Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Luster by Raven Leilani

9 reviews

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

kaymichelle's review

dark funny 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Miscarriage, and Body shaming

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Car accident

lotus440's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Abortion and Rape

nellvin's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-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

Every thought and decision by this protagonist is a surprise. Edie is frustrating but sympathetic, and it is so refreshing being inside the mind of a painter. I also thought Eric, Rebecca and Akila were emotionally well-rounded beings. Not a flat character to be found. This book is sad and strange but the prose is just stunning. Amazing sentences, pitch-perfect observations, hilarious and so-human situations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Abortion, and Sexual content

Minor: Rape

filawless's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

Even though I found parts of this book difficult to read, I think it's fabulously written and tackles the subject matter in a way that I've not read before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Sexual content

sib_reads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Medical content, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Rape, Infertility, Addiction, Grief, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, and Physical abuse

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

This is a beautifully crafted novel. Every element – stynax, diction, plotline, pacing – is perfect and wholly of the piece itself. Which is why it's practically painful to admit that I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. My disappointments can be entirely contributed to my incorrect expectations. It was much darker, heavier, more melancholy than I was necessarily in the mood for or like to read in general.

My critiques, if implimented, would have ruined the book. There was no thread of whimsy to brighten it, which was intentional. The story didn't really kick off until the mid-point, but the depth of the opening was integral. I preferred reading about Rebecca and Akila and wished Eric were less present, but there would be no Rebecca or Akila in Edie's life without Eric.

This novel portrays the tragedy of Edie's reality in the most beautiful way possible, but the portrayal is too faithful to reality for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abortion, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Car accident, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, and Vomit

whatannikareads's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

wowowowowow. so i can see why people hate this book, but i personally loved it, and i like how polarizing the book can make its audience. i was so absorbed the whole time. the writing is sharp and captivating. while none of the characters are particularly likable (except maybe akila, although imo she's not written to be obviously likable), there are some really real, relatable moments leilani incorporates to make the characters all feel tangible. and there is some really beautiful, poetic commentary of edie's world around her, despite the fact that it's mostly bleak and unforgiving. sometimes i think the book veers into lengthy descriptions (particularly during comic con) that doesn't contribute to the plot, but overall it is tight and to the point. it's a book i actually feel compelled to look through again bc there felt like there were so many little nuances and subtleties i could've missed. this could be used in classes for picking apart and analyzing for more depth. i really enjoyed this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

mfeldma3's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

oh....my god

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit