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Juliet Takes a Breath

Gabby Rivera

4.20 · Rating details · 4,790 ratings · 1,094 reviews

Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that’s going to help her figure out this whole “Puerto Rican lesbian” thing. She’s interning with the author of her favorite book: Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on ...more

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Kindle Edition, 276 pages

Published January 18th 2016 by Riverdale Avenue Books

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Feb 01, 2016 Roxane rated it really liked it

Exuberant and gorgeous debut novel about a young queer Puerto Rican woman from the Bronx who spends a summer in Portland as an intern to a hippy white woman. So much of this book is hilarious and charming. I kept finding myself laughing out loud. And the gorgeous, moving turns of phrase made me catch my breath. Really great story telling here. So much to relate to as a queer POC trying to make sense of the broader queer and feminist communities.

I did want to see this book have a stronger edit. ...more

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Jun 18, 2018 Emma Giordano rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobooks

3.5 stars!! This was an enjoyable read full of intersectional feminism, lgbtq+ issues, racial issues, and exploration of identity.

CW: racism, homophobia, transphobia, cheating

Being honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing style. I know many readers enjoy a “stream-of consciousness” narration and while I do enjoy a novel like this from time to time, it didn’t work in my favor 100% of the time in this case. I think because it was also so heavily reliant on New York slang, which I hear 3.5 stars!! This was an enjoyable read full of intersectional feminism, lgbtq+ issues, racial issues, and exploration of identity.

CW: racism, homophobia, transphobia, cheating

Being honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing style. I know many readers enjoy a “stream-of consciousness” narration and while I do enjoy a novel like this from time to time, it didn’t work in my favor 100% of the time in this case. I think because it was also so heavily reliant on New York slang, which I hear constantly in my day-to-day life but prefer not to read it because it’s extremely informal. There were a lot of moments where I enjoyed Juliet’s unfiltered nature in dialogue, but the way her thought process was written is not a favorite of mine. In contrast, there were also a few scenes that felt the complete opposite. I can recount quite a few scenes where the tone was almost “preachy” (specifically from Harlowe & her friends); I sometimes felt as if I was in a lecture on women’s studies as opposed to observing a natural conversation. I feel there is a balance to be made between formality and informality when writing and this book seemed to teeter between one extreme end and the other. Additionally, Juliet Takes A Breath is another one of those novels that falls into the category of “Just follow the main character throughout their summer!!!” which is my least favorite sort of contemporary to read. While this novel does prevail over others as so much of the novel is driven by Juliet’s journey to learning about feminism, it’s plotless besides that. I crave stories with significant events, plot twists, highs and lows, but this book remained constant for 2/3 of the story.

Given the lack of plot, I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions happening along the story. It was really wonderful to follow a teen in the process of developing their brand of feminism – from learning new terminology to questioning their values and confronting their biases. I remember what it is like to come in contact with words like “preferred gender pronouns” “allyship” “polygamy” Juliet’s journey is extremely well-rounded and does not miss a beat when it comes to expressing what an intersectional feminist looks like. I particularly loved her by the end when we get to see Juliet unapologetically herself, forming her own opinions, and exploring the QPOC community where she truly belongs. I feel Juliet’s story is one that is powerful, one that is necessary, and one that everyone can take something away from. Following the perspective of a Puerto-Rican lesbian discovering feminism is an experience I cherished and I hope to read from more protagonists like Juliet in the future. As a character, she is imperfect and a bit naïve, but she is also open and authentic, funny and curious, and she is so wonderfully herself that it was hard not to fall for her along the story.

The part of this book I struggled with the most is the infamous Harlowe Brisbane. I could not STAND her or any scene involving her. I attempted to brush it off to differences in lifestyle (The whole “Let’s have a ceremony for your period” “I’m honored you’d bleed out of your vagina in my household” is NOT my thing, but I recognize that is how other people live their lives and that’s fine!) but all throughout the story I grew to dislike her more and more. I feel the tipping point for me was when Harlowe dismissed Juliet’s requests for advil to alleviate her menstral cramps and badgered her into following her personal methods because she was *clearly* the ~more enlightened feminist~ which means *her view is correct!* Harlowe is dripping with white feminism 24/7 and Juliet’s blind dedication to her gave me a headache every time I picked up the book. That being said, Harlowe’s flaws are unearthed and challenged by the end of the story so I can recognize that she was intentionally written to be a symbol of when feminism becomes exclusionary, so that was appreciated. But on the other hand, Harlowe made this book unbearable to read at some points so while I can admit it was executed well in the end, I’m still entitled to be annoyed at how much she damped my enjoyment of the story for the majority of the book.

Overall, Juliet Takes A Breath was an enjoyable read. It’s not a favorite of mine by any means, but I still feel there is so much value in Juliet’s story. I don’t feel it is the strongest novel in the world in terms of storytelling, but there is a message to be spread through Juliet. And it is heard. ...more

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Mar 26, 2017 Cece (ProblemsOfaBookNerd) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtqia, favorites, anticipated-of-2016, my-books, e-arcs, female-protag, read-in-2017

"Feminism. I’m new to it. The word still sounds weird and wrong. Too white, too structured, too foreign: something I can’t claim."

Though this is the opening of the book, it sets a tone that defines the rest of the novel. It is a rare book that from the very beginning I can feel it sinking into my bones, but that is exactly what this felt like. And despite the fact that I kept worrying maybe that feeling would go away, I was entranced from beginning to end, and sobbed through the epilogue. This "Feminism. I’m new to it. The word still sounds weird and wrong. Too white, too structured, too foreign: something I can’t claim."

