Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

42 reviews

jjreads331's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

2.0

The blurb on the cover called this "A love story for our times." I don't think that kind of lead in could be more misleading. I'm mad the cover is so beautiful since the book was deeply mid for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Child death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Blood

hannah_mezz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Addiction, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Yerba Buena is a stunningly beautiful book.  It follows the story of two young women through the trauma of their lives.  It is a surprisingly hopeful book as they learn to deal with their pasts.  I recommend the audio version as the narration was excellent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

cloudface's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

This might be my new favorite book. I’m going to do my best to organize my thoughts about it, but it’s hard to put into words how beautiful it was. 
The story jumped time and place frequently in a way that might be off putting to some readers, but I thought the author pulled it off well and the time jumps give the reader just enough information to explain why the characters are doing what they’re doing in the present moment of the story. Emilie and Sara’s love story is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever read; even when they make mistakes with each other their love still feels pure. Emilie’s character development hit close to home for me, which is probably why I love this book so much. There’s a lot I could say about how much I liked the ending, too, but I don’t want to spoil it. If you’ve ever felt lonely, misunderstood, or unlovable, read this book and let it heal you a little.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Rape

bi_n_large's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Abandonment

jdamae11's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Nina LaCour’s writing is mesmerizing, definitely going to pick up her YA stuff after this one! This one definitely revealed things to me about myself through it’s characters that I kind of wasn’t prepared for, and I personally love when a book gets you / makes you reflect in such a way! Something about this just really got me in the feels…it does a really great job at exploring loss and just how devastating life can be, and how we can find beauty here and there and our own ways to make it through. It was heavy hitting and realistic in the same way that life is, in that sense. I enjoyed the style of going back and forth with character POVs, it was really well done / not jarring or disjointed. The pacing got a little rough towards the back half, and I wished we had gotten to see our two main characters together a bit more before the end. Overall, really lovely read.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence

michellemm's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug use, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Death

tejanafeminist's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Death, and Drug use

patricktreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Yerba Buena started really dark, and I hate to say for the first two chapters, I was a little confused. However, I was in love with the story of our main characters And their back and forth journey full of come and go, missed connection, and ultimate connection. I also loved how the author went about creating closure scenarios. 

I am however disappointed that there were no content warnings at all, especially with how dark some of the topics discussed were.  Regardless of story or if it’s an “adult” novel, things like assault especially minor assault, and abuse, should be known beforehand.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual assault

alyssamayreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Yerba Buena focuses on the tumultuous lives of Sarah and Emilie, and subsequently how they tumble in and out of each other’s lives. The characters are rich and genuine, which make it hit even harder when they face trauma after trauma. This book is not for the weak at heart! Content warnings include sexual assault of a minor, death, abandonment, drug abuse, and addiction. This book is for anyone looking for a raw telling of what life throws at us, with a sprinkling of fleeting romance. As an OwnVoices reviewer, I found the LGBTQ representation spot on. The audio narration was lovely and really drew me in. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy of Yerba Buena. I plan to review it on my TikTok channel, @alyssamayreads.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse