Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Yerba Buena: A Novel by Nina LaCour

20 reviews

katwhiskerz's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I love Nina LaCour. This was my second book from her and she absolutely excels at writing complex female characters. This book is far from the silly, sweet lesbian rom-com I was expecting. I felt deeply for Sara, who underwent a number of traumas and I related to Emilie's lack of direction and identity. Both main characters felt like full, real people and I think that's a testament to LaCour's seamless writing; you can feel how much thought and love she put into their stories. 

I enjoyed the rich descriptions and the yerba buena motif of their relationship being something that is sweet, bitter, and healing. I enjoyed their first meeting. It felt fast and swift, the way love sometimes is. I understand why it may seem insta-lovey to some people though. 

Unfortunately though, things kind of took a downturn for me after the point where Emilie and Sara reconnected a second time. I just thought there could have been a more concise way for Sara to explain her history and maybe more time to really explore their relationship with each other. They spent so much time apart that it was difficult to really envision the two of them together, rather than one idealizing the other. I also saw someone say that the Sara in Emilie's POV felt different than the Sara in her own POV and I wholeheartedly agree. I was hoping this book was another 5 star read, but it was still worth picking up!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

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

otakatoe3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

kajasversion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A sad exploration of human lives and their inevitable intertwinement. The characters are flawed and hurt, which makes their existance seem even more real. I was sad for them, for everything they had to go through. But they found eachother, and they knew from the first moment they had something special. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

skan's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

The beginning of this book is very slow and it took a while to get used to LaCour's descriptive writing style. Honestly, I nearly DNFed at that point, but it does get better. I preferred one of the MCs over the other (especially at the beginning), but the narration split between the two felt very uneven, which also contributed to my dislike. That said, the book got much better once the two characters got together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Drug use and Murder

rayannotates's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

okamihi's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol

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

Minor: Sexual assault

lolajh's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

WOW. What a truly beautiful read. Nina is such a talented writer and I’d love to see more adult fiction like this from her because this was beautiful. The emotional journey of Sara recovering from her trauma and Emilie finding stability and their relationship making the both of them better people was just beautiful. Hard to get through some parts (I feel like the s.a. did not have to be that graphic to get its point across), but a lovely ending that made it all worth it. Loved the characters, loved the story, just a truly lovely book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

shelbyeallen13's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Murder