Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Luster by Raven Leilani

56 reviews

kerrence30's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Difficult to describe, but it feels so honest you can’t dislike it. The situation is regretful, and the main family of characters are distrustful yet likeable, and although the narrator is honest to a fault, she is somewhat of an antihero. The important plot line is the different experiences of living in New York/ New Jersey for the black and white characters. It is intentionally unsubtle, and well delivered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Eating disorder and Police brutality

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, and Infertility

stellahadz's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to like this book, but I think the writing style and characterization didn't really resonate with me. Most of the characters felt very flat, which may have been a deliberate choice by the author, but it didn't engage me as much as I would have liked. Still, I think Raven Leilani writes well and if she wrote another novel I would definitely give it a chance.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Medical content, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Abortion, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Eating disorder

vagorsol's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racism, and Miscarriage

Minor: Eating disorder, Suicide, and Abortion

Descriptions/depictions of depersonalization.

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Addiction, Infidelity, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Body horror, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Car accident and Animal death

geesammy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Captivating, like watching a fatal car crash in slow motion.  Spare and sharp.  Some brilliantly written lines.  Not enjoyable through as the subject matter is rough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Abortion, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Eating disorder

novella42's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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

4.0

I noticed this book at my library because of its gorgeous cover, and I took it home because I am polyamorous and the blurb mentioned "an open marriage—with rules."

I just need to say... Please don't take this book's depiction of non-monogamy as representative of how to do an ethically open marriage. Holy hell. I feel at a loss to list all the ways Edie and Eric and Rebecca torture each other needlessly. It's a fascinating train wreck to watch, and I found myself looking at my own polycule with renewed gratitude and affection. Leilani doesn't let any of the characters off the hook, and if a lot of their behaviors seem inexplicable to you, well, you won't be alone. 

As to the book itself, I appreciated the lyrical, almost psychadelic writing. (If you don't like pose poetry or stream-of-consciousness writing, maybe pass on this one.) Leilani revels in dark Millennial existential dread that kept shocking laughter out of me. She's fantastic at descriptive phrases that catch you off-guard with their originality. I marveled at some of them, their poetic pacing and expansive assumptions, so much I started collecting a list:

"I am suspended in a lurid hypnagogic loop."

"It is impossible to see another black woman on her way up, impossible to see that meticulous, polyglottal origami and not, as a black woman yourself, fall a little bit in love."

"A sudden and swiftly contained conniption."

"Hooked into peripheral intuition." 

"The city's breakneck, multilingual carousel."

"Some inconceivable boss-level of concentrated loneliness."

"The bike lanes in Manhattan already terrifying at 11:00 a.m., filled with delivery boys and girls who jet into traffic with fried rice and no reason to live, along with the sentient abdominals who do this for fun."

"The lawn buzzed and alkaline, the vinegar in the wine and carnage in the dew, everywhere the perfume of things that want to live."

I can't imagine what it's like to narrate this as an audiobook, because the rhythm of the words is beautiful and also relentless. Leilani is skilled at pulling you deep into the bewildering internal labyrinth of mental illness and immersive, uncomfortable experiences. 

If you carry any traumas, I recommend browsing the full list of content tags. I almost couldn't make it through the scenes with gore and body horror, though Edie's dissociative skills and the eye of an artist made it slightly more bearable. I'm glad I got it in hardcopy instead of audio, so I could skim over difficult dark passages. There were lots of those. I'm not sure why I kept reading, except that I was fascinated. It was hard to look away.

One last thing, a recommendation for anyone who likes disco. I genuinely think one reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did was that in the first 15 pages, Edie references her connection to Idris Muhammad's 1977 song "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This." On a whim, I made a Spotify station out of it and I have to say, it complimented the book and let me surrender to the undertow.

Beautiful writing about broken people living a surreal, twisted story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, Addiction, Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Medical content, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Violence, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Car accident, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Cancer, Abandonment, Excrement, and Stalking

bookishplantmom's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

This is a very compelling book. I thought the prose was really beautiful in some passages. I loved the overall tone of the story. This sort of hazy, gritty, slice of life approach to storytelling can be very engaging when done well. And it is done well here in my opinion. The characters are flawed and messy which made them feel very authentic. I found the story engaging and at times really gut wrenching. The characters in this book really go through it in some cases. The one thing I wish is that there had bit a little more emphasis on mental health. It was clear to me that many of the characters were deeply traumatized and at no point does the story speak to how mental health is something that requires as much attention and care as physical health. This book is really powerful in some aspects and is a bit of a gut punch at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Police brutality

Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Sexual assault

heisiiri's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-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

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed a lot of the themes and social commentary, but didn't find the story super compelling. Sometimes I was in awe of a beautifully written scene, sometimes the writing style felt like it just wasn't for me.

I think my main issue with this book was that it's one of those books that are quite depressing and grim, yet it still doesn't hit the feels enough. Like this isn't the kind of book I would cry over. The main character and narrator Edie seems to hold a certain emotional distance to everything that happens in her life, which can be an interesting character trait, but sometimes it also means that the scenes don't really impact the emotions of the reader either. It's a style choice that can really work for some readers, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

The best parts of this book are definitely the relationships between the female characters. I enjoyed the complexity and depth of Akila and Edie's relationship, and some of the scenes between Edie and Rebecca were great as well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Classism, Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Suicide

pasearlibros's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Abortion

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder

srhi96's review

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Abortion, Miscarriage, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Eating disorder