Juliet Takes a Breath

Juliet who is from the Bronx goes to do an internship with a hippy who happens to be the author of her favorite book! This book seemed to me almost a YA type of casual read but with some great introduction and representation for lgbt+ and feminism. I would highly recommend this book to people who may be new or need more experience with these subjects.
What I like about Juliet is she is willing to try new things and is curious. Juliet is my favorite character in the book and it's because I feel like the other characters seem lacking. I really want to know more about the librarian! I get it's Juliet's personal growth journey and she's a good character to have it with. I'm kinda hit or miss with epilogues but this one was fantastic, I really loved it! ~Ashley

This was a comfort read for me and something to get me out of a reading slump.

A wonderfully told and beautiful story of a young dyke finding who she is in this world. You really get to know Juliet in this first person perspective. She's fragile force that you quickly love and want the best for.

I don't even know what to say about this book. It's very much a YA novel, and it feels so lived in and honest in a way that YA doesn't always, to me. It's very different than anything else I've read about being queer, questioning and coming to terms with one's various intersecting identities, and LEARNING! Coming along on Juliet's journey, learning about her own history and family and sexuality and discovering for herself what does and doesn't work for her and why. I loved spending time with her. I only wish we got a reading list of the other books Ava recommended Juliet needed to read besides Harlowe's.

Wow! This book was punchy, vibrant, and so utterly honest. I absolutely loved it. An amazing coming of age story set in the city I call home, featuring a cast of diverse, intelligent, and real people. As a multiracial bi girl, I loved this book.

Read in one sitting. I loved Juliet from her first letter at the start of the book. Might be one of favorite books of the year. Wonderfully complex characters, lots of queer found family content (and also wholesome birth family content.... I'm a sucker for families), nuanced critiques of white feminism and biological essentialism, delicious moments of romance (and heartbreak), the demonstrated danger of meeting your heroes, a singular and funny and sweet voice (though also a very YA voice for those who prefer other styles), and an all around beautiful capture of what it is to be 19 and figuring so much stuff out.

I have read very few books with an almost 100% queer cast and it was so fun to be in this world (which also was almost devoid of male characters). Harlowe Brisbane also occupied a complex dual role of mentor/idol and antagonist, and the conflict there has no easy resolutions, which feels true to life. Most of all, Juliet is a beautiful character learning how to claim her own space and her growth throughout the novel is warming to witness.

This YA book follows the story Juliet, a Puerto Rican college student from the Bronx who is coming into her sexual identity. This book is fun & light while tackling serious conversations around sexuality, gender, and race. It's genuinely informative, though sometimes it's a bit blatantly pedantic; though that's not necessarily a complaint, knowing the audience this was written for.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. If there are readers that see themselves in Juliet and take strength in her journey, I want to honor that. If there are white readers out there that are able to see themselves through an outsider's eyes through this story, I think that's a valuable thing too.

However, as a piece of writing, I did not think it was very good. For all of the time that we spend in Juliet's head, I never came away with that deep an understanding of what shaped her attitudes towards gender and sexuality in the 19-ish years of her life before the events of the book take place. Despite being based on a set of meaningful real experiences, the observations of Portland, Oregon or the Bronx, of the people that fill out those places and attend the workshops, etc. never go past superficial observations. We find out fairly late in the story that it's supposed to take place in 2003, yet every character speaks in the language of queer subculture circa 2015, and I'm fairly certain that the undercut that brings catharsis to a character late in the story would have been perceived not as cutting edge queer fashion in 2003 but as a weird attempt to resurrect a Nazi haircut.

Even the plotting has a pageant-like quality where Juliet experiences cliched microaggression after another with a corresponding Socratic dialogue enlightening the reader about the real power dynamics at play. It left me wondering who exactly this novel was for. I don't think Juliet—in either her 2003 or 2015 incarnations—would believe the journey that we get in this novel. It does not seem like it's for a “mainstream” white feminist reader, exactly either, although the internal politics of white feminist spaces and relationships end up taking center stage in this story for much longer than brown queer spaces do.

