Reviews with content warning for Death - Hitze

I ended up loving this book!! I couldn’t give it 5 stars because the writing style still confuses me. Some lines that were supposed to be deep just came off as cheesy, and it would be so dry and monotonous by just listing out tasks the character was doing and felt so ??? Boring to read ? But then the author chucked like a million SAT words in there that the writing somehow insulted my intelligence with boring descriptions but also made me feel dumb by using niche words that maybe someone studying Latin could figure out, and this would all be in the same paragraph ??

But the story won me over in the end !! Genuinely surprised me in a way I never knew I needed. I can’t stop thinking abt it !

Content Warnings

annie_122's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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pollyflorence's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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epellicci's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I found Luster to be quite monotonous. In trying to be grandly poetic, the writing came across as dreary monologues that I struggled to invest in. And while this story is full of complex characters, I failed to find an emotional connection with any of them. For me, the reading experience was quite tedious, and it wasn't until about 59% of the way through the book that I started to find moments I was enjoying.
I also found that the ending came out of nowhere. While I understand that the abruptness, and unconcluded feeling of it were very true to the writing and Eddie's character, it did feel like it came as I was only just getting into the book which left me quite disappointed.

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sl680's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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mcpl's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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sunpuddles's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is so well-written. The descriptions are vivid and precise, surprising and relatable. I found myself laughing at a brilliant turn of phrase, a simile or metaphor - even when the subject matter was dark. That said, the character development and plot left a bit to be desired. I find myself unable to remember the protagonist name, writing this in the morning after I finish reading the book… I was hoping for more depth to the character or development of a storyline. Not every book needs to be tidy at the end, but I just thought this needed something more to recommend it than the snapshot character study it seemed. I really loved the point of view writing style - The rapidfire descriptions, impressions and thoughts from the Edie were highly entertaining, but did not always lend itself to the best story development. In the end it was like a long short story without a truly fleshed out and memorable story. It is definitely worth the read and I recommend it. I also thought there could be more.

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ifersinklings's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have struggled with my thoughts on this book for hours since I finished it. I enjoyed the writing and the way the story was told and how it unfolded, but I just can't figure out what it was supposed to accomplish. There were so many different aspects and nuances to the story that just never felt like anything was given enough time to be fleshed out. Then it ended. It just seemed to end so abruptly without any real resolution. I also struggled with the infidelity as a central theme to this story. That is definitely a personal issue and one that I did know going into this book, but it may have also made me a little bias to the story.

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