I absolutely LOVED this graphic novel!!! This was a very feminist story about a queer POC. This story taught me a lot about being queer, the issues women face in the world, and how to be a good ally as a white person to POC. Juliet's story was so inspiring and emotional and just so great. I absolutely loved the artwork as well. I seriously highly recommend this to everyone 😍

A visually beautiful graphic novel adaptation of a stand-out queer YA novel about a fat Latina. I loved the two-color scheme; to me it felt like the book was perpetually set at sunset. And it made me really happy to see Juliet drawn as an unapologetic fat woman, when so often adaptations (both written and visual) slim characters down.

TWs: racism, queerphobia

For whatever reason, I've never gotten around to reading the original prose novel version of this graphic novel, which shares the same name, Juliet Takes a Breath. Now that I've read this version, I'm kicking myself for not having picked up the original yet, since this was so good.

Juliet Takes a Breath follows 19 year old Juliet, as she moves away from home for the first time, to be an intern for famous feminist author Harlowe Brisbane in Portland, Oregon. She's hoping this is the summer she finally figures everything out, but of course, things don't go to plan, whether it's her family's reaction to coming out, or her expectations of Harlowe.

I read this all in one sitting, because I just <i>had</i> to know what happened next in Juliet's story. The cast of characters was amazing, I loved Phen, Kira, Zaira and Max (who are ADORABLE together), along with Juliet's prima Ava and Titi Penny. Also her relationship with her brother, Melvin, was so cute?? And soft?? I just really loved it and the trust they had with each other. I did feel like the cast was kind of large for such a single volume graphic novel, but I'm assuming it's because of it being an adaption from the original version, and it was a small enough thing that it didn't really distract from the story.

I really loved how sex positive the story was too, which is something that almost always gets skipped over in queer YA novels. Let alone ones with fat, Latinx main characters. Both masturbation and sapphic sex comes up in Juliet Takes a Breath, and I really loved how casual and unfiltered it was. Periods were included in the storyline as well, which always makes me happy too.

Gabby Rivera isn't the only person who worked on this adaptation though, Celia Moscote did an amazing job with the artwork, her faces were so expressive, and she did such an amazing job drawing fat bodies, something that really helped to tie Juliet's story together. The color palette was absolutely gorgeous as well, it really set the tone for the story, which could have had a much less hopeful and youthful feeling to it if they had gone with a more realistic one.

Overall, whether you've read the prose novel version or not, definitely try picking up Juliet Takes a Breath, it's such a hopeful tale of self discovery, and figuring out how to stand up for who you are.

I have to start by saying I am not the target audience for #JulietTakesABreath. And I think that needs to be acknowledged in writing and reading reviews of this book! That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Juliet, the main character, come to life. I did read Gabby Rivera's book on which the graphic adaptation is based, and even though it was a while ago and some details were fuzzy, the visual images and words in this adaptation brought the whole story right back to me. I think the storyline was modified to fit the graphic nature succinctly without losing any of Juliet's tale from coming out as a lesbian to her Puerto Rican family; to traveling to Portland to intern with a white, feminist writer; to finding herself and her identity and learning more about her family and those around her. The colors and shading of the graphics were not my favorite type of design in their simplicity, but they did not hinder the storyline. This is not a book I think I can purchase for my library due to some of the mature images, but I would definitely send teens to the public library for this one! Many thanks to the publishers and #NetGalley for this advanced copy.

This graphic novel is a great adaptation of the original book. A very important story about a fat, lesbian, Puerto Rican girl who’s recently discovered feminism and will learn a lot about it, about herself, about racism and white privilege, and about the queer community, getting to question everything she thought she knew.

I LOVED this book!!

Juliet, a 19-year-old lesbian, has the chance of a lifetime to intern with her feminist-author-hero aka 'the pussy lady.' The internship will take her from her home in the Bronx to Portland, Oregon. She's kind of happy to get away since her mom isn't taking the whole lesbian thing too well, though she is anxious about going long-distance with her girlfriend. Effectively, it's a story about growing into yourself/self-discovery, particularly how race and sexuality weigh in on those identities.

