Luster

Rampant and pithy

This debut novel by Raven Leilani has been heavily hyped. It tells the story of a young black women called Edie who loves disco music and enters a strange relationship with an older married white man, with the permission of his wife. At times darkly comedic and at times excruciatingly cringeworthy, this is full on stuff with no holding back. Subjects such as race and class are tackled head on, but the strength of this story is the insight it gives into the complex lives of the characters who are believable and compelling. It is rampant and pithy stuff and I loved it.

4 people found this helpful

A gutting staggering debut.

Leilani's perceptive acuity and linguistic exactitude dissects as she creates, each scene rich with revelation.

3 people found this helpful

Unsettling, convincing, shocking

Hard to pin down, a very modernistic-feeling tale.

Edie. Office worker. Twenty-three. No qualms about sleeping with men, pandering to their whims, searching for something that clicks. With dreams of focusing on her art.

This is her story, a relatively brief account of the months after she meets a man twice her age, married but openly so. We see a very honest Edie describe and live through the early stages of getting to know Eric, before she unexpectedly becomes more entangled with his family.

Leilani gives us a slightly dark peek at the contemporary world of young women, single and unafraid, open to new experiences and searching for that direction that offers them future happiness. And an escape from boredom and mundanity.

The characters aren't wholly likeable, I found it difficult to watch Edie acquiescing to the demands of various men, not exactly submissively but not from a position of power either.

Such an unusual spin on the theme of affairs, of entanglements and wives and marriages. It's a story set in our time, of our time. Eric pales in comparison to his wife as a character of interest - how she interacts with Edie is much more interesting in my opinion.

This isn't a long book, it's a fairly slow story where a lot is thought and explored. It might make readers uncomfortable but it did feel like a hidden story from the world we inhabit that is probably going on under our noses. Is this really what life for the young is?

I don't know how I feel about that. Is it a freer life? A more joyless one?

It makes a wonderful audiobook, the intense closeness of some of the scenes narrated for us by Edie as we listen along, the first person immediacy only increasing some of the dark tension. It is an uncomplicated Audible choice, one with a straight structure that won't confuse.

This will repeat on you, Edie and her life, her choices, the strange situation she finds herself in. One for discussion and consideration.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

3 people found this helpful

loved this !!

I struggle to finish books but finished within a few days, couldn't stop listening. it was so beautifully written (some of the descriptions almost felt pyschadelic ?) & the narration perfectly brought it to life. in awe of raven Leilani & how she mixes humour with melancholy.

More than eye opening

I can't remember how I heard about this book. Probably a podcast. Felt a bit weird initially listening as an old white guy, but it's so much more than the initial premise. Life is complicated. And Comic Con costumes are too!

Mostly enjoyable

There are wonderful developments and a strong audiobook overall, however the sound quality varies and there can be some obvious cuts to different recordings.

Didn't enjoy it

Perhaps this isn't my type of story but I didn't like this at all. The characters felt messy and unclear with regards to motivation and I could feel the hint of certain themes about bad youthful decisions & race but nothing really engaged with. And I wonder if that was the point? Either way, it was a weird listen & not one of my faves.

This is required. The title.

Enjoyed huge chunks of it. The earlier chapters put me in mind of my own lost loves and I would have liked to have seen more of that. The main character doesn’t come across like a 23 year old, though, but like an older, wiser version of herself misremembering her past. Which might have been the point.

OK though. I will now read seven books by dead men named David.

looked promising but got bored and didn't like end

looked good to start but I got bored and I didn't like the ending either

Aggressively Sad, Majestically Written.

Painful, raw and gorgeous prose. At times, the darkness feels relentless and excessive, although for the exploration of anti-Blackness and poverty it is fitting.