Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Luster

I was conflicted going into this because I had read many mixed reviews of the harsh and sometimes vulgar ways in which Raven Leilani describes the life of Evie, but, I completely disagree! This story felt real, honest and appropriately sobering, the main characters graphic language was used at appropriate times and it all served to make Evie feel like a well-formed and fully developed character! I loved this book and the only reason for it not to have the full five stars is because some chapters felt too long and drawn out, but still engaging along the way so I couldn’t deduct too much! A new favourite for sure

Content Warnings

biancaaabrown's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense 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

I think this book was definitely a challenging read, not lexically at all but semantically. It hurts to see a somewhat innocent woman in pain, especially when black. Raven Leilani writes raw, and doesn’t hold back and almost prods too sharply into your own wounds as a young black woman. Leilani frames city life as fearsome, love as hopeless and unrequited on all ends, and sadness as an inevitable border around all of the above. The fiction of this text is its own hope in my life at least, but a distant cry goes out to those for which this is less fictional.

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macknificent's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The description for this book makes it sound like a thriller, if that is what you are looking for you will be disappointed.

This is a story about black girls, in white suburbs, who grew up on Tumblr and surrounded by trauma. We are shown who those girls become when they refuse to wear the mask of The Strong Black Woman because it is too restricting and nobody showed them how to adjust for their own measurements.

I loved this book, it was refreshing to see a black woman in the role of Sad Girl and the writing was beautiful. Leilani deserves her flowers on this one.

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alsalts's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Leilani's unusual, often broken up, writing is fascinating in that it gives us a direct insight into what her main character finds noteworthy or significant and, equally, what is just a part of another day among many. Most interesting is the fact that some of the moments which are skipped over could easily form entire novels in someone else's hands. Here they show us Edie's turmoil, her lived experience and above all her desire to be seen and loved and remembered. Sharing a real person in an all too real world, Luster burns with sexual tension and never turns away from trauma, but it has a quiet beauty too, found in the moments between the novel's women, all lost in their own way.

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sib_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

1.5

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llj's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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bethanstanleyy's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

ayannamaslog's review

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challenging 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

1.5

I really wanted to like this book after seeing the reviews. I found it painful to read, with long sentences, endless metaphors and no real plot going on. I personally don’t enjoy this type of writing style and even though it’s only 220 or so pages it felt like the book was loooong.

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