Wow... this is probably the most beautiful YA book I have ever read. This story has opened my eyes to so many things - about living with hip dysplasia, the language we use when we talk about scars, the toll that hospital visits and multiple surgeries take, what being in water can do for our bodies and more. I can imagine readers who did not grow up in immigrated latinx families will learn even more, including what it truly means to immigrate and how it impacts the next generations' futures and expectations from parents and guardians. The author also address what it is like to live with depression, and therapy alongside medication is spoken about openly and without shame. I love that!
I absolutely loved reading about Verónica's dilemma of desire and how the author brought attention to how girls often have to suppress their desires due to societal and cultural forces. As a Latina who grew up arguing with my dad about his misogynistic ways and double standards, I related so much to Verónica and the misogyny she had to deal with. My heart broke for her when she was confronted with these passive aggressive slut-shaming conversations she had with her own parents. I loved how Verónica didn't let this slide, she questioned these ideas of shame and dismantled it.
It was so so beautiful to read about Verónica's connection with water. I will carry this new appreciation for what it's like to be underwater with me forever!!

This story is a great conversation starter about so many topics! The writing and characters are so beautiful. I highly recommend!

This ARC was provided by Clarion Books via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Where to begin on this truly brilliant book?? It is the perfect summery read, full of kitschy mermaids and friendship, with a bit of a romance and coming of age thrown in.

Verónica is a 17 year old Peruvian American who lives in a small Florida town, famous for it's mermaid performances. Ever since she was a child, Verónica has dreamed of becoming one of them. She feels at home, safe, in the water due to her hip condition - it is one of the only places she doesn't stand out or feel pain. But when she finally gets the chance to audition, Verónica knows her parents won't allow it. For the first time, she decides that doing what she dreams of might be worth the risk of going against their plan for her.

The plot of this book is pretty simplistic, but the relationships between the characters are really where the author spends her time. Reading about the family dynamics and the strong friendships within this book was addicting. I truly felt the characters come to life, and could see how deeply they cared about each other, even if they didn't always show it the best. I will say though that the romance was a bit off - felt way too intense too quickly, and then sorta stagnated. But that is literally my only criticism of this book!

As well as the relationships, the main focus of this book, despite not really being mentioned in the blurb, is Verónica's reclamation of her own body. As a disabled woman myself, who was a disabled teen, I could really relate to her feeling distance from her body, like it doesn't belong to her. Throughout the story, she has her parents policing what she should do - who can touch her, where she can go, which surgeries she should have, if she is allowed a job - on top of having a medical condition that limits her movement. We see this build up until she feels like she has no control over her self or her life, before she decides she needs to reclaim ownership. It was a really powerful character arc that I really wish was made available to me as a teen. Sylvester did an absolutely impeccable job.

TW: This book also contains a moment of dubious consent/mocking Verónica in a vulnerable moment. This is something that happens all too often for disabled women so I am glad the author included it, but it may be triggering for some.

Overall, a really solid 4.5. Even if you don't love YA, you might enjoy this! It is released on 10th of May - definitely one to add to your summer reading list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clarion Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a gorgeously written, wonderful YA novel. It's got fabulous representation, but it certainly never makes the main character's identities the entirety of her personality or the plot arc, though they remain important. I love the central, unique conceit of becoming a mermaid at a Central Florida tourist attraction, too (and having lived for awhile in central Florida, I thought Sylvester certainly captured that area very well). I'll definitely be recommending this to customers when it comes out!!

The basic story is that Verónica has hip dysplasia, which she has had to have multiple surgeries for, and thus finds it most comfortable to swim as her exercise of choice. There is also a local attraction near by that has women and men swimming as though they were mermaids. She went to see the show as a child and has wanted since then to be one of the women.

Her parents and she are immigrants, born in Peru, and as immigrant parents, they want her to go after a real job, and don't want her to have this fantasy of the mermaids.

It is an interesting story, with comments about how hard it is being an immigrant, and how hard it is to have a disability, and both wanting it to define you and not be be defined by it.

However, the whole things was telegraphed in, which occasional insights. I see that others loved this story, so that is good. I guess I just got bored with all the moaning and complaining.

<em> Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

I received an ARC for this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


For starters, the reason why I requested Breathe and Count Back From Ten is that it features a Peruvian girl as the main character, I'm Peruvian too and it felt so nice and exciting to read about a character who was Peruvian like me—especially since I'm diaspora and Verónica, the protagonist, left Peru at a young age like the author. This is the first time I read a book with a Peruvian character and it felt so good to get to see someone from my culture as the main character. I love the mentions of our food (I loved how at the end when Verónica's dad is opening the fridge and getting the ingredients for dinner I already knew that he was gonna make ceviche), our slang, I don't like Spanglish though since I grew up in Latam so it was kinda hard to read some lines that were all in English with two words in Spanish, and I loved the performance of Vero's reinterpretation of the legend of Huacachina and how she incorporated all the parts that make her in the performance.

