Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Yerba Buena: A Novel by Nina LaCour

198 reviews

waterbear0821's review against another edition

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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

4.0

A lot of the content of this book is quite dark, but the book on a whole is sweet and easy to read and satisfying.  Beyond the story of the two main characters, their families and friends are interesting and add to the story. I enjoyed how both place and culture were important to the story. I also enjoyed all the talk about food and drinks. I’m not sure that this book will stick with me -it didn’t bowl me over or teach me something- but it was enjoyable. 
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stephyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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allcavesin's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.5

Made me feel things
More about found family and finding your purpose and closure after grief than romance, which was nice. 
Loved that it was a bi woman and a lesbian, I need more of that pairing I think. 
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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

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alexcribbs's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

On the surface this wasn’t a book I expected to thoroughly love but wow I super did. The writing is stunning. She painted such elaborate settings/characters/emotions/everything without ever making it feel like a chore. 

A really bittersweet, beautiful read. 
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garciaga's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book was biting more than it could chew. It tries to explore a relationship through time, how you can find someone that is good for you and yet, not be the right moment. And we sort of get to see it, but it doesn't have much impact since the characters are so underdeveloped. Emilie just lets life take her places, not really taking any decisions (not even when finally finding her "life passiom", it kind of just falls on her lap); and Sara has such a horrible beginning, but from then on things just work out perfectly everytime, and there are barely any consequences.
Maybe the problem is that I was expecting a different kind of book. I was also not a fan of the love story, since it takes them half the book to actually meet and then they fall in love instantly. Where's the pinning? Where's the yearning? Where's the idea that love is something that you build and strengthen through time?
Anyway. At least the writing style was beautiful.
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denisedup's review against another edition

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emotional 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

5.0

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greatestheights's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

This was so lovely in many ways, and Nina LaCour is as skilled a writer as always, but something felt a little lacking here. There were elements of the story I needed more of for everything to fully resonate and come together for me — but the characters were beautifully rendered, and I want nothing but good things for them. 
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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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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

4.25

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cheye13's review against another edition

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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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