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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I purchased a copy of this book at a library book sale.
"Luster" follows a young twenty-something Edie as she tries to make it in her life. Edie's life seems to be crashing down around her as she is trying to build a name for herself. The only good part of her day is painting, and the married man she has just started seeing, Eric. Eric has an open marriage with his wife and has a teenage daughter. When Edie really hits rock bottom and moves in temporarily with Eric's family while he is on a business trip, her life really becomes wild.
This novel eloquently explores the difficulties women face, especially black women, when they are first starting out in their life. Edie just does not seem to be able to catch a break, and she does not want to rely on Eric or his family, but she really does not have many options.
One aspect of the book I really enjoyed was Edie's relationship with Eric's daughter. Eric's daughter was adopted and is a black girl being raised by white parents. Although Eric and his wife love their daughter, there are just things they do not know, and it is difficult for them to always care for her in the best ways. Edie really steps up as an almost guide and helps the girl come into her own and embrace her blackness. I think this was great to see as a character growth, but I think this also helped Edie with her own life.
Edie is ruthless in her attempts to make it on her own. For example, when she needs to find a new job and nothing is panning out, she gets a bike and delivers food to people. She knows how to scrap by and hustle, but she also knows how to practice self-care and not run herself into the ground. Painting is her release, and she continues to allow herself to indulge in this to maintain her sanity.
I think this is an exceptional debut that explores how difficult it can be to start out in life. I definitely recommend this to anyone struggling to find who they are and who they want to be.
"Luster" follows a young twenty-something Edie as she tries to make it in her life. Edie's life seems to be crashing down around her as she is trying to build a name for herself. The only good part of her day is painting, and the married man she has just started seeing, Eric. Eric has an open marriage with his wife and has a teenage daughter. When Edie really hits rock bottom and moves in temporarily with Eric's family while he is on a business trip, her life really becomes wild.
This novel eloquently explores the difficulties women face, especially black women, when they are first starting out in their life. Edie just does not seem to be able to catch a break, and she does not want to rely on Eric or his family, but she really does not have many options.
One aspect of the book I really enjoyed was Edie's relationship with Eric's daughter. Eric's daughter was adopted and is a black girl being raised by white parents. Although Eric and his wife love their daughter, there are just things they do not know, and it is difficult for them to always care for her in the best ways. Edie really steps up as an almost guide and helps the girl come into her own and embrace her blackness. I think this was great to see as a character growth, but I think this also helped Edie with her own life.
Edie is ruthless in her attempts to make it on her own. For example, when she needs to find a new job and nothing is panning out, she gets a bike and delivers food to people. She knows how to scrap by and hustle, but she also knows how to practice self-care and not run herself into the ground. Painting is her release, and she continues to allow herself to indulge in this to maintain her sanity.
I think this is an exceptional debut that explores how difficult it can be to start out in life. I definitely recommend this to anyone struggling to find who they are and who they want to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Infidelity
Moderate: Police brutality, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Bullying, and Racism
bookishpip's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicide, Alcoholism, Racism, Addiction, Medical trauma, and Police brutality
charliedon's review against another edition
dark
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Miscarriage, and Abortion
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Animal death, and Racial slurs
Minor: Police brutality
lavenderlion's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Sexual content
kalyaniwarrier's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Luster has been on my TBR for years, and I regret to say that it was underwhelming and disappointing.
Let me go through the positives first: the novel focuses on underlying themes of racism and the struggles of the African-American community in a predominantly white neighbourhood. There is a relatability that can be found when the protagonist, Eddie appears to have problems that the youth of today face such as body shaming, lack of self-esteem, and hyper-fixating on the future.
But apart from these positives, the negatives weigh heavier: the plot involves polygamy in incomplete consensual manner, and presents weird living arrangements that question morality. The plot does not necessarily move forward, as the characters seem to be stuck in a loop of choices that prevents any major advancements in the plot. The characters do not seem to have no clear personality; it's not necessary for characters to have full-round personalities, but the plot, in my opinion, has no significant substance, therefore, it would have been better to have some improvement with the characters; to me, the characters kind of felt robotic.
Overall, it is not a bad book - a pretty average read.
Let me go through the positives first: the novel focuses on underlying themes of racism and the struggles of the African-American community in a predominantly white neighbourhood. There is a relatability that can be found when the protagonist, Eddie appears to have problems that the youth of today face such as body shaming, lack of self-esteem, and hyper-fixating on the future.
But apart from these positives, the negatives weigh heavier: the plot involves polygamy in incomplete consensual manner, and presents weird living arrangements that question morality. The plot does not necessarily move forward, as the characters seem to be stuck in a loop of choices that prevents any major advancements in the plot. The characters do not seem to have no clear personality; it's not necessary for characters to have full-round personalities, but the plot, in my opinion, has no significant substance, therefore, it would have been better to have some improvement with the characters; to me, the characters kind of felt robotic.
Overall, it is not a bad book - a pretty average read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Infidelity, Addiction, and Racism
Minor: Body shaming
fluffy1st's review against another edition
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Abortion, Police brutality, and Infertility
Minor: Suicide and Vomit
jkreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's been a while since I last felt FED by a book, but this one felt like a whole meal. The prose was so lush, it was such a pleasure to consume. I listened to the audiobook and the narration was great.
Raven Leilani has such an exquisite way of describing the mundane - something as ordinary and dare I say, cliche, as a twenty-something living in a crappy roach and mouse infested apartment in New York is recounted in a way that almost adds a layer of magic and whimsy to it.
Don't get me wrong, nothing about it is glamourised, it's bleakly realistic, but the language used is just so divine.
I'm not usually a litfic girlie, I tend to get bored, but I was HOOKED by Luster literally straight away. I anticipated that I would get bored halfway through like I usually do during anything that isn't a fantasy or a romance, but I was pleasantly surprised that Luster kept me hooked from start to finish. Everything about this book felt cliched or inevitable, which it leaned into, but it's really a testament to Leilani's writing that the story was so captivating because in my opinion this is not something that's easy to pull off. I can't wait to read more by this author in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Medical content
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, Abandonment, Abortion, and Blood
growplantsreadbooks's review against another edition
challenging
funny
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Points off for the pregnancy scare even though it was pretty important to the plot.
Messy messy mess!!! So dark, so funny, (so relatable). My heart aches for the daughter character.
Can't wait to see where this author goes next!
Messy messy mess!!! So dark, so funny, (so relatable). My heart aches for the daughter character.
Can't wait to see where this author goes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity
jennireadsmaybe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-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
I read Luster as apart of my local in person book club. I'm still not certain how I feel about it. Leilani's prose is certainly my favorite part of the book because it oscillated between laugh out loud hilarious, gut-punchingly relatable, and outright hurtful at some points. I also enjoyed Edie's entire early twenty-something struggle in life, because most books I've read featuring twenty-somethings are not as honest with the struggle. If you're into literary fiction/trauma porn/not-completely-likable characters I would recommend this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Mental illness, Police brutality, Abortion, Sexual content, and Miscarriage
valrunin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism