I'd give this book 3.5 stars if I could. Sweet story, and f/f fluffiness with minimal drama is ALWAYS appreciated. The writing is a little shaky at times, and the epilogue felt rushed, but the relationship between the protagonists was well-thought out and the supporting cast was well-fleshed out as well. I'm looking forward to more of this author's work in the future as she hones her craft.

So that was bad lmao

Just Juliet is a YA Contemporary Romance about Lena, whose life is turned upside down when she meets Juliet and starts to question whether she really is straight. We see her navigate the troubles of coming out to yourself, your friends and your family.

Lena was a boring character. I couldn't tell you one personality trait she had except liking makeup, although I will have forgotten that by tomorrow. The other characters were similarly flat. We're never shown what Lena actually sees in Juliet besides being physically attracted to her. The only Black character Lacey is the embodiment of the "Angry Black Girl", their other friend Georgina barely got page time but her only personality trait seemed to be having had a baby at fifteen (which isn't a bad thing and obviously very important to her life but she surely has other quirks to her character than that). There's an Asian supporting character who is described as loving Math and not approving of the same-gender relationships in the book. But I will get to racism in this book a little later.

Let's talk about the relationships in this book, shall we? Lena and Juliet had no chemistry. I could not have cared less about the development of their relationship. Lakyn and Scott were fine, I hated them less than Lena and Juliet. I didn't care for their little perverted comments but I liked their relationship dynamic and that they had a healthy relationship (the bar is on the floor). The friendships were weird at best. Lena has this little friendship group but she doesn't seem to care about any of them except Juliet. I truly do not understand why she is friends with Lacey. She's homophobic and Lena describes her as a bitch several times. Or as a slut. We love slut-shaming (/s)

The writing wasn't great. There was a lot of telling instead of showing which made the characters and their relationships so flat. We're told that these people have a certain humor and behave a certain way but we never actually see them doing so. Characters are introduced through physical description. Not a fan.

I'm not going to dive into criticizing the homophobia in this book. Of course, homophobia is bad, however, the homo- and biphobia was part of showing the sad reality of dealing with your sexuality and not being straight. The homophobes were told off and cut off/lectured. It wasn't the author being homophobic here, it was the characters which is a great differentiation you have to make while consuming literature. It is nice to have LGBTQ+ literature where they can just be happy but some stories are focused on coming out and dealing with homophobia. I also don't see an issue with this since the author herself is not straight so it isn't straight people profiting from queer oppression.

However, what this book did have was a problem with racism. The only characters of color are homophobic and non-accepting, the white people are the open and "woke" ones (not including some of the parents, I'm talking about the teenagers here). The Asian girl only briefly appeared for the people to go "ha yeah she loves Math and hates gay people she's so weird" and the Black girl is the embodiment of the "Angry Black Girl"-trope. Also describing someone as having "African skin" or saying someone blanched so hard they could pass as Caucasian? Wtf man. This book was just filled with white feminism and gives me "colorblindness"-vibes.

Spoiler

I think what made me rate this book only one star was the ending though. I was willing to give it two stars because while I did not enjoy this due to multiple reasons, it wasn't horrible. It just isn't the book I need to read. But the ending? No. Seriously, what was the point. Was the author like "oh shit we need some more conflict let's have them break up, oh no wait I actually don't to properly write this let's just have them get together again". Why? Just why? The ending was the absolute worst thing I have read in a long time. It was so rushed and anti-climactic. I hated it.

If you're looking for coming-out stories, I assure you, there are better stories than this one. And if you're questioning your sexuality, take your time, explore labels and don't feel bad if you have to try out multiple to find one you feel comfortable with. Or if you don't find one at all. Stay safe y'all.

TW// homophobia, biphobia, violent homophobia, references to past child abuse (triggered by homophobia), references to past self-harm/suicide attempt of a supporting character (by describing his scars), alcohol consumption, references to past drug/alcohol abuse, scars, f-slur, d-slur

that's was perfect!!!!! the f/f cliche i needed

2.5 Stars ~ I have to admit I usually steer away from lesbian YA because it hits too close to home, but I decided to take a chance on this one. The story centers around Lena, our protagonist, and the new girl at school, Juliet, who lives with her dad and brother. Juliet had to move schools because her old friends turned on her. Nearly everyone in Juliet’s household is gay, and it’s become a safe place for gay kids.

