Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Yerba Buena

This book was somewhat a disappointment to me. We Are Okay is one of my absolute favourite books so I had high hopes that I’d love this one too, and I just didn’t. It was okay, but only okay. It wasn’t a particularly long book, and in spite of the fact that it spans over about 12 years, I feel like absolutely nothing happened. And despite the fact that there is essentially two protagonists, Sara and Emilie, I feel like the book isn’t split well between the two; it focuses so much on Emilie and so little on Sara, which is a shame, because I absolutely couldn’t stand Emilie, whereas I really felt for Sara and would have liked to read more about her. Emilie was just so damn annoying and I really hated her. I feel like she made a victim out of herself, even though she was the one that got herself into those situations. She distanced herself entirely from her family due to her sister’s issues with drugs, which I can understand wanting distance from that, but then she complained that there was a distance between her and her family, and between her and her sister. BRO, you created it. And then the fact that she actively got involved with a married man, who had kids. She knew that he was married, she knew that he had kids, and she had an affair with him anyway, a long standing one, and only broke up with him when it actively affected her. I was genuinely so disgusted with her for that, and I could no longer feel any sympathy or warmth towards her. I feel so much of the book focused on the affair too, and I just really didn’t want that. It was so vile. And it irritated me so much that Emilie once again acts like a victim and goes on about how no-one wants to stay, and everyone leaves her, like ofc he’s gonna leave in the middle of the night, hE’S MARRIED AND YOU KNOW THAT HES GOING HOME TO HIS WIFE AND KIDS GODDAMMIT. And again, it annoyed me so much that after Sara’s father died and she practically begged Emilie to come home with her, and Emilie said no, she then went on again about how everyone leaves her and that Sara wouldn’t come back like BRO, WHAT. She literally begged you to come with her. You do this to yourself, and then act like a victim and blame it on everyone else. It just winds me up so much.

The redeeming features for me were the chapters about Sara – I was a lot more invested in her life and the harrowing things she’d been through, and the connections she’d made and lost. She’d done whatever she could to survive, even though it meant severing all her ties to her hometown and her friends. I was glad that she got the opportunity to reunite with them ten years later and that they didn’t hold it against her. Her tumultuous relationship with her brother was interesting too since he was the one part of her family she’d tried to hold onto, but he didn’t want her to hold on as tight as she did, especially after they were older, and he understood more what was happening and wanted his own freedom to choose for himself. I often found myself desperately trying not to sob during Sara’s chapters because everything she went through and built for herself just really broke me. I really wish she had been the centre of the book instead of Emilie as maybe I would have loved it more.

Content Warnings

veronicakirchner's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

The most content warnings I’ve ever added for a single book. A deeply troubling, heavy novel with some glimmers of hope; these two women’s stories are interwoven tragically and beautifully. I am devastated and heart broken for the main characters and the pain/traumas they have suffered, yet find solace in the simple pleasure and peace they derive from their love for one another.

Content Warnings

montsett's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

kajasversion's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

mcampbell's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

Authors 1st adult fiction. Thought it would be way better than this.

Content Warnings

alliereads_'s review against another edition

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emotional

2.0

I really wanted to like this book, knowing how popular it was and that it featured a lesbian romance, but I was let down. The plot takes off way too fast; we have no connection to these characters or understanding of why they make the choices they make. I don't empathize over her mother's death, I don't connect to her love for Annie, I don't understand the significance of Sara's relationship with her father, I don't feel the betrayal by Eugene, I don't get why she left so suddenly, abandoning her brother, to go off with a boy she doesn't know or why she suddenly agreed to prostitute herself to support them. It is the definition of telling, not showing. Unfortunately, this never changes. Yerba Buena feels disjointed; less like a cohesive novel and more like a series of vignettes (some of which are quite enjoyable!). Any progress feels swiftly undone from one chapter to the next. I just was never truly able to care about any of the characters or their relationships as a whole.

Content Warnings

lenareads75's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

afrenette's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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