I loved reading Juliet Takes a Breath when it came out, so I was excited to read an ARC of the graphic novel adaptation. The art is beautiful and expressive and matches so well to the image of each of the characters I had in my head. Some of the pacing issues that were in the novel version seemed more apparent with the story condensed into a graphic novel, but overall it was still a great read.

actual rating: 3.5

I haven't read the prose version of this story [I am way more likely to read contemporary YA as a graphic novel than a prose book] so I'm not sure how good of an adaption it is but I thought it was overall a cute and enjoyable read. I would like to warn for some transphobia that I don't think really gets adequately addressed though. There is a nonbinary character in a few scenes at the beginning and a trans woman at the end, but since Harlowe's particular brand of awful white feminism is incredibly vagina-based I wish that had been addressed a bit more. I get that the author was more wanting to focus on the racism side of things which is incredibly valid but I feel like it might have been better tone down all the vagina stuff if they weren't going to get into it very much. Still, it was a fun read and I really enjoyed reading about Juliet's journey and her finding herself. Would definitely recommend for people like me who might have been interested in the novel but didn't want to commit to something longer.

This book was great. The illustrations were amazing and this is just all around a good read. I think fans of the original novel and those who are just discovering this book, will love it.

I never read the original, so there's not much I can say about the adaptation, but I have to say I really dug this. The art and color are gorgeous, and the characters are full and realistic. I struggled a little to call this a YA text, mainly because of language and sexual situations, but I also have to keep in mind that the subject matter is important, and it's possible that I am not the exact target audience who NEEDS this book. And that's the crux: there are kids out there who need this book, and it would be a disservice to keep it out of their hands. At times it reads like a woeness for beginners book, but there is a heart there that dodges some of the more cloying moments. Overall, I recommend this for kids 16 and up. 12 and up if the kid is mature and has someone to discuss the book with.

I really liked this!
The art style was gorgeous and I absolutely loved the summery color palette.
The main character was likeable and well defined and I really enjoyed this snapshot of her coming of age journey.
You really got a sense of her discovering about herself and her heritage, as well as learning about the world she inhabits.
It did a good job of talking about race and discussing white privilege while balancing it's bright/fun tone.
I think so many people could connect with this story and I'm so glad it was turned into a graphic novel. I think it translated pretty well.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
*3.5 stars
I really loved the art style of this novel and the unique color pallets for each city made for a visually interesting book. Because I had previously read the novel version, this was a fun reminder of Juliet's story. However, I do think some of the finer points were glossed over in this adaptation. There are quite a few times where I would just like one more panel to make the transitions between scenes more natural. At times, it felt like the author was trying to shove as much of the story in as possible even if some aspects didn't get enough page time to make sense. I'm afraid new readers who don't know the details of the novel will be confused. For example, It isn't explicitly stated that Juliet is planning the Powell's event for Harlowe until a few pages before the event occurs.
In the end, I think this is an interesting addition to the novel, but not strong enough to stand on its own.

I must admit, I didn't know much about the original book before I started reading the comic book adaptation.

Juliet:

- is about to start her dream internship for Harlowe Brisbane, 34, White Lady Feminist,

- is a young, gay, Latina woman trying to create her own space within feminism.

Sure, it's always a little unrealistic when 19-year-olds in YA stories get their dream internships and it's not quite explained how or why, but I'll just assume it's something normal in the US.

Ok, so right from the start you can see how different Juliet and Harlow are and due to their different experiences, they will approach feminism differently. Juliette is still figuring out how she sees feminism and how it can work for her, and her intersectional identity is much different to how Harlow is portrayed - Harlow is that hippie white feminist witch who constantly mentions reproductive organs as something that she considers common among all women. And although Harlow tries to make her feminism inclusive, she fails in many hurtful ways.

Juliet learns from every experience she goes through -- meeting other queer and POC feminists, a break up, her disappointment with Harlow, falling in love with the right person, and even dealing with her anxiety and asthma. Finally, she learns how to find people she can actually learn something from, take a breath and find a place of her own.

I have to say, I loved the color palette chosen for the graphic novel (purple-orange-ish), because it's right up my alley.

I have loved reading this adaptation of one of my favorite book. Everything was great and the colors and drawings really gave life to Juliet and the other characters. A really good story about white feminism and the damage it can cause.

