Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Luster

On the surface, Luster is about a young black woman struggling as an artist in New York who ends up entering into the open marriage of a privileged white couple. But even more than that, it's a raw glimpse of one woman's life, struggles, her art, her sexual desires, career ambitions, passions, fears, thoughts, and feelings.

The main character is so honest, it's both terrifying and beautiful all at once. Luster is her confessional, where she readily shares things that most of us would be hesitant to admit to even ourselves. She is often contradictory in the way humans often are - lonely yet introverted, starving yet can't or won't eat, ambitious but struggles to find motivation, loves herself but is insecure, hates but desires men. Sometimes it's funny and sometimes it's painful to watch her try to navigate the contradictions within herself and in the world around her.

More than anything, I think Luster is about loneliness. The loneliness of what it's like to be a black woman in the United States, of being an artist, of being a parent, of being a child without their parent, of dealing with generational trauma, and of our modern world. Edie, like all of us, wants to be seen and understood, but the way that she, and we, connect with others are often unusual and unexpected.

This book was more feelings and vibes than plot, for me. It's like if you could vomit up all of your emotions that feel inexplicable and they settled into words on a page, but in the most beautiful and poetic way.

Content warnings include physical abuse, sexual content, racism, sexism, self-harm, suicide, miscarriage, abortion, drug addiction, police brutality.

Content Warnings

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The last third of this book saved it from getting a lower rating. While I can appreciate the poetry and extended metaphors in Leilani’s writing, I can’t help but feeling it comes across as rather constipated and convoluted in parts. I quite often found myself completely lost and having to reread to regather the thread of the prose.

The actual premise was intriguing - the commencing few chapters were not particularly enthralling, but the pace did pick up later on in the novel. The portrayal of nihilistic self-destructive sex was raw and ugly, knitted together in a web of nuanced discussions on race, sexuality, feminism and capitalism which I found very interesting and affecting. These are the parts that dragged this book up in its rating.

However, I overall found this to be quite a slog to get through. I powered through the final half in one sitting, and the concluding chapters were immaculately done. But in the end I wasn’t particularly enthralled or interested in Edie as a character.

I stand by my appreciation for Leilani’s prose, and I finish my review with this quote that I found powerful:

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.

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arys_library's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Such an incredible debut novel. In this book we follow a 23 year old black woman named Edie as she joins an open relationship with an older white couple. During her visits and experiences with the couple, she notices that have an adopted black daughter that Edie is immediately drawn to. Edie realizes that she may be the only black figure in this girls life and wants to help navigate her through the world, even though at times, Edie seems to need help doing that herself.

I absolutely loved the narration throughout this book. It’s scattered, insecure, and inadvertently funny. The way she thinks reminds me of parts of myself, which is why it felt so familiar and how I read it in one sitting.

The beginning of the book was funny and sexual and the relationships that were formed bordered on unhinged. It was so easy to get through. The ending half could have easily been a different story, and I mean that in a good way. The ending focuses on Edie and her relationship with herself and the family she inserted herself into.

I loved the ending half of the book even more than the beginning. It was a bit tiring though. The writing style is beautiful, and requires you to read it slowly to absorb the information.

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clocrim's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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p0wrpff's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was so excited to read this and it got off to a promising start, but it soon became a drag when the plot took unbelievable turns and didn’t back it up with plausible character development. Some of the writing is really good, but it’s so inconsistent. Some of the stylistic choices such as page long sentences with no comma or full stop took me out of the pacing entirely

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randisworld's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a raw exploration of a young Black woman who is reeling from the trauma of her childhood. She gets involved with a married man and everything she believes becomes from as she navigates a parasitic relationship with this couple. It’s shocking and upsetting at times but it says so many important things about trauma, race, and what it is like to live in a world that doesn’t value who you are...and also what it’s like when you don’t value yourself either.

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redroseses's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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