Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Luster by Raven Leilani

38 reviews

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

nialiversuch's review

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

heademptybookcasefull's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

juanita's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Racism

elikoch's review

challenging emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Racism, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical content, Infidelity, Infertility, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, and Abortion

leah_alexandra's review

challenging emotional 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

5.0

I got this from the library, and was so stunned by it that I might just go out and buy a copy to keep. I thought this was a 4-star book for the first third or so, and then it just ramps right up. The writing is phenomenal, the characters are believable, the emotions are acute. Everything is rendered so finely. Leilani writes sentences that are unique and clearly her own, that a lesser writer would have struggled to make come off so naturally. Nothing felt forced, everything is felt deeply. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Racial slurs, and Infidelity

sl680's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

librarylurker's review

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Drug use, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, and Suicide

tabitha_isabelle's review

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual content

literaryelephant's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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

3.0

This is a worthy and necessary addition to the generally white-washed Disaster Women category of books, and I loved both Leilani's acerbic prose and the social commentary drawn out through her struggling narrator. And yet, while it makes sense for the plot of such a book to feel rather aimless, the lack of direction makes this a story too meandering and aloof for my personal taste. Happy to see this one getting some attention with the Women's Prize, and I like what it has to say on the whole, but didn't particularly enjoy the experience of reading it despite the incredible writing at the sentence level. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Grief