I was so excited when I finished this book the first time that I didn't know where to begin reviewing it, so I didn't. A chronically ill Latinx lesbian teen written convincingly! She gets to work for her idol! Good, solid lessons are learned that I myself have had to re-learn, like not placing people on pedestals. The first time I read this, I was thrilled by it. I want to see more from Rivera, but I want to see it polished so that it can get further and hit more people who need to read stories with main characters like Juliet.īefore I get any further, I would just like to note that 9 times 6 is 54.

I hope this inspires similar books, because we need to be called out. As a white feminist, Juliet's point of view was honest and unapologetic which is so so important, and I loved the message of self love and learning to take care of yourself. Rough edges and narrow vision aside, this was a really fabulous book that so needs to be out there. Even plot could have been shaped a little more cleanly. Mainly, I think there was a lot of potential for side characters to be fleshed out instead of one-dimensional, for the settings to feel more realistic instead of single-faceted, and for Juliet to have felt more mature-her voice read as a young high schooler to me, not a rising sophomore in college. First of all, this really needs a good copy edit (when I'm spending five minutes on the train wondering if 9 times 6 is really 56, there's a problem) and a line edit to tidy up a lot of sentences that pulled me out. I really wish Rivera had held out for one of the Big 5 and I really wish she'd waited for an editor who could make this book what it had the potential to be.

Juliet takes a breath by gabby rivera