Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

44 reviews

sestout's review against another edition

emotional sad 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? No

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pedophilia

smlemire's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

"So this was how it felt-to be dealt a blow, to pause, to keep going in spite of it. Not to start over but to continue."

As I sit here, it's just before 6 am. I finished Yerba Buena last night around 11 and went to bed knowing I wasn't done experiencing the book for the first time yet. I have so much to say and yet everything I'm going to say I know Nina Lacour already knows.

Nina always makes me feel some type of way about Los Angeles, Iike it's my home I've been away from for a decade, and like l'm finally coming home and everything is different and better yet somehow the same and worse. And I've never even been to California before. She makes me miss what I've never had, long for what I've never dreamed of. And the way she writes sadness - the sadness of love, of loss, and the way that people come and go from your life - is so real that it makes you ache inside and keeps you hooked, turning the pages as you wait for the resolution.

I was hooked from the dedication page, as always. The way that Nina can bring you in to a story so abruptly and yet you instantly feel as though you know everything about these characters. I am always left in awe.

My favorite book has been Everything Leads to You since the moment I first picked it up. That book shaped my life in such wonderous and powerful ways that I can't explain, so here's just one; Emi's search for a green couch within the book shaped my own hunt for a sofa this time last year as the centerpiece of the living room in my first apartment, as I wanted to bring part of the book to life in front of me, to be comforted by the presence of the pureness of green and all it represents. Here, in Yerba Buena, the green motif returns; subtle at first, but if you come into it thinking of Lacour's green couch as I always do, you'll notice it right away. Green is life, it's vibrance, it's comfort and strength and the feeling of a hug wrapped around you at the end of a back-breaking sob. I feel lucky to share my world with Nina Lacour's green.

I desire to know this book like the back of my hand, the way I haven't wanted to know a book since Everything Leads to You. I will return to Yerba Buena again when the time is right, as Lacour says, each return a miracle.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail

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.

---

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

laurendubs's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Rape

pale_faced_fear's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

kbea88'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

4.0

A love letter to Los Angeles and to figuring out who you are and what you want. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse

Moderate: Death, Rape, and Death of parent

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

Not sure this is my thing.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

caitlynva's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

A wonderful book where two women’s separate stories come together as one over a shared location. Each comes with their own struggles and complex issues that leads you to never take a “side” throughout the book. Beautifully written.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jessereadsthings's review against another edition

5.0

Really enjoyed, but the beginning was a bit much. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

khaleesimod93's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Reading the blurb and looking at the cover, I expected a romance. It ended up being so much more and not all in a good way. The story had no purpose. It meandered and wandered. It's kind of like when you are daydreaming. It wasn't bad, just not at all expected. There were a lot of dark themes throughout the book that weren't at all mentioned anywhere. And I really wish they would have. It's a mix of so many different genres, but it works for the story. I liked both characters separately. Them together didn't mesh well for me at least. I wish, instead of writing about both characters, the author would have chosen just one. Sara was a real inspiration. Her hurt. Her past. And all her trauma. She eventually learned to heal from it. I'm not sure what the point of Emilie's story is, but I did love her figuring out what she wanted out of her life. I felt there were things unfinished when I got to the end. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, and Rape