Though this is the opening of the book, it sets a tone that defines the rest of the novel. It is a rare book that from the very beginning I can feel it sinking into my bones, but that is exactly what this felt like. And despite the fact that I kept worrying maybe that feeling would go away, I was entranced from beginning to end, and sobbed through the epilogue. This is a book that has power. And a book that will stay with me.

Juliet is a 19-year-old Puerto Rican lesbian from the Bronx who goes to be an intern for a hippy white feminist in Portland, and who also happens to have written Juliet's favorite book. It is a book about pussy power. But fear not, those worrying (as I did) about the cissexist nature of that book: it is called out frequently in the latter half of the novel! Just as so many other things are. In Portland, Juliet is part of an incredibly queer community. The number of queer women around at all times in this novel was impossible to ignore and it made my heart sing. Queer women of color, specifically, were essential in Juliet coming to understand the terminology she needed to define her own identity and to help offer new definitions of feminism and queer identity that can feel more inclusive to her.

It feels rare to experience such visibly queer spaces in books. Not just queer spaces that happen in one scene, but a constantly queer environment that is full of support but also critique and questioning of white feminist structures. Beyond the presence of queer spaces, there is also so much emphasis on POC-only spaces and the importance that they have. Over and over again, the bullshit complaints of white feminists are shot down and intersectionality is emphasized, explained, and made the most important part of the feminism Juliet is trying to learn. A feminism that includes her, in all her Puerto Rican lesbian glory.

Not to continue gushing, but some of my other favorite moments include: an entire chapter dedicated to making the period a celebrated experience, the strained but intensely loving relationship between Juliet and her mother, the entire chapter entitled "Ain't No Party Like an Octavia Butler Writer's Workshop", girls flirting, close family relationships, mini history lessons about amazing forgotten women of color, and about a hundred other things.

OH OH OH and I almost forgot: the almost embarrassing amount of realism that queer women become completely useless in the presence of other beautiful lady-identified individuals. Every time Juliet saw a fabulous queer lady and lost the ability to speak or spit out coherent sentences I was on another planet of joy.

This is the coming of age story of a fierce, funny, nerdy, chubby, intelligent Latina. It was breathtaking and sharp, full of so much goodness I know I'll be able to find new things again and again. It acts as an intro for those who don't know queer and feminist terminology, but also serves as a critique of the whiteness of those structures if you already do. It is ownvoices and vibrant and incredible. I'm begging you to read it. ...more

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Jun 06, 2016 Adriana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ownvoices, latinx-authors, favorites, queer-lit

Damn, this book is beautiful. Damn, I needed this book. Damn, I'm glad this book exists. Damn.

JTAB is all about discovering your self-worth, finding your voice, being brave enough to use it, and learning to write yourself into existence—because if you don't do it yourself, no one else will.

When I first looked up this book, I didn't really get what it was about. Some queer Puertorriqueña snags an internship with some white hippie super-feminist for the summer? I mean, I could get down with that, Damn, this book is beautiful. Damn, I needed this book. Damn, I'm glad this book exists. Damn.

JTAB is all about discovering your self-worth, finding your voice, being brave enough to use it, and learning to write yourself into existence—because if you don't do it yourself, no one else will.

When I first looked up this book, I didn't really get what it was about. Some queer Puertorriqueña snags an internship with some white hippie super-feminist for the summer? I mean, I could get down with that, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't get it. But then I started reading the book, and I realized: Holy shit. This book is about me.

This book celebrates all the different kinds of wonderfully brown humans in the world. It challenges stereotypes and rejoices in people who come from different backgrounds, who hold different beliefs, who believe and act differently than the world expects them to, and who give no fucks about it. This story interrogates the institution of feminism and queer spaces, especially when both of those tend to privilege white voices and bodies. Juliet constantly struggles with how she should feel about feminism and queer theory, when neither of these things were made for her, or with her in mind. How anyone who isn't white is expected to to accept white feminism—white anything—as the universal truth, how we are expected to find ourselves there when we were never written into it in the first place. How those who have been othered can other people themselves. How we are forced to assimilate and assume a language that was never made for us. How doing so can create a division with our roots and make us feel like we're "not brown enough."

And how Juliet's family took her coming out? Don't even get me started on how much truth was present on the page there. It's so hard to balance the respect you have for your roots, your parents, your life forces, with the knowledge that some days are going to be harder than others. One day they're chill and the next they're trying to talk you down from it or convince you that it's just a phase. How no one wants to confront it or talk about it—some days it's just ignore, ignore, ignore at all costs—because then they think it'll go away or it won't be real. How we need to be patient and trust in the love that our fams give us, even when it's not easy. How some days we can't act or present ourselves in a way that's authentic to us, because those are the concessions we have to make sometimes in order to live and keep the peace. Para la familia. Every day is a negotiation.

Y'all, this book just hit me deep. I live this damn struggle every day and Gabby Rivera managed to perfectly capture it in less than 300 pages. Every page of this book made me feel alive and known. And I still don't know how to put that into words.

If you're queer and brown and still trying to figure out how to exist in this world, please read this book. It's for you. ...more

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Jun 14, 2017 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, 2017-reads, lgbtqiap, contemporary, feminist

if it’s a phase, so what? if it’s your whole life, who cares? you’re destined to evolve and understand yourself in new ways you never imagined before.

LANGUAGE WARNING FOR THIS REVIEW

From the very moment Juliet Milagros Palante referred to herself as a ferocious cunt I knew I'd like this book.

First of all, because teenagers swearing is realistic and I want it more in books. Second of all, because I just think there's something entirely glorious about referring to yourself as a ferocious cunt. ...more

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Feb 05, 2016 Vanessa North added it

Oh my heart.

Juliet is one of those heroines who is so wry and funny, but innocent too. The hours I spent with this book gave me a bit of my 19-year-old self back, and I’m going to try to talk about why—and how much it would have meant to me to read something like this then.

Juliet is looking for knowledge—she’s newly out, on a mission to discover how being a feminist and being a lesbian and being a round, brown girl all fit together, and she thinks she’s going to figure everything out in Oh my heart.

Juliet is one of those heroines who is so wry and funny, but innocent too. The hours I spent with this book gave me a bit of my 19-year-old self back, and I’m going to try to talk about why—and how much it would have meant to me to read something like this then.

Juliet is looking for knowledge—she’s newly out, on a mission to discover how being a feminist and being a lesbian and being a round, brown girl all fit together, and she thinks she’s going to figure everything out in Portland, Oregon at the feet of the pussy lady, Harlowe Brisbane. At 19, I was a student in Asheville, North Carolina (like a southern, mini Portland) and there were a lot of Harlowe Brisbane types in my life. I loved how Juliet was open to confronting all the new concepts being thrown at her and how she filtered them through herself and embraced trying out even the ones she ultimately chose to reject. Juliet’s openness was part of what made her such a powerful personality to read.

That openness was full of vulnerability too. Knowledge is a currency, and people give it or with hold it with their own motivations and insecurities and intentions all twisted up together. There was this one scene where Juliet is humiliated and made to feel small because she doesn’t know everything—or even much of anything—about being queer. And I remembered back to 1996 and coming out to a lesbian friend in Asheville, and how she made me feel small and like I wasn’t a good enough queer because I was just “trying on bi.” That’s right, bi-erasure (not that I had that word yet) with a shame-cherry on top. So, when Juliet experienced something similar, I felt Juliet’s tears all the way back to the cruelty of that moment and how much it affected my relationships with other queer women for years. In that scene, I felt such a deep connection with Juliet, because I knew exactly how she felt. We think we’re safe around other queer people, that they can’t or won’t hurt us because they understand. It’s hard to learn, but we can be hurt just as much—and more—by cruelty within the queer community. I wish I could have read this twenty years ago!

And love. Oh love, love, love. I LOVE how this book talks about love. About familial love, and romantic love, and the feel of falling in love with someone through words. The fierce love of female friendship. The bittersweet urgent love of a summer fling. I’m a romance novelist for a living, so I spend a lot of time thinking about love, and how we show it, and how we know when we’re feeling it, and how we feel loved. Juliet is wise—Juliet knows you can feel love and be deeply loved all in one beautiful moment and that letting that moment be huge and awesome and everything—that’s putting love into the world. Juliet was sometimes scared and confused and often hurt, but she *loved*. And that's a special kind of fearlessness.

Perhaps some of the strongest and most important parts of this story are the parts I’m least qualified to comment on—I’m very much aware that while as a queer woman I related to Juliet on lots of levels, our experiences don’t intersect on race. I’ll just say this: Watching Juliet confront the racism in white feminism and take room for herself was wonderful.

All in all, I was charmed by this book. I laughed and I cried and I devoured it in a weekend. And I cannot wait to read whatever Gabby Rivera writes next.

Lastly—that cover? That cover is everything.

Recommended. :)
...more

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Jan 25, 2016 CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian rated it it was ok

Shelves: american, young-adult, lesbian, reading-in-colour, queer, fiction, humour, latina-o

Man, I hate to give this only 2 stars but I just can't honestly give it any more. It's too bad because the ideas really have potential--the general plot outline sounds just like the coming out / of age novels I love, the affectionate parodies of white feminism were spot-on (the excerpts from Raging Flower were fucking brilliant). Some of the writing on the sentence level was quite nice. Ugh, and I totally support the book's QTPOC politics too. I really wanted to love this! THERE'S EVEN A SEXY ...more

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Apr 02, 2017 Romie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: representation-matters, read-as-an-arc, contemporary, recommended-to-me, favourites-2017, rainbow-community, young-adult

I strongly believe that everybody should read this book. You don’t have to be a woman to like it, nor a woman who loves other women; you don’t have to be white, asian, latino, black … you just have to be you to like this book as much as I did.

I don’t even know where to start. There are so many things I want to say and I’m afraid I won’t be able to do this book justice. Because this book represents everything I’m looking for in a Contemporary. Everything.

The main character, Juliet, just came out ...more

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Mar 23, 2017 Silvia marked it as dnf

Shelves: wlw, lgbtqia

An ARC was provided by the publisher via netgalley but all opinions are my own.

~~On hold~~ DNF @ 35%

~~One of the reasons I'm trying not to DNF this is because I think I need to read more to understand why I'm not enjoying this.~~

Okay it's been months now, and I know that I'll never pick this up again. I'm not going to rate it because I feel like it would be unfair, but I've had some time to think about this book and I've done so with an incredibly uncomfortable feeling in my gut every single time. Let An ARC was provided by the publisher via netgalley but all opinions are my own.

~~On hold~~ DNF @ 35%

~~One of the reasons I'm trying not to DNF this is because I think I need to read more to understand why I'm not enjoying this.~~

Okay it's been months now, and I know that I'll never pick this up again. I'm not going to rate it because I feel like it would be unfair, but I've had some time to think about this book and I've done so with an incredibly uncomfortable feeling in my gut every single time. Let me get there.

There is nothing wrong with this book itself. It's an incredibly powerful book that will help a lot of people cope with things like coming out and being a POC in the US.

