Luster

A Novel

By: Raven Leilani

Narrated by: Ariel Blake

"There is a universal appeal to [Narrator Ariel] Blake's performance as Edie, a protagonist who may be her own worst antagonist. Blake's delivery has an immensely human, relatable quality that makes the listener want the best for Edie as she struggles to make her way in the world." (AudioFile magazine, Earphones Award winner)

An instant New York Times best seller

A New York Times notable book of 2020

National Indie best seller

Los Angeles Times best seller

Washington Post best seller

No one wants what no one wants.
And how do we even know what we want? How do we know we’re ready to take it?

Edie is stumbling her way through her 20s - sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She is also haltingly, fitfully giving heat and air to the art that simmers inside her. And then she meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage - with rules.

As if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics weren’t hard enough, Edie finds herself unemployed and invited into Eric’s home - though not by Eric. She becomes a hesitant ally to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie may be the only Black woman young Akila knows.

Irresistibly unruly and strikingly beautiful, razor-sharp and slyly comic, sexually charged and utterly absorbing, Raven Leilani’s Luster is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life - her hunger, her anger - in a tumultuous era. It is also a haunting, aching description of how hard it is to believe in your own talent, and the unexpected influences that bring us into ourselves along the way.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

"Ariel Blake narrates, expertly inhabiting Edie’s knowing and analytical tone, and reveling in the writer’s winding sentences and caustic one-liners." (The Guardian)

“Exacting, hilarious, and deadly.... A writer of exhilarating freedom and daring.” (Zadie Smith, Harper’s Bazaar)

"So delicious that it feels illicit.... Raven Leilani’s first novel reads like summer: sentences like ice that crackle or melt into a languorous drip; plot suddenly, wildly flying forward like a bike down a hill." (Jazmine Hughes, The New York Times Book Review)

“An irreverent intergenerational tale of race and class that’s blisteringly smart and fan-yourself sexy.” (Michelle Hart, O: The Oprah Magazine)

©2020 Raven Leilani (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“An unstable ballet of race, sex, and power. Leilani’s characters act in ways that often defy explanation, and that is part of what makes them so alive, and so mesmerizing: Whose behavior, in real life, can be reduced to simple cause and effect? Sharp, strange, propellent - and a whole lot of fun.” (Kirkus, starred review)

Top 5, easily

This book is now in my top five, read or listened to, and it easily earned that spot.

After the first chapter or so, this book felt like an update to Jay McInerney's Bright Lights Big City, featuring a millennial protagonist with millennial problems. A young person in the city trying to have a good time, find themself, and not destroy their soul in the process. As I progressed further into the book, the story felt more like the TV shows Fleabag or Insecure. But by the end, I realized that it has no comparison. It is its own thing, and though it gets real dark and real weird at times, its an amazing journey.

The writing is electric and the narrator perfectly compliments Leilani's writing style.There are a couple of points in the story that seem if not aimless maybe not the best choice, but the writing and narration keep you engaged. Really, I mean if Raven Leilani wrote the owners manuel to my dish washer and Ariel Blake read it I would listen to it, because they'd figure out how to put some gems in there and keep me listening.

As soon as this book hits paperback I'll be buying a physical copy. Excellent, 5/5, I'll be enjoying this again soon.

Superb!

Amazing story and writing!! Leaves you wanting more. Hope to see another one by this author soon.

Unapologetic

This book made me sink in and really rethink my life as a 20 something. Vulnerable and uncomfortable at times, there were moments I could relate and moments that also opened my eyes to the inside views of what it’s like to be a black female, and alone, just trying to get by.

Kind of a throwaway, but entertaining

I thought this book would be more serious based on the description, but it was more lightheaded than I expected. Good story, good narration, but I wasn’t blown out of the water. Worth the money though, and appreciate supporting Black authors.

Just a lot of yearning

This story takes you into all of the less fun parts about being young. The hard stuff and the background simmer of existential crisis that sets in when you slowly but surely start acknowledging adult responsibility.

Not what I was expecting, but still pretty good.

Poetry

Intense, dramatic, raw, visual, current. Highly recommended. You might miss some references but just pause and look them up.

Just okay for me

I thought I would love this based on the hype, but unfortunately I did not. The writing is good (hence the 3 star rating instead of 2) but I couldn’t make myself care about the plot or characters. I probably wouldn’t have finished d felt it was short and I kept hoping something would grab me.

Started good but fizzed out

It started out excellent but then I got bored and couldn’t wait for it to be over. The beginning felt fresh and exciting, and I enjoyed it being written in the first person, until it felt like all she was doing was complaining. And complaining. And complaining. Then it became tiresome, more of the same, and I ended up just finishing up the book even though I grew tired of listening to it. The first half of the book was really great- the second half was blah.

Excellent story. I listened to it in one night.

Well written and well narrated! I enjoyed every moment!!! I hope there will be more novels to come in the future.

Raw and Relatable

Raven Leilani is a fantastic writer with bold imagery and moving story. She captures the angst and insecurity of a 23 year old woman and layers beautifully the extra challenges of being 23 and black in the same body. Heartbreaking and tragic but I can't stop pulling for the protagonist and it also feels a bit triumphant. She beautifully captures how grey the world is in a very realistic and relatable way that leaves you breathless how the same events can be both ordinary and extraordinary.