The original novel of the same name has been on my radar for a long time, but I haven't wanted to commit to reading it because there are so many queer coming of age YA books to read. I was really excited to see that there would be a graphic novel adaptation for two reasons a) less of a reading commitment than a text-only novel ; b) I'm always for queer graphic novels. While I personally loved it, I will be wary of recommending to teens in the library and book clubs because there is sex shown in the book (no genitals shown, but you do see hands where there would be genitals). So that's my warning for anyone who works with teens.

To be clear, that warning isn't even a negative. It's a 'professional apprehension.' The book was fantastic! I was interrupted twice while reading it and got very grumpy each time because I just wanted to keep reading. Juliet is very well-spoken (in other words, I suppose I should say Gabby Rivera wrote very well), and I loved most of the characters who came through. And the characters I didn't love, I didn't love because of the things they did.

But also, a graphic novel is a team/group effort. Just because Rivera's writing works, doesn't mean the art would be a good match for the story, BUT IT IS! It's a perfect pairing. Celia Moscote seems to really understand the book's story, and her artwork really helped me to fall in love with Juliet. There are big color overtones to each section that really help convey setting and mood, and even though the book isn't exactly full-color, there's enough depth in the images that it felt like it was full-color in a lot of ways, to me.

I plan to actually buy a copy of this book when it comes out.

I have yet to read the novel version of this book so I cannot compare this adaptation to that one.

This graphic novel follows the story of Juliet, who gets an internship in Portland, Oregon. The story is about Juliet learning to embrace all parts of herself, and how to stand up for herself. It is about her learning that who she is shouldn't be defined by those around her.

I loved Juliet as a character and loved her learning to love all of herself. I loved when the Queer POC spoke to her about loving another POC and being loved in return by a POC and how different that was from what she had experienced. I thought that was a great point that they brought up and it just reminded me of the relationships I have been in and how much what they said made sense.

The one thing that I wasn't too much a fan of was how it seemed to jump around a lot and that could be just because of how short it is. I wanted more from some of the scenes and some things seemed to be resolved way too quickly. I wanted a lot more of the scenes in which Juliet stands up to Harlowe but I did like that it felt like Juliet was saying you aren't worth much more of time than these words.

I also really love the scene in which she gets a hair cut and is like its me. That feeling of seeing yourself, really seeing yourself is such a great moment that I related to. I also really liked how there is a good ending, and she gets joy because sometimes I just need to read a book where the queer person of color finds joy.

I have been wanting to read the novel version of this story for a long while. While I enjoyed the graphic novel, I felt like a lot of the story was missing. (Probably because I know it's a novel.) Beautiful artwork and still a powerful story of queer identity and empowerment.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this amazing graphic novel! I have to start saying that I didn’t read the novel, so I can’t tell if this is a good adaptation, but I can assure you, it’s a great book by itself.

Juliet is a Latina baby lesbian who knows nothing about being queer, and little to nothing about being a feminist, and through the book we can see her learn and grow and accept every part of herself, understanding where she stand and what she stands for. That’s marvelous.

The growth of Juliet is visible frame by frame. I felt anxious, excited, sad, mad, glad, confused, calm, EVERYTHING she was feeling. And I’m happy she got to where she is now.

I loved LOTS of the secondary characters, I love how true and real they are. I love how the book shows diversity without making it a total stereotype.

I must stand up and applaud the artists, the drawings and the colors are A BLAST. The design of the characters and the colors are FANTASTIC and the layout of the vignettes, DING DON DARLING, gorgeous. The edition ALL is amazing. Great job, everyone.

Feminism must and will be intersectional.

This is the story of a lesbian, Puerto Rican girl from the Brox, who wants to follow her mentor who happens to be a granola hippie feminist white woman who has white privilege coming out of her ears, and doesn't always realize it.

It is an interesting mix of a fish out of water, and a fish that is very much in the water, as Juliet both fits in well in Portland, and still sticks out.