Lena comes from a not as accepting background, but definitely a background I’m more familiar with: a family concerned more about appearances, parents who aren’t home much, etc. Though Lena’s home life isn’t the most supportive, she finds solace in Juliet’s household as she struggles to come to grips with her own identity.

The part of this story that really worked for me was the setting created by the group of girls Lena hung around—they seemed to be the bitchy cheerleader types I knew well (at a distance) in school. I like how they said thoughtless things, but when it came down to it, they were there for one another. It seemed very realistic; however, because everyone being an asshole to everyone else seemed to be a theme, the story also seemed to suggest that no one was truly an asshole… if that makes sense.

The story is divided into many short scenes, and in one of those scenes, Juliet and Lena go to a Zombie flag football game. In the end, Juliet becomes a zombie, and Lena lets herself get tagged. She says it was the first time she’s lost Zombie Apocalypse since the seventh grade. That moment really hit me in the feels; the scene was superbly done. I would argue that it should have been longer, but it’s possible I’m greedy.

The things that didn’t work for me: There was a lot of summary, a lot, and only some of the scenes in the book worked together to form an interesting storyline. Otherwise, most of the scenes failed to bring any tension to the story. Those that did were swallowed by the more boring ones, and the pages and pages of summary. I was able to latch on to a few golden nuggets, but I struggled to finish this novel.

There’s also a lengthy and poorly done epilogue. The epilogue changed the tone of the story immensely, and it was, in my opinion, a cheap way to make it an easy HEA. It completely robbed the ending of its emotional impact.

That all being said, this book has an amazing number of reviews and most of them are great, so don’t take my word for it. If lesbian YA contemporary fiction is your thing, maybe give this one a shot.

Reviewed by Ben for The Novel Approach Reviews

4/10 Literally for the first 40% I could have given it 4 stars but then everyone was outing Lena like literally all her friends did but she didn’t do anything about it also her friend was homophobic and she’s like it’s ok... and Scott and Lakyn took over and were annoying. they all got so annoying, Lena was just flipping everyone off apparently but no issues were resolved. and the epilogue just did it and ruined the whole thing but it’s sad the first part was so chill it was like calm and chilled I can’t even explain but I really liked it but then it just got too annoying. nothing really happened and it wouldn’t have to but why make everyone homophobic and outing lena and then not do anything about it and just be like that’s fine I do not get that choice and some of the fashion choices described... I know it’s of a different time but I just couldn’t cope... lol
Also Lacey character I could have liked her but was she woke or was she not? Was she love is love or homophobic? Was she just bantering or was she a bitch? I didn’t get it but Lena seemed to not give a shit except she kind of did but not enough to say anything. Like do you know she’s not serious but you’re taking what she’s saying seriously but not really but you are? She didn’t be homophobic because she did. No she didn’t
I’m just saying I liked Lacey and I don’t think she was homophobic but was she meant to be a bitch in a fun way or a fr way idk

Title: Just Juliet
Series: Stand-alone
Genre: Romance, Lesbian Romance
Author: Charlotte Reagan
Format: E-book
Published: Sep 17, 2016
Rating: 4 ✩'s
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Summary Paragraph:
This is a story about two teenage females coming out as lesbians. It goes through some of the trials and tribulations of being a lesbian and having to come out to your family and friends.
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What I liked or Didn’t like: Loved the heartwarming story of Lena and Juliet. You will possibly need tissues for parts of this book as it made me cry. Well worth reading.

Really enjoyed it

I chose this as a LGBTQ read for a challenge and I'm really glad I did. I really enjoyed it. It had all the good teen romance and friendships in that make a wonderful story.

