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rosh's review
dark
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
bookswhitme's review
challenging
dark
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Abortion, and Death of parent
missredreads20's review against another edition
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
3.5
3.5⭐
I had already got this book before it was long listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 but that just made me read it sooner.
Unfortunately I was quite underwhelmed by this book. It felt very similar to Queenie by Candace Carty Williams and I felt pretty much an equal level of frustration with Edie and the situations she put herself in. I found the whole set up with the married couple quite odd, although I can see it was because she needed the financial support.
I also found the chapters incredibly long, there are only 8, and also some very long sentences.
I know a lot of people have struggled with this book at this time due to recent events with Sarah Everard so just be warned there is violence in this book.
I had already got this book before it was long listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 but that just made me read it sooner.
Unfortunately I was quite underwhelmed by this book. It felt very similar to Queenie by Candace Carty Williams and I felt pretty much an equal level of frustration with Edie and the situations she put herself in. I found the whole set up with the married couple quite odd, although I can see it was because she needed the financial support.
I also found the chapters incredibly long, there are only 8, and also some very long sentences.
I know a lot of people have struggled with this book at this time due to recent events with Sarah Everard so just be warned there is violence in this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence
sunpuddles's review
challenging
dark
funny
sad
fast-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 book is so well-written. The descriptions are vivid and precise, surprising and relatable. I found myself laughing at a brilliant turn of phrase, a simile or metaphor - even when the subject matter was dark. That said, the character development and plot left a bit to be desired. I find myself unable to remember the protagonist name, writing this in the morning after I finish reading the book… I was hoping for more depth to the character or development of a storyline. Not every book needs to be tidy at the end, but I just thought this needed something more to recommend it than the snapshot character study it seemed. I really loved the point of view writing style - The rapidfire descriptions, impressions and thoughts from the Edie were highly entertaining, but did not always lend itself to the best story development. In the end it was like a long short story without a truly fleshed out and memorable story. It is definitely worth the read and I recommend it. I also thought there could be more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Abortion
readwithkiks's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
read this in one evening. i stumbled into it and proceeded forward with a momentum akin to when you've tripped only slightly, but gravity + your weight + your hunched-over posture leads you to pick up speed and eventually collide with the ground. did that make sense? probably not. i didn't realize how far i had gotten in the book until i had only a chapter left (eBook format binge-reading lends itself to this).
at times, the writing was difficult to get through. some sentences felt too short, like important parts of them were clipped away. others seemed to go on for pages and were hard for me to follow. there were some fantastic, sharp sentiments that seemed so specific to the main character's Zillenial New Yorker perspective. Edie is the type of person who seems aloof, but is really just constantly in her head about everything. she is alone in much of the book, even when she's in the presence of others, she's alone. she regards herself with a level of carelessness that made me want to cry. she personifies this mediocre man in ways that lots of us personify men, projecting onto him an allure and intrigue he doesn't deserve. and yet, she has moments of such cutting clarity.
"He wants me to be myself like a leopard might be herself in a city zoo. Inert, waiting to be fed. Not out in the wild, with tendon in her teeth."
i mean, come on. what a sentence, what an image.
reading this made me feel slightly claustrophobic, or like i was being held underwater. you're seeing into the main character's desires and pain and trauma with such intimacy, it can feel nauseating. Leilani perfectly captures the ways that pleasure can slip into disgust and endearment can slip into repulsion. the lines between those feelings are so blurred. it's uncomfortable to sit with.
*light spoiler ahead*
i will end with another quote from the book that i read over and over. near the end, there's a violent interaction with police officers and Leilani writes:
"I know that the moment between when a black boy is upright and capable of speech and when he is prostrate in his own blood is almost imperceptible, due in great part to the tacit conversation that is happening beyond him, that has happened before him, and that resists his effort to enter it before it concludes."
at times, the writing was difficult to get through. some sentences felt too short, like important parts of them were clipped away. others seemed to go on for pages and were hard for me to follow. there were some fantastic, sharp sentiments that seemed so specific to the main character's Zillenial New Yorker perspective. Edie is the type of person who seems aloof, but is really just constantly in her head about everything. she is alone in much of the book, even when she's in the presence of others, she's alone. she regards herself with a level of carelessness that made me want to cry. she personifies this mediocre man in ways that lots of us personify men, projecting onto him an allure and intrigue he doesn't deserve. and yet, she has moments of such cutting clarity.