But for all that, the description of finding strength in a queer scene free from the white gaze or the burden of navigating and accommodating whiteness was really effective and even though I had to slog through much of this novel, by the end Juliet had won me over.

I am interested in the new graphic novel adaptation that seems to be in progress. Perhaps the magic that illustrations can do to bring depth to characters through facial expressions and ground scenes in place can smooth out some of the roughness in the writing and allow the story to shine.

Brilliant and eye opening!

I'm the same age as Juliet and good lord, I can't believe how long ago 2003 was. This book is amazing and I wish it'd been around when I was a clueless 19-year-old stealthily buying copies of Bitch. I love Juliet and her journey so much. This was such a great book.

3.5 stars. A story about a young Puerto Rican lesbian from The Bronx, who goes to intern with her favorite author somewhere that is definitely not The Bronx, while trying to figure out where the hell she fits in all of this mess we call life.

This book gets very raw and some parts can make you uncomfortable. It didn't for me but I can totally see why someone else would. Here's another thing....the book basically has no plot LoL. Normally that would have annoyed and/or bored me but I was just so into seeing Juliet find herself. Also..it's just 300 pages so there's that.

This book is about a lesbian woman of color. BUT that doesn't mean everyone can't walk away with something from this book. No you're not going to like every character (Like Harlowe...ugh..), but I feel like most of us know someone like most everyone in this book. It may not end up being your favorite book ever, but i still feel it's a must read.

Ohhhhhh my. This is a short book, and a quick read, but MAN is it great. It tackles racism, microaggressions, white feminism, coming out, “it's just a phase!”, polyamory, breaking up, trans-exclusive language...and so much more.

The plot revolves around Juliet's summer internship with an author in Portland, Harlowe Brisbane. Many of the chapters begin with an excerpt from Brisbane's fictional treatise on feminism, Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind. One of these excerpts in particular took my breath away:

Read everything you can push into your skull. Read your mother's diary. Read Assata. Read everything Gloria Steinem and bell hooks write. Read all of the poems your friends leave in your locker. Read books about your body written by people who have bodies like yours. Read everything that supports your growth as a vibrant, rebel girl human. Read because you're tired of secrets.

Juliet reminds me a lot of me when I was detaching myself from Christianity and the conservatism I grew up with. Devouring books, learning about historical figures that I should have known about and was stunned that I'd never heard of. So I totally understand her wonder and shock at an entirely new world opening up before her.

Through Harlowe and her primary partner, Maxine, Juliet learns about polyamory. It's a remarkably good example; even though Harlowe and Maxine have their issues, their arguments are reasonably healthy, and despite disagreeing on some topics, they still love each other and say as much.

In Harlowe, we have an example of a white feminist who tries to be intersectional, at least a little, but can still be blind to a lot of her own microaggressions. Maxine, her partner, is a woman of color, as are most of the other characters in the book, so Juliet has lots of opportunities to see how white feminism can be ignorant of issues and blind to its own faults.

As a white feminist myself, I took this portrayal for the warning it is. I do my best to lift up voices of color by reviewing books by and about minorities on this blog as often as I can. I try to be as intersectional as possible, but I know I will make missteps, and I can always be better. But this book, though it's meant for the other side of the equation, is a reminder to feminists like me to keep trying to be better, and the costs to other people when we screw up.

You can find all my reviews and more at Goddess in the Stacks.

This is such a powerful book with so many big points made. I need to mention though, that this book wasn't written for me. I'm a straight white female, so please go read reviews by people who are actually represented. :)

The writing is absolutely phenomenal. I think the dialogue and the internal thoughts are done so well. Juliet feels like a real person. The side characters as well feel so full of life on different paths. Everything about this book felt so real. Well, I'm concerned about Portland– is that really what it is like??? haha.

