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Yerba Buena
| Title | Yerba Buena |
| Writer | |
| Date | 2025-07-03 09:27:21 |
| Type | |
| Link | Listen Read |
Desciption
FROM BESTSELLING AND PRINTZ-AWARD WINNING AUTHOR NINA LACOUR, PERFECT FOR READERS OF WRITERS AND LOVERS“A study of complex, modern love…Expertly illuminates the trauma that Sara and Emilie are both wrestling with, as well as their hope and healing…Lingers like a perfectly mixed cocktail.” ―San Francisco Chronicle“A Carol for our times.” ―Harper’s BazaarSara Foster runs away from home at sixteen, leaving behind the girl she once was, capable of trust and intimacy. Years later, in Los Angeles, she is a sought-after bartender, renowned as much for her brilliant cocktails as for the mystery that clings to her. Across the city, Emilie Dubois is in a holding pattern, yearning for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena.The morning Emilie and Sara first meet at Yerba Buena, their connection is immediate. But soon Sara's old life catches up to her, upending everything she thought she wanted, just as Emilie has finally gained her own sense of purpose. Will their love be more powerful than their pasts?At once exquisite and expansive, astonishing in its humanity and heart, Yerba Buena is a testament to the healing qualities of a shared meal, a perfectly crafted drink, a space we claim for ourselves. Nina LaCour’s adult debut novel is a love story for our time. Read more
Review
This book has been appearing on so many lists with rave reviews and I was so excited to finally be able to read it.Yerba Buena tells the story of two women from vastly different backgrounds, a tragedy strikes each of them in their teens that affects what they do to cope and what action they take thereafter.The story is told from two PoVs: Emilie and Sara, and follows a linear timeline but digs back into the past when it needs to. The beginning is a little gritty (especially Sara’s story) and when I saw the direction it was going I wasn’t sure I could continue.Luckily it didn’t become too grim and because of the two POVs there’s respite and some breathing room for the story to grow and keep you engaged.There‘s a little mystery which is a fantastic hook and while there is also romantic angle, it’s not the primary arc.The real narrative is driven by the growth journey the MCs each embark on as they try to find themselves - what makes them happy, find meaning in their lives and getting closure on some of the trauma they’ve experienced in their past.The writing is the big win here, it is so beautiful and that’s why I couldn’t put it down. It pulls at your emotions and the descriptions makes you feel like you are right there with the characters. The romantic angle does have an HEA or more accurately a HFN, but even then it still left me with this undercurrent of sadness.I think there’s the one line towards the end of the book that sums up my feelings about this book the best:“So right while it lasted. So sweet, and bitter”.