"He wants me to be myself like a leopard might be herself in a city zoo. Inert, waiting to be fed. Not out in the wild, with tendon in her teeth."
i mean, come on. what a sentence, what an image.
reading this made me feel slightly claustrophobic, or like i was being held underwater. you're seeing into the main character's desires and pain and trauma with such intimacy, it can feel nauseating. Leilani perfectly captures the ways that pleasure can slip into disgust and endearment can slip into repulsion. the lines between those feelings are so blurred. it's uncomfortable to sit with.
*light spoiler ahead*
i will end with another quote from the book that i read over and over. near the end, there's a violent interaction with police officers and Leilani writes:
"I know that the moment between when a black boy is upright and capable of speech and when he is prostrate in his own blood is almost imperceptible, due in great part to the tacit conversation that is happening beyond him, that has happened before him, and that resists his effort to enter it before it concludes."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence
ifersinklings's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.0
I have struggled with my thoughts on this book for hours since I finished it. I enjoyed the writing and the way the story was told and how it unfolded, but I just can't figure out what it was supposed to accomplish. There were so many different aspects and nuances to the story that just never felt like anything was given enough time to be fleshed out. Then it ended. It just seemed to end so abruptly without any real resolution. I also struggled with the infidelity as a central theme to this story. That is definitely a personal issue and one that I did know going into this book, but it may have also made me a little bias to the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Excrement, Police brutality, and Abortion
katherine_ridley's review against another edition
challenging
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Sexual violence
tiffanylooksat's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
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’m torn with how to rate this book. 3? 4?
I found myself explaining this book as being similar to a new co-worker telling you too much of their business too soon. But, work is slow that day, and their life is trashy, and you’re a bit nosey, so you listen and now their life story is dramatic, and sad, you wonder why anyone would share all of this with someone they just met. So to my surprise, this book became a page turner for me. But the delivery, deadpan IMO, and ending wouldn’t let me give it a 5 stars.
I found myself explaining this book as being similar to a new co-worker telling you too much of their business too soon. But, work is slow that day, and their life is trashy, and you’re a bit nosey, so you listen and now their life story is dramatic, and sad, you wonder why anyone would share all of this with someone they just met. So to my surprise, this book became a page turner for me. But the delivery, deadpan IMO, and ending wouldn’t let me give it a 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Racial slurs and Death of parent
adoras's review
challenging
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
Luster is a fascinating novel. It takes the general sort of character and premise that might feel over-done: a twenty-something Millenial-or-Gen-Z in New York City, broke and messy and making mistakes. But the plot and characters here are so specific, and the writing so deliberate and beautiful and funny that it feels entirely new and different. During the beginning especially, I feel like I highlighted at least once a page, because I was so in love with the effortless-feeling style. If the style doesn't work for you, and I can see why it might not, you won't like this book.
This left me feeling melancholy. This is one of those books I love but don't feel that I have a lot to say about, maybe because I need to let it sit with me for a while. I enjoyed going in not knowing too much, although I saw someone compare it to Fleabag and in a lot of ways I think that's perfect. For some reason, I can't quite bump my rating up to five stars, but I really enjoyed this, now want to own a physical copy, and am excited to read more by Raven Leilani.
This left me feeling melancholy. This is one of those books I love but don't feel that I have a lot to say about, maybe because I need to let it sit with me for a while. I enjoyed going in not knowing too much, although I saw someone compare it to Fleabag and in a lot of ways I think that's perfect. For some reason, I can't quite bump my rating up to five stars, but I really enjoyed this, now want to own a physical copy, and am excited to read more by Raven Leilani.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, and Police brutality
Minor: Cancer and Mental illness
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Police brutality, and Abortion
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Medical content