Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Luster

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Luster by Raven Leilani

96 reviews

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.

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jkreads's review against another edition

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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!

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growplantsreadbooks's review against another edition

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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!

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kerrence30's review against another edition

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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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bail33's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. I feel like I know the characters, and even though I didn’t particularly like Rebecca, I feel like I miss all of the characters now that I’m done reading because I had such a sense of being there. Leilani’s writing is just beyond incredible. She uses many words to explain things that could be summed up in just a few, which imo goes against the trend in literary writing right now, but because of it I know and love and understand her setting and cast more. There were so many passages that I have highlighted because how how much they inspire me to write. Such a beautiful and meaningful novel.

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thatsssorachael's review

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challenging dark reflective sad tense 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

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seizuredreading's review

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dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I didn’t put this book down. I thought, maybe, just maybe, I’ll read one chapter per day. You know as a little treat. Raven truly said to MY face, “WRONG ANSWER FO HEAD!”

She disturbed my peace from the first word right up until the last. Sure, some people may find some of the crucial topics trite (racism: as it was discussed in the book at how exhausting it is to be Black in PWI spaces *Kanye shrug*), however comma. That aside mc is working out parental issues with a couple she stumbles across. An “open” marriage that may not be as what’s advertised.

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al_davies_jones's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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brittanyisbooked's review

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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

3.0

I truly just don’t know how I feel about this book. I didn’t like the main character from the beginning, and I hoped the book would show some growth. Unfortunately, I don’t think there was really any growth. However, I do think there was connection with others, which is a different form of character development. She didn’t grow as a person, perse, but she did grow in her ability to form connections with others and that’s still something.

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lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The truth is that when the officer had his arm pressed into my neck, there was a part of me that felt like, all right. Like, fine. Because there will always be a part of me that is ready to die.

I can't figure out how I feel about this one! The author has a subtly humourous style to her writing and I absolutely loved the pacing of the first half. But the second half noted a very harsh change in pace, a bit like wading through treacle.

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