Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Breathe and Count Back from Ten

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester

25 reviews

rickireadss's review against another edition

4.5

this was so freaking good!! i loved verónica SO MUCH and i felt myself relating to her a bunch. this books does a great job at exploring disability, immigration, and bodily autonomy. i think natalia does a great job at showing how people, who say they love you and want what's best for you, will treat you when you're disabled with ableism. the discussion around verónica's parents and how they treat/view her hurt my soul, but i think it was an important part of her story because it's something many disabled people face and experience.

i also think natalia did a great job with her discussions around bodily autonomy in regards to medical procedures and having control over what is happening to your body. i think many times, disabled and neurodivergent teens are overruled by their parents who "know best", but in reality, those parents are NOT the ones living in their teenagers' bodies - and i think that natalia including this in the story was very powerful.

overall, i had the BEST time with this book. i liked the whole mermaid obsession verónica has and the mermaid show was SO cool!! (i want to see one now!) i liked the little romance subplot between verónica and her new neighbor, alex. i do with it had been a little more fleshed out - i feel like they had minimal on-page interactions and those that were there seemed very deep. i wanted just a little more cute moments sprinkled in throughout. regardless, this book was PHENOMENAL, and i cannot wait to have a physical copy.

disability rep: hip dysplasia (fmc), clinical depression/depressive episodes (love interest)

⚠️: ableism, medical content, body shaming, sexual assault, sexism, emotional abuse, racism, mental illness (depression), suicidal thoughts

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

I have never highlighted a book like I have this one! The disability rep here spoke to me on another level. The story perfectly captured the relationship I have to my body; the disconnect, and how simultaneously my body is hugely familiar AND unfamiliar to me. I also appreciated how the book showed that ableism comes in part from disabled people “making” abled people uncomfortable, as we are “uncomfortable” reminders that humans are not meant to be “perfect”, are not designed to be, and that ALL bodies have needs. Furthermore, I loved how the story poked holes in how abled people want to “fix” us. This quote in particular spoke to that:

“And why should it matter, anyway, when so many things in nature - rivers and trees and shorelines and mountains - are free to be imperfect? No one calls a flower chueca as it bends its way toward the sky.”

There’s so much more glowing praise I could lavish on the disability rep here! It was so spot on, and I’ll be looking at the annotations I’ve made for years to come.

The key theme of the book is bodily autonomy, and how Verónica is trying to find and assert this as a disabled immigrant Latina girl. Each of her intersecting identities impact this challenge, and it is in her search that she develops so much as a character. I really loved this part of the story.

I also really liked the summery feel this novel had. It is brought out by the pools and sunbathing, sunshine and, of course, mermaids. We got so much detail regarding how being a mermaid performer works and I loved it! It gave me a whole new appreciation for that profession.

I did struggle with two things. The first is the romance between Verónica and Alex. I didn’t get their chemistry, especially as everything within their relationship seemed to move so quickly. On top of this, I just don’t think having a romance was necessary for this book. The same themes could have been explored without it, and it took time and space away from the development of these themes. The second thing I didn’t like was that Sylvester never really properly addressed Verónica’s belief that her younger sister Dani didn’t have problems, or that the ones that she did have were insignificant. I didn’t like this invalidation of Dani’s experience especially as, aside from being disabled, she would have been going through similar struggles to Verónica. I will say that I DID appreciate how Sylvester handled the glass-child narrative within this relationship, though!

Rep: Peruvian-American MC with hip dysplasia, Mexican-American LI with depression, Peruvian-American SCs, sapphic SC, Black sapphic SC, Japanese-American SC, Native American genderqueer SC

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chronicacademia's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-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

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twistykris's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

A great book that delves into an teenage immigrant's desire to be a mermaid while juggling the intricacies of her hip dysplasia diagnosis. The water is freedom that provides a (relative) relief from the pain, while also providing some relief from her overwhelming- but well-meaning- parents.

A very cute, emotional book that I absorbed in less than a day. I wish we got more of a growing relationship between Verónica and Alex- maybe it's me reading it as an adult, but I felt like they went into a relationship and fell in love VERY quickly and it felt.. unrealistic? Even as teenagers. I also wish we delved more into Verónica and Dani's relationship as sisters. There are brief moments of them arguing, but it felt sort of shallow. I think it would have been nice to see them bond more.

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saf_185's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

I didn’t want this book to end at all. I found Veronica’s relationships with her mom, dad and sister very relatable. There were so many lines in this book that just absolutely gutted me

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archiveofrasa's review

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emotional informative lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

a YA story that delves into the immigrant experience and involving the intricacies of disabilities too? count me the fuck in. while I'm not an American immigrant and am not Latine, the experiences where very real and I could definitely understand the complexity. Verónica was a really interesting narrative to follow and it is always nice to read about a particular disability written by someone who has that disability. her strong interest in mermaids was really fun and unique (in my opinion) and intergrating her own culture's folklore into it was so nice !!! despite not being Latine, the way her parents act is very similar to how South Asians act and I similarly felt the same frustration she felt. also her experience of wanted to be treated normally and not singled out (negatively or positively) was really well done.

my main criticisms lie in my personal opinions and what more I wanted. I loved Alex but how their relationship developed was a little insta-lovey; wanted more development from them! Veró is also a little self-centred, which is very understandable considering everything she has been through, I just wish we got a little more room to discuss that with Dani and elaborate on the nuances of this situation. there was some really nice prose scattered around in the story that I ended up highlighting, but overall it did read very easily, fitting for YA, made me realise I'm expecting more from YA than I should 😭

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this_momma_is_booked's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-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? No

4.5

Natalia once again gifted us with a book that so perfectly captures the Latinx experience, particularly when you are raised in the US by immigrants (even if you are one as well). Vero hits the nail on the head so many times when she expresses how torn she feels about her identity, wondering if she's Latinx enough (spoiler: you always are) or "too American." Her battle with her parents to live her life on her terms is something I feel so deeply as I had the same battle. Vero has the added challenge of living with a disability but trying so hard to not be defined by it - a struggle so many people live with.

I really loved how each chapter started with the definitions - words are so fluid that even though they have a dictionary definition, they can mean something different or more when put into the context of our lives.

I would definitely recommend if you ever felt teen angst because there's lots of that here! I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what else Natalie gives us.

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bekkasbookclub's review

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informative inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was so beautifully written! I loved the imagery Sylvester created when she described Verónica swimming and the release she felt from her pain. As someone who does not have hip dysplasia, I could feel her pain while reading along. Verónica seemed like such a well developed character, even though she was just a teenager. I also loved the realness of Verónica's relationship with her overprotective parents. This was something that wholeheartedly resonated with me and my upbringing. I could feel the frustration Verónica felt when she was just trying to figure out who she is and what she wanted to do instead of doing what her parents wanted. The romance aspect in this book was sweet, and I loved that it touched on mental health in young adults. Overall, I think was a beautiful story discussing disabilities. It was absolutely captivating and I could really see this being a limited series or movie. I would suggest this to anyone who loves YA, wants to see disability representation, or loves descriptive water imagery.

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caseythereader's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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

4.25

Thanks to Books Forward PR for the free copy of this book.

- BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN is a gorgeous book. It tackles so many topics, from immigration to ableism, and never feels overstuffed.
- This book really digs in to how disabled people are often treated as if they are not the experts on their own bodies. Verónica spends so much time telling adults what she is capable of, and they continue to try to make decisions about her body without her.

Content Warnings

leahrosiee's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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