This was amazing. I haven't read the original book, but the story worked really well as a graphic novel.
If someone doesn't know, this is about Juliet, a latina queer woman who goes on a internship with a white feminist iconic writer.
And it's about Juliet learning about herself, about love, about identity, and about what feminism should be (spoiler: it's not what the white icon thinks).
I loved Juliet and her journey, and the side character that help her, guide her and love her.
This is the representation we, latina queer women, want and need. This is the kind of stories my teenage self needed but didn't get.
Intersectional feminism is the only feminism I care about, the only one that should exist, because if your feminism excludes people I don't want it.
Also, I'm all about that anti imperialist sub plot.

(3 stars = liked it)

This book surprised me more than I thought it would. We start with Juliet, a baby-lesbian who is just starting to dip her toes in the world. She is a latina who reads a white feminist book and, although she doesn't feel seen, she connects with it, and she wants more. So she signs up for an internship, moves from the Bronx to Portland, Oregon and suddenly she is faced with complete new realities, and starts discovering more about her own community than she even imagined existed.

Juliet's experience is relatable in the sense that many of us start(ed) out with white feminism before really figuring out that there's a lot of bs in it and there is so much more out there to learn and turn your attention towards. Unfortunately, she only figured it out when she was deep in it, but she had a great support system to get her through it and teach her what she needed to learn.

Juliet's experience is so not relatable in the sense that so many people around her were LGBT+ and accepting of her. Of course, she had that experience with her mom and that was very important to be portrayed too. But maybe I'm just being negative and not enjoying this story about gays being happy and everything working out for everyone. That kind of thing is good to see, and may serve as an escape.

Finally, I really liked the art style and the people were sooo gorgeous.

P.S.: I spent like half this book thinking they weren't going to really problematize that woman, but they did, amen. The whole vagina talk seemed like it was peak feminism to them and there were no mentions of trans women so I was totally buggin'. But we got there in the end... I think?

This was so sweet and had so much representation. I haven’t read the novel this is based on but I think this was a nice little taste of what that book probably entails. I felt for Juliet with all of the various hardships and emotions she went through in this I just wanted to give her a big hug. She was such a sweet and beautiful character to read about. I loved following Juliet as she learned more about identity because often it seems characters are already aware of things like this and are “woke” or the complete opposite and just completely oblivious to pronouns and sexuality. It was nice to read about someone who is still learning as we all are everyday. Lastly the art in this was so gorgeous. Every single character was beautiful and I loved seeing a plus character in a graphic novel!!!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review. It was a good graphic novel.

Gorgeous!

I didn't read the book so I don't have a lot to say about the adaptation for the graphic novel. What I do know is that this is a beautiful story that took me so little to read but is going to stay with me for such a long time.

The story looks simple but it actually covers a lot of issues and it surprised me (in a good way) how the author managed to handle all of them and give them the attention they deserve.
Juliet is a beautiful character. I loved seeing her development on how she acted and communicated with other people. She grew up soooooo much in that summer, and it shows!!

The drawings were speactular and they worked perfectly with the story. I'm just so excited a book like this one is going to be in stores.

I haven't read the original of this and I do wonder if I should have done before reading the adaptation. I love a graphic novel (especially one by BOOM!) but it's difficult to form the same attachment to the characters in such a short space of time, particularly when there are pacing issues like I thought this had and it was a bit on the short side. The characters were so complex and interesting but didn't get alot of development...I would have loved to learn more about each of them.

However, the artwork is absolutely stunning. I loved the use of just a few colours and thought the characters were all drawn beautifully.

Thank you Netgalley and  BOOM! Studios for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to #netgalley and Boom! Studios for an advanced copy of the graphic novel adaptation of Juliet Takes a Breath.

As a Special Ed teacher, I work with kids that feel intimidated and resistant to novels, even those that they may end up loving and finding themselves in. Graphic novels reduce the cognitive labor of reading, and help provide visuals that bring the author’s vision to life.

I loved the illustrations in this. Juliet herself was spectacular from her rambunctious hair to her expressive eyes and curved lips.

Juliet takes a Breath is about a young girl’s journey to discover what it means to be Puerto Rican, lesbian and out. She gets an internship with a white feminist author, and she learns more about her identity from the vast cast of characters that she encounters.

I think to understand this book, you must first have a foundation of understanding about feminism and queer culture. This is not a good intro to queer lit book.

While this book has young characters and may be classified as YA, it also contains recreational drug use, sex scenes and nudity. I would recommend this book for mature, young adults.

