Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Luster by Raven Leilani

50 reviews

chloebethx_'s review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

4.75

I was conflicted going into this because I had read many mixed reviews of the harsh and sometimes vulgar ways in which Raven Leilani describes the life of Evie, but, I completely disagree! This story felt real, honest and appropriately sobering, the main characters graphic language was used at appropriate times and it all served to make Evie feel like a well-formed and fully developed character! I loved this book and the only reason for it not to have the full five stars is because some chapters felt too long and drawn out, but still engaging along the way so I couldn’t deduct too much!  A new favourite for sure

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

biancaaabrown's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense 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

4.0

I think this book was definitely a challenging read, not lexically at all but semantically. It hurts to see a somewhat innocent woman in pain, especially when black. Raven Leilani writes raw, and doesn’t hold back and almost prods too sharply into your own wounds as a young black woman. Leilani frames city life as fearsome, love as hopeless and unrequited on all ends, and sadness as an inevitable border around all of the above. The fiction of this text is its own hope in my life at least, but a distant cry goes out to those for which this is less fictional.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, and Abortion

sib_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

meowkira's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

kierathorne's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

Often the languid descriptions would detract from what was going on in the story. Sometimes I just didn't know what was going on at all. Sometimes it fit so well though and I wish it was always like that.
Overall I think I went in with the expectation of romance or erotica but it was nothing of the sort.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder

heademptybookcasefull's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

anima_vestaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Beautiful writing expressing a profoundly strange story. The plot is fantastic and the situations the characters find themselves in are an amazing prompt for thinking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism

mklein319's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Police brutality

elikoch's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy