Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Luster by Raven Leilani

77 reviews

jkreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

It's been a while since I last felt FED by a book, but this one felt like a whole meal. The prose was so lush, it was such a pleasure to consume. I listened to the audiobook and the narration was great.

Raven Leilani has such an exquisite way of describing the mundane - something as ordinary and dare I say, cliche, as a twenty-something living in a crappy roach and mouse infested apartment in New York is recounted in a way that almost adds a layer of magic and whimsy to it.

Don't get me wrong, nothing about it is glamourised, it's bleakly realistic, but the language used is just so divine.

I'm not usually a litfic girlie, I tend to get bored, but I was HOOKED by Luster literally straight away. I anticipated that I would get bored halfway through like I usually do during anything that isn't a fantasy or a romance, but I was pleasantly surprised that Luster kept me hooked from start to finish. Everything about this book felt cliched or inevitable, which it leaned into, but it's really a testament to Leilani's writing that the story was so captivating because in my opinion this is not something that's easy to pull off. I can't wait to read more by this author in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, Abandonment, Abortion, and Blood

unholyhelsing'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism

kerrence30's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Difficult to describe, but it feels so honest you can’t dislike it. The situation is regretful, and the main family of characters are distrustful yet likeable, and although the narrator is honest to a fault, she is somewhat of an antihero. The important plot line is the different experiences of living in New York/ New Jersey for the black and white characters. It is intentionally unsubtle, and well delivered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Eating disorder and Police brutality

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, and Infertility

bail33's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. I feel like I know the characters, and even though I didn’t particularly like Rebecca, I feel like I miss all of the characters now that I’m done reading because I had such a sense of being there. Leilani’s writing is just beyond incredible. She uses many words to explain things that could be summed up in just a few, which imo goes against the trend in literary writing right now, but because of it I know and love and understand her setting and cast more. There were so many passages that I have highlighted because how how much they inspire me to write. Such a beautiful and meaningful novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Abortion, Miscarriage, Suicide, Death of parent, and Addiction

Minor: Blood, Car accident, Medical content, and Adult/minor relationship

pikkumarja's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Aluksi suhtauduin kirjaan varauksella; ensimmäinen virke ei saavuttanut sitä shokkiarvoa, jota se ehkä tavoitteli. Kirja muistuttaa kummallisella tavalla Akwaeke Emezin Hölmöä rakkautta.

Kirjasta muotoutui kuitenkin erittäin ansiokas ja tarkkanäköinen tutkielma Ediestä ja hänen suhteistaan Rebeccaan, Akilaan ja Ericiin. Tarinassa käsitellään limittäin rakenteellista rasismia, fanitusta, hyväksikäyttöä ja lohtua ja se muodostaa erittäin erityisen kokonaisuuden.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racism, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Abortion

Moderate: Medical content, Police brutality, Death, and Blood

Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Abandonment

al_davies_jones's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Slavery, Animal death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Mental illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Blood, Infidelity, Addiction, Sexism, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Drug use, and Grief

scarroll178's review

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

The writing is beautiful and thought provoking. I loved the relationship between Edie and Akilah. It was interesting watching Edie’s relationships with Eric and Rebecca change as the story went on. 

The only reason I didn’t rate it 5 stars was that the ending felt a bit anticlimactic. That was probably the author’s intention, but I just can’t understand why Rebecca ran away after seeing Edie’s painting. I really thought the draw they felt for each other would culminate into something more. 

Side note: Can you believe Rebecca shot that dog??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Animal death, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Miscarriage

candournat's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Miscarriage, and Racism

Minor: Addiction, Pregnancy, Medical content, Infidelity, and Vomit

abmochapman's review

challenging funny reflective 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

3.5

If Luster is the portrait of a woman, then it is one with so many conflicting strokes that it is not easy to make out, to see it all together as one whole. At twenty-three, Edie is entirely unsure of herself and what she wants. Her life feels out of control so she just lets it happen to her, seeming to relish the moments when it inches closer to an end. There is no neat plot. She is directionless. It is difficult to read but also difficult to look away. 

As a main character, Edie is dizzying. Her decisions, and the decisions of the people around her, are very frequently erratic and inexplicable. This makes a lot of sense for where she is in her life (that is, stumbling around) but it feels kind of strange for the older couple in whose relationship she has become entangled. There’s also so much fruitless internal monologue. The author’s generous use of metaphors and run-on-sentences is sometimes striking and poetic but oftentimes pretentious and incomprehensible. 

At the end of the book, I feel like the narrative has barely moved forward. Maybe that’s just the reality of such a situation. This is a the story of a young woman struggling to get anywhere. The moments Edie shares with the wife, Rebecca, and the daughter, Akila, feel the most meaningful but I almost feel like they are still not fully developed. With such a slow build-up to an abrupt end, I am left wanting much more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Self harm

Minor: Animal death

dixiecarroll's review

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Sharp, smart, emotional, and more. This is worth the hype (not seen on Goodreads clearly lol). Very quick read and is exactly what I wanted to see from Such a Fun Age, with Edie and Rebecca’s relationship, specifically. I laughed out loud a few times and then held back some heavy emotions at others. Ultimately, well worth your time because it’s finish-able in one sitting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Death, Miscarriage, Racism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Police brutality, Medical content, Abortion, Blood, and Hate crime