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

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

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

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

First let me say, I am LOVING how diverse and colorful the 2017's debuts are, from "Juilet Takes a Breath" to Angie Thomas, "The Hate U Give". It is clear, our literary world is opening up and I am so excited for where these authors are going to take us.

Juilet is a Puerto Rican queer goddess who finally got the nerve to come out to her family, then leaves the next day from the Bronx to take up an internship in Portland with her favorite Author, Harlowe- the authority of everything feminist and pussy power. Juliet is about to venture into the unknown, and is hoping Harlowe is able to guide her, but things of course doesn't turn out how we all think it will.

They say you should judge a book by its cover but as soon as I saw this cover I had really high expectations, I was SOLD! I wish the plot and characters lived up to my expectations. While I enjoyed Juliet's journey, the plot felt a lot like feminism/queer 101. There was a lot of explaining and dumbing down, at times I wanted to scream at Juilet, "HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW THIS?!!!! HOW NAIVE CAN ONE PERSON BE?!!!!" Yes, I know this is a coming of age novel but I felt the character Juilet could have been a bit more prepared/educated.

While there are some shortcomings, it doesn't negate that this is a solid debut novel and great step in the right direction. I am looking forward to reading more of Gabby Rivera's works!

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

This book was amazing and everything I could have wanted from a book. This book covers ALL the issues, seriously ALL of them, but you barely notice them getting ticked off because it’s so funny. And hot! The heroine is so alive and hilarious. Juliet, a Nuyorican baby dyke travels to Portland to stay with an author who has been, uhh, inspiration to her. As you’d imagine she clashes with white, hippy feminism in some ways and needs a getaway to her cousin in Miami to help figure out where she fits in.

Pretty much character was “I know that person” or “I wish I knew this person”. To some extent people have to be types (e.g. the White Feminist) to cover the range of issues Gabby covers in this book but they are all real, both Juliet’s family and all the queer family she meets in Portland and Miami. The writing is stellar and this the THE queer POC coming of age story you have been waiting for. I want a movie! I want a sequel all about Lil’ Melvin! I want to read it again!

I requested Juliet Takes a Breath, by Gabby Rivera, for review from Netgalley and Riverdale Avenue Books was kind enough to send it to me and Andy.
Juliet Takes a Breath captured me the minute I saw the cover. A brown girl with an undercut is not someone you see everyday even as a side character – let alone leading the story. I was not disappointed. Through the story, we follow Juliet, a Puerto-rican girl from the Bronx, in her summer internship with the white feminist guru, Harlowe. Juliet is brown, Juliet is queer, Juliet is a woman, Juliet is a feminist, and she is still quite learning what everything means.
My favorite thing in the book was how it tackles the matters of white feminism and white privilege. How microagressions can hurt someone deeply and how it doesn’t matter if the person didn’t mean – they can still be racist.
It’s also great that Juliet doesn’t know everything. She’s not incredibly educated in matters of gender, sexuality and race, but she’s open and willing to learn. Through the book, you follow her as she grows into someone who’s sure of herself and her identity. Also her voice is incredibly unique.
And the characters. They were amazing. Some deeply flawed, of course, but human. And all of them were women. Queer women, and almost all of them POC women. There were maybe two male characters through the book, and they’re not there for long. It was refreshing and incredible.
My only real complain and that some of the plot points just seemed a bit too convenient.
I have to say, I was a bit skeptical when I started. There is a lot of hippie things that made me kind of “hm, okay”, and Harlowe’s language in her book hinted at a white (and a little trans-exclusionary, let’s be honest) that was making me twist up my nose, but Rivera handled it perfectly and soon it became clear that it was a story about intersectional feminism.

Soooo good. Filled with purposeful, powerful topics. Need more books like this. Should be required reading

Gabby Rivera's Juliet Takes A Breath surprised me in how unique and funny Juliet's story was, even though there was so much drama going on at the same time. While a serious "coming-out" conversation is happening at the beginning of the book, and maybe a bit before, Juliet is thinking of what the definition of a ferocious cunt is and I would find myself laughing even though I know what the implications of ferocious cunt is supposed to be. The book also discusses important yet sensitive topics--racism, feminism, equality, acceptance, family, culture, etc.--important to people in society today. Because of this, it is hard to find a book like this one--especially a young adult book--that incorporates the significant messages it sends to its readers. This bildungsroman also discusses the importance of who, when, and how to love. Having a diversity of relationships, sexual identifications, and a bit of humor present helped with the understanding of this. The story being told, overall, was brilliant. One thing that I thought was underdeveloped was Juliet's relationship with Lainie. I felt like I didn't know their relationship well enough to be understand Juliet's heartache when they broke up. I also feel like there are some things that happened in the book that were funny but didn't correlate with the story and its characters. An example would be Phen, the male nudist. I would imagine a female nudist at Harlow's house but a man surprised me because of the amount of times we had been told before about Harlow's opinion of men.

