Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Breathe and Count Back from Ten

This is a book that makes me so excited about young adult lit and the wonderful new stories that young folks get to read! This was a very warm novel that powerfully reflected on consent, ownership of our own bodies, and the impact of disability and culture on identity. While I sometimes felt things got quite repetitive, the musings Verónica has on her relationship to her body and to her family and friends were so compelling and made me think of all the ways young adulthood (especially when disability, immigration status, and ableism are in the mix) can render you out of control of your body and your choices. I’m also a sucker for mermaid content (don’t we all have a secret mermaid nook in our brains??) so that was really fun to include. Highly recommend this book for a cozy story and really beautiful messages!

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imstephtacular's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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strawberrysage's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I found this book while scrolling through the disability tag on Tumblr and I never thought I would relate to a book more than this one. I never thought to look into disability books since the possibility of disabled characters in books, especially main characters, has never really been prominent. It was such a nice and relatable read and shows the struggles of both latinx and disabled people. 5/5 would definitely read again.

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