YES YES YES. This is everything I could want in a graphic novel! Beautiful artwork, stunning atmosphere, a compelling story, and a message that hits hard and without apology. It is refreshing to see not only QTPOC voices being centered, but also other white queers being called out which I hope will help others see where they can do better in their own lives. This book is poignant and while some of the vibes did come off as a bit idealistic, overall, I feel that it's a very good peek into the trials and tribulations of coming out, learning about yourself, and making a stand in this world.

This is a beautifully illustrated coming of age story. In some ways, it reads like a fantasy. What young person doesn't dream of catching the attention of their favorite novelist and then being dropped into a welcoming community of creatives that challenge their way of thinking and being? The story speaks to the kind of experience that young people seek to have. It isn't unbelievable, but it does seem fantastical in some way. This is not to its detriment, because it's a beautiful dream and I was happy to go along for the ride. It's a great story and, perhaps because the graphic novel sacrifices some of the inner voice or narrative of the original novel, feels like it jumps a little too neatly into resolution. Still, it was a fun read and I'd recommend it.


Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC of this novel.

A great book! The representation was amazing and so was the story. I really liked Juliet! What a badass! THey only thing was that my arc read kind of weird which happens sometimes. I can't wait to get my physical copy and re-read the story!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

I haven't read the novel this is adapted from, but after reading this absolutely beautiful graphic novel, I'll be picking it up.
The color story alone gives me heart eyes. The style: oh man.

The representation sends this home. A queer POC discovering that there's more than one way to be queer.

Heck. Yes.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4*
Beautiful and extremely important. Fantastic art style, that captures emotions perfectly. Bold and joyful colors. Full of queer, PoC and girl power! Queer latina lead and a full diverse cast. A very important PoV into modern feminism and the issues present in non-intersectional feminist mentalities. In the words of Kimberlé Crenshaw, "all inequality is not created equal", and this theme is extensively explored in this graphic novel. It also shows light on important topics such as coming out, self-discovery, open-mindedness and respect, romantic relationships and heartbreaks.

The graphic novel version of Juliet Takes a Breath is stunning! I kept marveling about how gorgeous everyone was, especially Juliet and that makes the reading way pleasurable.

I loved this. Superficialness aside, it’s also a heavy and, at the same time, hopeful story. Juliet is a latinx gay kid trying to find her place in the universe - figuring out the whole lesbian business and what it means to her. Getting to intern for the “vagina lady” (feminist deluxe) is basically a dream come true and she takes off to Portland, ready to take on it all. But it’s not as easy as all that (of course).

This graphic novel really hits the mark, weaving in coming out, homophobia, racism, white feminism, love, heartbreak, family and friendships. And with the beautiful artwork, it’s such a good read.

Recommend this to all!

/ Denise

3.5⭐️’s

My feelings about this graphic novel adaptation mirror my feelings about the novel as a whole. The story is definitely important for what it teaches, and it’s very character driven rather than plot driven, but... it’s just not one that has stuck with me.

As I said in my review of the book itself:
“This book is perfect for someone who is trying to learn more. Trying to learn more about being LGBTQ+, learn more about being a POC, learn more about feminism, learn more about intersectional feminism. It’s great, because you, as a reader, learn right alongside Juliet. All of the questions she has are answered and explained throughout the book. It’s truly beautiful.”
While the graphic novel doesn’t go into as much detail as the novel, we still learn right along with Juliet.

One thing I will say about the graphic novel is that it is absolutely beautiful! That’s what I was most looking forward to from it, and it did not disappoint.

I also really loved the introductory panels for so many of the characters! Their full name, age, and pronouns were such a great this to include.

If you’re a fan of Juliet Takes a Breath (the novel), you’ll love this. If you’re unsure about reading the book, while this doesn’t go into everything that happens, it’s a great overview of the story.

Also, Maxine? The love of my life. “Thank La Virgen for butches” indeed, Juliet. They and Zaira’s relationship is as beautiful as ever.