Quite an easy read and a simple (or so I thought) story. I did not have any expectations of it. Actually, I didn’t expect it to be any good. But it proved me wrong. I was in fact surprised that some characters seem to be deep, there was another layer to this story.
On the one hand, I read about young romance, typical American high school years and teenagers. On the other, it is a beautiful story of growing up, of figuring out what you want from life. It’s about the struggle of telling people who know you that you are not who they thought you are. And I feel it is not only about coming out as a gay person. Surely, this issue is very important and it is portrayed in a book as something normal, which I liked and appreciated. Because it’s OK to be you, to feel what you feel, to like anybody you want.
But I related to this story on a different level. I know this fear of letting your loved ones down. Sometimes it is so hard to admit that what you want from life and how you see your life is different from what they expect of you or what they think is better for you. And how hard it is to face your fear and to take your life in your own hands. But as it is shown, it’s worth it.

Find this review, plus more, on my blog: Booklikes OR Blogger

Basic Info

Format: Kindle.
Pages/Length: n/a
Genre: Young Adult; LQBT
Reason For Reading: Publisher asked for a review.

At A Glance

Love Triangle/Insta Love/Obsession?: Obsession
Cliff Hanger: No
Triggers: If you can't handle the words "faggot", or any comments like that, don't read this.
Rating: 2 stars

Score Sheet
All out of ten

Cover: 8
Plot: 6
Characters: 5
World Building: 5
Flow: 6
Series Congruity: n/a
Writing: 3
Ending: 2

Total: 4

In Dept

Best Part: Good for the parents to read this to understand how they felt.
Worst Part: Too sweet and crude. (yah figure that out)
Thoughts Had: No.

Conclusion

Continuing the Series: n/a
Recommending: Eh.

Short Review: This books tackles coming out and dealing with the aftermath nicely. I liked the MC and most of the side characters. I hated Lacey, the best friend, she was rude and bitchy. I just disliked too much of this book to give it more than 2 stars. First, why do you need the MC, the love interest, and the love interest's freaking brother to be gay/bisexual? It feel too much, and the boys are way too much for me either, i've been around gay men, and they do not act like this for the most part and i wanted to tell them to cool it. The snide comments were too much too, "gaybies" really?! Was that needed, no. The way the characters acted towards each other bother me greatly as well. I have girl friends, and i have never called them "Bitch" "Slut" "Twat" but yet everyone in this book does that plus more a ton. Then the author pushes so many pop culture references in, i get it, you know what kids "like". Too sweet for me.

Misc.

Book Boyfriend: n/a
Best Friend Material: Juliet

When I was approached by this publisher to review this book, I was a little hesistant to accept it. I've had publishers approach me in this past, and then a lot of the time, I ended up not liking the book. This was not the case this time. Ultimately I ended up picking this book up because it is an LGBT+ young adult book and there simply isn't enough of those out there. I wanted to read a diverse book with hopes that it would be accurately portraying the people it was discussing.

Boy oh boy did this book surprise me, and in the best of ways. I don't think I have ever read such a diverse book. This book tackles sexual orientation, religion, mental illness, race, privilege, and other diverse topics I'm probably forgetting to talk about. It felt so nice to see so many people represented in this novel, and accurately too! It's so important that the books we read are diverse and reflect the world around us so that everyone can feel represented.

This book was definitely more character driven than plot driven, which is something that I usually hate, but worked for me this time. I loved each of the characters so much. They were unique individuals that all represented a multitude of intersections. There experiences and behaviors were real and you could tell that they were just your cookie cutter characters. While there were some stereotypes in the books within these characters, they aren't so big that they take away from the diversity and representation that is present.

My only dislike towards this book was the plot, which is why I rated this 4 stars. There really wasn't a plot. It didn't really go anywhere, and that's okay. You read about these characters experiences and the struggles they go through and that's the important part; learning from their struggles. I did have a problem with the ending. The epilogue tried to cram everything that didn't happen into one chapter, and when I mean everything, I mean like the last five years. It was very rushed, and I wish it would have been splayed out more.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this diverse read. I think it's important that there is young adult books out there that represent different people and intersections in our world. and I think it's important that people read these types of books so they get exposure to more than just "the norm".