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al_davies_jones's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Slavery, Animal death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Mental illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Blood, Infidelity, Addiction, Sexism, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Drug use, and Grief
lindsaylhunter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The truth is that when the officer had his arm pressed into my neck, there was a part of me that felt like, all right. Like, fine. Because there will always be a part of me that is ready to die.
I can't figure out how I feel about this one! The author has a subtly humourous style to her writing and I absolutely loved the pacing of the first half. But the second half noted a very harsh change in pace, a bit like wading through treacle.
Graphic: Sexual violence and Infidelity
kjofalltrades's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Violence, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Medical content, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Police brutality
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
esmem's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Sexual violence and Abortion
poenaestante's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Police brutality
bowelhaus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racial slurs, and Sexual content
Moderate: Police brutality, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Racism
alessaaa38's review
- 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
3.75
The lengthy run on sentences catered to the main character's delusion (not the right word) and really helped it build her.
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
helenkadetroika's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Abortion, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide
caughtbetweenpages's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Edie's struggle to discover herself and "come of age" without yet understanding what her identity is or what she wants it to be feels inevitable given the culmination of factors surrounding her life. Her attempts to find herself in men, in her art, in jobs she's told she's too Black or too promiscuous or not XYZ enough to be part of, are heartbreaking. She is so, desperately lonely. And then, her internal musings about the absurdity of applying to a million dead end jobs to make rent, or about how older men are not necessarily deep so much as they've just lived more life, pull a painful laugh out of you even if you don't want to be amused. If a reader in your life says they they like stories about messy, damaged female leads, put Luster in their hands.
My favorite relationships of this book are between Edie and Rebecca and Edie and Akila. There's a complex dynamic with Rebecca where, while Edie might seem to have some power over Rebecca being the woman that R's husband is having an affair with, Rebecca is by far the one holding Edie's life in her hands. The scene where
And then there's Akila and Edie. In many ways, Akila is who Edie must have been like as a kid--incredibly nerdy, passionate, artistic--and in other ways, she's who Edie is now--lost, a stranger in her own home. Lonely. Black in a context that is deeply unfriendly to Blackness. It was so touching to see Edie nurture Akila, not only protecting her from the racism of the police and her tutor and helping her take care of her natural hair in a way that Akila's (White, Adoptive) parents don't know how to, but in encouraging her art and storytelling and engaging with her on her interests. I think they very much needed each other, and it made it all the worse when
This was a difficult book to read, emotionally speaking. But so well worth it.
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Racism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Addiction and Drug abuse
koalachlox's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Racism