Review will be posted on IG: Bookwormplantmom

Juliet Takes a Breath follows Juliet from the Bronx on her internship to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and is unsure whether her mom will still talk to her. In Portland, her internship for feminist writer Harlowe Brisbane leads her on a journey of self-discovery as a queer Latina.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. For one thing, the colour palette (as seen on the cover) in the graphic novel is beautiful! Secondly, I loved that Juliet's curvy body was portraited so beautifully especially in a graphic novel because I want to see more diverse bodies on the pages. Even more important, Juliet's story is incredible and I love how it calls out white feminism as well. This graphic novel adaptation of the book with the same title is more than fitting for the author Gabby Rivera also writes for Marvel Comics (America Chavez). I also loved how Juliet's family also plays a considerable role throughout the story, especially her cousin Ava and Titi Penny in Miami. Moreover, the support Juliet receives for adult queer women of colour especially when she needed it was so nice. I just got a really happy feeling whenever these characters interacted.

I really recommend reading this story, whether it is through the book or this beautiful graphic novel, especially when you are looking for a story about a lesbian Latina character with asthma.

Juliet is leaving her home in the Bronx for a summer internship with her icon, feminist author Harlowe Brisbane. And right before leaving home, she gathers the courage to come out to her family - and it doesn't go as she hoped. She flies off to Portland where she meets Harlowe, along with a wonderfully queer, diverse group of mentors and new friends. But when Harlowe gets pressed on her white feminist perspective and lack of support for QTPOC, Juliet learns that icons aren't always who we want them to be.

I've read the novel and loved it! I think this graphic adaptation adds to Juliet's character in some really interesting ways, but I do think a lot of nuance and character development of others got lost. Of course, that's a necessity in this kind of translation into comic form, but I missed some parts of the original novel that I really loved. There's a lot to enjoy here, but if you like the graphic novel, please consider reading the full novel as well!

I read the original novel this graphic novel is based on a while back and I'm pleasantly surprised that the graphic novel is basically the same. The art in this book is awesome and the art style was appealing to me.
I liked the story before and I still like the story now. The story flowed well, even through art.
The characters are relatable to many people because there's characters belonging to the LGBTIQA+ community and BIPOC characters.
The story is about finding yourself and doesn't gloss over things such as periods and body image. I loved it!


*thank you BOOM studios and Netgalley for an ARC*

This is a fun and accessable graphic novel adaptation of the bestselling YA novel Julie Takes a Breath. It's perfect for those who have already read and loved the original work and for those just getting introduced to the story.
Many thanks to BOOM! Studios and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM! for providing me with an ARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review,

To preface this review, I have to admit that I haven’t read the original novel this graphic novel is based on - after reading this, it’s been added to my TBR, since I simply need more of this intersectional, queer, POC feminist story! The feminist conversation cannot be led exclusively by white women, and this should absolutely serve as a wake-up call for so called “feminists” who don’t include queer and trans women and WOC in their advocacy. If your feminism isn’t intersectional, it’s not feminism.
Given that this graphic novel is rather short, with only around 170 pages, it obviously doesn’t have the opportunity to cover a lot of theory, but I think it’s an amazing intro to the topic, discussing many feminists whose theory is worth getting into (which I definitely will as soon as possible!)

Obviously, that’s not all this is about, though - it’s about a queer, Latinx girl, trying to find her place in the world and within herself, struggling with her identity and slowly coming to understand and love herself and sharing this with the people around her. It’s about internalized homophobia, racism and sexism, and how we should never be complicit in those and always strive to do better. It’s about beautiful lesbian love and the grief that can come with it.

Also, I thought the style of this graphic novel was gorgeous - the color scheme was to die for and the illustrations were such a pleasure to look at!

My only two complaints would be that the pacing was a little odd at times, with location and time switching between panels without that being clearly visible, and some of the characters seeming a little too much like a caricature. Sometimes, I seemed to miss chunks of the story, which my mind managed to fill in, but it was a bit confusing at times. Especially the Portland crew seemed a bit overdrawn, which might be to blame on me never being to Portland and meeting a group of people like that, but it sort of came across as the kind of caricature super-conservatives like to draw of feminists. This was definitively much better in the second half of the book, where a certain character fell from grace, though.

All in all, I thought this was a lovely read and definitely one I’ll be adding to my shelves once it comes out!