Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Luster by Raven Leilani

38 reviews

joanaprneves's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-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

This is a compulsive read. Which I honestly am starting to question. Is that a good thing? The book is very well written to the point where I felt it was almost too well written. I associate this book with Taddeo’s Animal where the writer’s virtuosic writing is too present and thus performative. Sometimes the descriptive somersaults are spot on, and a lot of the times they seem to be there for effect. Same with the plot and the characters. Of course the wife works at the morgue and many scenes will develop there; of course the husband is an archivist, talking on the phone about weird specimens, of course there is

a pregnancy and its inevitable miscarriage.
All this while there is very little character development and no real incursion into the characters and their behaviour. The middle-aged characters have the most movie-cliche middle-age crisis, whereas the young twenty-something is critiqued for the instant-validation typical of her generation. Of course

the character’s weird behaviour is explained as a journey into becoming an artist. I felt that this was an excuse that prevented a real excursion into trauma, aspirations, sexual desire and  the hardships of working terrible jobs.
Just like in Animal, this seems like a very well produced hit song lacking the depth of an indie first album.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Addiction, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Infertility

Minor: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

ashleybeereads's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Blood, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Alcohol, Body shaming, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, and Infertility

Minor: Vomit and Abortion

gracer0sew's review

challenging funny tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Abortion, Racism, and Police brutality

Minor: Abandonment, Grief, and Pregnancy

nightfell's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

5.0

I have no words to encapsulate my experience reading this book. 

I am SHOCKED that this is Leilani's first book and I WILL be reading all her other books. 

Luster is a book about a young woman named Edie who is struggling with her life. She gets into a relationship with a middle aged white man and the book goes into detail about the privilege, race, class, gender and many other themes that come as a result of their relationship as a black woman. 

I related to this book too much. 

The writing is phenomenal. It probably isn't for everyone as it requires the reader to pay rapt attention and digest every single word that is written, but that is why I love it so muc. There were sentences that were paragraphs long, which added to the tone and meanings which were perfectly conveyed. Each subsection was perfection, and after each one I felt the urge to out down the book, and stare at the wall, as each part is so packed with meaning, and intention and precision. 

I'm not smart enough to put down in words how this book made me feel, and to unpack the multitude of the layers this book had, all I can say was that it is a one of a kind, and it was executed so well. PLEASE READ IT. 

It took me over a month and it is just over 200 pages long. That's because I read it during a time where I was already depressed and at times the book got too real for me. Some times I would read it and have to make a choice to keep reading or prioritise my own happiness and wellbeing. But it communicates the type of depression that holds you tightly and is with you always. I don't know If this is making sense but just read it. 

That fact that Raven Leilani sat down and wrote this masterpiece makes me genuinely angry, because how did she write this. More accurately: how can anyone write something this powerful. One of my best books of the year. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, Death, Dysphoria, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Classism, Police brutality, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Racial slurs, Car accident, Drug use, Abortion, Physical abuse, and Blood

davidbythebay's review

challenging emotional funny tense 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

3.5

At the start of this book I kept thinking "I'm not a prude, but I am clutching my pearls!" Trust me when I say I am FAR from being squeamish about intimate escapades. But I was still, somehow, shocked by the frankness of the main character. As I read on, I realized what was really gnawing at me was her frankness. She almost sounded like she had already given up and was just an automaton moving about. And I think that was part of the point. As I read, the book grew on me and I really ended up liking it by the end. 

Don't get me wrong, I still have some issues with the story. First of all, it was sometimes disjointed almost in that things just happened and felt like there was no thought behind it by the characters. For example - and this is in the description and not a spoiler - when Edie (our main character) becomes unemployed and invited to live with this family given everything that is knowingly going on here by the parties. It just reads as odd. I get setting aside differences and emotions in an emergency situation, but taking someone in whom you think so little of and then seem to be friends with, back and forth on this endless spectrum of what's going on here. 

The writing was absolutely lovely, on the whole. Some things were a little over written (poetic to the point of overdoing it) but mostly it was a pleasant read. One issue I had was, and this is something small, the hipster-vibe of acknowledging and naming the patriarchy/capitalism/what-have-you in the middle of a rant. I just don't like a conversation - and I have actually been privy to these happening in real life and even then they feel staged - where something happens and it is named by the grander concept that it embodies. I know this is a patriarchal matter you are discussing and having opinions on. I don't need to be bluntly slapped by that wet fish. 

All of that aside, I enjoyed the writing and liked the story. It touched on several important topics and ideas, but sometimes it dealt with them very briefly and it came across as being dismissive. (I'm talking about the key scene in particular. If you know, you know.) As it stands, it was an enjoyable bit of reading but nothing I really connected with. I may just be done with the whole millennial/Gen Z sarcastic "wokeness" even though I am technically called a millennial/Gen Z. It's something that tends to be blunt and generalized without nuance or tact. Luster did not paint with such a wide indiscriminate brush, but it definitely created some bright strokes. 

Better than an average book, but just not my taste. 3.5 Stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Infidelity, Blood, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Abortion, and Alcohol

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Animal death, Grief, Stalking, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, and Death

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

orireading's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Medical content, and Police brutality

Moderate: Abortion and Vomit

bouebooks's review

challenging dark 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: Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Blood

chloebethx_'s review

dark 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

4.75

I was conflicted going into this because I had read many mixed reviews of the harsh and sometimes vulgar ways in which Raven Leilani describes the life of Evie, but, I completely disagree! This story felt real, honest and appropriately sobering, the main characters graphic language was used at appropriate times and it all served to make Evie feel like a well-formed and fully developed character! I loved this book and the only reason for it not to have the full five stars is because some chapters felt too long and drawn out, but still engaging along the way so I couldn’t deduct too much!  A new favourite for sure

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

emilykthelin's review

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Medical content

Moderate: Blood, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abortion, Miscarriage, Police brutality, and Racism

Minor: Grief, Sexism, Suicide, and Vomit

macknificent's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

The description for this book makes it sound like a thriller, if that is what you are looking for you will be disappointed. 

This is a story about black girls, in white suburbs, who grew up on Tumblr and surrounded by trauma. We are shown who those girls become when they refuse to wear the mask of The Strong Black Woman because it is too restricting and nobody showed them how to adjust for their own measurements. 

I loved this book, it was refreshing to see a black woman in the role of Sad Girl and the writing was beautiful. Leilani deserves her flowers on this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Suicide, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Blood, Abortion, Infidelity, Racism, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Forced institutionalization