And that's the thing. This is one of the most US-centric books I've ever tried to read and it just doesn't do it for me. I kept wondering why it made me so goddamn uncomfortable at every sentence, and I think it all comes down to that. I can't connect to any of the things that I encountered in the book (at least up until the point where I read), and I know some of you will hate me and be like "it's because you're white!!!". Well here's the thing, being white is not something that is homogeneous around the world. I live in Europe and we have our own mentality and viewpoint and little to none of it comes down to skin color.

Reading about "whites" in this book pissed me off because I kept thinking "this book is not made for me", and that's okay. It's not a book made for Europeans, but if you're someone who lives in the US you should probably give it a try.

A final note because I'm pissed. I was under the impression that a reviewer should speak their mind about a book they're provided. This is a sentence off the approval email I got for the ARC months ago.

If after reading all or part of the book you find the material was very different than you what expected or the genre was not to your liking, the Author would appreciate you not review the book as opposed to posting a review that would not be fair to the Author.

I tried to contact netgalley about it on twitter and they never replied, so I don't even feel bad about putting this out there since I'm pretty sure this goes against everything that netgalley and the whole publisher-reviewer policy should be. ...more

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Aug 07, 2019 Erin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-won-it-in-a-giveaway, september-2019

Provided for FREE by Bookish.com

3.5 Stars.

Juliet Takes A Breath is unlike anything else I've read.

This book doesn't really have a plot other than following Juliet as she tries to figure who she is and what she believes. The synopsis on the back of the book only scratches the surface of all the things covered in this book.

I can see this book being intensely polarizing. I mean hell at several times as I read this book I thought I would give it 1 star and at other times I was convinced that I ...more

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Feb 14, 2016 Julio Genao rated it liked it

dare you to read the introduction in the free sample and not immediately want to read this book.

OR IS YOUR PUSSY NOT EMPOWERED YET???

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Nov 24, 2017 Cri (PaperbacksandPizza) rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2-stars, read-in-2017, lgbt, read-in-english, netgalley, contemporary, stand-alone, young-adult

First of all, I have to say I am not a native english speaker so, please, I prefer to not be attacked, if I made any mistakes. Instead of do that, it would be nice if you corrected me, thank you :)

Most importantly, I would like to thank NetGalley and publishers for allowing me to read this book. Thank you very much.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

“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

First of all, I have to say I am not a native english speaker so, please, I prefer to not be attacked, if I made any mistakes. Instead of do that, it would be nice if you corrected me, thank you :)

Most importantly, I would like to thank NetGalley and publishers for allowing me to read this book. Thank you very much.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

“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 taht supports your growth as a vibrant, rebel girl human. Read because you’re tired of secrets.”

DISLIKES:

• This book is PLOTLESS. Do you hear me, folks? 70% of the book is just a sequence of happenings that I didn’t understand at all. It felt like the writer didn’t know how to tell the story. We have Juliet, who travelles to Portland to go to her favourite writer’s house. Until here it’s okay, I mean it is totally relatable, but page by page, Juliet goes around Portland and basically does NOTHING expect for complain and praise Harlowe. The real plot starts a looooot of time later.

• If someone asked me about what emotion predominated in me while I was reading this book, I would say B-O-R-E-D-O-M. Most of the time I just felt like I didn’t want to read it, I’m sure if I hadn’t requested this title on NetGalley and if I didn’t hate DNFing books so much, I would have stopped reading Juliet Takes a Breath. The thing is, I really didn’t care for any of the characters and I just wanted it to be over, as I could have started reading another book from my endless TBR.

• Harlowe’s feminism isn’t the one I have always known. Since when feminism is based on hating men, being weird (because Harlowe was HELLA weird) and masturbating?? I thought it was about genders equality. I’m the fool, apparently. There were times when I liked Harlowe, but the times I hated her and just didn’t understand a thing about she said were more.

• The characters’ behaviour: from Juliet to almost EVERYONE. There is a part in the book where Juliet takes the bus, in Portland, and she complains about the scent –that isn’t flower’s- that is in the bus. She says phrases like these ‘In Portland do people wash? My mother has always told me to be clean!’ Of course she has always said that?! Why does a person wouldn’t be clean? I’m not even American, but I found it a little bit offensive to Portland people: in the buses there is no good scent since people have invented buses, not only Portland buses stink. Look, I’m far away from Portland, and here buses are the same as Portland’s. Here’s the quote:

“Some of the men on the bus looked like normal white guys but their beards were thick, unkempt, and their T-shirts were yellowed from sweat. I didn’t understand them. What kind of white people were they?”

So now white people have to be clean? This pratically doesn’t make sense. I assure you, my white classmates don’t smell like flowers. To mention another character’s beviour I didn’t understand Juliet’s mother. The only thing I couldn’t help but feeling confused was where her mum let her go to a STRANGER’s house in an another state. Like, what?! What if she is a killer?

• I found Juliet too much full of prejudices and annoying, to be honest. Also naive. She’s 19 and in the whole book from the way she acted, she seemed much more younger. Also the fact she knows so little about her own country and about LGBT+ community. Look, I know this book is mainly about Juliet’s trip to know everything about herself, about LGBT, but don’t even know what a transgender is… They are not aliens, so I couldn’t help but wonder why Juliet was so much ignorant.

• This isn’t a negative or positive thing itself, it depens on what the point of view. For me, it was a negative. The thing I’m talking about is that this book is really USA-centered. It is a negative thing because I’m NOT an American, and because of that, I couldn’t understand such things. There is a lot of USA culture, which is okay to know, but it gets confusing to non-american people.

