Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

171 reviews

beecaelin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I feel that Lacour’s writing style is very accessible whilst still being deep and thoughtful. The characters’ backgrounds seemed very intense and thought out however I think this wasn’t developed fully in the actual story- maybe due to the blunt writing style. Some parts did feel slightly flat but overall I loved the characters and their depth. Tbh I think the book could have been a bit longer but I like it either way. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

ameliesbookshelf's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

The beginning of the book tackles many difficult and triggering topics, it was quite a lot

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was one of those books that definitely had potential but the execution just fell flat. The connection between the past and present-day plots felt really disjointed for most of the book, and I just didn't get the Emilie/Sara relationship. There was no build up, and in a book with so much background, insta-love made no sense. I just don't quite get what LaCour was going for with this one - it seemed like she had great ideas for her characters and then just kind of plopped them into a romance plot and hoped she could make it work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent

thestoriessofar's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Death of parent

emily98griffin's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent

adalieslittlelibrary's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

stephaccola's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, and Sexual violence

theelizabethjoy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

kerryamchugh's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Audio narration by Julia Whelan is, as always, excellent. I struggled a bit with the dual POV here, I think bc it was dual POV and also dual timelines. Overall a lovely queer sort-of love story of coming of age and owning one's own narrative, trauma and all. Sad but beautiful and not without hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Death of parent

tilder's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

Queer and heartwrenching. Got lost in some of the characters sometimes, felt like some of them could have been more fleshed out. Appreciated the ending and sense of closure for both of them. However, I do think that Sara’s trauma was resolved a bit too quickly, the whole reveal felt rushed and I wish we could have had more tension build up or something to complement the beginning of the book in the same way. Great read and look forward to LaCour’s other work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail