just worried about your future” homophobia), but in this case Juliet’s mother is the one who reacts negatively. A key theme of their relationship throughout the story is communication, and that while running away may be the easy option, sticking it out and having the hard conversations can be valuable.
I legit have no criticism of this story or the writing. It was just incredible and every bit as lifechanging as I thought it would be.
It deserves a MILLION stars.