Huge thank you to Netgalley and BOOM! Box Publishing for the ARC!

I love the original novel, but it definitely lost some depth in a graphic novel format that left the story feeling really rushed. The artwork was so gorgeous though and the coming of age story is still solid, so I'd still recommend this, especially as a quick and abbreviated version of the novel.

"How do you tell the people who breathed you into existence that you're the opposite of everything they want you to be?"

First things first, this is a graphic novel adaptation and I have not read the original book, so don't know how well it reflects the original story. That being said, I loved this.

Juliet Takes a Breath is a delightful coming-of-age and finding-your-place-in-the-world story. We follow Juliet, a Puerto Rican lesbian living in the Bronx, as she comes out to her family before leaving for an internship in Portland. Then comes a lot of learning about herself and celebrating who she is, a lot of girlfriend drama and meeting people who will open her eyes to how things can and should be.

Being a graphic novel, this is a very light read, but it still addresses very important topics, like dealing with your family's reaction to you being gay, racism, white privileges, self-love, or self-acceptance.

Also, the art style is gorgeous and the color palette is lovely, although it did sometimes make scenes (and even characters) blend together. I appreciated that the characters weren't supermodel-like, since it radiated huge self-love vibes.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital copy in exchange of an honest and voluntary review.

Juliet Takes a Breath is an important and loving story about racism, queerness and coming-of-age, but unfortunately for me this graphic novel adaption fell short.

Content warnings include: sexual harassment, racism, homophobia, break-up, non-explicit sex on-page, equation of sex with gender (challenged towards the end).

Juliet's story was lovely and so important. I loved that this ownvoices story about a fat latinx lesbian with asthma is being told. It explores the pitfalls of white feminism and performative allyship, and how as a white person you constantly have to check yourself, and how much harm you can do even when you think yourself educated.
It also celebrates queerness, especially intersection with being a person of colour.
The coming-of-age and romance was tied to it, but especially the romantic subplot fell a bit into the background for me.

I will say that the drawing style is gorgeous. All characters looked stunning and it was a pleasure to page through the book.
However, I found the story lost a significant amount of its impact due to the way it's told in this graphic novel.
Transitions between scenes were missing entirely. The background is very minimal, as is the colour palette, which looks great but unfortunately was so uniform that I absolutely could not tell when the scenes changed.
Additionally, the dialogue and text seems to have been broken down so much that I often struggled following what was happening or what the characters were talking about, or how conversations related to each other.
I also couldn't quite follow which character was who and what role they played, because so many different ones were introduced in a short amount of time, and the introductions themselves were too short for me to really know who they were and why they were there.

Overall I did like the book, I liked following Juliet's story and the graphic novel looked great, but I had a hard time really following the details of what was going on.
I have not read the original novel (yet), but I think that one would work out for me much better and leave a bigger impact. That said, despite the graphic novel's flaws, it did engage me and made me think.

I went into this graphic novel knowing very little. I saw the cover, graphic novel and LGBT and figured it would be a delightful story. and I was right. We follow Juliet, a young gay Puerto Rican girl growing up in the Bronx who really identifies with a feminist book and reaches out to the author in hopes of securing an internship with her.

What follows is a story about self discovery, acceptance, learning how to stand up for yourself and a really good conversation about White Feminism taking charge of the feminist narrative and how frequently we get things wrong for our QBIPOC sisters.

The art is gorgeous and the story moves quickly and I think it brought up a lot of good topics for conversations.

Juliet just came out to her friends and family, but she's struggling with what it means to be a QBIPOC. This graphic novel was great! I enjoyed following Juliet as she navigates self discovery and how to be her very awesome self. The artwork and color pallet are stunning and used to the book's advantage. I will be suggesting this graphic novel to so many people!!