I did like it and I managed to finish it in a day (helped by how it was so short) but I think I would have liked it a lot more if I was a teenager reading this for my very first book about a LGBTQ+ character.

I really liked Juliet, I found her struggle to find her place in a community very relatable and I love her relationships with all the different women around her, both platonic and romantic, helped her accept herself as who she was. There was no one person that helped Juliet accept herself, they all had something do with it (including Harlowe). I really loved how Juliet learned to criticise and question what people say to her and not to just take things as a given, especially with white feminism. I loved the variety of women who helped her, of all ages, sexuality and races. There was no one right POV because they were all right in some way.

Now onto the things I didn't like. I didn't like the chapter about periods particularly. Yes, it is supposed to be empowering, reclaiming a bodily function that people are so ingrained to think as shameful, but I really don't particularly care about the obsession with periods. Yes, Harlowe's view on periods was addressed later and I'm really glad it was (about how having a period makes you a woman which it does not), but I didn't need to read about Juliet meditating her cramps away. I am interested to see if that salt and water trick works though.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of my review, if this had been my first book ever with an LGBTQ+ character, then maybe being lectured over and over about different terms and definitions would be helpful but it just left me feeling a little irritated. I felt like Juliet was intentionally made more naive than she had to be, all so we could be told about the different definitions of some of the new words she heard.

I also wish Kira had been developed more as a character because she seemed to show up, be exactly who Juliet needed her to be and then disappeared again. She sounded interesting from what we saw of her, but she didn't seem to be her own person, more like Juliet's love interest?

So, I did like this book and it was a quick read for me and I loved the cover.

Love, love, loved this book! Juliet is an amazing, and naive, character who is learning and growing in her identity as a Latinx individual and as a lesbian. Throughout the novel she giants and garners the knowledge to improve herself into the best person she can : herself. Heartfelt, funny, charming, and eyeopening, I devoured this novel and loved every single moment of it. I've already recommended it to several people and will continue to recommend as long as possible.

Juliet Takes a Breath was just magical, it had such a power, I believe it will stay with me forever. I loved it because of the environment which is present from the first to last page. All the feminism, veganism, “rage against the motherfucking machine” philosophy was just me. It is a book about girl/woman power, however it is not a book only dedicated to girls and women, it’s a book for everyone.

Juliet is 19-year-old, Puerto Rican, lesbian and lives in the Bronx. She goes to Portland to be an intern for the writer of her favourite book. She is a fierce, funny, nerdy, chubby, intelligent girl and this book was the story of her coming of age. In the beginning of the book Juliet is having trouble understanding what is the terminology she needed to define her own identity and the queer women of colour around her end up being the biggest help she can get.
One of the quotes that I’ll never forget is: “Love your breast, hips, and wide-ass if do you have them and if you don’t, love the body you have or create for yourself.”
This book brings up a lot of important topics, topics that are not mentioned enough in other books.
This was 4.5/5 stars.

(the review will be in my blog in a few days it is sceduled to July 22, 2017, but I'll leave the link for the post)

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 to her entire family before leaving for Portland for the entire summer. She goes there to be the Pussy Lady’s intern, a very well loved white feminist lady who wrote Juliet’s favourite book, Raging Flower.
And I loved Juliet, I loved how clueless she is about the LGBTQ community, about feminism, about herself, because we discover all these things with her. We experience her doubts, her sadness, her happiness, her pain, and it was freaking beautiful.
Juliet goes through a lot, she meets new people, open her mind to a world she didn’t know existed, she finds herself, or at least she begins to understand who she wants to be.

Me. Because I’m a messy, over-emotional, book nerd, weirdo, chubby brown human and I needed to learn how to love myself, even the shameful bits.

This book deals a lot with feminism and how different feminism can be for a lot of people. I admit, I was extremely afraid at the beginning of this book, because I felt like the feminism that was described was only meant for white cis women, and I didn’t want to find this kind of bullshit in this book. But turned out the book condemns strongly this ‘kind’ of feminism.

I couldn’t understand why it mattered so much. Like, what was so bad about Raging Flower? Ava said it was because Harlowe didn’t make queer and or trans women of color a priority in her work; that Harlowe assumed that we could all connect through sisterhood, as if sisterhood looked the same for everyone. As if all women had vaginas.
“Um, Ava, don’t all women have vaginas?” I asked, staring at her.
“Fuck no. We just talked about this,” she replied, “This is why I can’t fuck with Harlowe. All Harlowe does is equate being a woman to bleeding and having certain body parts. Like, I’m so not with that. For me, womanhood is radical enough for anyone who dares to claim it.”

