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A review by artemisg
Luster by Raven Leilani
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The middle and end of this are a 3.5 stars, but overall a 3 star read. Still a good book, but not a great one.
This book was almost overwhelmingly 3 stars. Admittedly, it had some tough competition as I had just finished Transcendent Kingdom. However, I stand by this middling ranking. I did not hate this book, but I did not love it either. It was good, but not great. I understand how it could have an emotional impact and be life-changing, it just did not do that for me.
I think of how keenly I’ve been wrong. I think of all the gods I have made out of feeble men.
The start was a bit boring, but it got a lot better in the middle, I was pretty thoroughly invested in Edie’s relationships with Akila and Rebecca - don’t really care for Eric in any sense. I found myself sympathising with Rebecca more than anyone, which probably wasn’t the intention, and the only time I really liked Edie was when she was with Akila or painting. I understand that she was not written to be likeable, but she could have been written in a more complex and nuanced way, I think.
I do my best not to think too much about it, but it is hard not to take the point of the surgery scars between the rectum and the bladder, which is that he tired, and he failed. Of course, this is what Rebecca loves about the work, the stories the bodies tell.
Not to mention the timeline disparity, where a 23-year-old in 2020 was 21 when Obama was president (this works at a stretch), and also spent 2003-2006 (when she was 6-9) on “crude message boards” and Donna Summer’s “Spring Afternoon” is the only thing that got her through 2004 (when she was 7ish). This stood out to me right at the start of the book, and it annoyed me the entire way through. (For context, Eric was born in 1974, and there is a twenty-three-year age gap between him and twenty-three-year-old Edie, making Eric 46 and the year 2020.)
I am inclined to pray, but on principle, I don’t. God is not for women. He is for the fruit. He makes you want and he makes you wicked, and while you sleep, he plants a seed in your womb that will be born just to die.
This book was almost overwhelmingly 3 stars. Admittedly, it had some tough competition as I had just finished Transcendent Kingdom. However, I stand by this middling ranking. I did not hate this book, but I did not love it either. It was good, but not great. I understand how it could have an emotional impact and be life-changing, it just did not do that for me.
I think of how keenly I’ve been wrong. I think of all the gods I have made out of feeble men.
The start was a bit boring, but it got a lot better in the middle, I was pretty thoroughly invested in Edie’s relationships with Akila and Rebecca - don’t really care for Eric in any sense. I found myself sympathising with Rebecca more than anyone, which probably wasn’t the intention, and the only time I really liked Edie was when she was with Akila or painting. I understand that she was not written to be likeable, but she could have been written in a more complex and nuanced way, I think.
I do my best not to think too much about it, but it is hard not to take the point of the surgery scars between the rectum and the bladder, which is that he tired, and he failed. Of course, this is what Rebecca loves about the work, the stories the bodies tell.
Not to mention the timeline disparity, where a 23-year-old in 2020 was 21 when Obama was president (this works at a stretch), and also spent 2003-2006 (when she was 6-9) on “crude message boards” and Donna Summer’s “Spring Afternoon” is the only thing that got her through 2004 (when she was 7ish). This stood out to me right at the start of the book, and it annoyed me the entire way through. (For context, Eric was born in 1974, and there is a twenty-three-year age gap between him and twenty-three-year-old Edie, making Eric 46 and the year 2020.)
I am inclined to pray, but on principle, I don’t. God is not for women. He is for the fruit. He makes you want and he makes you wicked, and while you sleep, he plants a seed in your womb that will be born just to die.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs