Since I haven't read the original novel (despite it being on my to read list for a while), I was worried I'd have trouble enjoying this, with no point of reference. I was wrong, I loved it! A really incredible story about a young fat Puerto Rican lesbian discovering and embracing who she is. I loved the spectrum of the characters; it showed Juliet that there's not just one way to be a certain identity (like being a feminist). The art was beautiful, especially the main character herself, and the changes in colors throughout the story highlighted the differences in the spaces Juliet spent time.

Such a fun, addicting graphic novel! Juliet was such a sweet and likeable character, and I adored her personality, her confidence and determination. The bipoc and queer rep were just so unique and interesting; I could feel the love and warmth of the community on every page.

19-year ole Juliet has a summer internship set up with Portland author Harlow Brisbane, creator of a modern feminist handbook that Juliet finds inspiring. So just before leaving the Bronx and departing on this journey, Juliet comes out to her Puerto Rican family, to mixed success. Her mother thinks it’s all a phase, even though Juliet has been dating her current girlfriend for a year. With that goodbye placing her, Juliet takes off on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance, of learning about the diversity of queer culture, and confronting white fragility and racism.
This is an absolutely beautiful story. Juliet's journey will definitely inspire others to do some soul searching, including white, LGBTQ+ allies who might be having issue letting go of their colonial mentality (as Harlowe displays). Rivera is frank and up front about a lot of issues: body issues, sexual positivity, support and acceptance of others, and the complicated mix of issues that comes from being a person of color in the LGBTQ+ community. Having only the background knowledge of Rivera provided by the publisher, it seems like Rivera has put a lot of her own soul into the character of Juliet, and what we as readers get is a very authentic, lovable character. Many students will be scrambling to read this story, which has such a strong representation that is often lacking in literature.

Moscote's art is warm throughout, as depicted on the cover image, and it gets even warmer when Juliet visits Miami. Blue is used sparingly as an accent, and it really pulls the attention as a main focal point of the page. The character designs Moscote uses also add so much depth to the characters as people. You get a stronger sense of their personality through the way they are drawn (like Harlowe not shaving her legs, for instance).

The novelization was rated for ages 14+, and the graphic novel is similarly targeting this age group. Here are a few content warnings: some cussing, discussion of women’s genitalia, masturbation, posterior nudity, and a few sex scenes that are suggestive, not graphic. Most of these go into the themes of sexual positivity and body positivity.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Thanks to the publisher for this advanced digital reader copy. This graphic novel will be on sale November 25th, 2020.

Oh my gosh.. this graphic novel was everything I never knew I needed.
I absolutely adored Gabby Rivera's novel and to have it come to life through these images was beautiful.
The illustrations! My god, I am in love with all the women drawn in this book and beyond happy to have seen these beloved characters come to life.

so happy to have had the opportunity to have read this one. It gave us everything we needed to understand Juliet's story, struggle, and the women that inspire her and affect her - perfectly done through imagery.

Prose (Story): Gabby Rivera takes her much-loved novel and, along with artist Celia Moscote, transforms it into a graphic novel in which nineteen-year-old Bronx resident Juliet Milagros Palante - Puerto Rican, lesbian, and barely out of the closet - discovers her inner feminist upon reading a book by the popular feminist author Harlowe Brisbane. A heartelt email to the Portland, Oregon-based writer lands Juliet a much-needed internship for her college, so with caution to the wind and a whole lot of faith, Juliet outs herself to her family just before leaving New York, taking control of her life even if she wonders if her mother will ever speak to her again, and arrives in a new city ready for adventure ... even if unprepared for some surprises life, and Harlowe Brisbane, throws her along the way.

Don's (Review): Within a handful of pages I was instantly smitten with Julia - a thick, beautiful girl with big hair and bigger dreams. Still very much feeling her way around this thing called Life, she arrives in Portland already stressed about leaving her mother - who she now thinks might hate her - and her painfully white girlfriend behind, and from the beginning tries to go with the flow when her feminist mentor Harlowe also comes off as a bit of a nut. Juliet's naivete and shyness, even as she is determined to stay strong and get what she can from this experience, is absolutely endearing, and I was rooting for this beautiful "baby dyke" with a heart bigger than the great outdoors from first page to last (proof being that I found it hard to put the book down until I was fiished) in her struggle to find both herself and her place in the world. A wonderful, beautifully-illustrated graphic novel of trying to fit in while standing out, Juliet's story is as funny, sweet, satisfying, and heartwarmiing as its heroine herself. (Available November 25) 5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exhange for an honest review.

First, there's an Animorphs reference so this book brought me in very early. I wasn't familiar with the original novel before reading this graphic novel. I didn't even discover this was an adaptation until after I had read the book, so no need to have any prior knowledge to enjoy this graphic novel.

This is a unique Coming Out story. Juliet is traveling to Portland from NYC to intern with a feminist author. There's a lot of weird white lady shit in this book. People are held accountable. Juliet finds her own queer community.

This book has such beautiful colors. The people are drawn in all sizes and colors, making every body look gorgeous.

White people need to read this story! As a white cis gay man, I recognize that I need to read more queer stories from different perspectives than my own. This book gives representation to non-white-centered queer communities. I love seeing these kind of graphic novel stories getting hype. I give this book a 5/5.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher*
This story is so important. It details all of the problems of white feminism, and explores the joy of the queer people of color. Juliet is such an interesting protagonist-and through her we see things like pronouns, gender identity, and sexuality explained in a simple way. Characters like Max and Kiera were so fun to learn more about, and Juliet's relationship with her family was incredibly realistic.
The illustrations were breathtaking. The colors and shading completely transformed this story into something palpable. I highly recommend this graphic novel!

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley. Trigger warning for depictions of racism and homophobia.)

On a whim, nineteen-year-old Juliet Milagros Palante penned a fan letter to her favorite feminist author, "pussy lady" Harlowe Brisbane ... and scored a college internship out of the deal! Now she's heading across the country, leaving the familiarity of her family and the Bronx behind for a summer in Portland. As if that's not stressful enough, Juliet chooses the evening before her departure to "let out her lesbionic truths" (in the words of her younger brother, Melvin, who is as wise as he is adorable) and come out to her family.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50634792432/in/dateposted-public/

Juliet started reading Harlowe's book, RAGING FLOWER: EMPOWERING YOUR PUSSY BY EMPOWERING YOUR MIND, just to "make people feel uncomfortable on the subway." Even though she always thought feminism was for white ladies, this "magical labia manifesto" has got her rethinking things: sisterhood, the patriarchy, and her relationships. Can Juliet's family accept her for who she truly is? Can she and girlfriend Lainie make the long-distance thing work? And can a coveted job in Portland help Juliet become more confident and at home in her own skin?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50634792197/in/dateposted-public/

Harlowe is about what Juliet expected ... until she isn't. She's kind and welcoming, but interning for someone as erratic as Harlowe proves a challenge. And then things go absolutely sideways when, at a reading, Harlowe throws Juliet under the bus and proves herself a truly crappy ally.

Thankfully, Juliet's not alone: she's got two awesome friends/mentors in the form of Max and Zaira; there's a cute librarian named Kira who likes to bake her cookies; and her cousin Ava is just dying for Juliet to visit Miami now that she's out, so they can hit the clubs together. (Ava is bisexual, and the moment when she learns that her mom is too is one of my favorites in a book packed with memorable scenes.)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50634791732/in/dateposted-public/

This is a graphic novel adaptation of Gabby Rivera's 2016 novel, which has been on my TBR list forever (so many books! curse you, netgalley!), but just got bumped up a few spots. Since I haven't read it, I can't very well compare the two, but the graphic novel is amazing. The art is cute and fun and full of color; everyone is adorable, maybe with the occasional exception of Harlowe and Lainie, and I'm totally fine with that because they both kind of suck. The story is entertaining and engaging, even if you have a vague idea of the white lady train wreck that lies ahead. Juliet is a really great character, and I especially loved the scenes with her family, particularly younger brother Melvin and cousin Ava.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50633960013/in/dateposted-public/

In summary: This book is super-gay and my heart just swells with it.

This was an absolutely stunning graphic novel. The story is a glorious celebration of queer identity and racial identity. The art exploded of the page with vibrancy. It was breathtaking. I read in one sitting and I couldn’t put it down.

A beautiful story about identity, acceptance and self-love.

I really enjoyed following Juliet's journey of self-discovery as she finds her place as a queer woman of colour. Even through the short length of a graphic novel, her growth was inspiring and really enjoyable to read. The amount of representation in this book is outstanding, and it skillfully addresses a lot of very important topics. The artwork is STUNNING, with such a visually pleasing colour palette.

I loved this book. I have not read the book the graphic novel is based on (also called Juliet Takes a Breath) but now I definitely want to.