Also guys, there was an ENTIRE chapter on polyamory relationships and on MENSTRUATIONS. CAN YOU BELIVE THAT ?! In our society, periods are still really taboo even though they're the most natural thing ever. People need to talk about periods in books more often, because young ladies need to understand they have nothing to feel ashamed of.

Know your period as you know yourself. Touch the wobbling blobs of blood and tissue that escape and land intact on your favorite period panties. Note the shades of brown and purple and volcanic reds that gush, spill, and squirt out announcing themselves. Slide fingers deep inside your cunt and learn what your period feels like before it’s out of your body. Masturbate to ease cramps and meditate to soothe the spirit. Connect to your blood cycle. Build sacred rituals around your body during this time of renewal.

I wish I could do this book justice, I truly do, but I’m a terrible mess right now. I needed to read this book, because as a biracial bisexual woman I needed to feel like somebody had my back, and this book totally offered to watch it for me.

All of the women in my life were telling me the same thing. My story, my truth, my life, my voice, all of that had to be protected and put out into the world by me. No one else. No one could take that from me. I had to let go of my fear. I didn’t know what I was afraid of.

This book… Wow… This book…
I can’t even begin to describe the plot… I mean it wasn’t at all what I expected but it was pretty damn awesome nonetheless…

Ok... I'll still try... So Juliet is a 18/19 puerto rican girl from the Bronx and she’s gay. She’s read a feminist book by Harlowe Brisbane and decides to email her. The book starts the day before Juliet leaves for Portland to be Harlowe’s intern for the summer…

Honestly, I thought this would be a F/F romance of some kind. I hadn’t read the summary but I thought that was what this was.
This wasn’t. It was a story of self discovery and so much more. I didn’t agree with everything, I found some parts to be pretty slow and the writing seemed bizarre to me at times but still, I think it’s a must-read.

There is something about this book that reminded me of being a baby dyke during the 1990s. This stream-of-consciousness coming-of-age novel is reminiscent of the kind of fiction I would have bought when I was in college. While I wonder if younger readers find it relevant, I hope they find it as entertaining as I did.

Juliet, born of Puerto Rican parents living in the Bronx, is working up the courage to come out to her parents on the eve of her departure to Portland. She has snagged a coveted internship with Harlowe, the author of her favorite book. Throughout the course of the book she will continue to learn about herself and the lesbian community that surrounds her, navigate the family drama that resulted from her coming out, and find new allies in unexpected places. This stream-of-consciousness coming-of-age novel is reminiscent of the kind of fiction I would have bought when I was in college. While I wonder if younger readers find it relevant, I hope they find it as entertaining as I did.

The video review of this book will be published on the blog (www.psilovethatbook.com) as well as on my youtube channel on 29th of June.

Honestly, this book is just incredible. Both for being a lgbt story and for being a Hispanic lgbt story.
The main character had a sensational voice that I loved reading. She was a magnetic character that I connected with instantly. Her perspective made everything about the book enjoyable: the plot, the setting, the other characters.
I especially recommend this book to anyone who can relate to being Hispanic, lgbt, or a woman. I also recommend this book to people who just like good books.

First, I want to thank Netgalley, the publisher and Gabby Rivera for this copy in exchange for my review!

When I went into Juliet Takes a Breath, I thought that this was going to be a nice lesbian romance and coming out/coming of age story.
What I got was probably the best book I've read in 2017 and a novel I think everyone should read.
I loved every part of this novel, it's one that everyone can leave with something new that they didn't know or didn't understand.

The feminism, body positivity, LGBTQIA+ and POC rep blew me away. The plot itself was fully based around our MC, Juliet's, growth and discovery of herself and it was executed perfectly.
That being said, so was the character development in this book.

It touches base on accepting yourself, the patriarchy, the importance of the LGBTQIA+ and POC community within the feminist movement, and how important it is to know your history.

I honestly can't recommend this book enough, it's a powerful book and it left a huge impression on me. I'll be picking up my own physical copy soon.

Gabby Rivera has a witty writing that you grab you from the beggining. I'm going to review this on my youtube channel.

Juliet is a chubby lesbian Puerto Rican girl who just came out to her family and is about to spend her summer with Harlowe, the author of a book that has helped her to discover feminism. During this summer she will learn a lot of things about herself, about feminism, racism and white privilege, and the queer community; she'll get to question everything and everyone; and she'll understand that Harlowe doesn't have all the answers.

I firmly believe we need more books like this one. Books that talk freely about feminism (including polyamory, menstruation, or masturbation), books with a main character who needs to ask lots of questions because is still learning and is facing many issues that are new to her. Because it's ok not to know all the terminology, to have doubts, and to ask (politely and respectfully) when you need any clarification. And that doesn't mean that other people are better than you.

