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greatestheights's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Death, Addiction, and Infidelity
Moderate: Death of parent
hello_lovely13'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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Infidelity, and Death of parent
sugarcainn's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, and Death
dfbballinger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Moderate: Biphobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Death, Violence, and Toxic relationship
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Addiction, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Drug abuse
rayannotates'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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Grief, Pedophilia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
smlemire's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
"So this was how it felt-to be dealt a blow, to pause, to keep going in spite of it. Not to start over but to continue."
As I sit here, it's just before 6 am. I finished Yerba Buena last night around 11 and went to bed knowing I wasn't done experiencing the book for the first time yet. I have so much to say and yet everything I'm going to say I know Nina Lacour already knows.
Nina always makes me feel some type of way about Los Angeles, Iike it's my home I've been away from for a decade, and like l'm finally coming home and everything is different and better yet somehow the same and worse. And I've never even been to California before. She makes me miss what I've never had, long for what I've never dreamed of. And the way she writes sadness - the sadness of love, of loss, and the way that people come and go from your life - is so real that it makes you ache inside and keeps you hooked, turning the pages as you wait for the resolution.
I was hooked from the dedication page, as always. The way that Nina can bring you in to a story so abruptly and yet you instantly feel as though you know everything about these characters. I am always left in awe.
My favorite book has been Everything Leads to You since the moment I first picked it up. That book shaped my life in such wonderous and powerful ways that I can't explain, so here's just one; Emi's search for a green couch within the book shaped my own hunt for a sofa this time last year as the centerpiece of the living room in my first apartment, as I wanted to bring part of the book to life in front of me, to be comforted by the presence of the pureness of green and all it represents. Here, in Yerba Buena, the green motif returns; subtle at first, but if you come into it thinking of Lacour's green couch as I always do, you'll notice it right away. Green is life, it's vibrance, it's comfort and strength and the feeling of a hug wrapped around you at the end of a back-breaking sob. I feel lucky to share my world with Nina Lacour's green.
I desire to know this book like the back of my hand, the way I haven't wanted to know a book since Everything Leads to You. I will return to Yerba Buena again when the time is right, as Lacour says, each return a miracle.
As I sit here, it's just before 6 am. I finished Yerba Buena last night around 11 and went to bed knowing I wasn't done experiencing the book for the first time yet. I have so much to say and yet everything I'm going to say I know Nina Lacour already knows.
Nina always makes me feel some type of way about Los Angeles, Iike it's my home I've been away from for a decade, and like l'm finally coming home and everything is different and better yet somehow the same and worse. And I've never even been to California before. She makes me miss what I've never had, long for what I've never dreamed of. And the way she writes sadness - the sadness of love, of loss, and the way that people come and go from your life - is so real that it makes you ache inside and keeps you hooked, turning the pages as you wait for the resolution.
I was hooked from the dedication page, as always. The way that Nina can bring you in to a story so abruptly and yet you instantly feel as though you know everything about these characters. I am always left in awe.
My favorite book has been Everything Leads to You since the moment I first picked it up. That book shaped my life in such wonderous and powerful ways that I can't explain, so here's just one; Emi's search for a green couch within the book shaped my own hunt for a sofa this time last year as the centerpiece of the living room in my first apartment, as I wanted to bring part of the book to life in front of me, to be comforted by the presence of the pureness of green and all it represents. Here, in Yerba Buena, the green motif returns; subtle at first, but if you come into it thinking of Lacour's green couch as I always do, you'll notice it right away. Green is life, it's vibrance, it's comfort and strength and the feeling of a hug wrapped around you at the end of a back-breaking sob. I feel lucky to share my world with Nina Lacour's green.
I desire to know this book like the back of my hand, the way I haven't wanted to know a book since Everything Leads to You. I will return to Yerba Buena again when the time is right, as Lacour says, each return a miracle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Pedophilia
Minor: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
foreveristhesweetestcon's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It’s just bad. I don’t know. The plot was kind of all over the place, in the sense that I just did not know where the author was headed. At the same time, some of the plot points were just so predictable. In all the wrong ways. I feel like Lacour tried to tackle some tough topics in here like sexual assault, but they were done poorly or they were skimmed over. And the characters did not have enough depth. They didn’t even have enough to be unlikable. I felt little attachment to them and scarcely any chemistry between the two main love interests. And the prose... It just read like a bad fanfic. I rushed to read this in a day so that I could get to my next book. If I had to pick out one positive thing, it would be Lacour’s comfort with sexuality and its fluidity. I appreciated the casual but not inaccurate representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault
jayisreading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
I enjoyed LaCour’s YA novel, We Are Okay, when I read it years ago, and I thought she did a wonderful job with her quiet exploration through grief. I haven’t read her other novels since, but when I found out that she was publishing a novel for an adult audience, I admit I was skeptical but interested to see what she would bring to the table.
Yerba Buena ended up being another dive into grief, about two teenage girls (who grow up over time in the book), and a tender queer love that blooms between those two characters. While my memory of We Are Okay is a bit fuzzy, having read it so long ago, I did feel as though I was reading a repackaged and messier version of it. LaCour was ambitious in her attempt to merge two different storylines into one. Unfortunately, I didn’t think she succeeded here, because the two stories were too different (even if the overarching themes were similar). It also didn’t help that the way she had the two characters’ stories merge was through a “love at first sight” moment. I found that with the attempt to have two distinct storylines, LaCour lost sight of fleshing out her characters into something more. I think this book would have been more successful if attention was placed on either Emilie’s or Sara’s storyline (probably the latter’s, if I’m honest), or even having two novellas that connected to each other.
I do want to praise LaCour for her beautiful writing, though, which was apparent even in We Are Okay. Relatedly, I thought her descriptions of Southern California (specifically the Los Angeles area) well-crafted. Despite the grief that exists in this book, you were still able to feel the warmth of the Californian sun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
okamihi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual assault