LUSTER is the story of 20-something Edie, living aimlessly in New York City when she meets Eric, an older man living in New Jersey in an open marriage. What follows is a strange look at how their relationship evolves and impacts Eric's family.

I think fans of Pizza Girl, Sweetbitter, Severance, or Catalina (by Liska Jacobs - underrated IMO) would also enjoy this one. It's a little bit of a fever dream, it's cynical, and it teeters on the line of weird, comical, and sad. But it's undeniably well written - lots intricate sentences and metaphorical language.

Thanks FSG + Netgalley for the opportunity to read/review early!

I enjoyed this novel. I think it was different than I expected. I felt like it was very movie -like. I felt like I was watching her life play out. I live in NJ, so that was a super awesome aspect too, since it takes place in NY/NJ. It details a black girl living in a primarily white neighborhood. I think she did a great job describing how life isn't perfect. She becomes a mentor to Akila, a friend to Rebecca & a somewhat lover to Eric. I think it shows how powerful the bond of womanhood can be, since that becomes her main focus. The love phases out over time, but in the beginning it mainly focuses on sex. It was a girl trying to navigate her life & show a snip-it of her early 20s. I did find that you had to really pay attention because each paragraph usually jumped to a different point in time. I found myself re-reading certain parts to see what I missed. I think this author is super talented & cannot wait to see what else she comes out with. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I suspect I will be the odd one out for this novel which has been highly praised and anticipated but frankly, I wanted to tell Edie to just stop. Edie, a 23 year old, makes a lot of bad choices-but that's ok when you are 23. She wants to be an artist but that's not happening. She meets Eric, a digital archivist, and enters into a sort of throuple thing with him and his wife Rebecca. They have an adopted daughter Akila, who is Black. The healthiest relationship here is between Edie and Akila, There are some laughs here, some sharp insights, but it also feels very familiar. There have been a number of novels in recent years about disaffected 20-somethings and to be fair, my views on this one be the result of the fact that I'm just tired of reading them. Leilani clearly has a bright future and I wish her well. Thanks to the publisher for the arc. For fans of literary fiction.

A razor sharp satire loaded with pitch black humor, Luster doesn't propel you through its story so much as shove you along with arms flailing. It's the kind of book that made me do a double take every few paragraphs to see if Raven Leilani actually "went there" followed by the awe of "yes she did." The sheer guts and confidence of her writing is impressive, and the discomfort I felt while reading it was very real. I found myself laughing often, but nervously since I knew I could so easily be her next target. Edie is an unforgettable and unconventional narrator, filled with angst, neurosis, and self loathing but also one with a sweet and endearing side if you look hard enough. In short, I loved her. The novel's ideas of sex, race, and relationships are bitter but maintain Leilani's arch sense of humor, and interestingly, the novel examines a lot of similar themes as "Such a Fun Age," another breakout of 2020, which frankly seems quaint in comparison. I can't imagine this won't be divisive, the novel has a caustic worldview that won't be for everyone, but for readers with the right sense of humor who can handle being pushed out of their comfort zone, it's one of the best debuts of the year.

Luster absolutely blew me away. Every American should pick up this book. Women, especially, will connect with Edie (her triumphs and her struggles). This is a can't miss 2020 read.

At first, the whip smart writing nearly derailed me – brilliant as it was, it felt like the voice belonged to the author and not Edie, the narrator; the verbal gymnastics were overwhelming the characters and story. But about a quarter of the way in, Edie jelled for me and I could see how such a dexterous voice could belong to a woman who speaks little and makes decisions that turn her life into a slow-moving trainwreck. In fact, her inner voice provides a real-time, wry commentary on those decisions, and that is what made this book a real delight for me and well worth the price of admission. (Example quotes at the end of my review.)

Edie works so well for me as a character because Leilani deftly interweaves her past and present to show how she became such a complex, contradictory, lovable, icky, misguided and insightful soul. My problem with the book is that the other characters seem so thin in comparison. Granted, we see Eric, Rebecca and Akila only through Edie’s self-absorbed eyes, but still, I needed to know more about WHY the characters did what they did. Without that, they felt like automata to me. This was especially true for Rebecca, who seemed like a 21st century, alt-version of a Stepford Wife. Her actions felt like a series of nonsequitors. The scenes in Eric and Rebecca’s house were almost surreal in the way the characters treated each other as if they were invisible. A family of Roombas. Anomie taken to an absurd level.