The art is gorgeous and I love the color palette. The characters are all clearly individuals and clearly queer and beautiful.

Juliet undergoes so much growth in this graphic novel - nearly every frame shows her growing and becoming herself. She starts as a baby queer interning for one of her heroes. Unfortunately, said hero turns out to be a very white granola hippy feminist with a poor grasp of intersectionality.

There are a lot of lessons here of what it means to be queer and a poc vs what it means to be queer and white, and I really appreciated it. I feel like I learned a few things too.

It was a quick read and that was a bit deceptive because every frame is important and every frame takes Juliet on her journey from her mom not accepting her to finding her tribe and her family finally accepting her. It ties up neatly, but so often stories of girls like Juliet don't, and it was nice to find one that does.

Welp, I didn't expect to cry immediately, but I did.

I recently received the graphic novel adaption of this from NetGalley & fell in love. I will absolutely be purchasing when this comes out on December 1, 2020!

Juliet Takes a Breath, by Gabby Rivera & illustrated by Celia Moscote, is about 19 year old Juliet Milagros Palante, who leaves her home in the Bronx for an internship with feminist white woman Harlowe in Portland. It doesn't go as planned though & Harlowe isn't what Juliet had hoped she would be. Harlowe aside, Juliet meets so many incredible folks throughout this & she embraces her identity as queer. This is a beautiful story of growth, love, and self-discovery, & there were so many characters in this that I absolutely adored. The art portrayals of the characters & color palettes used in this are gorgeous -- throughout the story the color palettes change so perfectly to reflect the story. There is so much love within these pages & this love bleeds thorough so clearly.

One of my favorite lines from this was, "gender is a trip, limitless like the universe." <3

Forthcoming review will be posted on https://www.instagram.com/bookedwithemma/

3.5 stars

Okay, so here's the thing:
Juliet Takes a Breath made me feel both extremely uncomfortable, and very empowered.

The first half of this book felt like a mixture of old-school and new, slightly elitist feminism. Talks about how womanhood is loving my pussy, folds within the inherent assumption that being a woman equals being a female. I'm pretty sure this wasn't the author's intentions, it was probably even a criticism more than anything else... but starting off with the glorious revelations the mc felt towards these concepts made me feel so soooo uncomfortable.

I don't like being told how to experience my body. This specific type of feminism who tells me to embrace my pussy (my pussy and I are on excellent terms, thanks for the concern), while important and undoubtedly groundbreaking at its time, is simply patronizing, and can't be considered the holy grail of feminism.
So yeah, to see it meshed with a series of so-called modern and queer things like pronouns, soy milk, and apparently tree-hugging (seriously?), felt like an attack. It felt like a double criticism. Like those archaic views are actually the same as understanding gender and the implications it decrees. And it all boils down to things you don't understand.

On the other hand, I loved that she was fat, I loved that I could see that she was fat because it wasn't just my interpretation of the book - it was illustrated right there. And Juliet was GLORIOUS in all her curves and color and messy confusion.
I loved being able to look inside Juliet's family, the good and the bad parts. AND THE REP! So much, so inclusive and diverse! I love how I had to double-check myself on my thoughts because I'm a white woman, and when I read a book written by an author of color, I want to make sure I don't think or judge before I listen.
I loved seeing trans people talked about as beautiful and desired.
I loved Juliet's cousin and her flash course on how trans people don't owe cis people their gender, their sex, or their education.

I loved how flawed Juliet was, because we all are, all the time... but I wish she could've been explored better as a character, and not just as a reflection of her surroundings. I don't know how different this adaptation is from the original book, so I can't speak for the actual story. I feel like there's so much more to this story than the graphic novel shows. It has so much joy and love, I wish I could've read it when I was young. I wish I could've felt the power that comes with being represented, even if just your size. Not only represented - but loved.

PS - the illustrations are s t u n n i n g! But please, someone do something about the typography, because it looks sloppy and patched.

Although this graphic novel is an adaption, I have not read the original novel by Gabby Rivera, so I went into this with no expectations or knowledge of what the story was truly about. For that reason, I can’t tell you how this compares, but I enjoyed this as a graphic novel quite a lot. I have been picking up more and more GNs lately and am really loving them.

As the synopsis states, Juliet Takes a Breath is all about Juliet trying to find herself through the intersection of sexuality, race, and identity. Enamored by a book about feminism by white feminist Harlowe Brisbane, Juliet is hired to work for the author for a summer for college credit. But before she leaves the Bronx to travel all the way to Oregon, she comes out to her family members.

