The novel Juliet Takes a Breath, by Gabby Rivera, is a coming-of-age novel featuring Juliet, a queer, Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx. Juliet wants to learn more about herself and her sexuality away from her traditional and religious mother who kicked her out when she introduced her girlfriend, Lanie, to her. Juliet writes a letter to her favorite feminist author, Harlowe Brisbane, hoping for an internship, which she gets. Juliet travels to Portland, Oregon ready for the internship and excited to learn more about women, feminism, and queerness. When she arrives in Portland she is confronted by the big differences between Portland and the Bronx, mainly the difference in the racial identities of the residents. Juliet’s community in the Bronx is made up of mostly Puerto Rican residents, whereas Portland is very white compared to the Bronx. These racial and cultural differences are especially prominent in Juliet’s friendship with Harlowe. Throughout the novel, Harlowe makes Juliet feel lesser because she isn’t white, sometimes with intention and sometimes unintentionally. At a public book reading, Harlowe racially stereotypes Juliet, saying how her book is applicable to people of color because Juliet, who Harlowe said was poor and came from the violent Bronx, was her intern and was interested in the book. This was the last straw for Juliet, so she left Portland to go to stay with her cousin, Ava, for a weekend. Juliet looks up to Ava, seeing her as a source of information on all things queer and Puerto Rican. During the weekend in Miami, Juliet spends time immersed in Puerto Rican culture and fully realizes that her idolization of Harlowe has prevented her from accepting that Harlowe isn’t perfect and is in fact racist. When she arrives back in Portland, Harlowe makes a weak apology that Juliet doesn’t accept. Soon after, Juliet’s mom calls her to apologize for her behavior and Juliet tells her mom about Harlowe. Juliet’s mom tells Juliet that she is the one with the power, so Juliet decides to stay for the duration of the internship. On the last day of the internship, Harlowe decides to take Juliet on a hike to a waterfall. During the hike, Juliet has a bad asthma attack and she doesn’t have her inhaler. Harlowe treats the asthma attack as a small nuisance, not the medical emergency that it is, and this makes Juliet mad and she tells Harlowe how she has felt the whole internship. Harlowe doesn’t apologize but she does tell Juliet that she realizes that all white people are a little bit racist and that she is working on it. Juliet accepts Harlowe’s explanation and then returns home the next day. I thought this book was very interesting and it was comforting to see a character who also struggled with accepting her queerness and femininity. Juliet is a funny and relatable character and her relationships with others in the books parallel many relationships I have in my life. I liked how the author showed the racial dynamics of Juliet’s relationship with Harlowe; and in doing this, the author uses Harlowe to symbolize white, radical feminism and how it often leaves out or harms women and people of color. Even though I enjoyed this book, the ending was somewhat unsatisfying. It was just Juliet arriving home, but the ending didn’t show how her relationships changed with what she learned while in Portland. I would also recommend that new readers don’t expect a romance plot or subplot when reading this book, which is what I expected. Because, while there are some romantic aspects of the book, they are mainly used to show how race, gender, and sexuality all intersect in relationships. Overall, this was an enlightening and interesting read that I would recommend to people looking for a coming-of-age novel that focuses on race, gender, and sexuality.
Sofia P.
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