Nina LaCour: Yerba Buena (2022, Hodder & Stoughton)
English language
Published Dec. 1, 2022 by Hodder & Stoughton.
From the first chapter, I was super invested in the story and the characters. top tier character growth from the whole cast
The book is a general fiction that is more slice of life than anything else. It is about how relationships are effected by the lived experiences of the people in them. This is punctuated by the fact that the first half of the book focuses on the separate experiences of the two leads, who don't even meet until the latter half of the novel. Even then, the timing for them isn't quite right (much like it plays it in real life sometimes) and they don't actually form a relationship until a little after the first half.
I actually felt that narrative structure worked really well. I was so involved by each of their own stories that by the time they actually met I had forgotten that the novel was about their relationship. It was very interesting to see how their trauma, which we learn so much about, effected the relationship. …
The book is a general fiction that is more slice of life than anything else. It is about how relationships are effected by the lived experiences of the people in them. This is punctuated by the fact that the first half of the book focuses on the separate experiences of the two leads, who don't even meet until the latter half of the novel. Even then, the timing for them isn't quite right (much like it plays it in real life sometimes) and they don't actually form a relationship until a little after the first half.
I actually felt that narrative structure worked really well. I was so involved by each of their own stories that by the time they actually met I had forgotten that the novel was about their relationship. It was very interesting to see how their trauma, which we learn so much about, effected the relationship.
The only criticism I have is that since the novel took so much time to explain their backstories, it seemed to rely "love at first sight" to get them to form a close relationship quickly; but maybe that is just me being a cynic. Other than that, I highly recommend this book looking for realistic fiction.