I'm a big fan of comics because I have this ability to put things in the visual spectrum that even when we imagine them not being so faithful. The art in this book is impeccable and I would read many more pages if necessary just to keep up with graphic art. I liked the story itself, the author's courage in criticizing aspects of white feminism, of little things that are almost picturesque, convinced me a lot. I would like a little more development in the secondary characters, but that has not diminished the grandeur of the work itself. I am curious to read the book that made the comic exist, I think it'll solve the only one problem i had with it.

I loved this. I’m a big graphic novel/comic book fan but I’m bad at keeping up with the interesting ones coming up so I’m really enjoying seeing all the queer storylines that are becoming available. Juliet Takes A Breath is adapted from the novel by Gabby Rivera - a work I unfortunately haven’t had the opportunity to read as of yet, however this did not impact my enjoyment of the graphic novel at all - it stands strong by itself.

I loved the storyline of this. The novel was originally published in 2016 and is still very relevant today. It tells the story of Juliet, who is from the Bronx, who heads to Portland for an internship and finds her community amongst fellow QTPOC people. When she leaves the Bronx she comes out to her family - not all of whom take it well. Her internship is with Harlowe, who wrote a book Juliet initially identifies with. Juliet’s time in Portland and then Miami gives her a different perspective on her queerness than being in the Bronx with her white young democrat girlfriend and I loved this exploration for her.

The illustration in this really stands out for me, especially the colours used. It makes for a beautiful read through the scenes. I enjoyed how the diversity of the characters is depicted and how the key scenes are illustrated.

As with most graphic novels it’s very easy to read, but the topics aren’t glossed over and I really appreciated the fine balance and editing this must have taken.

I’d highly recommend to any graphic novel fans, and if getting your stories in this manner isn’t your kind of thing I’d encourage you to pick up the original novel - just like I’m going to.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Juliet Palante leaves her home in the Bronx to do an internship in Portland. Her idol, the feminist author Harlowe Brisbane, has invited her to go work with her for the summer. Just before she leaves, Juliet comes out to her family, which they don’t take very well. Juliet can embrace her queer identity in Portland, but she has to learn that Harlowe isn’t the perfect idol that she expected.

This is a graphic novel adaptation of the novel Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. I haven’t read the novel, but I loved this graphic novel. It is a beautiful queer coming of age story.

Juliet is discovering her own feelings and trying to find answers to all of her questions. Since Harlowe’s book explained feminist ideas to her in a new way, she thought that Harlowe was the best person to continue teaching her about feminism. However, Harlowe has flaws that her friends know, and Juliet has to learn the hard way.

I loved the art in this graphic novel. Most of the characters were curvy. Juliet felt self conscious about her body, but she learned to be comfortable with showing it off. There was great body positivity theme in this story that went along with Juliet discovering her sexuality.

This is a great graphic novel!

Thank you BOOM! Box for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Puerto Rican lesbian—Juliet—has recently moved cities and started an internship, to find herself ecstatic by the sense of belonging she could feel amidst a diverse group that includes gender queer and other LGBT+ characters, Black and Latinx characters, and a biracial (Korean-white) love interest. Despite being confident in her identity and proud of loving herself as a fat woman with asthma, she still receives the typical phrases from her mother who's in denial—"it's just a phase"—and often craves the support that a community can bring. Complementing the excellent storyline of finding wonderfully strong friendships through empathy, relatability, and shared identities, are other themes highlighting the importance of communication in a deteriorating relationship and of discovering new feelings for someone. Running timely parallels, this graphic novel adaptation of a highly recommended book by the same name, comments on the savior complex accompanying most white feministic views, the utter inexistence of reverse racism, and the additional strength every BIPOC is forced to show in order to let their opinions be heard in a world often silencing them. A delightful read paired with difficult subtleties, and coupled with a warm, colorful art style, this contemporary delivers with pride.

This is a story of self discovery and acceptance. Juliet is on the cusp of leaving her family for the first time for a summer internship. She decides to use her goodbye dinner to come out, but it doesn’t go well. Juliet’s mother refuses to accept she’s gay, insisting that it’s just a phase. Juliet goes out into the world feeling lonely because, on top of everything, her girlfriend has stopped texting her back, too. Juliet’s internship turns out to be eye opening and her journey helps her feel more comfortable in her own skin.

