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Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour

35 reviews

zarap's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

One of my favorite books of this year so far. Nina LaCour's writing isn't embellished or flashy, and it doesn't need to be. Sara and Emilie pulled me in from the beginning and I loved getting to know them better and then finally seeing them start to grow together. There's a lot of darkness in places, especially in the beginning (check CWs), but also so much warmth and light and healing. Not a perfect novel perhaps, but perfect for me. If Nina LaCour decides to write copy for cereal boxes, I'm there (but I'd definitely prefer novels). 
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blackcatkai's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

CW: death, implied-suicide, drug/alcohol abuse, overdose, rape, underage sex work (mentioned), cheating, grief, mental illness, trauma

This was a pretty great start to LaCour's entry into the adult fiction world. It does cover a lot of heavy topics, so take any content/trigger warnings seriously before diving in. With the way the blurb sounded, I DID think it'd be a little more focused on the two MC's coming together than it actually was.

This is mainly a contemporary literary fiction novel about two women's lives and the trauma & experiences they go through throughout their lives before those lives intersect. it touches on them together in a couple points (similar to Normal People by Sally Rooney), but it focuses a lot more on their individual events without each other. I found the pacing in the middle to be a bit slow, but it had a strong beginning and ending and I ultimately was rooting for them.

I hope LaCour continues to dive into the adult fiction world, I will absolutely continue reading her work. I was just expecting a little more here & was honestly a bit confused in points.
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lacey_wi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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angietheace'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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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bendersreads's review against another edition

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Should’ve made the characters older for these topics.
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jjreads331's review against another edition

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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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ginnylambda's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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

4.0

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tejanafeminist's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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imstephtacular's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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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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