A review by anxiousnachos
Luster by Raven Leilani

dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars. Apparently messed up twenty somethings who have no idea what they’re doing is my brand of contemporary, strange coincidence don’t you think…

This was so fucking good! The writing hurt in all the best ways, it was written so well to wring me out emotionally as much as I could possibly be. It brilliantly examines sex and desire and race and mental health through the eyes of Edie, a young, Black, bi/pan woman as she loses her job in publishing and is taken in by the family of the married man she is sleeping with. It is an insightful and brutal look at what it means to be a twenty something right now as capitalism is destroying the world around you. Stunning! 

Content warnings: abortion, miscarriage, suicide, police brutality, racism, racial slurs, toxic relationship, infidelity, violence during sex (consensual? I think?) alcoholism, drug use, adult/minor relationship (in part, described in few scenes), animal death (off page, non graphic, results in the police brutality) 
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