There are tears, there are twists and turns, and there is self-realization. It is a fun, eye opening journey from start to finish.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I would like to thank Gabby Rivera, Celia Moscote, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the graphic novel edition of Juliet Takes a Breath. This book was simply beautiful in every way. Once I picked it up...I was unable to put it down! I cannot wait to purchase my own copy to have on my shelves.

The artwork of this novel was absolutely stunning. The purple hues throughout gave a calming tone, even when the narration was tense and hard to swallow. I enjoyed the way that different individuals were represented and believed that each page added to the overall storytelling.

I think the narration was also brilliantly done. Taking a full length novel and condensing it into a graphic novel can be quite challenging, but I thought this book did a fantastic job with that. Everything made complete sense and flowed perfectly. The dialogue and inner thoughts of Juliet were perfectly highlighted for the reader. I also really enjoyed the way in which it discussed sexuality and race. The overall theme of identity held tight throughout the whole book. One thing I did wish was that some of the transitions were a little smoother so it didn’t feel like such a big jump setting. While this did appear a few times, most of the transitions were smooth and it did not overall effect my love for this book.

I will absolutely be recommending this book to anyone who is looking for a heartwarming graphic novel about identity. I look forward to reading more from Gabby Rivera and Celia Moscote in the future.

First things first: I haven’t read the original story, so my review is based on this graphic novel alone.

The artwork was nice. I liked both the colour scheme and the art style in general.

While the book had great queer representation, the story itself just wasn’t for me. Many characters were unlikable or felt like caricatures. Their personalities seemed so unrealistic.

The pacing of the story felt a little off as well.

Overall this adaption wasn’t for me, but I assume fans of the original novel might enjoy it.

I was so happy to see they made a graphic novel of Juliet Takes a Breath. This was amazing and I wish i had this growing up. If you haven’t read the novel, i strongly suggest you do and then pick up this graphic novel.

I have not read the novel form of this book yet, but this graphic novel makes me want to grab it immediately. This is the story of Juliet coming out to her family and learning how to be herself. It takes a few tries and bit of heartbreak, but she finally figures out how to just breathe.

This was a gorgeous, fabulous adaptation of the novel (which I haven't read yet, though it's been on my TBR for years). The art is STUNNING and lush, and Rivera's plotting and characterization are a joy--so nuanced, deep, and invigorating. I love how the story deals with the toxicity of white allyship, white saviorism, and white feminism while still focusing on QPOC joy--this is phenomenal.

Juliet Takes a Breath is a stunning adaptation to the full-length novel of the same name. We follow Juliet as she travels to Portland to intern with Harlowe Brisbane. Along the way, she learns about herself and figures out what she wants in life.

Firstly, I want to say, the artwork was stunning! The color palette used was gorgeous and eye-popping. Each character had their own distinctive look that made them so unique.

I loved Juliet as a character. She was highly relatable and curious about the things around her. I felt connected to her story and inner turmoil. I was rooting for her every second of the way.

In terms of plot, there wasn’t much of one really. But I enjoyed Juliet’s journey of self-discovery and self-realization. Themes such as feminism and the white savior complex were addressed and handled really well!

Overall, this coming-of-age story was so heartwarming and sweet. I haven’t read the full-length novel yet, but I will definitely pick it up after enjoying this graphic novel myself!

I loved this comic a lot. Firstly, the artwork was amazing. I find the art style of the book is just amazing – it is actually more muted than the cover illustration - it is so colorful and aesthetically pleasing. The story itself was so rich. It is about a young plus size latinx girl exploring the LGBTQIA+ community and her own sexuality, which automatically drew me in. There is rep for so many varying queer identities, including a few non binary folks and a lot of wlw. On top of that the book shows so many different body types and manners of gender-expression. It tackles the topics of white feminism being excluding to the BIPOC community and fake allyship so well. On top of that Juliet is such a compelling protagonist – you can always relate to her and understand her emotions.
My favourite character was probably Max - I loved her insight, wisdom and soothing presence. I think she was the perfect menthor to Juliet as opposed to Harlowe who was too white-centric to give an actual voice to a young woman of color.

I’d recommend it for anyone who want to read a well-written and well-drawn book about intersectional queer feminism.

One thing you need to know about this graphic novel, that I didn't, is that is actually an adaptation of the novel with the same name, also by Gabby Rivera. I haven't read the novel, and I had no problem grasping the story and the characters, so you can pick it up even if you, just like me, haven't read the 2016 novel.
I absolutely adore graphic novels, and as I've never reviewed one I would like to set the precedent now of breaking my review into two parts: the story and the art.
First, the story. It's a rich and powerful one, following the main character coming to terms and embracing her own feminity, loving her curves, her period, and learning how to stand up to herself. Juliet is an amazing character: she is sweet, curvy, queer, and ready to kick some butt.
While I can't judge the POC representation, as a curvy female that never got to explore her feminine energy or her queerness, I felt inspired, beautiful, and ready to take some steps towards being more myself. If this would have been all that this book accomplished it would have been a 5 start read anyway, but it's so much more with rich representation and touching subjects ranging from racism, white savior tropes, and white privilege to first heartbreak and coming out.
My only problem was that this was so short! And this is my problem with most of the graphic novels, that I devour them in a few hours and then I am left wanting for more. I will check the novel for sure because in a 176 pages long graphic novel there is not much space for a character to develop and grow as naturally, so I have big hopes.
At last, the art. Celia Moscote did an amazing job, the art in this is gorgeous, warm, and stunning. If you are into a fuzzy autumn aesthetic then this is for you. I want to print every panel of this and put it on my walls.
So, if you are looking for a sweet, rich, and powerfully feminist novel make sure to pick up when it's out in November for the extreme honor of meeting Juliet and all her amazing friends
Thank you, NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I don't give 5 stars for too many books. But on the first pages of this book, I already knew it would be a 5 stars reading. And I wasn't disappointed at any point of the story.

The book of Gabby Rivera was already great and the illustrated version made everything so magical? The book managed to pass me all the emotion of the scenes so easily.

The artistic trace is perfect. The scenarios are perfect. The choice of color palette was perfect. And the way the artist managed to capture the essence of Juliet's entire family and the other side characters is just as good... The main character is bright and see how beautiful and cute she is in this adaptation... Oh my God I fell in love with her so hard...

And I loved the way the characters are presented with all their information (mostly their pronouns), facilitated reading.

I loved it so much.

First things first: I have not read the novel this book is based on, so I can't say anything how well it is adapted.

I sometimes get the feeling with books that involve a severely underrepresented group (in this case gay women of colour), that the fact of this representation is seen as part of the quality. I am all for more representation of minority groups, and I applaud every author and artist who tries to right this wrong, but sometimes I think faults in such works are overlooked. So the act of representation gets five stars, but what does the actual book get?

Juliet Takes a Breath is an uneven book, its pacing is irregular. The titular Juliet is a latinx gay, and her mother cannot accept this. Juliet takes an internship with a white feminist, and moves to Portland. This woman, Harlowe, is terrible (and judging by the excerpts we get to read, her book is just as terrible). Juliet's girlfriend is on her own internship in Washington, and isn't returning her calls.

All the people in Portland seem kind of awful to me, to be honest. They are supposed to be positive role models (I think?), but they all talk as if they're in a Portlandia sketch - it's all inner goddesses, your heart and your spirit, etc.

The book is a bit of a fantasy, where everything that's wrong gets solved, it all ties up a bit too neatly. I also wish Juliet as a character had a bit more agency in the story, she just seems to get bounced from situation to situation, from one character to yet another character.

I quite like the art style, except that the artist does not draw backgrounds. At all. Everything is awash in the same palet of orange, yellow, pink and purple, it never changes according to mood or tone (except when the story moves to Miami for a bit, that gets its own wash of samey colours). It makes the whole book quite dull visually.

A book with the heart in the right place, if a bit dull.

2.5 stars