• Juliet is constantly watching EVERY GIRL she meets. When she has already a girlfriend. I didn’t appreciate at all when she used poligamy to justificate the fact she liked others girls, beyond her girlfriend. NO.

LIKES:

• This book is about a Latina! I haven’t read a book about a Latina since… well, since never. It’s always a good thing when in a book there is diversity and I LOVED how Juliet said a lot of words in Spanish, it made the whole thing more real. Although I can’t speak if the author portrayed Latina culture as it has to because I’m not Latina.

• Juliet undertakes a journey in the LGBT+ community because, if I haven’t told you yet, she is a lesbian (more diversity,yay). She starts knowing herself and I found absolutely beautiful and amazing the way she discovers her personality, her sexuality and her just being a person in general.

• I just loved Juliet’s family! Family, in this book, is an important topic and not only parents and siblings are present, but even aunts and cousins, which I just adored.

In conclusion: This book wasn’t for me, but it might work for you. I recommend reading it, especially if you are part of the LGBT+ community.

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Apr 14, 2016 Naz (Read Diverse Books) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

For an in-depth review, visit my blog. Read Diverse Books

Reading Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera was one of the most positive, transformative, illuminating experiences I’ve had this year. It’s certainly my favorite 2016 release, by far.

A novel hasn’t resonated with me this profoundly in a long time. The last book that elicited a similar reaction from me was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. But Juliet Takes a Breath is on an entirely different level. While I do ...more

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Mar 15, 2017 Elise (TheBookishActress) rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-read-arcs, 4-star, books-released-2016, ze-read-in-2017, that-feminist-classic-energy, marked-as-unowned, genre-contemporary, that-rep-of-characters-of-color, this-gave-me-hope-for-humanity, elise-s-to-buy-list

Thanks to the publisher for my netgalley arc!

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first: this book is fairly plotless. Despite its short length, I found myself bored for most of the first half.

However, my disapointment at the plot was outshined by my love for pretty much everything else.

The character work here is sublime. Juliet is a funny and believable protagonist. Her emotional journey was easy to connect with, and I’m sure it will be for anyone who feels disenfranchised in society. This ...more

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Feb 10, 2018 ☆Dani☆ ☆Touch My Spine Book Reviews☆ rated it it was amazing

This is such an important and fantastic novel. I devoured this novel in a few sittings and this one that will surely stick with you go a while. This is more than a story about being a lesbian and a feminist, this is a story about being true to yourself!

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Mar 01, 2016 Dahlia added it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtqreads, top-10-of-2016, racial-diversity-in-ya-na, 2016-releases, ownvoices

I liked this so much. The voice is killer and so, so fresh, and you know how sometimes when a book is one of the first of its kind it tries to do everything and ends up feeling really didactic and just fails so hard? This is one of the few books I've actually seen succeed - in the way it addresses the needs of PoC-only spaces and the propagation of white and trans-exclusionary feminism and anti-Blackness and just...so many things that are all over my Twitter feed but rarely seem to make it to ...more

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Sep 06, 2017 emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poc-rep, lgbtqiap-plus, netgalley, contemporary, favorites, sapphic

4.5 stars.

For me, womanhood is radical enough for anyone who dares to claim it.

Yes, hello, I’m back here again with a mini review bc my life is crazy busy and I’m v behind on these!! it hurts my heart that I don’t have enough time to write this book the long and beautiful review it deserves, but please just know that I genuinely believe everyone should read it !!!!!!!

A very brief (and vague) summary:

As a lesbian latinx woman from the Bronx, Juliet thinks she has a reasonable understanding of ...more

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Feb 05, 2016 Julio Genao marked it as to-read · review of another edition

that cover is fantastic. and so is the foreword.

i will make this book mine.

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Jun 03, 2017 Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd) rated it liked it

Shelves: standalones, lgbtq, arcs, contemporary, poc-main-character

3.5 Stars

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.

This books was a ride for me. I could not stand Harlowe Brisbane or her damn book so I almost DNF’d this ...more

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Jul 12, 2016 BrokenTune rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed

4.5* - Not perfect, but I loved it.

"Feminism. I’m new to it. The word still sounds weird and wrong. Too white, too structured, too foreign: something I can’t claim. I wish there was another word for it. Maybe I need to make one up. My mom’s totally a feminist but she never uses that word. She molds my little brother’s breakfast eggs into Ninja Turtles and pays all the bills in the house. She’s this lady that never sleeps because she’s working on a Master’s Degree while raising my little brother 4.5* - Not perfect, but I loved it.

"Feminism. I’m new to it. The word still sounds weird and wrong. Too white, too structured, too foreign: something I can’t claim. I wish there was another word for it. Maybe I need to make one up. My mom’s totally a feminist but she never uses that word. She molds my little brother’s breakfast eggs into Ninja Turtles and pays all the bills in the house. She’s this lady that never sleeps because she’s working on a Master’s Degree while raising my little brother and me and pretty much balancing the rhythm of an entire family on her shoulders. That’s a feminist, right? But my mom still irons my Dad’s socks. So what do you call that woman? You know, besides Mom."

When I first looked into picking up Juliet Takes a Breath, I came across a review that described this book as the female version of The Catcher in the Rye. My immediate reaction was "Oh, good grief, noooooo!" and I instantly wanted to cancel the sample that had just been delivered to my kindle.

However, I read the first few pages and was kinda hooked by the voice of Juliet, a 19-year-old Latina, living in the Bronx. The book starts with Juliet writing a letter to the author of her favourite book, a book that she originally started reading as a joke, but that turned out to have such an impact on her that she started to question her view of life.

