Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Juliet Takes a Breath

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

8 reviews

drraytay's review

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challenging informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad 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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

“You are your own person. If liking girls is a phase, so what? If it’s your whole life, who cares? You’re destined to evolve and understand yourself in ways you never imagined before. And you’ve got our blood running through your beautiful veins, so no matter what, you’ve been blessed with the spirit of women who know how to love.”

I am SO glad I read this, OMG! This is a new adult coming of age novel with a splash of romance and existential crisis. Nineteen-year-old Puerto Rican lesbian Juliet Milagros Palante is from the Bronx, and reads a book called "Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind" by Harlowe Brisbane, and writes a letter to Harlowe right after discussing how it opened her eyes as far as feminism and her relationship to her body and her sexuality. Harlowe then recruits her for a summer internship to join her in Portland, Oregon, so a few hours before Juliet goes to the airport, she comes out to her family in the kitchen, leaving her mom speechless and locked in her bedroom, refusing to hug Juliet goodbye. Juliet's college girlfriend Lainie has also been evasive in not calling or texting Juliet at all, and constantly leaving her hanging. It's safe to say there's a *lot* on Juliet's mind right now.

I enjoyed this book because it showed the importance of nuance, especially as a young adult who is learning about the injustices of the world (moreso history and examining others' complicity in it, because Juliet is fully aware of her own reality and situation; however, this perspective gets expanded and she takes a closer look at it for sure!) for the first time. Juliet indeed does learn so much by spending time with Harlowe. Harlowe's main partner is Maxine, a Black woman, and this comes into play with how Juliet comes to understand Harlowe's tendency to center whiteness even more. Throughout the summer, Juliet unfortunately learns that your heroes or your mentors are not always what you imagined, and not everyone is "all good" or "all bad".

Besides the dynamic with Harlowe, this was illustrated really well with her short phone calls with her mother, who refused to accept that Juliet was a lesbian. You can tell that Juliet's mom loves her, but she continues to fumble and fuck up. Juliet is patient, but also does not let her mom project her shame and guilt onto her, which is so admirable. I really appreciated the fact that Juliet knew she had others in her corner though, like her Titi Penny and her cousin Ava in Miami.

Juliet learns to name her emotions and her needs, which is a MASSIVE LESSON TO LEARN AS A YOUNG ADULT! She holds others accountable for the harm they have done, and she does it confidently! As a 19-year-old, I did not implement these things! I, like Juliet, would just word vomit my ideas, and offer up so much emotional labor to others or forgive & forget, without a second thought. However, by the end of the book, she learns to take a pause, and to ruminate on how she'd like to respond next, and even further, how she'd like to participate or if she even wants to continue participating in the relation/friend/mentorship.

I love Juliet's curiosity, and the way she yearns for more and more knowledge. By the end of the book, she doesn't have it all "figured out," but she certainly has made so much progress in her self-education and examination of:

the types of relationships she wants to have moving forward
the books she wants to read
the experiences she wants to learn more about (she was introduced to why asking others their pronouns is important in this book!)
the history that was erased and never taught to her in classes
the bare-minimum allyship she will no longer applaud or accept gratefully
her voice, her thoughts, her hopes, her dreams!

The subplot romance with Kira the librarian was what "summer love" ballads are made of! Give me a novella of them meeting up again in 10 years serendipitously!

Anyway, I will read anything Gabby Rivera writes because holy shit, this was so good! (that's an understatement lol)

cw: microaggressions, racism, homophobia, classism, cultural appropriation, cursing, toxic relationship, mild sexual content, references to colonialism and erasure of nonwhite history

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shutupiamreading's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-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

This was such a great book and would work really well for a teenager or young adult who’s looking to learn more about feminism, intersectionality, racism and gender identity. There are some great discussions about intersectionality in particular, and I loved that it’s written from the perspective of a character who is learning about these things as the book progresses.

There were a few instances where perhaps some more editing might’ve helped (e.g., I’m not sure the timeline always worked out) but it didn’t get in the way of enjoying the book.

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lauravreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative 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

4.0

This is a coming-of-age novel, our main character, Juliet, Leaves the Bronx to Internship with her feminist idol Harlow Brisbane in Portland. Prior to leaving New York she comes out to her family and was faced with coldness. She anticipates this next chapter in her life to be a time when she feels surrounded by a community where she belongs.

I read this book via Audiobook. I loved the narrator and there were so many moments where I found myself laughing with Juliet and her line of thought. I feel that Juliet is an incredibly relatable character, especially if you Immigrated to the states at a super young age or are a first generation in the states from Central and South America.

Juliet represents so many Latnie youths who struggle with their identity and a sense of belonging. Not only does she struggle with her accepting her sexuality, coming from a religious and traditional Puerto Rican home, but she struggles with her identity of being fully Hispanic and not fully American. Her family dynamics were hilarious and realistic.

I loved how honest Rivera is in this book. Juliet is from a family with a different culture, religious beliefs, and values compared to those in portland. She felt overwhelmed by the difference in culture. While she felt out of place in New York, Portland is no different.

She finds that she does not fit in the overwhelmingly white community that preaches veganism but overlooks cultures that have always had a plant-based diet. She also discovers how white feminism perpetuates white supremacy by dismissing many of the issues affecting women of color as well as trans women.

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longlost's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

4.0

oh, this. this was good. i wasn't super on board with the book at first because the whole White Woman feminism but being that the author of the book is Not White and the rest of the elements of the story were interesting to read about i kept going, and i'm glad i did. the book really ties itself together towards the end, that scene where

juliet is at a queer dance party and she gets an impulse haircut..... the EMOTIONS

. the analysis of feminism and what it means to each character was incredibly interesting to read about, and the relationship between juliet and harlowe was a real eye-opener for me. all-in-all definitely a book i'd recommend reading, with a fantastic grasp of the subjects it deals with that allows for a chance to really reflect on how race and feminism intersect.

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hanathemah's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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violet_pages's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

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rossa_fabula's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

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