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A review by kacey7
Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
5.0
Brilliant and profound in so many ways - I’m awestruck. I’m having a hard time encapsulating how incredible this book was in a review, because none of the words I say will do it justice.
This is my first book by Natalia Sylvester and wow the writing is flawless. Eloquent, lyrical, powerful. The switch between Spanish and English, and internal musings of Verónica were so perfect. This book tackles many deep topics. Disability, being an immigrant in America, having strict, traditional parents, poverty, medical struggles and bodily autonomy. It tells the story of a 17 year old Peruvian-American girl with hip dysplasia who dreams of being a mermaid. Yes, literally a mermaid, at an attraction called Mermaid Cove in the town she grew up in in Florida.
Overall the story is a simple one, but the beauty comes from the deeper story about an immigrant family trying to stay afloat in this often unfair country, and a disabled girl learning to love herself and her body.
“Here, it seems everyone gets to be whole but me. They get to be seen for who they are, not for what they aren’t. They get to be defined by the things they do instead of the things they don’t. Meanwhile, I get split into all these little pieces: Peruvian. Disabled. Immigrant. Fragmented as if I couldn’t possibly be everything all at once, and more.”
This is an Own Voices novel, so the author herself is Peruvian-American and has hip dysplasia. There is something always so deeply captivating with Own Voices novels - you can feel how real it is. The way Verónica described her relationship with her body - and the ways illness and disability have changed her - were so meaningful and striking, I could feel it in my soul. As a disabled woman myself, this was undeniably relatable in a way books rarely are. Illness and disability are not often at the forefront of novels, especially YA novels, but here it’s done so delicately, yet truthfully and without shame, that I can’t help but be in awe.
A stunning novel all around. I think everyone can gain something from this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
This is my first book by Natalia Sylvester and wow the writing is flawless. Eloquent, lyrical, powerful. The switch between Spanish and English, and internal musings of Verónica were so perfect. This book tackles many deep topics. Disability, being an immigrant in America, having strict, traditional parents, poverty, medical struggles and bodily autonomy. It tells the story of a 17 year old Peruvian-American girl with hip dysplasia who dreams of being a mermaid. Yes, literally a mermaid, at an attraction called Mermaid Cove in the town she grew up in in Florida.
Overall the story is a simple one, but the beauty comes from the deeper story about an immigrant family trying to stay afloat in this often unfair country, and a disabled girl learning to love herself and her body.
“Here, it seems everyone gets to be whole but me. They get to be seen for who they are, not for what they aren’t. They get to be defined by the things they do instead of the things they don’t. Meanwhile, I get split into all these little pieces: Peruvian. Disabled. Immigrant. Fragmented as if I couldn’t possibly be everything all at once, and more.”
This is an Own Voices novel, so the author herself is Peruvian-American and has hip dysplasia. There is something always so deeply captivating with Own Voices novels - you can feel how real it is. The way Verónica described her relationship with her body - and the ways illness and disability have changed her - were so meaningful and striking, I could feel it in my soul. As a disabled woman myself, this was undeniably relatable in a way books rarely are. Illness and disability are not often at the forefront of novels, especially YA novels, but here it’s done so delicately, yet truthfully and without shame, that I can’t help but be in awe.
A stunning novel all around. I think everyone can gain something from this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!