Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

217 reviews

hyperashley's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Death of parent

feistygriesty's review against another edition

Trauma porn. I could handle the first terrible thing but I draw the line at quasi-incestuous rape of a minor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death of parent

farzanahaque's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

lezliepez's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Child death

Minor: Drug use and Death of parent

lorriss's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and War

emfass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

calicos's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

this was a lot more intense than I was expecting but a lovely, gripping read. I loved how their stories were intertwined and the bittersweet tinge of it all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Grief

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

rosieryel's review against another edition

emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

this is the ideal contemporary romance novel to me it avoids so many of the things that often turn me off of the genre and creates such good characters and arcs that even when it does fall into some cliche tropes (the main romance is pretty instalove-y) it doesn’t bother me because it feels so much more real and integrated with a full story 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual assault

daralexandria's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

seventhswan's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

I loved both of the main characters in this book. From their first introduction, Sara and Emilie felt extremely real and multifaceted, as did their family members (I also particularly liked Colette and Spencer, and think the exploration of sibling relationships throughout the book was strong). I also enjoyed the plot, once the first few chapters were out the way. I wish the story would have started with Sara and Emilie as adults, and delved into their backstories later on, rather than opening with lengthy infodumps about their traumatic childhoods. These were so dark, particularly in Sara's case, that the amount of detailed telling didn't match the rest of the story and had a Jacqueline Wilson-esque feel about them.

I'm glad I pushed through the opening chapters because I did like the rest of the story - I found the central romance enticing and believable, thought the setting really came to life, and was pleased by the ending, which was conclusive without being too neat. Unfortunately, I *hated* the writing style. I can't explain exactly what was so off-putting about it, and I suspect it's a matter of personal preference rather than anything technically wrong with it, but it has made me not want to read another of LaCour's novels despite enjoying the storyline.

I would recommend this book to fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid; it reminded me of Malibu Rising especially. If it weren't for the opening, this would be a fun summer-book-club style read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Alcohol