"I fall asleep with that book in my arms because words protect hearts and I’ve got this ache in my chest that won’t go away."

I guess, this is where the similarities with Holden Caulfield start. But, really, this is also where they end. Where Holden dismisses the believes of others over his own somewhat narrow-minded ideas, which are based on his misinterpretation of the Burns poem (which he never really bothers to find out more about), Juliet wants to learn more about the ideas in the book that she regards as her "Bible" and manages to arrange an internship with its author.

And so Juliet's huge road trip begins. She moves to Portland (OR) for the summer to help her author gather material for a new book, and by doing so learn more about herself, her family, her relationships with others, her place in the world, and as with all good coming-of-age stories, she learns that stories change depending on whose narrative is given a voice.

"Who were these women? I didn’t recognize any of their faces. How could I be 19 and not know any of them? I’d always done all of my homework, read all of the books assigned in school and yet, here was a world full of possibly iconic ladies I knew nothing about."

Unlike The Catcher in the Rye, which was a painful read because I mostly remember wanting to smack Holden with his own book, I could hardly wait to pick up Juliet Takes a Breath in my spare time. A couple of nights sleep may have suffered also, but it was such good fun reading this, that I really didn't mind.

I'm looking forward to more of Gabby Rivera's writing.

"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." ...more

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Dec 11, 2016 Julia rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: latina lesbians, intersectional feminists

Shelves: favorites, ff, character-driven, lady-friendships, read-in-2016, feminism, women-of-color

I have no idea where to begin talking about this book. I just have so much love for it right now I wish I could walk up to Gabby Rivera and give her a damn tight hug as a thank you.

If I'd gotten my hands on this book a few years ago, when I was lost like Juliet about feminism and lgbt+ related subjects, it would've been for me what Raging Flower was to her, but so much better. It felt like a love letter to latina lesbians. It is a fantastic book for girls in general, regardless of ethnicity, I have no idea where to begin talking about this book. I just have so much love for it right now I wish I could walk up to Gabby Rivera and give her a damn tight hug as a thank you.

If I'd gotten my hands on this book a few years ago, when I was lost like Juliet about feminism and lgbt+ related subjects, it would've been for me what Raging Flower was to her, but so much better. It felt like a love letter to latina lesbians. It is a fantastic book for girls in general, regardless of ethnicity, sexuality or gender, but as a latina lesbian, it felt like something special for girls like me, and that's not something we get very often. The way it was written, filled with terms and phrases in Spanish without much explanation or translations, the way these women spoke and joked about white people shit, and everything about Juliet's family — if I didn't already know the writer was a queer latina woman, I would've guessed it by the time I reached the second chapter.

Juliet Milagros Palante very easily earned her spot in my mental list of favorite protagonists ever. She was everything. She was dealing with so much at the same time throughout this story and I wanted to pull her into my arms and protect her, but also I knew she was going to be okay. Every chapter kept making me love her more just when I thought that wasn't possible. I don't know how to describe her other than saying she was so fucking real. Brave as hell but scared and vulnerable. Sometimes she'd stand up for herself and sometimes she'd cry on her cousin's shoulder, and she was so damn believable and relatable. Her determination on the quest of finding herself, her thirst for knowledge about her community and identity, her respect for new things that she didn't really understand just yet such as polyamory and gender pronouns, her love and admiration for the women that crossed her way, her adorable shyness around cute girls. Every part of her beautifully written personality was worth of praise.

And I cannot remember the last time I read a book with such spectacular supporting characters. Every single one of them was wildly important to Juliet's journey, and at the same time, they made me wish desperately for new books where it's their turn to be the protagonist. And Ava, holy shit. At each of her appearances I'd stop and hope from the bottom of my heart that Rivera will consider blessing me with a whole book about her story someday. When Juliet asked herself why she didn't go spend her summer with Ava in Miami instead, I nearly wept just thinking about how fucking fantastic that book would've been as well. Ava warmed my heart with her love for Juliet and for queer people of color and her patience and care with Juliet's doubts and insecurities and her hilarious one-liners. Viva la revolución, Ava.

Besides all of the stuff I've mentioned above, this book was also a very entertaining and well written lesson on intersectional feminism. I was wary as hell of Harlowe's brand of hippy vagina-centric menstruation-loving feminism and some weird ass excerpts from her book, but from the very beginning, with the email Juliet wrote to her, I felt safe to believe it wasn't all going to be like that, and it was so delightful to be proven right. In the end, even Harlowe turned out to be an interesting, likeable character — flawed, but with good intentions and open-minded enough to listen and learn where her behavior needed fixing. Amongst the adult badass lesbians, though, Maxine was the real star for me, and Juliet's little crush on her was totally understandable. She and Zaria were so smart and wonderful and caring and, again, I want another book about them too. Along with Ava, and Kira, oh sweet loving Kira, they played the role of raising awareness to intersectionality and the importance of having spaces for people who really understand your struggles and not just preach about sisterhood.

I was so excited when I noticed there was going to be some romance. I'm a sucker for romantic storylines in pretty much everything, but I was ready to read this without any expectations for stuff like that, and then Kira showed up. I'll just say that, even if it wasn't the main focus of the story, Rivera writes fluffy romance damn well.

I think I'm done here. Short version: this book has the potential to be legitimately life-changing for girls in situations similar to Juliet's, and I hope they get the opportunity to read it. ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 Xan West marked it as dnf

Shelves: polyamory

DNF 4%

I tried to read this book 5 times. Each time I could not get past 4%. The writing is compelling, the voice is strong, there is a lovely humor to it. I could not get past the way it constantly said that vagina=woman. It was like a constant blast of equating genitals and gender, a wall of cissexism I kept hitting up against. After speaking to others who read the book, I was told that this framework is never challenged and exists throughout the book. So I decided to DNF. Since then, some ...more

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Dec 19, 2016 Weezie added it

Shelves: 2016, diverse-books, lgbt

**Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley**

This has honestly been the hardest review I have ever had to write. To the point that I thought about not writing it because I have so many conflicting emotions about it.

