Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Yerba Buena

What a beautiful novel this was. Such realistic characters brought to life. Two women who come from traumatic pasts trying to figure out who they are and what they want...trying to figure out life. There beautiful moments, heartbreaking moments, and dark moments. The author didn't shy away from dark or negative parts of life. It you think about it though, the bad stuff the good stuff all that much sweeter and lovely.

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shoohoob's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.75

This book feels like warmth. The way that Emilie and Sara kept finding each other was as beautiful and tender as it was heartbreaking and tense. I loved how they fell in love with each other, how Emilie began to find her voice, how Sara began to heal from the past. The ending was bittersweet in a way too: not necessarily happy and satisfying but not without hope.

I loved the side plot of Collette and how her and Emilie grew closer. This book felt like a love story to romantic, platonic, and familial relationships.

My only issue is that I felt the beginning and ending chapters could have been longer. It felt like so much happened in such a short amount of time (especially at the end with Sara going back to her hometown) that it would have been explored more. These were such pivotal moments and I wanted more!

All in all, a fantastic read. I think Nina Lacour is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors.

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toofondofbooks_'s review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Firstly, I'm obsessed with this cover, and now that I know what the cover means, I love it even more.

Secondly, I don't want to go through a spiel about what this is about, because I don't think I can do that adequately without giving it all away. The only thing you need to know going in is that it's a story of two women and the story intersects. The rest is beautiful. Of course, I advise you to check the triggers online, but as for looking into the actual journey of the characters, I'd advise against it. I think going into it blind made me love it even more.

The writing was beautiful, but it wasn't flowery or too much. I thought the main characters were both hot messes with a ton of red flags between the two of them, but I love reading about women with red flags. I would say, actually, it's one of my favorite things. Another thing I really loved about it was how much Lacour put her own Creole heritage into the pages. It made the book just that much more personal. I thought the stories of the two women were layered seamlessly and although the chapters are long, I *flew* through this in a way I haven't flown through a book in awhile.

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sarahmae531's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

4.25

A very pure yet heart breaking book. Loved the simplicity of it, I feel like it’s everything I want Sally Rooney books to be. Watching Sara and Emilie facing their highs and lows, both together and apart, felt like a privilege, like a friend confiding a secret.

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

3.25

A free ARC of this title was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve enjoyed Nina LaCour’s writing for some time now, but admittedly I haven’t kept up much with her recent works, so hearing about Yerba Buena was an exciting surprise. Following her shift from young adult to adult writing feels oddly fitting and personal—I first read one of her novels as a young teenager, maybe even a pre-teen, and now I too am, at least legally, an adult. Unfortunately, though Yerba Buena is poignant and beautiful, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Writing-wise is where the novel primarily shines—it’s been some time now since I last read LaCour’s earlier pieces, so I can’t really recall enough to compare (not that I would be too inclined to if I could), but her style here reads very cleanly and smoothly. Each sentence flowed well, and there was a definite neat balance of showing and telling. The writing is somewhat subdued and laidback, if looked at as a whole, but that adds to the general quiet warmth Yerba Buena exudes.

In substance, Yerba Buena does have a great deal to offer. It’s a very human work, driven by character and emotion. The handling of trauma and healing in particular is very thoughtful and compelling. A great deal of heavy subject matter is present—some of which I wish I had known about in advance, though it fortunately doesn’t affect me too severely—but it’s treated with care, and the note on which things end is a soothing yet realistic one. There is closure, but it is acknowledged and shown that recovery isn’t a simple, linear process. I do wish that some things and their aftermath had been touched upon more, but I’m overall satisfied with how these themes are depicted.

While romance ends up being an important element in Yerba Buena’s narrative, I’d actually hesitate to classify it as a romance outright, which I consider a positive. Its focus ends up primarily just being people’s lives and bonds, including but not elevating romantic relationships. The portrayal of complicated family relationships, from loving to distant to both at once, was interesting and engaging as well.

To speak on the romance in specific, though: Sara and Emilie’s dynamic is very understated and well-written. It doesn’t actually feel like the “star-crossed” type of connection the blurb cites, just two troubled people who have managed to find each other and choose to work toward a relationship, which is super refreshing and nice to see. It’s a fairly minor thing to take note of, but I also liked that it was far from either’s first relationship (even if I have mixed opinions on Emilie’s prior romances). The development itself is a little rushed, but it slows effectively enough to appreciate and enjoy. With a tad more buildup, it would definitely rank as one of the best relationships I’ve seen in fiction as of late.

Getting involved in the characters’ lives and stories was easy enough, but ultimately, I feel that I lack understanding of who they truly are. Their hardships and struggles well outweigh the softer, quieter moments, which makes their exact characterization hard to get a grasp on. This is perhaps the point, as finding identity is a major theme, but it kept me from investing in full. There are some side characters I wish had been delved deeper into as well; though the cast is broad enough in theory, no particular characters are really explored in great detail. With how character-driven the novel is, this is likely its most glaring flaw.

The pacing also felt a bit strained in places; I had some trouble keeping up with the timeline, although this admittedly could have been on my part more so than the book’s, as I got through it far faster than I expected or planned. I did like that certain backstory scenes established early on were embellished upon later, but I’m not certain that their actual inclusion to open the novel was the most effective choice. Some loose ends remain by the conclusion as well, but I wasn’t actually especially bothered by most.

Yerba Buena is a well-written piece with a number of intriguing themes and things to say, but I found it to fall flat in some areas. I enjoyed my time with it—perhaps a bit too much, if my reading speed is anything to go by—but ultimately was not able to take as much from it as I anticipated.

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