Juliet is met with a mix of reactions that many queer folk are familiar with. Some of her family members are accepting and loving, while others–like her mother–insist that it is merely a faze. Juliet is understandably hurt by her mother’s reaction, and the distance–both physical and emotional–in this relationship is a plot point throughout the graphic novel. I was really saddened by a lot of the things her mother said as the story continued. The struggle of wanting your loved ones to accept you for who you are and being disappointed is one I’m familiar with, as are many other LGBTQ+ folks. I loved Juliet’s resilience, but wish that she hadn’t been met with a reaction that she had to resilient against.

Afterwards, Juliet reaches Oregon and meets Harlowe, a woman she has built up in her mind a lot. Harlowe doesn’t seem to be all that Juliet expects, pretty much from the very start. Harlowe comes off very early on as a white feminist with seemingly very little self-awareness. Throughout the story, it is obvious that her feminism not only leaves out BIPOC but also speaks over them. Without spoiling the story, I will say that she embodies the white savior trope and that her actions not only affect Juliet but other BIPOC and queer people around her as well. Harlowe’s character is a difficult one to bear but also an important reality for many of us white queer and feminist people to acknowledge. We can and must do better than this, but many of us aren’t.

Despite the negative experiences that Harlowe causes for Juliet, she does meet some wonderful people while in Oregon, like Maxine, Octavia, and Kira. The new people, along with people she’s known and loved for years–her cousin, Ava, and her aunt–help Juliet explore herself and learn that she does not need Harlowe to give her all the answers she’s been seeking.

For a graphic novel, there is a lot packed into this story, but I loved the way it was done. I would have loved to spend more time getting to know Juliet instead of mostly just seeing the situations she’s thrown into and often hurt by, but I imagine picking up the original novel will do that for me! I’m rating this for what it is (graphic novels can’t exactly give you the same amount of insight that a 300 page novel can) and it hits 5 stars for me. Also, the art style in this is incredible in my opinion, and I will definitely be checking out anything that Celia Moscote illustrates in the future. The color palette may not be everyone’s favorite, but I loved it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this reading experience and will definitely be checking out the full novel to get a more detailed version of the story! If you’re interested in following a self-proclaimed “baby dyke” explore the intersections of her race, sexuality, and identity while also gaining a possible found family and meeting cute girls, this is something you should check out!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely adore the novel of Juliet Takes a Breath, so was thrilled to have the chance to check out the graphic novel. I think this does a remarkable job of capturing the essence of the book and Juliet's journey of self discovery. I loved the art style and colour palette is honestly gorgeous. As is probably to be expected some of the intricacies of the novel are not as explored, however I was pleasantly surprised at how much could be shown in this format. This could easily be read with or without familiarity of the book.

Juliet Takes A Breath, as in the original book this graphic novel is based on, was all the rage on Goodreads a few years back. I really meant to be reading that book at the time, but alas, as too often happens with me and my plans, I forgot about it. Then, up popped this graphic novel adaption of said book on Netgalley earlier this year and I figured I should request it.

Note, I clearly haven’t read the book this graphic novel is based on so I don’t know how this compares to the book.

I think this book will be important for a lot of people. It centers a latinx fat lesbian main character in a really important coming of age story that’s about finding your own identities and incorporating them to become your own. This book deals with how racism, homophobia and whiteness/heterosexuality as the norm shape your life and your own identity. It deals with topics like how people that you think most definitely should get you, don’t get you or your struggles at all because they don’t share important parts of your identity.

Needless to say, topic-wise this definitely is a more serious book. It’s also an extremely important book, because it centers latinx characters and also LGBT-identities that’s not coming from a perspective of whiteness. I myself am white, bisexual and not from the US, so I’m definitely not the target audience of this book (although it made me think of how privileged and sometimes even tone deaf I as a white person am and have been in the past, especially in relations to LGBT-issues, which is always welcome). However, even I can see how important a book that’s about finding your own identity must be for readers going through the same kind of struggles as Juliet is. I can’t speak for how relatable this book is for lantix readers, but I as a white person came out from this book questioning things about my own behavior and reflecting on race and identity, which is definitely a good thing.

This book was a quick read and I did enjoy it. I liked Juliet and the setting, I liked how this book centered LGBT latinx characters, I liked the fact that this book came with a message. However, at times I felt like this graphic novel didn’t go “deep enough” into the story for my taste, things moved a bit too quickly and touched on things a bit too shallowly. I have a feeling that the book this graphic novel is based on is more fleshed out so I think I’m going to suggest you read the book before this adaption. I’ve put the novel at the top of my to-be-read list and shall be picking that up soonish because like I said I really did like these characters and this story a whole lot.

