Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Yerba Buena

What a beautiful novel this was. Such realistic characters brought to life. Two women who come from traumatic pasts trying to figure out who they are and what they want...trying to figure out life. There beautiful moments, heartbreaking moments, and dark moments. The author didn't shy away from dark or negative parts of life. It you think about it though, the bad stuff the good stuff all that much sweeter and lovely.

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kaseybereading's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

2.5

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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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rliedtke's review against another edition

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4.0

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sarahmae531's review against another edition

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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

4.25

A very pure yet heart breaking book. Loved the simplicity of it, I feel like it’s everything I want Sally Rooney books to be. Watching Sara and Emilie facing their highs and lows, both together and apart, felt like a privilege, like a friend confiding a secret.

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liteartha's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

a story of two women finding themselves and, eventually, each other over the span of years. less a romance (as the characters don't meet until halfway through) and more a journey of self-discovery and grappling with painful pasts.

it's a challenge to identity what exactly about this book failed to make it really work for me. there were definitely elements i liked: believable chemistry between the mains, nicely flowing prose, and complicated family dynamics that felt well handled if a little under-explored.

part of my struggle may have been unique to the audio format, where i sometimes struggled with the dual-POV, both in the sense of the two mains having similar voices and with the story swapping between their teen and adult lives throughout. it might equally have been a matter of pacing and a lack of truly believable character development. while there's definitely growth from the characters, there was a recurring habit (particularly in sara's case) of traumatic events seeming to serve as stand-ins for actual character development.

julia whelan's narration served the story well, though faltered a little in the character voice department as some dialogue was challenging to make out. this was my first nina lacour and while i know it's an adult departure from her usual YA, i'd be curious to see how it compares to her earlier work.

thank you to netgalley and macmillan audio for providing this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review

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karinreadsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective

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

4.25

This was a book that hit so many of my soft spots. The writing feels quiet, but it still packs a punch. And while this book is blurbed as a love story, it certainly isn't a romance novel. Throughout most of the book, the story focuses more on each of the main character's personal journey and the hardships that they face rather than the relationship between the two of them. That led to a net of relationships that all felt real to me, with both Sara and Emilie having important, genuine connections outside their romantic relationship. I also loved the role that food played in this book - when Sara and Emilie meet, Sara is a bartender and Emilie a florist, and they meet while working at the restaurant Yerba Buena. The description of the different flavour notes of Sara's cocktails, the gumbo that Emilie learns to make based on her Creole ancestry, and all the other food that is being eaten in this book really made me crave some tasty food. I sometimes wished the middle part of the book had focused a bit more on Sara's perspectives than Emilie's, because I felt much more immersed in Emilie's character at that point, but I also liked that I got to spend longer stretches of time with one character instead of constantly switching back and forth. At the end of the day, I found myself unable to put down this book until I had finished it, and I think spending these hours with two messy, queer girls trying to deal with the scars their lives have left on them was a great choice.

This review is based on an uncorrected, advanced reading copy.

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