I enjoyed this graphic novel! The art is very well done. Juliet’s story is interesting and she’s a dynamic character that you can’t help but root for. I will say that there are some mature themes and language that seemed a little heavy for the YA audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boom! Studios for the eARC of Juliet Takes A Breath by Gabby Rivera, the graphic novel. All images are not mine but screen shots of the graphic novel.

Juliet Takes A Breath by Gabby Rivera is about a young teen who has just come out to her family, right before leaving for a college internship in Portland,Oregon. Juliet is still figuring out who she is and finding her confidence; when she comes out to her family she finds that she is supported, but also misunderstood; especially by her mom. Her mother states that “it’s just a phase”. Off on her internship she discovers more strong womxn of color and more queer friends and family who help her find herself. This is an uplifting story about identity, loving yourself, being kind to yourself, and learning to move forward. I enjoyed Juliet’s story very much; the detail in the color scheme of this graphic novel was amazing, the family dynamics were relatable and the message itself will leave you feeling loved.


I found myself in Juliet Takes A Breath, through the Puerto Rican culture that is reflected off of the pages in the food and the family dynamics. To send Juliet off to her internship her family gets together to have a huge dinner, that is how my family always celebrates loads of food and when it's for you you get all of your favorite foods. I loved learning about Puerto Rican culture by seeing the types of food they ate. On the table there was Arroz con mai, Bistec Encebollado, Alcapurrias, it was so cool to be introduced to the culture this way.


When Juliet first comes out at the dinner table she receives mixed results: her mom goes to her room in disbelief, her cousin cries and hugs her (while making an ignorant comment at the same time), her abuelita and her tia tell her that they will love her no matter what and her little brother says: “ Ya did so good, sis!”---who already knew she was gay. I broke into tears as I saw my own family in the pages, being latinx woman myself I saw parallels between Juliet’s family and my own. I saw my own abuelita in Juliet’s, the illustration looks exactly like my abuelita! Before she leaves for the airport Juliet's abuelita tells her: “ I love you like the seas love the moon. Whatever you are, whoever you love. I’m here. (Rivera p32)” This is where I cried the love between a grand daughter and her abuelita knows no bounds <3


Notably the novel features a beautiful gradient of colors. The base of the novel is the peach, yellow, orange mixed with navy/teal and as the story moves along the colors change almost like a sunset. I found that with each state Juliet went to the colors changed; Portland was darker with purple as the base and Miami was yellow in contrast. In my opinion its significance reflected Juliet’s character arc, as she traveled, met new people and found herself the sunset on her old self.

Overall I loved Juliet Takes A Breath; my only critique is that I wanted to dive deeper but this is the graphic of a novel, so yes I will definitely be checking out the novel soon! I personally think this is a beautiful book and hope that it finds its way to the hand of those who need it as well as to those who don’t know that they do. The fact that there is a comic book about a queer Puerto Rican womxn makes me happy as we the comic world becomes more diverse! We need more latinx stories!

I haven't read the novel this was based on so I can’t say how well it was adapted. I really liked this! the art style was gorgeous, oh my god. this really made me want to pick up the novel too. it was not perfect, I wasn't really invested in anything. I think this is probably because it's a graphic novel and I have that problem often while reading one. but the topics that were discussed in the story are so important and I'm glad I could educate myself a little bit while reading this.

I'd definitely recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a beautiful graphic novel! I’ve heard amazing things about the book but never had enough interest to pick it up. I went into this not knowing much and was BLOWN away by how much Juliet grew, learned about the world, and her family. Of course, the artwork was phenomenal. All the characters Juliet encounter on her adventure away from home add so much to her growth experience. I loved how this novel called out white privilege based feminism and how harmful it is to POC communities. 10/10 recommend if you’re looking for a novel about growth, LGBTQ+ experiences, unaccepting families, a person of color, and SO much more!