Review: Yerba Buena
Yerba Buena by Nina LaCourMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
View all my reviews
3.5⭐️
This book is a sort of slide show across the youth of two women after they are faced with life altering trauma. So much happened in the first few chapters I had to take a few days to process it. It was jarring in a way when something happens while everything seems to be going really well.
The writing is in the same simple style of her previous books but now it’s greatly enriched with the inclusion of settings. The author has used the ambience like a third person who keeps making the conversations brighter, the interactions deeper. Everything seems to add a layer of quiet symbolism to the scenes. The herbs, the drinks, the ingredients, the houses - all feel complicit in unfolding the story.
This is a couplet of parallel stories of both them coming into themselves, accepting their history, their family and choosing to live both with it and beyond it. It’s a subtle way of portraying moving on from things and self discovery when it all feels too late.
The romance is quite dim and didn’t feel as significant as it was supposed to be. I wanted a better exploration of their relationship. Although the story leads up to the romance, there is greater depth in all the parts that come before.
In a way it was quite comforting as much as it was traumatising.
This book is a sort of slide show across the youth of two women after they are faced with life altering trauma. So much happened in the first few chapters I had to take a few days to process it. It was jarring in a way when something happens while everything seems to be going really well.
The writing is in the same simple style of her previous books but now it’s greatly enriched with the inclusion of settings. The author has used the ambience like a third person who keeps making the conversations brighter, the interactions deeper. Everything seems to add a layer of quiet symbolism to the scenes. The herbs, the drinks, the ingredients, the houses - all feel complicit in unfolding the story.
This is a couplet of parallel stories of both them coming into themselves, accepting their history, their family and choosing to live both with it and beyond it. It’s a subtle way of portraying moving on from things and self discovery when it all feels too late.
The romance is quite dim and didn’t feel as significant as it was supposed to be. I wanted a better exploration of their relationship. Although the story leads up to the romance, there is greater depth in all the parts that come before.
In a way it was quite comforting as much as it was traumatising.
Comments
Post a Comment