Also, we need more books with so many queer and PoC spaces, books that talk about how important is to find people you identify with and make you feel that you belong, books that question white allocishet privilege.

This book was magical and mystical and all things fucking amazing. I am older than the character in the book, but when I was 19 I wish there had been more books like this one. It was so nice to read an affirming book about queer, POC, nerds who had no idea what it meant to be a lesbian or feminist. I was that way when I first came out and I felt utterly clueless. Juliet's story is important because it lets me know that there are other people like me out there. It brings back fond memories of being the only person in my family to leave the "hood" and try something new and different and not knowing how that would look or feel. This book is important because it lets little brown girls out there know that they have a voice and there is someone writing their stories. It really gave me all of the feels and was made even better by getting to meet Gabby Rivera at BookCon in NYC this past weekend. I will read everything she writes and I hope there are more YA-ish books about girls of color and their experiences navigating the queer community. I thought the character of Harlow was so well written in all of her flaws and the rest of the characters fit really well into the book. Overall great first book and I am glad I happened upon it.

I have already posted my review on Amazon. And I plan to post my review on my blog (lifeofaliteraryner.wordpress.com) and twitter (twitter.com/ahyperboliclife) Monday afternoon on June 5th.
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This books was a ride for me. I could not stand Harlowe Brisbane or her damn book so I almost DNF’d this after chapter 2, but I am glad my sister pushed me to keep going because I really loved it. Juliet Takes a Breath is a moving and powerful story of self-discovery, growth, expectations, and feminism. Juliet’s story felt so honest and raw, it truly captivates you as she learns to love herself.

Things I Liked :
Juliet’s journey is beautiful and powerful. I loved seeing her discover feminism, what it means to her, and where she fits into this larger movement. I also really loved that she learns from her family and she has a support system around her, ready to uplift and encourage her.

The feminist and queer ideologies are very accessible for every reader. Juliet learns and absorbs so much - about non-white revolutionists, polyamorous and other non-heteronormative relationships, safe spaces, trans rights, allies. Juliet’s eyes are opened to a world she didn’t know existed and she craves knowledge and understanding. Everything is explained very clearly and respectfully, so those new to feminism can easy understand the topics and grow in knowledge like Juliet.

I also loved how Juliet’s relationship with her mom developed. We see their relationship go through so much and in the end, her mom helps propel her forward, and encourages her to reinvent her own world and not rely on others to do so.

I LOVED that they called out the white feminism EVERY TIME. The characters in the story were openly critical of the exclusionary and dismissive white feminist nonsense and actively challenged that white feminism was universal. It was just so great to see.

Things I Didn’t Like :
You already now I hated Harlowe. Everytime she was in a scene I just got angry - and don’t even get me started on her dumbass book. First of all, it reminded me so much of the book Rachel reads in Friends-Be Your Own Windkeeper. I felt like they were basically interchangeable. On a more critical note, Raging Flower reeked of privilege. Highlighting women’s divine essence and power and their cosmic sisterhood, while not confronting any of the systemic or political oppression women - especially non-white women - face was infuriating. Yes camaraderie and self empowerment are important, but I HATED how Juliet upheld her book as a bastion of feminist literature and Harlowe was iconicized for her mediocrity. It was not unrealistic though, and Harlowe/her book was called out several times so I really appreciated that. I also HATED her half assed apology to Juliet after the incident at the book reading. She literally said she didn’t think she said anything wrong or mean about Juliet and I couldn’t believe it.

I felt Juliet was very naive. I understand that this is the story of her journey to discover more about feminism and where she fit in, but it didn’t feel like she was in college to me. She says she met Lainie in a Women’s Studies class, but she still new virtually nothing about feminism, or the fallacies of the US government, at all. It was a little unbelievable to me. I also didn’t like her thoughts about the Native American genocide being an accident, and how Harlowe and Maxine’s poly relationship meant her crushes on Kira and Maxine, while still loving Lainie, was okay - it felt like she was trying to justify emotionally cheating to me, while not being open with all parties. It was also hard for me to believe that Juliet’s only resource on feminist literature was Raging Flower - even in Harlowe’s book she says to read books and resources from a wide range of people, so I could believe that Juliet hadn’t taken that advice to heart.

This was a tough reading experience for me, but I am really happy I finished the book. Juliet’s story is honest and gripping and unapologetically queer. Juliet celebrates the queerness in her own life and in the community she discovers. I loved going on this journey with Juliet and seeing her come into her own and learn to love who she is.

This book hooked me since the first page: Juliet's voice is so refreshing and I loved discovering more about her, her family and friends, and her relationship with feminism, queerness and race. A solid five-star read for me.