Verónica's hip dysplasia and the way everyone tried to "fix" it—which was quite ableist—reminded me of my childhood to a certain extent. I was born with flat feet and a hip dysplasia-like condition which made me walk "funny" and my legs look crooked. At a young age (pre kindergarten I think), an orthopedist "fixed" my hips and made them look normal so to speak and made me wear special shoes to "fix" my feet throughout my childhood. I don't know what procedure I got done in order to align my hips because I don't remember (I do know that I never got surgery) and my family doesn't really talk about it. I'm not trying to compare my experience to Verónica's at all but I did feel connected to her to a certain degree because of this aside from the other things that we share. Up until this day, once in a while, my grandmother looks at my legs and says that they look good despite their crookedness when I was a toddler but that she thinks that my calves are a bit bent. Bow-legged in the lower part. I still feel insecure about that and don't wear certain types of shoes that might make my flat feet more noticeable either.

Verónica's love for the water was so lovely and reminded me of 13 year old me swimming every single day but Sundays and the passion I felt for swimming once upon a time. Her dreams of becoming a mermaid were beautiful and the way her parents thought of it as ludicrous hit home because my parents always talk about how I daydream all the time and how I'm still a child despite being 20 because I never stopped being childish and imaginative.

Vero constantly talks about her parents wanting to protect her and tether to Earth so she won't get crushed by disappointment felt so true to me; sometimes parents don't want the world to hurt us so they hurt us themselves without realizing in an attempt to toughen us up for the "real world". Her parents' strictness was realistic and reminded me of my parents and my friends' parents to a certain degree. I like how the book also tackles the double standard that we have in Latin families about how men are excused for their wrongdoings while us girls gotta be disciplined in order not to stray from the "good path".

Another aspect of the book that I really like is the part when Verónica's mom offers to braid her hair and Vero says something among the lines of "how our braids tell our stories" and that was beautiful to read because as an Indigenous woman I always love reading about how much braids mean to us.

As for the side characters, while the protagonist was quite fleshed out, the others were not. Verónica's boyfriend, Alex, didn't really elicit a reaction from me until half of the book and before that I couldn't understand what made Vero so interested in him. Their romance felt flat but I didn't mind it because this isn't Vero and Alex's story. This is Verónica Rentería's story and she's the one that makes her voice be heard at the end of the book and I'm glad I got to read this book.

This book is mostly character driven and that type of book tends to be my favourite. I love how the story is about Vero reclaiming her body and mind and life and that she's a mermaid in her own right.

First off, I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an e-arc of this book.
Now, when I saw that my request was approved for this book, I was excited. This was the first book I have ever read with a Peruvian MC, which means a lot to me. I read phrases that I’ve heard my parents say to me, and there were things that I could relate to.

Breathe and Count Back to Ten by Natalia Sylvester is about Verónica, a Peruvian American teen who loves swimming. She dreams of working as a mermaid at the theme park in her town, but her parents see it as a waste of time. This book explores the complicated relationship she has with them, as well as her handling her hip dysplasia, both of which are things she’s had to deal with her whole life. It also covers her finding love and feeling more comfortable with herself.

There are books out there with protagonists who are disabled, but not many. I think it did a great job at showing that yes, she has hip dysplasia, but it’s not all of her, and it’s not a part of her you can erase either. I went into this naively thinking I would relate so much to it, but the thing is, I don’t have a disability. If anything, that’s why we need more of these stories. Sure, I’m Peruvian, but it’s not like I have the same story as every other Peruvian out there. Every person has their own story and certain parts of their life, and maybe even most of it, can be relatable to others. I think that other people deserve to see themselves be the main character, whether it’s because they know what it’s like to come to America at a young age, come from a Peruvian family, be disabled, or have a complicated relationship with their parents.

I love Verónica’s journey, and I like that she wasn’t made out to be this perfect character. She does have her flaws, but that also doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve a happy ending. She’s still figuring out who she is and what she wants. Everything is confusing as a teenager, and even as an adult, so I think it’s realistic that she’s making mistakes and learning from them, but also learning when it’s time to take action.

I started school, so it took me longer than I thought it would to finish this book. However, the pacing could’ve been a little better. There were times where it felt a little slow and then suddenly picked up more near the end, which helped me get into it more.

It was nice to see the support system that she had. Dani (her sister), Alex (her love interest), and Leslie (her best friend) all wanted her to be happy. However, I liked that the author showed us a bit of who Dani and Alex were apart from who they are to Verónica. I do wish she did that a little more for Alex, and for Leslie as well.