First, this is an incredible book. I loved how the racism in white feminism was pointed out, I loved that Juliet started to decolonize and had a good taste of the Queer PoC community. The characters were well thought out, the **Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley**

This has honestly been the hardest review I have ever had to write. To the point that I thought about not writing it because I have so many conflicting emotions about it.

First, this is an incredible book. I loved how the racism in white feminism was pointed out, I loved that Juliet started to decolonize and had a good taste of the Queer PoC community. The characters were well thought out, the plot was strong, the writing was nearly flawless. I loved how Harlowe even understood her privilege and was still learning how to break the cycle of white women using PoC. I loved how the book challenged white feminism and it's minimal space for WoC and Transwomen.

But there was one passage that ruined it all for me. If you follow me on twitter, you've seen it and if you don't, here it is: Like wasn't once with the Native Americans enough and didn't that kind of happen by accident? The pilgrims didn't mean to kill the Indians with yellow fever or whatever, right?

It happens early on in the book and I spent the rest of my reading experience with those two sentences running non-stop in my head. I kept expecting for the author to correct the information but it never happened. In fact, while the book explores Latinx and Black oppression, the author never once circles around to talk about Native folks which I found troubling. You can bring us up but you can't correct it in later text?

Someone reached out to the author on my behalf and while they did apologize and said that they meant no harm, I can't help but feel, well, harmed.

This would have been a powerful read for me but instead I felt very othered by it. Brown and Queer but not the right kind of brown to be respectfully acknowledged.

Due to this, I have chosen not to rate this book because it doesn't feel fair to the author to rate their book when I have such conflicted emotions about it. I also can't pick myself apart and rate this book based on its Queerness while ignoring the hurt it caused to my Nativeness.

MY NOTE TO THE PUBLISHER:
Thank you for the opportunity to read JULIET TAKES A BREATH. While I have written a review for this book, I will not be rating it due to a conflict in emotions about this book. It is beautiful, yes, and powerful but I can't accurately give a rating to a book that has two very callous lines about the genocide of my people. ("Like, wasn't once with the Native Americans enough and didn't that kind of happen by accident? The pilgrims didn't mean to kill the Indians with yellow fever or whatever, right?") A friend reached out to Gabby Rivera on twitter on my behalf and while Gabby did apologize, it doesn't erase the text or the fact that it is never corrected at any point in the book. I understand that the passage was meant to show Juliet's lack of understanding about the whitewashing on American history, but if the author was going to choose to use Natives as her example (which I have no idea why she would do that since she was looking up Latinx history) then the text needed to be corrected at a later date or at least challenged by another character. While Gabby might understand that's not what happened to Native American tribes during the brutal conquests of early America, the reader might not. Too many times the displacement, slavery, and genocide of my people has been swept under the rug and chalked up to disease. I am terribly disappointed that anyone writing a book or publishing a book that includes decolonization and unlearning White History would think that 2 glib lines about genocide would be ok. ...more

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Jun 23, 2017 Latanya (Crafty Scribbles) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Melaninated souls, those challenging their mindsets, those in need of challenging their mindsets

Shelves: ya, ownvoices, lgbtqa, realistic-fiction, society, food-for-the-melaninated-soul, contemporary

(Full Review on http://www.craftyscribbles.com)

19 year-old Juliet Palante left the Bronx to venture through hipster Portland, Oregon to discover herself via an internship with her favorite author, Harlowe Brisbane, a feminist writer, a celesbian (portmanteau of celebrity and lesbian), and authority on women's bodies. Prior to leaving, she came out to her family, deepening the rocky terrain she'll cobble as she learns what being queer, Puerto Rican, and sure of one's self means.

What kind of ...more

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Nov 07, 2017 Jackie rated it really liked it

Shelves: arcs

Read it. Loved it. Absolutely fantastic. This is a book for all the queer brown girls out there!!!!! 4.5 stars.

Juliet Takes A Breath is about a fat, queer, Puerto Rican girl who comes out to her family as lesbian on the day she is about to leave for an internship with her favourite author who has inspired Juliet immensely.

Her family reacts harshly to the news and she is left to question herself and her identity as she leaves for Portland. Once there, however, she is confronted with all these new ...more

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Oct 29, 2016 Book Riot Community added it

During the Diverseathon, I decided that there couldn’t be any better book for me to pick up than Juliet Takes a Breath, which has been sitting on my shelf for far too long. In fact, when I picked it up, my partner said “Finally! I feel like I’ve been hearing about that book every day for six months!” And it’s true: I’ve been reading so many good things about it… So much so, that I was reluctant to pick it up in case it didn’t match the hype. Well, I shouldn’t have worried. This is such a ...more

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Jun 20, 2017 Hannah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: stand-alones, lgbtqia, arc, wishlist, feminism, favourites, 2016-oct-2017-oct

VIDEO REVIEW!

