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notesbynnenna 's review for:
Luster
by Raven Leilani
Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book!
I have finally, finally read LUSTER, a debut novel that I was extremely excited about, and can now confirm that you should read it too.
It’s about a young, millennial woman named Edie who is a hot mess. Like, I’m not judging her for this (ok, maybe just a little), but I feel like objectively she is the definition of a hot mess! She starts a relationship with a man named Eric, who is in an open marriage, and soon becomes entangled in his family’s life.
Phew, Leilani can write. These sentences are sharp and pointed. You can tell that everything she writes has been considered. I watched an event hosted by Harvard Bookstore where Leilani was in conversation with Brit Bennett to discuss LUSTER. Leilani talked about how she likes to write at the sentence level and kind of subvert expectations, and I think she definitely achieves that in this book.
Edie’s struggles reminded me of my own experiences of being young and broke in NYC. I love novels set in NYC because I love seeing this city I call home through other people’s eyes. There’s a dark humor in this book that provides small pockets of escape from the sadness and loneliness of Edie’s life.
Let’s come back to the writing because it is just so good. Phrases like “uppercase emotion” that just struck me with their accuracy. Also, there were so many great moments in this book, from a conversation that Edie has with the only other Black woman at her publishing job, about how they each choose to perform their Blackness, to a moment when she is doing someone’s hair with a hot comb and Eric comes down the stairs commenting about the smell, and then becomes apologetic when he realizes that “Something Black” is happening. The writing is so considered that perhaps my one small critique is that occasionally I got so caught up in the sentences that it took me out of the story a bit.
There’s so much packed into this short novel. There is a lot of talk about the body, both the grotesqueness and beauty of it. Edie is an artist, and so is Leilani, and I love the way she wrote about art: the struggle of having something inside that you want to express, but not being able to capture it adequately in your art.
Leilani writes about being young and trying to find your calling, about surviving in this city that chews people up and spits them out, about navigating the world as a young Black woman. The ending really gripped me as well. As I was reading the last twenty pages or so, I felt my insides squeeze painfully with understanding. LUSTER is such a memorable debut and I can’t wait to see what Leilani writes next.
//
Phew, the writing! So so good. Full review to come.
I have finally, finally read LUSTER, a debut novel that I was extremely excited about, and can now confirm that you should read it too.
It’s about a young, millennial woman named Edie who is a hot mess. Like, I’m not judging her for this (ok, maybe just a little), but I feel like objectively she is the definition of a hot mess! She starts a relationship with a man named Eric, who is in an open marriage, and soon becomes entangled in his family’s life.
Phew, Leilani can write. These sentences are sharp and pointed. You can tell that everything she writes has been considered. I watched an event hosted by Harvard Bookstore where Leilani was in conversation with Brit Bennett to discuss LUSTER. Leilani talked about how she likes to write at the sentence level and kind of subvert expectations, and I think she definitely achieves that in this book.
Edie’s struggles reminded me of my own experiences of being young and broke in NYC. I love novels set in NYC because I love seeing this city I call home through other people’s eyes. There’s a dark humor in this book that provides small pockets of escape from the sadness and loneliness of Edie’s life.
Let’s come back to the writing because it is just so good. Phrases like “uppercase emotion” that just struck me with their accuracy. Also, there were so many great moments in this book, from a conversation that Edie has with the only other Black woman at her publishing job, about how they each choose to perform their Blackness, to a moment when she is doing someone’s hair with a hot comb and Eric comes down the stairs commenting about the smell, and then becomes apologetic when he realizes that “Something Black” is happening. The writing is so considered that perhaps my one small critique is that occasionally I got so caught up in the sentences that it took me out of the story a bit.
There’s so much packed into this short novel. There is a lot of talk about the body, both the grotesqueness and beauty of it. Edie is an artist, and so is Leilani, and I love the way she wrote about art: the struggle of having something inside that you want to express, but not being able to capture it adequately in your art.
Leilani writes about being young and trying to find your calling, about surviving in this city that chews people up and spits them out, about navigating the world as a young Black woman. The ending really gripped me as well. As I was reading the last twenty pages or so, I felt my insides squeeze painfully with understanding. LUSTER is such a memorable debut and I can’t wait to see what Leilani writes next.
//
Phew, the writing! So so good. Full review to come.