Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Yerba Buena: A Novel by Nina LaCour

68 reviews

swampgrandma's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Addiction, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

cheye13's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.0

Something about this read a little young to me. Maybe it was because we started with one of the characters at 14, maybe because we don't get the full "reveal" of Sara's home life until so late, I'm not quite sure.

And it's not strictly a romance, so it makes sense the story focused more on other elements of both women's journeys, but I didn't feel a connection between them at all. It read as though they were the only queer women in the vicinity (i.e. in the book), so they may as well date.

It was a decent story, and very well written, but I didn't find that it offered anything exceptionally unique.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, and Pedophilia

two underage characters perform sex acts for money mostly off-page; an underage girl seriously considers sex work for a time

storyskein's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

This is the perfect book to start with a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning and finish with a glass of wine in the evening.  Even though Yerba Buena is deeply emotional, the deceptively simple prose draws the reader along. The prose, by the way, is probably my favorite part: a masterclass in sensual efficiency.

Yerba Buena deals with heavy, complicated issues, but the tenderness and vulnerability with which LaCour draws Sara and Emilie makes the book feel almost gentle at times. That's not to say that the trauma isn't dealt with--it is. The reader is left with no doubt the events that have shaped these women, and yet, LaCour balances the harrowing with the ultimately hopeful. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

your_true_shelf's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Addiction, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Drug abuse

rachbake's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Drug use

Moderate: Death and Infidelity

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

booksandbesitos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.25

Nina Lacour is my favorite author and I had really high expectations for this. I loved the storytelling and the dual points of view. It took me a long time to get through it because the content is pretty heavy, especially for Sarah’s story. The ending was a little surprising, not bad just not what I was expecting. But I think that in this book it’s more  closure than endings. Overall I really liked it, I think I’ll definitely reread it in one go now that I got through it the first time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Blood

hrserrano'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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

care4coffee's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual violence

Minor: Racism

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

lalesbianlune's review against another edition

emotional tense 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

4.0

To me, Yerba Buena is less a romance and more a story of family, connection, and persevering to find oneself. The romance between Sara and Emilie was lovely, but it allowed the book to explore how two people from different backgrounds and trauma may come together - with all the emotions and failures and successes that may entail. I enjoyed the nonlinear/multiple perspective style but it did often feel unbalanced. Some of the early plot with Sara also felt a little overdone, but overall I appreciated it this book.

“She recognized a love letter when she saw one.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Infidelity, and Sexual assault

Minor: Violence