REVIEW: JULIET TAKES A BREATH by Gabby Rivera

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Jul 26, 2016 Tori (InToriLex) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: feminist-themes, diverse-reads, lgbqt

Actual Rating 4.5
Find this and other Reviews at In Tori Lex

This book was an incredible exploration of how Juliet learns to accept who she is, and how to appreciate others because of their differences. This book effortlessly teaches you why intersectionality in feminism is vital, without ever becoming preachy. You learn with fierce but innocently ignorant Juliet, as she visits the revered but problematic feminist author Harlowe. Juliet is taken out of her comfort zone, and immersed into Portland Actual Rating 4.5
Find this and other Reviews at In Tori Lex

This book was an incredible exploration of how Juliet learns to accept who she is, and how to appreciate others because of their differences. This book effortlessly teaches you why intersectionality in feminism is vital, without ever becoming preachy. You learn with fierce but innocently ignorant Juliet, as she visits the revered but problematic feminist author Harlowe. Juliet is taken out of her comfort zone, and immersed into Portland for her internship, where progressive thoughts and actions permeate everyone around her. However over the course of the book she learns to confront what she doesn't like directly and how to deal with the ways racism exist even in progressive activist communities.

"White people that informed me that my fellow latinos were 'genetically more violent' than the average white boy all while inviting me to their summer home on the Cape."

This book was eye opening to me because it highlighted powerful. self assured women of color characters. It's still hard to find books that confront how feminism for people with different lived experiences, who suffer at the hands of racism, is very different. Creating a community where you can live your truth freely, is not beneficial but necessary. Juliet learns by confronting things honestly how to live for herself and the importance of sharing her voice, This book has the power to encourage so many more to take a breath and become who they need to be.

"Society, government, white supremacist power structures, blatant hatred of women, and a whole slew of institutions are all working together to make it so that you gotta dig to find out even a shred of truth. They don't want you to dig. That's how this world is set up."

I was engaged, empowered, and entertained while reading this book the entire time. The only criticism I have of the book is a small timeline inconsistency error. Despite that error this book was more than worthwhile. I wanted to read more about the many characters who were un-apologetically themselves. I would recommend this book to everyone, it confronts race, sexuality, gender, and feminism in a transformative way. I'm looking forward to reading more of this authors work as its released. ...more

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Jun 29, 2018 CW (The Quiet Pond) ✨ rated it really liked it

Shelves: has-poc-rep, 2018, coming-of-age, young-adult, ownvoices, realistic-fiction, diverse-shelf, feminism, has-lgbtqa-rep, political-issues

Raw, spiritual, and unflinching, Juliet Takes a Breath is a story about transformation, growth, and identity.

- Though lacking a distinct plot, this book is a character-driven story about Juliet, a Puerto Rican lesbian from the Bronx, and her transformative trip to Portland to work alongside an author she looks up to.
- Juliet is naive and ignorant of most feminist issues in the beginning, so the story centers a lot growth, learning, and discovery of feminism, being a queer woman of colour and Raw, spiritual, and unflinching, Juliet Takes a Breath is a story about transformation, growth, and identity.

- Though lacking a distinct plot, this book is a character-driven story about Juliet, a Puerto Rican lesbian from the Bronx, and her transformative trip to Portland to work alongside an author she looks up to.
- Juliet is naive and ignorant of most feminist issues in the beginning, so the story centers a lot growth, learning, and discovery of feminism, being a queer woman of colour and sexuality, intersectional feminism, and finding strength and empowerment within communities.
- This book addresses and explores white feminism - though I wish the exploration had been a bit more thorough, and the main perpetuator of white feminism was challenged more directly, I couldn't help but relate to how Juliet comes to learn about it - it's heartbreaking, disillusioning, but felt immensely real to me.
- Juliet's relationship with her mother really moved me. It is a strained, uneasy, and uncertain relationship particularly with Juliet's mother and her inability to accept that Juliet is lesbian, but at its heart, it's also about mother and daughter who love each other and are trying to find a way to connect with each other.
- This was surprisingly spiritual but more surprisingly... I quite liked it, and I found the portrayal of queer women of colour communities to be empowering and so refreshing.

Forewarning before reading this book:
- This book contains a lot of cissexism in the first half of the book, most of which is unchallenged. It IS challenged later on in the book and the character that perpetuates the cissexism is called out, as part of the protagonist's journey and learning of intersectional feminism, though the first part of the book may be hurtful to some readers.
- There is a passage in the beginning of the book wherein the protagonist expresses an ignorant and racist comment about Native Americans. It is never challenged later on in the book.

Trigger/content warnings: (view spoiler) ...more

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Feb 06, 2016 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbtqia, feminism-gender-sexuality, favorites, own

I love this book so much. It is so funny and smart and sad and real and full of heart and I just kinda want to start buying copies of it for libraries around the country.

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Bookish First Rea...: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera	2	3	Oct 23, 2019 05:22AM
Race and sexuality	1	8	Dec 20, 2017 07:02AM
Juliet takes a breath	1	5	Dec 18, 2017 08:01AM
Latinx Lit UConn: Juliet's Review	1	1	Dec 18, 2017 07:25AM
Latinx Lit UConn: The Allies and Enemies of Feminism - Monica	1	5	Dec 05, 2017 04:04PM
Latinx Lit UConn: Julia's review for Juliet takes a breath	1	7	Nov 28, 2017 08:48AM

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About Gabby Rivera

Gabby Rivera

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Gabby Rivera is a writer, youth mentor, and editor of QTPOC content for Autostraddle.com. Her short stories and poems have been published in various anthologies and journals such as Aster(ix) , and the the Lambda-Award-winning Portland Queer: Tales from the Rose City, OMG I’m Gay, a ‘zine for queer youth, and The Best of Panic! En Vivo from the East Village.

Gabby is the Youth Programs Manager at ...more

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“Reading would make me brilliant, but writing would make me infinite.” — 40 likes

“If it’s 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.” — 22 likes

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