I must read the original novel that this is based off of. This graphic novel checks off all of my favorites when reading a story. Lesbian, person of color (this time a Puerto Rican from the Bronx... I am Puerto Rican from Queens, oh did I RELATE), and a real story coming of age story. Juliet's mother reminded me of mine, close minded. I related to her home life and the need to escape. Her journey to find herself spoke to me because it was all relatable.

I took off a star because I felt as if I was missing a chunk of a story which is why I want to read the original.

“I love you like the seas love the moon. Whatever you are, whoever you love. I’m here.”


I adored this ❤︎ there were issues that were pointed out in such a short story that is relevant until today even though the original novel was published some 4 years ago.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE SO GORGEOUS; it did a lot to convery Juliet’s emotions, the pallette is used well and so my style, translates the comic relief

tw// homophobia, fatphobia, cultural appropriation, white apologist

— overall thoughts: 4.25 —

To point out some of points that were tackled so bravely:
✧ it talks about the conflicts that could arise after coming out to your family and does it well
✧ pointing out the actual realities of issues like homophobia in families like Juliets
✧ cultural appropriation in a white dominated society
✧ “it’s just a phase”

At the heart, it is a coming of age story that showed the realities of how hard it can be for families to accept but also that not perhaps not everyone will be like that and there will be some people who will love you no matter what. Together with all the insecurities come at that age.

“They didn’t even know me and it was like they loved me.”


I loved the character dynamics and being able to see plainly see the cultural appropriation in certain parts irked me, but that was the point. But Harlowe… oh boy. (view spoiler) But that also goes to show just how entitled some white folks can be with topics like racism and the fact that it was pointed out so blatantly has me applauding.

I’m really glad they came out with this graphic novel because I might not have been able to get around to reading the novel, and it might be the same with other people. This, I feel, makes it more accessible to a lot more people which is important for such an important story.

There really is no excuse to be ignorant at this point with all the stories just like Juliet Takes a Breath that are being published.

This was a well done story on every level. It did feel like everything was moving too fast, I guess that comes with the graphic novel format.

↣ This was a nice breather and a surely important story to thousands of people. I wish this was more hyped but maybe I just missed said hype. ↢

“If you don’t have a hum, just a breathe.”

I am somewhat familiar with the plot and general overview of the novel as hearing a review of the original book on YouTube a while back. I started reading this probably in late summer early fall but then got caught up in the insanity of moving to another province (and in the time of a pandemic) but then I finished it last night. The illustrations are very bubbly with a gorgeous sunset colour palette and seeing a plus size main character is always appreciated by myself. Juliet is so freaking adorable in the way she is drawn and has such a positive yet naive mindset regarding the white feminist manifesto. An amazing and diverse cast of side characters all along the LGBTQ spectrum, a young woman learning about all the ups and down’s of feminism, minority representation, LGBTQ vocabulary and her first heartbreak. She also sees that while Harlow means well, the woman she does her internship with doesn’t have the ability to really be the greatest ally to any other than her fellow white woman. This causes an incident which deeply hurts Juliet causing her to take some time off to visit family in another state. There she learns more about other members of her family and how open some parts of her family are. Also she gets a great love interest after she experiences her first heartbreak. Overall it is an experience that she will not forget. And this was such a great read showing people how some feminism can be very centred on white women and intersection needs to be highlighted much more because not everyone has the same situation. Would be a great resource book for high school students regarding that and LGBTQ culture.

I haven’t read the novel. (Yet) I was totally drawn to this graphic lovely due to the cover, as well as everyone’s gushing reviews of the novel. I was NOT disappointed. This was such a great graphic novel. I devoured it. Gabbys story came through so beautifully paired with the vivid illustrations.

All the conversations surrounding woke liberals, whiteness, white women, anti blackness, homophobia, racism, were so relevant and I instantly wanted my teenager to read this.

The self discovery journey Juliet is on to find herself in this intersectional way as a Black, Latinx, lesbian woman was such a raw and vulnerable story.

I loved that the antagonists here were both women that Juliet loved and respects. One of those stories where you find your hero’s are flawed... and it is a devastating blow.

I believe I said I wanted to crawl into this book and live there when I first read it. I stand by this statement.