There is so much more to the book than what I’ve written here – themes of race, class, creativity, selfhood – the more you dig, the more you find. But it’s the language that captivated me above all. I highlighted a ridiculous number of passages on my Kindle – at some point I had to stop, there was just too much to love. Such as:

Edie’s insightful reflections on older man/younger woman relationships that says as much about her psyche as as the men's:
”The age discrepancy doesn’t bother me. Beyond the fact of older men having more stable finances and different understanding of the clitoris, there is the potent drug of a keen power imbalance. Of being caught in the excruciating limbo between their disinterest and expertise. Their panic at the world’s growing indifference. Their rage and adult failure, funneled into the reduction of your body into gleaming, elastic parts.”

She tosses off quickie comments on race that say so much in so few words:("As a rule, I try to avoid popping that dusky cherry. I cannot be the first black girl a white man dates.”) and paints a perfect picture of a tired server at a restaurant: ("She tells us the specials in a such a way that we know our sole responsibility as patrons in her section is to just go right ahead and fuck ourselves.")

There are goodies like these on nearly every page.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

"Luster" is a glimpse into the soul of an artist, complete with creativity, chaos, and self-destruction. Edie's life is a mess. She has a "going nowhere" job, a horrible relationship with a married man, and the apparent inability to make the right choices.

The characterization of this novel is phenomenal, and the literary structure of it makes it work like a charm. It's like a stream of consciousness pushed along by a string of outrageous extended metaphors. It is the perfect canvas for the tumultuous mind of an artist. Top this off with Edie's sarcastic ability to make fun of herself, and actually be funny while doing it, seals the deal.

But characterization and structure are not the only things this novel has going for it. The plot is also incredible. The author, Raven Leilani, has mastered the art of twists and turns prefaced by a tease. That tease will grab you, and leave you wanting more.

This book will get under your skin and become a part of you. It is sure to stick with you long after you read the last page.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

This book follows 23 year old Edie as she begins a relationship with Eric, a married man who's decided, with his wife Rebecca, to begin an open relationship. Throughout the story, we see Edie trying to find a job to support herself and trying to find out where she belongs in general.

To be honest, I did not enjoy this story like I thought I would. My main problem was how it was written. The author writes in these long, complex sentences that I just didn't have the patience for. Looking at other reviews, it's clear that a lot of individuals did not have a problem with this, or enjoyed it. It just wasn't for me. I just want to make my way through the story, and the super long sentences were asking me to think more about what was being said which took away from me being able to just involve myself in the story.

Also, I didn't like Edie. It kind of sucks to not like the main character. I understand the author was trying to write her honestly as flawed, and I appreciate that. But how many times do I have to hear about her IBS? Also, she's shamelessly sneaky, she steals, there are a few times in the story where she actually asks for violence...I just didn't relate at all. And one of the points of the story is that she's supposed to be a role model for Akila, which didn't shine through for me. I think she became a friend to Akila, and they were able to relate to each other in a really positive way, but I don't think role model is a good word for Edie in this story. However, I did like Akila's character, and I liked Rebecca as well. I think she was really complex, but it would be hard not to have mixed feelings toward someone you know your husband is in an active relationship with.

There were many times I debated not finishing this book, but I did end up liking the ending. Edie did show some character growth and I ended up feeling hopeful for her. I was interested enough in the story to finish it, even if I can say that I didn't exactly enjoy most of it because of the writing style.

"It's that there are gray, anonymous hours like this. Hours when I am desperate, when I am ravenous, when I know how a star becomes a void."

It will be hard to review this book...it is feverish, desperate, aching, morose, sharp, funny, hyper-realistic but also dreamlike...I don't know how to adequately capture the book's essence, but that's because it's unique and ineffable and bizarre. Raven Leilani is a stunning writer of immeasurable talent, and this book is unlike anything I have experienced before. The writing is sublime. Every single sentence reads like a poem... raw and beautiful. An unbelievable debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Raven Leilani for approving my request for an advanced reader's copy of this magnificent book!

Where do I even begin with this novel?
Edie, the main character in this book is layered to perfection.

Raven Leilani wrote a masterpiece as her debut novel. This story's structure is also very moving.

At times I felt that some paragraphs were rushed; however, as I was reading I remembered that that is exactly how Edie was thinking.

You have a twenty-three-year-old Black woman who continuously makes extremely questionable decisions. I too made questionable decisions at that age and I think that is what Leilani wants us to see.
That our decisions are only a sum of the things we have experienced.
Edie felt powerless, broke down, alone, and hurt and when you feel that way you accept any type of treatment.

