Yerba Buena

by Nina LaCour

2022

Publication

Flatiron Books, c2022.

Library's rating

Status

Available

Description

"The debut adult novel by the bestselling and award-winning YA author Nina LaCour, following two women on a star-crossed journey toward each other When Sara Foster runs away from home at sixteen, she leaves behind not only the losses that have shattered her world but 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. In her seventh year and fifth major as an undergraduate, she yearns for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but is unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena and embarks on an affair with the married owner. When Sara catches sight of Emilie one morning at Yerba Buena, their connection is immediate. But the damage both women carry, and the choices they have made, pulls them apart again and again. When 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, they must decide if their love is more powerful than their pasts. At once exquisite and expansive, astonishing in its humanity and heart, Yerba Buena is a love story for our time and a propulsive journey through the lives of two women finding their way in the world"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member bibliovermis
This was very different from what I expected from the description. It was much more melancholy, and much more beautiful. While definitely romantic, the book was not a romance but a two-character bildungsrman, focusing less on the romance between Emilie and Sara and more on their characters,
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experiences, and growth as individuals, and how their experiences cause them to relate to each other and the world. It was lovely.
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LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
If you are looking for a happy go lucky rom-com from Nina Lacour, look elsewhere. While this is a good book and I highly recommend it, it is dark, especially in the beginning. Sara's girlfriend Annie dies at age 16. Emelie's older sister, Colette, is a drug addict. That's the beginning. Both need
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to escape their environments.

Fate has it that they meet, but it was a fleeting moment. It takes several years for them to get back together. Can they make it together? You be the judge.

A worthwhile adult read.
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LibraryThing member ecataldi
Two women find themselves falling for each other despite the heavy baggage they each carry. Sara fled her hometown at sixteen when her girlfriend was found dead in the river. She needed a fresh start away from her hometown that sucked the life out of people. Emilie is unsure with what she wants to
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do with her life - she desperately wants to be closer to her addict sister, but doesn't know how to bridge the gap. In the meantime she becomes a super senior changing her major over and over. When the two star-crossed lovers meet at the hip restaurant, Yerba Buena, it isn't quite love at first sight - but the two find themselves being pulled together. If they ever set their baggage down - they might just find that they are exactly what they've been looking for.
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LibraryThing member Sheila1957
Sara loves Annie but Annie goes missing. Emilie's parents focus on her sister Colette who has an addiction problem. As their stories of growing up are told, their paths several times before they can find a time where they can stay in each other's lives.

I was not sure what to expect but this book
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was so good I hardly put it down as I read. I also read it in one day. Sara's story was hard to watch as she leaves town at 16 and moves to Los Angeles. She finds her place eventually, but she had a tough road. Emilie had just as tough a road, but she had family around her. They weren't much support as they always focused on Colette. Emilie was unsettled as she looked for a path to follow. She does find it. When she and Sara find each other, both are calmer. Their pasts, though, keep interfering and cause hurt and uncertainty to enter their possible relationship. Neither is used to people staying for them. I could identify with them. I was glad when they faced their pasts and could see how it impacted them.

I look forward to more books by Nina LaCour.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
adult fiction, ~25 y.o. bartender/mixologist Sara Foster meets ~25 y.o, Emilie Dubois, forever student looking for purpose. These characters and their assorted acquaintances (Eugene, Spencer, Annie, Colette, Bas, Claire) are so intensely human and their stories are told beautifully.

TW: drug abuse,
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addiction, forced sexual relations
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Language

Original language

English

ISBN

9781250810502
Page: 0.5069 seconds