Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Luster by Raven Leilani

38 reviews

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infertility, and Police brutality

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

3.75

I feel like I've seen this book everywhere and luckily it pretty much lived up to the hype for me. I found Leilani's writing style so interesting. It's sharp and darkly funny, featuring very long sentences. The characters don't have many on page conversations and their behaviour often felt surreal, in part because of the way it's written. It's full of insightful observations about race and class and the characters were unlikeable but fascinating.
Edie is a very frustrating character, continuously making bad decisions. The narrative is also very focused in the present and there isn't much reflection on or analysis of her past, leaving you to piece together the possible reasons behind her self-destructive behaviour. I can definitely understand the comparisons to Queenie and Fleabag but I feel like both of those characters learnt and grew more than Edie did. This is more like a glimpse into her life and I still felt worried about her by the end. I just really wanted someone to genuinely be there for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Grief, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Animal death

heykels's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racism, Police brutality, Infidelity, and Grief

capote65's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Drug use, Violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

bookish_sabrina's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Luster is another installment in the genre of millennial women struggling through their twenties. These novels often feature characters who are messy, making a series of extremely bad, potentially harmful, decisions. While this is true for Luster, it goes deeper. Often these novels feature self-loathing protagonists, but neglect to go beyond the recognition of flaws into something more introspective, or even transformative. In this novel, get to see Edie grapple and reflect, going beyond the acknowledgement and into some semblance of change, even if there are detours along the way. I also really liked how this novel confronts ideas of casual racism and privilege, which has been largely absent in the comparable titles I've read.

I find it interesting that this novel is written in first-person present tense. It gives the prose a lot of momentum, particularly in Leilani's long sentences. They start off innocuous and then suddenly slam you into bitter truths about Edie's past, as well as observations and critiques on society, with a particular focus on racism and misogyny. This novel is propulsive. It is a quick read despite how uncomfortable and upsetting some of the subject matter and scenes are. The present perspective also gives us great insight into Edie, and how she is unable to see herself in the future and is unwilling to dwell too much on her past.

There's no question that Leilani is an excellent writer. I found her characters to be well-rounded. It is funny and insightful. However, I don't think it is perfect. Sometimes, debut novels burst at their seams a bit; it feels like the author is trying to put too many ideas into one book. I think this is the case with Luster. I also found that some of her struggles felt a little too on the nose. I'm specifically thinking about Edie's interview at the clown college and her inability to properly paint a satisfactory self-portrait.

I'm glad I finally read this hyped novel. I didn't love it as much as some, but I also acknowledge that this book wasn't written for me, and I'm glad that others are loving it so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Racism

Minor: Animal death, Death, Grief, Infertility, and Police brutality

kflv's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Violence

Minor: Animal death

latisha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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

One of the best books I’ve read in years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Minor: Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship