Book Review: Luster by Raven Leilani

Author: Raven Leilani

Title: Luster

Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance

Format: Paperback

Pages: 240

Published: August 4, 2020

Where I got It: My shelf (gift)

Summary: 

Luster sees a young Black woman fall into art and someone else's open marriage. Edie is stumbling her way through her twenties--sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She's also, secretly, haltingly, figuring her way into life as an artist. 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 falling into Eric's family life, his home. She becomes a hesitant friend to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie is the only Black woman who young Akila knows.Razor-sharp, darkly comic, sexually charged, socially disruptive, Luster is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life 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.

Review:

I was given this book as a gift, but I have been curious about it. There was a lot of interest when this first came out a few years ago. 

Here, we follow Edie as she tries to make sense of her life. She starts up an affair with a man whose wife is okay with an open marriage...but with strict rules. Edie soon finds herself unemployed and falling face-first into her lover's family life and home. 

I feel like people love or are meh about this book. I don't know where I fully sit on this book. 

There were some things I liked and some things I didn't. 

My biggest issue was the writing style. It felt so...choppy. It didn't flow right and kept taking me out of the story. It felt so jarring! I did like the observations and the inner monologue parts, but the story itself felt so choppy and disjointed. 

I also can't buy this as a romance. It felt so awkward, and I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop at any minute. This really should just be a...not chick lit but something else. I'm blanking on a good genre to shove this in. 

Honestly, I liked reading about Edie and Rebecca the most. I enjoyed seeing that relationship form and morph. I also adored little Akila! 

And the ending....left me feeling nothing. It just ended. 

But yes...some good, but a lot of bad. I'll give this 3 stars. Maybe the audio would've been a hair better!

Blodeuedd's Tuesday Review: All the Time in the World by Cara Bastone

By: Cara Bastone

Narrated by: Emily Bader, Lewis Pullman, Josh Hurley, James Lurie, Merissa Czyz, Marc Vietor, L.J. Ganser

Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher: Audible Originals

Contemporary romance/from audible 

This was fun! I read one of hers which has worm holes, and this is actually set in the same universe! It takes place 5 years later and most worm holes have been closed except for 3.

Celeste and Everett is going to an island (separately) to jump into wormholes. A thing you should not do, but they have things they want to see, do.

So they hike this island, meet each other, and yes it is a romance, so friendship and that HEA is promised. Though it is more friendship to be honest, until they realise that they could be great.

I liked it! Short and fun. And omg the sound effects had me freaking when I was walking and heard wolves.

very good narration too

Celeste Varick has a simple find one of the last wormholes on earth and walk right in. The catch? She has no idea where she'll land, or that she's about to fall for the one stranger chasing the same impossible leap.

Everett Ludlow booked the same charter to the same island to find the same wormholes at the same exact moment. A kindhearted skeptic, he doesn't believe in fate but is desperate enough to leap into the future to save someone he loves.

Forced together in the wilderness, two lost souls start tempting fate, and each other. Neither came here looking for a partner; they came to fix the pasts and futures haunting them. But the longer they brave the wild together, the more the present starts to feel like the one timeline worth fighting for. And as the wormholes draw closer, the scariest leap isn't through time at it's taking a chance on happiness together, right here, right now.

Book Review: The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

Author: Matt Dinniman

Title: The Gate of the Feral Gods

Series: Dungeon Crawler Carl #4

Genre: Fantasy, SciFi, Dystopia, Comedy

Format: ebook

Pages: 592

Published: June 14, 2021

Where I got It: Kindle Unlimited

Summary: 

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here's the thing. It's never easy. Carl and his team can't go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

Review:

I'm loving this series soooo much. I hate the world and would never want this to happen, but it's so good to watch Carl and his gang. 

We are back! Carl is on the next floor with his team. They are faced with a floating fortress, a castle made of sand, and a derelict submarine guarded by machines. Oh! And don't forget a haunted crypt. They have 15 days to capture each one, but here is the thing.......they can't do this alone. They'll have to team up with some questionable crawlers. 

This was a chaotic ride, and I loved every second of it! So many different monsters. So many different NPCs. So many new crawlers. And the AI is not amused. Carl is causing some ripples. Carl is INSANE, but like...good insane. 

Love Donut. 

Love Katia. 

The ending made me gasp. 

I need more right MEOW. 

5 stars. 

Movie Review: Pressure (2026)

Title: Pressure

Length: 1h 40 m

Released: 2026

Genre: Drama, Docudrama
Rating: PG-13
Where I Got It: Peacock

SUMMARY:

In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice--launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.

Trailer

REVIEW:

I had heard that Brendan Fraser was playing good ol' Ike Eisenhower. Love this actor, and I am addicted to WWII. So when this popped up on Peacock, I had to check it out. 

It is 72 hours before D-Day. Captain Stagg and General Eisenhower will face an impossible choice....when to launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history.

Being a nerd, I knew why D-Day was delayed, and it is just facts. I never really knew the behind-the-scenes of this decision. I loved that they showed this part of the war. Not all heroes wave a gun around or are the face of an Army. Some heroes are nerds who are meteorologists. 

I'm glad we didn't get stuck on the details of the science. I wouldn't know anything, and I feel like if it was too science-y, you would lose some of the viewers. We want the drama. The decisions. The war. 

I liked the cast overall. They fit, and they all did well. I did have issues with Fraser acting "angry". It just didn't land quite right for me. Maybe it is because he just has such a kind face. LOL. Other than that, I think he did an excellent job as the man who is larger than life. Eisenhower was brilliant, but he knew he didn't know everything. That is why he was such a great leader. Leaders don't know everything. They rely on their team to help. Beautifully done.

Honestly, I would watch this again. This was really good. 

If you like WWII films, you'll like this. This is just another story and another POV that helped with the war efforts. 

I would say 4.5, but I rounded up because I'm a sucker for WWII and Fraser. 5 stars.