A review by suchsweetsorrow89
Luster by Raven Leilani

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

the only reason why i picked up this book was that my friend constantly raves about it. i can see exactly why she loves it so much. this book, as most reviews probably say, is a weird and strange book. i hate to compare books because I believe that an author's work should be taken as is, but this book highlights and mirrors similar themes that you will find in my year of rest and relaxation and the bell jar. this story follows edie, a black woman in her 20s that is struggling with her relationships to men and her parents, how to live life in general, and how to make money when suddenly caught in between jobs. the main character, through her random and sometimes absurd thoughts and motives, takes us on a journey even though the plot is somewhat generic. i love books where the main plot is a bit generic because it highlights the inherent struggle one faces in their everyday lives when not working or really given any sense of who they are, where they come from, and what they could be (and also what it requires to be that thing/person). while this book is absurd in a way similar to my year of rest and relaxation, what separates the two is clear as day: one is absurd, and one is just strange. being 'strange' means it's realistic and human, just not entirely normal in the way that one would imagine. i think this book has many beautiful lines, and while the language is a bit confusing at times, i also think it symbolizes and emphasizes that edie, while lost in life, is smart. though she cannot see it (and the book is written in a way that we can feel that lost feeling she feels), we intrinsically know that she is smart enough to move through life and move through the world-- she just quite literally has no clue on where to go. personally,
i love that we do not get this 'happy ending'. as someone who loves the odyssey and the Iliad, the themes of wanting memorialization in some way or another-- not necessarily to prove that she was great-- but that for a moment in this big phenomenon called life-- she was at least there. ending on this note of striving and some level of understanding between herself and the world but still not quite figuring it out was an unconditional route in these types of books and hence why i love it so much
. raven breaks from the traditional 'tragically beautiful sad girl' narrative in a way that's beautiful. all this being said, this book is much sadder than those other books so please be aware. i certainly can tell i will be in a slump after this because it is heavier than you'd expect, and so there is a chance that you might too. 
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