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salma__m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Abortion
nicolaparty's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug abuse and Medical content
Minor: Racial slurs
slascano's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Abortion
The triggers are not explicit or graphic just presentpasearlibros's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Abortion
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder
caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Edie's struggle to discover herself and "come of age" without yet understanding what her identity is or what she wants it to be feels inevitable given the culmination of factors surrounding her life. Her attempts to find herself in men, in her art, in jobs she's told she's too Black or too promiscuous or not XYZ enough to be part of, are heartbreaking. She is so, desperately lonely. And then, her internal musings about the absurdity of applying to a million dead end jobs to make rent, or about how older men are not necessarily deep so much as they've just lived more life, pull a painful laugh out of you even if you don't want to be amused. If a reader in your life says they they like stories about messy, damaged female leads, put Luster in their hands.
My favorite relationships of this book are between Edie and Rebecca and Edie and Akila. There's a complex dynamic with Rebecca where, while Edie might seem to have some power over Rebecca being the woman that R's husband is having an affair with, Rebecca is by far the one holding Edie's life in her hands. The scene where
And then there's Akila and Edie. In many ways, Akila is who Edie must have been like as a kid--incredibly nerdy, passionate, artistic--and in other ways, she's who Edie is now--lost, a stranger in her own home. Lonely. Black in a context that is deeply unfriendly to Blackness. It was so touching to see Edie nurture Akila, not only protecting her from the racism of the police and her tutor and helping her take care of her natural hair in a way that Akila's (White, Adoptive) parents don't know how to, but in encouraging her art and storytelling and engaging with her on her interests. I think they very much needed each other, and it made it all the worse when
This was a difficult book to read, emotionally speaking. But so well worth it.
Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Police brutality
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Addiction and Drug abuse
avocadotoastbee's review against another edition
- 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
Edie, a 23-year-old black woman living and finding her way in New York, tries to fill the void left by her loneliness with sex.
The title "Luster" makes sense in this regard. However, the novel wasn't just about sex and lust. For most of the time, the novel depicts the pain and anguish of each character.
Edie: loneliness, loss of her job and apartment, living with her (much older) lover's family, daddy issues, childhood trauma
Rebecca: marital problems, dealing with her husband's younger lover, not wanting to be a mother but having a child
Eric: substance abuse, marital problems, infertility
Akila: childhood trauma, abandonment issues due to multiple adoptive families, the only black kid in the neighborhood, disordered eating
In some ways I hated all the characters and didn't find them likable, but I could also identify with small parts of each character.
While I loved how Raven Leilani described the dynamics between the characters and Edie's thought processes, I didn't like how stuffed with "internet wisdom" the book was. It felt to me like Leilani was trying to sprinkle a little self-help book vibe into the story.
Also, the power dynamic that results from the massive age difference in Edie and Eric's relationship wasn't romanticized, but it also wasn't portrayed for what it really is. Throughout the book, everyone blamed Edie, but really Edie is a victim of Eric.
At least by the end of the novel, Edie admits this.
"He is the most obvious thing that has ever happened to me, and all around the city it is happening to other silly, half-formed women excited by men who've simply met the prerequisite of living a little more life, a terribly unspecial thing that is just what happens when you keep on getting up and brushing your teeth and going to work and ignoring the whisper that comes to you at night and tells you it would be easier to be dead."
Overall, Luster was a good debut novel that deals with important issues and the life experiences of young black women. I can't wait to see where Raven Leilani is going.
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Abortion, Abandonment, and Classism
prey4thefemale's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Police brutality
Minor: Animal death
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
🌟🌟🌟🌟
🏠 The plot: Edie is just scraping by. She's coasting in a dead-end job at an all-white office, having unfulfilling encounters with men, and she's barely doing the thing she really loves, painting. Starting an affair with an older man soon takes an unexpected turn as she moves in with his family: his (kind of intense) wife and adopted black daughter.
I went into this read knowing that it has a divisive main character, and I can kind of see why. Edie's narration is depressive and one-note for much of the novel, especially in the first half, and she is wilfully self-destructive in her relationships. Reading it directly after another book with a mentally struggling main character, I did find it very heavy reading at times.
However, as the novel unfolded I thought the style of narration was very clever, and I found that the connection I formed to Edie was more interesting because of her more complex motives. Particularly as she developed a friendship with her lover's adoptive daughter - and tried to teach her things that her white parents had neglected to - I thought the way she opened up to the reader was really powerful.
To be honest, I suspect a lot of the discomfort around this book - mainly, it has to be said, from white reviewers - comes from the fact that Edie is scathing of white spaces and the behaviour demanded from her to assimilate into them. The book also draws a clear connection between this generalised hostility and police violence. It's a really powerful novel, especially for a debut(!!) so don't let the "unlikeable narrator" label from many reviews put you off!
🏠 Read it if you liked My Year of Rest and Relaxation or if you like unflinching portrayals of difficult relationships, grief, racism, and depression.
🚫 Avoid it if you're avoiding scenes of police violence, sexual violence, and workplace discrimination.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, and Police brutality
Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
kasey_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, and Death of parent
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Police brutality and Pregnancy
bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition
- 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
Where it started and where it ended, not at all what I was expecting.
I love messy characters and this book is FULL of messy characters.
Made me reflect on how we really don't know what is happening in the lives of people around us.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Police brutality, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Gun violence and Suicidal thoughts