Leilani really did a fantastic job of weaving the past with the present in this story. Never trying to make excuses for Edie's actions but instead letting them just linger and allowing the reader to decide to feel sympathy or not. I think that is what made the book so intriguing. The author did not try to paint her protagonist in a better light than she actually was.

Sure, there were reasons behind the actions that Edie did; however, never once did they come off as excuses.

This book does a beautiful job with truly placing bodily autonomy in the hands of the woman. We see her make humiliating decisions but they were HER choices.

It also makes me think about how we cope with things when we cannot afford therapy.

3.5 stars

I have a hard time putting into words what I think about this book. I didn't really like the characters and I found the story sad. There is quite a bit of social commentary though. Now please understand that a book does not need likeable characters to be a good book. There are some books where the only reason why I read them is because of the bad@$$ antagonist. Sometimes you need a character you love to hate to drive the novel. But Luster is not that type of novel. All the characters are suffering and throughout the book we see them archiving their loneliness and sorrow in different ways. It doesn't matter what skin they are in - young, old, black, white, rich or poor -- there is pain and desolation here. And you wait a long time for Edie to find her inner beauty and shine. In the end she discovers more about who she is, but she has not come full circle yet.

As I was reading there were sentences that stopped me in my tracks. All I could say is "Wow! That's deep!" There was poetry in the language and a depth of understanding the human condition. Then there were other times where I felt that the text was too cerebral. I felt that the writing got in the way of emoting the feelings.

From this debut it is obvious that Raven Leilani is very talented and creative. I am interested in seeing what she does next.

3.5 Stars

I want to thank Farrah, Straus and Giroux for the e-version of Luster. I really hoped to like this book more but the writing style was not my style. I loved following Edie throughout the story and my gut hurting from the anxiety of not knowing how the story will turn for her next. The honesty and rawness of her character was wonderful.

I loved this irreverent, funny, & deeply moving story of a young woman trying to find her way through the disappointments of new adulthood. This book is highly quotable—Leilani writes truly dazzling, beautiful sentences, and I was constantly highlighting and hanging on her every word, texting lines from it to a group of my female friends. We get so many stunning moments of wisdom from Edie, the protagonist, as she meditates on grief, lust, art, race, family, relationships, womanhood, etc—and I kept finding myself cracking up in these often hilariously awkward interpersonal scenes & then moments later almost sobbing, recognizing the pain of Edie's loneliness and longing. I think this book perfectly captures the feeling of throwing yourself at the world in your early 20s and hoping something sticks. I will definitely reread this one, and I look forward to Leilani's career! This was an excellent, unforgettable debut.

Thank you to FSG & Netgalley for this ARC.

This book is like a punch to the heart. I know we are still only in the summer but I also know that it’s going to be one of my number one reads this year. The writing, the story, the depth, the descriptions, the messiness, the honesty… Luster is a book that is real, and that will grab you and shake you. I wanted to turn away at times, and throw the book down, but I couldn’t, I wanted to stay by Edie and see where she landed.

Edie is a messy character. But I was also a very messy 20-something living in Bushwick in Brooklyn, making crappy decisions, and dealing with trauma and grief, so I get it. It’s actually super refreshing to lose yourself in a character like Edie, relate to her, learn from her, and with her. Her voice is so honest and her character so deep and so raw, it felt like you were on a journey right with her while reading this book. It’s not an easy book to read, at all, and there is no instant satisfaction within the plot, you spend quite a bit of time squirming, revisiting your own bad judgment calls, and also feeling very uncomfortable. But it’s worth it. My favorite books are those that shake me, show me something else, and make me think deeply, and Luster did just that.

Edie is a 20-something Black woman living in a roach-infested Bushwick apartment, working an unsatisfying job at a publishing house, leading quite a lonely life peppered with questionable sexual choices. She is also an artist but doesn’t believe in her talent. She meets Eric online, who is married to a wife who agrees to an open marriage situation (with rules). Certain events lead Edie to moving in with Eric, his wife Rebecca, and their adopted Black daughter Akila. This leads to a dark, but moving, strange, but also weirdly normal set-up that you know will never have a happy ending, but is that what the reader wants anyway?

Raven Leilani has a very specific writing style: her run-on sentences translate directly to Edie’s thought process, and it makes the reader feel like they are living the scenes through Edie rather than by her side. I love that, and I love how smart the prose is, so many funny moments that shouldn’t really be funny but are because they are real life, and so many dark moments that you also feel intensely. I also really loved how Edie turns back to art and uses it as her way to move backwards through trauma, and then forwards in her life. There is a strong push to believe in oneself in the book, something I think we all need to do more of.

This is one of those books that I want to buy for all my friends, and go on and on about. I can totally understand why it is one of the most anticipated releases of this summer!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Luster by Raven Leilani is about a Black young woman named Edie who makes a bunch of poor choices, knows that she is but continues to do so anyway. The wife of Edie’s lover takes her in when she loses her job and apartment. Both Eric and Rebecca treat her coldly even though they offered her home to her thus making her feel more alone.

Edie is witty and has a dry humor. You can feel her sense of exhaustion and lack of energy towards living. She battles in finding the will to live yet has hope to be someone and uses art as a way to make sense of herself. Important topics such as racism, sexism, and loneliness is displayed throughout the book. I think it's important for books on diverse characters to become more prevalent.

The writing didn't sit that well with me, unfortunately. There were extremely long sentences that almost seemed like they ran on forever but then would be a followed by a bunch of short ones. Because of that I found it distracting and it made me want to start skimming. Aside from that, it was different than what I’ve ever read before and pretty good for a debut.

Thanks to the publisher and to netgalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and FSG for the eARC of this remarkable novel.
“He thinks we’re alike. He has no idea how hard I’m trying.”

Edie is a newly-unemployed children’s book editor as well as a talented painter, who makes terrible decisions about whom to sleep with (and where). After losing her job, and beginning an IRL affair with Eric, she ends up living with his family - wife Rebecca, and adopted African-American daughter, Akila - in suburban New Jersey. While there she produces paintings of almost all of their belongings, cataloguing a life that she has not had growing up in upstate New York, or living in NYC.

While there, she has the time, and mysteriously gifted income, to grow as an artist, mentor Akila in Black haircare, and help Rebecca in small ways to realize what her daughter is up against growing up where they are.

All of this is told in super-sharp, of-the-moment prose (there are entire paragraphs that could be Instagram captions, in a very good way) that is absolutely captivating. Highly, highly recommended.

Luster by Raven Leilani
THIS. BOOK. DAMN.... I finished this book in a little over 24 hours because I couldn't stop reading it. I'm blown away by the fact that its Leilani's debut novel. The story is an awkward, uncomfortable snapshot of Edie's life, She is a lost and lonely 23 year old living in NYC/NJ. Being from NJ I loved reading about towns I know and that the characters went to Garden State Plaza!
The writing is sharp & intelligent. The thing that struck me was that it says so much without a lot of words. I got the feeling of the book & emotions of the characters easily. The proses were so smooth, seamlessly fills in the back story while moving the present story along. The First-person view Edie's voice is perfect. This book has a strong internal story logic and a good balance of tension and release and I loved the whole uneasy compelling journey

Fantastic debut novel! The writing pulled me in immediately and I so curious to see where the story would go. I didn't know much of the story summary beforehand, so I was really surprised by how the story unfolded. It was like, what are you doing, girl?! But I loved Edie's journey, and how she was trying to find herself. I do think some of the parts where she's staying in the house after she loses her apartment dragged a bit. I sort of understood why she stayed, but I also thought Edie might be more bothered by it. Overall, solid debut and I look forward to more from Raven. She's a fantastic writer!

I was left wanting more, in a good way. The author slowly gives you bits and pieces of Edie's history, both personal and professional. Edie wants to know everything about everyone and everything, but the author still keeps so much close to the vest.

Edie has no remaining family, makes interesting choices in the company she keeps at work, which all comes to a head at once. Intertwined with her relationship with a married man, she's suddenly and literally in their home, becoming a fixture, but not part of the family. One of the things I savored was the relationship between Edie and the couple's adopted daughter Akila. Akila so desperately wants to be around another person who looks like her, but is terrified that Edie will break up the home that she needs, after being the foster care system most of her life. There was similar push and pull with the wife, Rebecca, but in a more confusing and puzzling way.

I read this easily in a few days, and was thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. I'm looking forward to more writing from Raven Leilani!

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux via NetGalley for letting me read this in advance of the release date.

I'm in the minority in my feelings because I didn't particularly like this book but there were things in this book that I liked, which caused me to finish it to the end and am gon focused on that.

It’s the story of Edie, a twenty-three year old Black woman who loses her editorial job in a publishing house after accusations of inappropriate behavior. She enters into a relationship with an older, married white man in an open marriage.

I appreciate the topics of being Black in the publishing company, being a Black artist, living in NYC, white families adopting Black children, police brutality, family and love. Edie strength as well