Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Luster

Luster is a novel unlike anything I have ever read. It is sharp, witty, and discusses themes of race, sex, adulthood, and relationships in such a complex way, that I was stunned to discover that this is Leilani’s debut into the literary world.
Luster chronicles the life of Evie in a scathingly raw first person narrative, as she moves in with a white married man, his white wife, and their black child. Edie is black herself, and is meant to serve as a guiding source for their daughter, yet becomes entrapped in a confusing web of racial politics.
I resonated so much with Edie’s insights and findings, and she delivers them in way which seems to break the forth wall itself. She is imperfect, but so is the world we live in, and I loved following Edie’s journey.

Content Warnings

novella42's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

st0bbit's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-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

4.5

this book was messy and a little haywire, but i honestly mean that in a good way… i gobbled this book up so fast. the writing style made it really easy to lose myself in the stream-of-consciousness and get wrapped up in everything. my jaw dropped at quite a few lines and i wish i owned a physical copy to just mark out lines and pages that jumped out at me 😭 anyway this is a fast paced book and serves as a snapshot of edie’s life, so naturally there’s not going to be much character development and it will feel a tad rushed, but i also feel like that is the point. i just notched off that 0.5 because the unhingeness does sort of spill over and i wish there’d been a stronger resolution to satisfy my curiosity. but am definitely excited to look out for more of what this author writes as i believe it’s her debut novel!! imo a v strong foundation set up for future works 🫡🫡🫡

Content Warnings

More...

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Luster by Raven Leilani

chelstell's review

yosistachrista's review

salma__m's review against another edition

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

india_g's review

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

nicolaparty's review against another edition

lindseyhall44's review

novella42's review

st0bbit's review against another edition