Juliet Takes a Breath

This is a powerful, moving, and engaging story about a young woman figuring out who she is as a young feminist. After coming out as gay to her family, Juliet Milagros leaves NYC for Oregon where she will be interning with a feminist author she admires. As a Puerto Rican lesbian from the Bronx, she isn’t sure what the summer in Portland will bring, but she is hoping to work out her “life” or at least run away from her problems with her mom. She encounters racism, mentors, a wide range of people on the queer spectrum, heartbreak, and a whole series of experiences that help her redefine who she is and what it means to be a lesbian woman. The character of Juliet is smart, compelling, funny, caring, and very likable. The writing style is quite informal and a bit “stream of consciousness” and conversational. While this isn’t good or bad, it definitely made the story go a little slower than I like. I learned a good deal about feminism, homophobia and queer communities, but there isn’t much of a plot beyond seeing Juliet’s life for the summer. It is told from Juliet’s perspective, and there is quite of bit of language that is more adult, therefore I think it works best for people over the age of sixteen.