Reviews with content warning for Murder - Yerba Buena

Yerba Buena has some heavy themes for a new adult book. It is raw, vulnerable and emotional. One of the main characters is dealing with loss and self discovery. The other is dealing with unique family dynamics while trying to become the woman she wants to be. Not a beach read but one designed to allow the reader to gain empathy. The themes of trauma, complicated emotional baggage, and family relationships run throughout the novel. It was one of my favorite reads of 2023!

Content Warnings

delz's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-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

3.5

There are two main characters, Sara and Emilie. We start out with their backstories. Both live in California, one from a good family,Emilie. Sara’s family is questionable but the way it’s written was confusing to me. That led to more confusion later in the book. Also when the two women finally meet it’s a love at first sight no build up to the relationship which would have been better than all the pages of Emilie’s relationship as “the other woman.”

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lacey_wi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

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kingrosereads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

A sapphic piece of literary fiction that starts off great but falls flat halfway through.

This book starts off the way you expect it to as this kind of sad summer vibe with Sara and Emilie’s adolescent traumas. Sara’s childhood best friend turned girlfriend is found dead in a river which results in 16 year old Sara running away to LA. Emilie, at 15, witnesses her older sister overdose in their home. The books goes back and force between the two POVs and it also switches from their past and present throughout the book. This flow works at times and other times is very clunky. I found myself liking their stories separately but not really caring about their story together.

The book is advertised as being this romantic drama where these two women are connected by this one small thing, and they have to overcome their past trauma to make their relationship work. However, the women don’t meet until the halfway point. They meet briefly and then don’t meet for another year where it then takes a few months before they run into each other again and start a relationship that’s gone on for a couple of months before they hit a (albeit mild) snag that has them both questioning the relationship and their own self-worths. It’s this point that’s lost on me. Their connection is instant which I get and could be on board with, but then it’s all very instalove and high stakes when it’s only been a couple of months. And their entire relationship is brushed over. Which, if this is just literary fiction, say that, don’t advertise it as this romantic drama when the romance is barely in the book, and the romance that is there, is pretty insignificant. These women are 26 and 28, which is relatively young, but they’re acting like they’re 19 and 21.

I did like Emilie’s struggle with her Creole identity and passing, but it’s just kind of brushed over. Just like Sara’s past is brushed over.

The book eventually meanders through these two stories that takes away from the emotional aspect of the book. I’d honestly prefer if this was just their two respective stories to show maybe their hardships so you can connect to them, but make the stories more linear, only jumping back when it’s relevant. Then end with them meeting and leaving it open ended.

It gets points for the first half and actually getting my cold, dead heart to feel something.

Content Warnings

carigillette's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

dan047's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

5.0

Book contains triggers. I would recommend you find some background information on book before reading.

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spygrl137's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I really enjoyed aspects of this book. I think the writing is simple and pretty. Kind of melodic. Emilie's family situation resonated, and I liked her growing boldness. I like the friendships at the big house. The lack of communication was frustrating at times - like, I just want to shake them. But then, you could probably say the same about me and life. I dislike some of the "signs"/almost fate stuff toward the end. I would only recommend this book to certain people, who are ok feeling a little unsatisfied.

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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

5.0

Firstly, I'm obsessed with this cover, and now that I know what the cover means, I love it even more.

Secondly, I don't want to go through a spiel about what this is about, because I don't think I can do that adequately without giving it all away. The only thing you need to know going in is that it's a story of two women and the story intersects. The rest is beautiful. Of course, I advise you to check the triggers online, but as for looking into the actual journey of the characters, I'd advise against it. I think going into it blind made me love it even more.

The writing was beautiful, but it wasn't flowery or too much. I thought the main characters were both hot messes with a ton of red flags between the two of them, but I love reading about women with red flags. I would say, actually, it's one of my favorite things. Another thing I really loved about it was how much Lacour put her own Creole heritage into the pages. It made the book just that much more personal. I thought the stories of the two women were layered seamlessly and although the chapters are long, I *flew* through this in a way I haven't flown through a book in awhile.

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