Book Review

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

I learned so much from Juliet Takes a Breath. I gained a new sense of humility as well as the joy of knowing that many readers who rarely see themselves represented will find themselves in this book. I also laughed my face off. The book is not a romance although there is romance and sex in it.

It’s 2003. Nineteen-year old Juliet lives in the Bronx with her Puerto Rican family, with whom she is very close. She is inspired by a book called Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind by White feminist Harlowe Brisbane. Raging Flower teaches Juliet to look at her body in a new, positive way and fills her with confidence and questions.

Juliet lands a summer internship with Harlowe, who lives in Portland, Oregon. On her last night in the Bronx she comes out to her family with mixed results. Juliet is thrilled to be interning and living with Harlowe, whom she idolizes. However, things do not go quite as planned. For starters, Julet’s girlfriend stops answering Juliet’s texts. Harlowe acts warm towards Juliet but also is overbearing with regard to Juliet’s health and physical comfort. Some micro aggressions warn that Harlowe may be more interested in her own ego than in embracing intersectionality.

Other mentors encourage Juliet to question the gaps in Harlowe’s work, such as its implied trans-exclusion and its failure to address the experiences of women of color. Juliet’s love life, Harlowe’s love life, race, personal history, gender expression, sexuality, and relationships with family are all explored during Juliet’s summer of intense personal growth. As Juliet’s aunt says when Juliet sums up the events of the summer, “Well, a whole lotta life has come your way this summer.”

Readers should know that this book is less about plot and more about ideas. Everyone in this book has a lot to say and they say it at length. Think of it as an entertaining and friendly class in intersectional feminism, womanism, sexuality, body positivity, and race, as well as the tendency of White people to center Whiteness. Be prepared for explicit discussion about vulvas and vaginas, as well as the face that “womaness” is not limited to people who have them. Also be prepared for period talk, masturbation, and a spot on depiction of Portland in 2003.

Juliet has a summer romance, which is basically an opportunity for Juliet to grow in her understanding of what she wants from a relationship and an opportunity for a lot of nurturing. It’s with a motorcycle-riding Korean-American librarian with a pierced lip who bakes cookies, and since Juliet and Kira both know it’s a summer thing, they just enjoy it:

Kira and I snuck long, tender kisses in between bookshelves and hidden corners of basement stairwells. We went for longer rides on her motorcycle. She taught me how to make pizza dough in her kitchen and told me her favorite show as a kid was Punky Brewster.Kira mastered the art of packing picnics on a bike. She fed me sliced cantaloupe and read excerpts from The Bridge Called My Backby Gloria Anzaldua to me. It was one of the books on Ava’s list and Kira didn’t know that. She was just fucking reading it on her own, you know?

I think that this book could have integrated the ideas and the plot in a more organic way than by having Juliet encounter a lot of people who either teach her something or whom she teaches something to. However, the things that are discussed need discussing. As TV Tropes would put it, some anvils need to be dropped. Juliet is a lovable, relatable character and I loved her relationship with her family, with Kira, and with other women of color whom she meets in the book. Meanwhile, Harlowe is a fabulously wicked depiction of a certain kind of White lady feminist, but even she gets a human moment towards the end, and her positive contributions are noted. These personal moments keep the story from getting too dry.

The book is a coming-of-age story in the purest sense. Things happen, but it all comes down to Juliet developing a new sense of confidence, a new way to think about herself and the world around her, and a new sense of who she wants to be. The book opens with a letter to Harlowe from Juliet, but ends with a letter from Juliet to Juliet, showing that while she eagerly soaks up information, she is able to turn to herself for pride and validation. If you like a story with a lot of action, this is not your book, but if you like coming-of-age books and books that are idea-heavy and feature a lot of discussion of those ideas, then you’ll probably enjoy this one.

NB: Throughout the book, several people recommend books and authors to Juliet. If you want to share in her journey, here’s a list of the books and authors mentioned (if it’s just the author’s name, that means that the characters didn’t mention a specific book):

The Ladies’ Gallery by Irene Vilar

The Songs of Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs

Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin

A People’s History of the United States, by Harold Zinn

This Bridge Called My Back, edited by CherrÍe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa

Zami, by Audre Lorde

Kindred and Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler

Assata Shakur

bell hooks

Gloria Steinem

And just for fun: Juliet’s younger brother is a fan of the Animorphs series!

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Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

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  1. Lisa F says:

    This one sounds pretty interesting!

  2. Floating Lush says:

    Juliet Takes a Breath was originally published by a teeeeny tiny indie press in 2016, and is now getting a much wider release. I don’t think it’s been changed/updated in any way, if you’ve already read or own the earlier version, but I’m not absolutely sure on that point.

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