Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Yerba Buena

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

173 reviews

spiides's review against another edition

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

I enjoyed the author’s entry into adult fiction tremendously! Her past writings that shows the young adult’s journeys through pain have always shown maturity, and it was nice to see what Lacour could do once fitting the adult sized shoes on fully. The ups and downs kept me rooting, the mistakes had me reeling, the love had me smiling.

However, while the duel storytelling together with Lacour’s alluring prose did indeed capture me, they were not strong enough to overshadow the instantaneous love-at-first-sight / lack of connection between our two lovers. Sarah and Emilie’s stories were captivating and harrowing, but never felt quite meshed as one (and at times unfortunately better once separated.) Romance appears to be the main device used to tie our two lovers, but sadly I cannot say it succeeded.

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lolajh's review against another edition

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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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lalesbianlune's review against another edition

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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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yayathegreat38's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing 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

3.75

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casdelvo's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

3.5

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meg_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I really genuinely loved this. As per usual, with most books that I love a whole lot, I have a hard time articulating why. This was beautifully written and reading from these character's perspectives hurt. I felt so connected to Emilie and her family dynamic and her feelings of purposelessness. I also felt so connected to Sarah because her story was so tragically realistic and complicated. I loved these two women and their intertwining stories and the ways in which they grew into themselves and grew into loving one another. I also feel like this book had one of my favorite niche traits, which is soulmate energy. Not overt soulmates, but like these people are so deeply connected from the jump. From the moment their eyes meet or they speak to one another, or they touch and then there is no going back because the world is changed and there is this unexplainable deep connection to this other person. Never explicitly written on the page that they're soulmates, but it has that energy. I love that shit. This was just such a beautiful and painful book and I loved it.

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lesbianelvira's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

i sobbed at the end. the entire book, i found myself skimming nothing- hanging onto nina lacour’s every word. she made every character, every moment, so vivid. the synchronicity in this story was beautifully done. i loved and understood sara and emilie so much.
the lesbian loneliness has really been settling into my bones lately, making everything feel heavy, especially during pride month. it’s nice to at least have books like this, to feel like i’m bearing witness to women who love each other deeply and always will, to learn about queer authors and their loves. they’re a beautiful and needed escape from personal bleakness.

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