Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Luster by Raven Leilani

45 reviews

jaealey's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

mackinley's review

dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse

heademptybookcasefull's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

juanita's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Racism

toofondofbooks_'s review

dark emotional funny 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

4.25

The first thing I absolutely have to say about this book is that the writing is beautiful. There is a sense of realism to every page of the book that really makes the story believable. Edie is a painfully raw and real protagonist with a strong narrative voice that I thoroughly enjoyed, I just wish that she, as a character, loved herself as much as I love her. The book follows her as she tries to navigate her life and relationship with a married older man. A relationship that only becomes more complicated when Edie loses her job and is invited into his home by her paramour's wife. Another character that I really enjoyed apart from Edie was Akila, her lover's adopted daughter.

As for drawbacks to this book, I think that more could have happened in the second half and I'm surprised that it didn't. There was a stretch of pages where it seemed like not much of anything was happening, and though I was never *bored* exactly, I was waiting for the pace to pick up.

Overall, this was a really great, quick read, and if you've been thinking about picking it up, here's your sign!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infertility, Murder, Vomit, and War

Minor: Religious bigotry

mklein319's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Police brutality

carolinehope96's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Violence and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abortion and Suicide

gabyaponte'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Honestly, while it was a decent and interesting enough read, I'm not sure why it has been so highly praised. I just felt like many of the character's actions, other than Edie's, required a lot more explanation or insight. Eric and Rebecca's characters just felt odd and much of the way they acted went either completely or insufficiently explained. On a positive note, the discussions of race and the implications of being a black daughter to white parents was very captivating and I would have liked to see a lot more of that and a lot less of the awkward and honestly unnecessary sexual interactions between Edie and Eric. Overall, it was a good read but nothing too extraordinary or worth revisiting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Racism

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism and Police brutality

bentonnnn1's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

spaghettireads's review

dark emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I’m glad that I picked it up, even going in with high expectations I thought that this book did well what it was trying to do in a relatively small number of pages. 

Luster is told from the perspective of Edie, a Black 20-something living in New York, who gets involved with a married couple who have agreed to have an open marriage. The story goes further and deeper than just a messy marriage though, with discussions on race and misogyny included in Edie’s narrative. 

I thought what Leilani did particularly well was the level of detail provided. The narrative jumps from event to event quickly, and often there are few details given. There is just enough detail given to get the story across, and make insightful observations, but few enough that sometimes the reader has to make assumptions and guess at what happened. 

If you enjoy fiction about the millennial experience, I would recommend picking this up if you haven’t already. While parts of it are uncomfortable to read, I think that Leilani pulls the story together well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Animal death