More than a story, this feels more like a journey. I don't know how else to explain my feelings of this book. Juliet doesn't know everything and she has to learn in order to understand, but she has a hard time with mentors. But, she has such a great attitude. Juliet is one of my favorite characters. I think one of my favorite parts of this book is how it explains white privilege and how not all feminists are good feminists. There are great moments of understanding, forgiving, and also about toxic people.

This is a book about identity and understanding yourself.

I have already recommended this to my friend getting her Master's in Women Studies and hope she can tell me more. If you are looking for a book with a lesbian main character who has to learn about her culture, a book with someone who doesn't know everything, but wants to, or a book with real characters facing real challenges, then you should really pick this one up.

It made me wonder about all the ways that we are able to love each other and how movies and TV make it seem like you have to discard people once they break your heart or once the love disappears. Maybe that was a horrible lie, a complete disservice to real love.

JTaB is about a Puerto Rican lesbian girl attracted to feminism through a white woman's book. She learns all the problems with white lady feminism, while still coming to a place where she could appreciate her mentor. She knows that she has to find her own way with the help of people who truly get her and love her for who she is.

3 stars because Harlowe – the white feminist – was a lot.t.t. for even a white feminist to suffer through, although I loved her period ritual which involved a hot, wonderful smelling bath, and crawling between clean sheets. :)

The best parts were when Juliet was with her family.

(You can find this review and more like it on my blog.)

Wow! Wow! WOW!!!! Y'all this book is SO GOOD!!!! Juliet Takes a Breath reeled me right in and didn't let me go. The representation is excellent: Juliet is a chubby Puerto Rican lesbian and the entire book is chock full of non-white characters and lgbtqia+ characters–often intersecting. We get to see a lot of different dynamics at play, which is really cool.

I'm white and don't want to take up a ton of space with a review when there are plenty of ownvoices reviews that y'all should look at instead, so I'll just say a few things that came up for me when I was reading it.

I try to be intersectional, but the callout against White Feminism was a good reminder for me to work harder to be more inclusive and to actively fight for folx who might not be within my specific demographic. I love how casually polyamory was discussed and how it was normalized within the story. I love how much Juliet loves her body and how much she talks about loving her body.

Juliet Takes a Breath is a tremendous read that I would absolutely recommend to everyone out there. It's well-written with great characters, and is super easy to get through!

This book is part coming-out story, part coming-of-age story, and part Intersectional Feminism 101. It's funny, insightful, and unabashedly honest about all the ways we can be different, and how important it is to love yourself and embrace all the things that make you different from how the world wants you to be.

Juliet was such a fun, fierce, lovable narrator. She's a newly formed feminist and refers to herself as a “baby dyke.” She has an intense thirst for knowledge and throws herself head first into finding out everything she can about the communities she belongs to and her place within them. Her journey through the book isn't just about her summer in Portland–it's mostly about Juliet spending time with many different women and learning all the varied ways to be a feminist, to be queer, to be a woman, to be a person of color, to be a member of the Palante family.

I really appreciated that Juliet's romance(s) were treated as part of her exploration of her self rather than part of the typical coming-out storyline: girl finds herself and then finds love and everything is great the end. Juliet does have some sweet romantic moments with a few people, but it isn't at the crux of the story and I loved that. Instead, the focus was Juliet finding out who Juliet is–yes, with the help of other people–but not because of or for someone else.

Some of the writing/editing was a little sloppy and I wish some of the secondary characters had been more developed, but overall this was an enjoyable, informative, important book and I'm so glad it exists, especially in the young adult genre.

Really enjoyable and well written. Juliet was such a vibrant character that readers need more of. Queer/feminist theory didacticism slowed it down in a few places, and could have been woven into the plot perhaps more organically, as there were a few times the book felt more like a “message” than a story. Looking forward to more from Rivera, especially her America Marvel series.