I thought everything she wrote about her parents was realistic. There does tend to be this pressure to make sure all your parents’ sacrifices for you to have a better life were worth it by following what they do. She loves her parents, but that does not mean they don’t have a complicated relationship or that she isn’t allowed to be upset. They love her, but that doesn’t mean every decision they make is right.

Overall, I give this book ⅘ stars. I hope to be able to read more stories like this one.

It's safe to say that I want to visit Weeki Wachee after reading this book! In the author's note, Natalia Sylvester writes about her inspiration for her latest YA novel, about a girl with hip dysplasia that spends her summer days swimming in the pool and longing to become a mermaid at a historical site nearby. The protagonist, Verónica, is struggling with her overbearing immigrant parents who worry about everything from her interactions with boys, to her ongoing health needs, to her clothing. Luckily, she has a supportive group of friends, including her sister, best friend, new kid in town (and love interest), and mermaid coworkers.

There were many parts of the book that I found to be very stressful,, but I watched Turning Red the same day, and the mother-daughter relationships were very visceral. It deals with serious issues of disability, chronic pain, immigration, harassment, and more. However, it feels grounded and purposeful in every page, and the characters are complicated, with flaws that highlight how human they are. There are many themes that are similar to Running, Natalia's previous YA, and if you enjoyed that entry, you'll like this one as well. Thanks to NetGalley for an early review copy, all opinions are my own.

the representation was great, and i loved the characters, but the writing was a bit confusing, and there were a lot of plot holes.

I really loved this book! Veronica's journey toward becoming her own person and learning she knows what's best for herself was captivating. I loved the fairy tale elements and mix with real life problems like mental and physical health, this story was a perfect blend.

Verónica, a Peruvian‑American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body, in this gorgeously written and authentic novel.
Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body. Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor. She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her—the truth about her own body…. This novel, and its unforgettable characters, know no boundaries. To read this book is to laugh, to mourn, to learn, and to grow….

It makes me so happy to slowly see more stories with disabled main characters being published, and especially when they have disabilities that aren't represented more often. This book has a main character with hip dysplasia, and I loved the representation. I loved how neutrally she viewed her disability - not as something that is good or bad, necessarily, but as something that is simply there and doesn't diminish her value. I also loved how she addressed ableism she encountered, both out loud and internally.

I did enjoy the story in itself a lot as well, especially the mermaid storyline. I did however feel like the romance was a little underdeveloped, especially because it had next to no build-up. I would have liked to see a little more tension there.

Breathe and Count Back from Ten was a different kind of YA read for me; I can't say I have read a book with a similar plot, so I really appreciated the fresh story. I liked Veronica as a lead and enjoyed reading the different aspects of her story. She struggles with a difficult disability, yet is determined to not let it get in her way. The romance aspect was also interesting and added a coming of age feel. Breathe and Count Back from Ten is a good book that YA fans will enjoy. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Clarion Books for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

A multilayered exploration of culture, love, disability and body autonomy - as seen through the eyes (and soul) of an aspiring mermaid with hip dysplasia. Veronica's bold decision to audition for a rare opening at local attraction Mermaid Cove is the beginning of her gaining true independence. Despite the gravity of the potential consequences - from her ultra-strict Peruvian parents and her own deteriorating hip - the buoyancy of being in water allows her to truly shine and to gain the strength to assert herself.

I loved this book! I loved the cover. I loved the title. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and I was just hoping I didn’t build it up too much in my head. I assumed that I would guess what the secret being held from the MC, Veronica, but I was wrong. I liked as Veronica learned to find her own strength and tell her own story. The story of her wanting to be a mermaid was unique and kept me interested. All the characters felt real and her issues with her parents made me feel for her. It was easy to connect with this book and I really enjoyed the way things unfolded. I would definitely recommend this book as it is a powerful and inspiring book.

"Stop. I don't want to get my hopes up."
"It's not illegal, you know. To want something."

Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester is a contemporary novel about Vero, a a Peruvian American teen, who has hip dysplasia and desperately wants to be a professional mermaid in the local show Mermaid Cove, where “mermaids” dance underwater for an audience. Her parents are very much against that, as it is frivolous and not good for her prospects, they are conservative and have many restrictions. However, an audition is coming and supported by her sister and friends, she might just try out, and when she meets Alex as he moves to the same compound, there might be something brewing there…

This is perfect book to read in the summer! It has it all, mermaids, sunny Florida, a main character who loves swimming… you can’t help but feel warm when you read it. I have to start with the disability representation, because it is OFF THE CHARTS. And by that I mean it’s treated as simply a part of the main character. There are no miracle cures in the end, it isn’t “inspirational”, she doesn’t overcome anything (except maybe some ableism and her fear of her scars). It happens to her, it sucks, some aspects more than other, and it has an impact on her life, but she is *gasp* a person with hopes and dreams and mistakes and love just like any other. This should not be revolutionary, but it is. It is so rare in fiction! It’s up there with Sick Kids in Love and I honestly can’t think of another English YA book and I deliberately look up disability books, most center around the disability or it is only brought up every once in a while. This book nailed it. The ableism from people, the hell of hospitals, how everyone is coping, and how her parents watch her all the time. I myself do not have hip dysplasia, so I can’t say how the rep is (I’m pretty sure it’s epic), but I connected with her journey very much.

