Breathtakingly Good!

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ALL THE PRAISE!

Roxane Gay calls Juliet Takes a Breath "fucking outstanding" which sums up my thoughts nicely but I'll add a few more.

I loved everything about this coming-to-terms-with-self story by Gabby Rivera. The characters seem real as can be, and they are definitely people I want to know. I also feel like all of them would fit right into an American version of Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other.

This is a story of Juliet discovering the depth of her sexual, racial, and political identities through an educational summer spent with her feminist idol. Cue all the feels.

I love how subtle and unintentional racism is discussed. I love how Juliet learns about gender identity beyond she/he. I love all the humor mixed with sadness as Juliet navigates her way through heartbreak, new swoons, disappointment, family, and her lesbian Puerto Rican identity.

I love how Juliet stops cold when she realizes she's been stereotyping white people following an observation of strangers that led to a stream of memories of being wronged by white people she knows. That hard stop of self-realization- respect. I too tend to judge others based on assimilated past experiences. I think we all do.

This book is one you can read quickly. It's hard not to! But it's also one that you can savor slowly, or open to any random page and pick out a random sentence that will speak straight to your heart. It is fucking outstanding.