But I said this book is about so much more, and it is! The family dynamics are so strong, and Vero and her little sister struggle a lot with her parent’s opinions and rules. Because they are immigrants, her parents know they have to work twice as hard for the same privileges, so they need their daughters to be perfect. But that pressure drips drips drips like Encanto taught us, as you can’t always be perfect. Especially when you can be a mermaid, who wouldn’t chose that over perfect? Her little sister is also adorable, and they have some sweet moments and some moments where she totally gets under your skin, so you know, very relatable sister relationship. Her friends are also amazing and very supportive, even though they don’t always understand everything.

And the romance, I loved it! It’s a summer romance, so it moves a bit fast, and they have to keep it a secret because of Vero’s parents, but Alex is very sweet and helps her, and we discover so much more layers of his personality! I absolutely love layers and this added much depth to the story.
For me, the only thing that could’ve been a little better is the pacing. The middle dragged a little, I really wanted one thing to happen but that didn’t happen for a long time and that threw me off a little. This is very minor and I still read the book in a few days but I did want to mention that.

The end was perfect. I didn’t expect it to end this way, but once you’re there you see it is really the best way. Sorry, this sounds cryptic but you know, I don’t want to give away spoilers. But I can say I loved this story and it’s one of the best stories with disability rep out there right now. Or when it is released, as I read an e-ARC (no opinions were influenced).

Did not finish. I could not connect with the writing style or plot. I will not be finishing this title. Thank you publisher and netgalley for the early copy!

Big kiss to NetGalley and Clarion for this book !

I loved this book so much! It is such a heartfelt book and all the characters feel so close to your heart by the end. I especially loved with how much care the parents of Verónica were treated, they could have so easily became a stereotype or villain that to see the way they ended up made my heart sing!

The disability rep was so important - as someone with minor chronic pain it described all of my experiences so well, as well as going deeper into Verónica's pain and making me understand her struggle. It also dealt with the language used around by physical and mental disability and challenged the stereotypes around that !

Also can I just say that the romance subplot was *chefs kiss* very cute, very wholesome very SCREAM !

I love this book ! You should buy this book !

does more telling than showing than I prefer, and I wanted more mermaiding and less time spent on the romance (which added very little, if anything, to the plot), but the mermaiding we DID get was delightful. it felt like I was being told how to feel about everything that happened in the book rather than invited along on an emotional journey, though, so that's why I'm not rounding this up to 4 stars.

this was a stunning contemporary coming of age story from sylvester that deals with disability rep that isn't visible to the eye, latinx representation and dealing with immigrant family upbringing at its forefront. i was captivated by sylvester's writing and prose that drew me into the story more along with the aspects of peruvian lore i really enjoyed woven into veronica's dreams of the person she wants to become. i do wish the romance was more fully developed but i definitely see the importance of focus on veronica as a character and romance more of a subplot. seeing her coming to terms with her identity, sexuality, and society itself with how it treats and affected years on end with strict parents who wish different in terms of career path. the dynamic between veronica and her immigrant parents is one that hits close to home with its stressful situations and frustration but ultimately seeing how much they want the best for you despite the varying choices in what a parent and child ultimately want fulfilled. with the may release, breathe and count is a perfect summer read that deals with coming to terms with believing in yourself and taking control of the path you dream for.

Verónica would live in the water if she could - which is why she’d be perfect as an underwater performer at the local attraction Mermaid’s Cove. But being from an immigrant family and living with hip dysplasia has her under constant scrutiny from her parents. With the potential for further procedures after her next MRI, Verónica must decide what she wants from her life.

I really enjoyed reading about mermaid performers! I was really intrigued by the setting of Mermaid Cove and the fact that it’s based off a real attraction. Just hearing about it made it feel like an elevated version of me at 5 playing mermaid in the local pool.

What really connected me to this story was Verónica’s hip dysplasia. I don’t face the same struggles, but I really connected with her when it comes to pain. I thought her response to pain and not wanting to show it was really relatable.

I enjoyed the small romance subplot, but was glad that this story focused more on Verónica and her own journey to figuring out what comes next for her.

Overall I really enjoyed this coming of age story!