![]() ![]() Luster by Raven Leilani is written with stunning attention to detail and intention. ![]() ![]() Edie may be the only Black woman young Akila knows.” She becomes a hesitant ally to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. 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. 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. ![]() She is also haltingly, fitfully giving heat and air to the art that simmers inside her. Quick Book Summary (from the official blurb): “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. Raven Leilani’s Luster, recent winner of The John Leonard Prize from the National Book Critics Circle, is our next selection. In a continuation of our series of micro-reviews, assistant editor Brandon Williams brought together a group of ardent readers to give their quick-hit impressions of recent novels which have won major awards from the literary world. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() She lied, but only because she can’t say her real name-one of the vicious little details tucked like nettles in the grass. The boy is still asleep, and she watches the slow rise and fall of his shoulders, the place where his dark hair curls against the nape of his neck, the scar along his ribs. ![]() It isn’t his fault-it is never their faults. She lies there, perfectly still, tries to hold time like a breath in her chest as if she can keep the clock from ticking forward, keep the boy beside her from waking, keep the memory of their night alive through sheer force of will. The wooden bird, found with a broken wing, is reputedly re-created as the fifth in the sequence (albeit intact), about to take flight. Regarding the inspiration for Revenir, Miret attributed the idea to a figurine found on the streets of Paris in the winter of 1715. Description: A sculptural series of five wooden birds in various postures and stages of pre-flight, mounted on a narrow marble plinth.īackground: A diligent autobiographer, Miret kept journals that provide insight into the artist’s mind and process. ![]() ![]() ![]() Sometimes, we get the POV of one interesting character, we have to wait 50, or in some cases, 150 pages long before we get to their POV again. However, their appearance was so burdened by tons of other boring character’s POV. There have been more than one hundred character names by the second book now, and only four characters-the Red Knight, Bad Tom, Jean de Vraily, and Mortirmir-were compelling to me. None of the characters were intriguing enough. Allow me to repeat this, it’s not the sheer number alone that’s the problem it’s just how much of an obstruction they are in the way of the interesting parts because none of these side characters (more than ten of them) were memorable characters to me. However, to summarize, the sheer number of useless POV’s are back, and they just seem to get worse for me. I mean, I could seriously copy-paste my review of the first book, and it would still work on why this book/series just won’t click for me. ![]() I honestly don’t have much to add to my review here. Now that I’ve finished Fell Sword, it is with heartache that I’m going to admit that this series isn’t for me. ![]() ![]() I have a Booktube channel now! Subscribe here. ![]() ![]() ![]() “With this book, I had to make sure I understood the story I was telling by spending time at various shelters, which included Bokamoso Youth Centre as well as the Leratong Hospital Shelter. What carries weight in Phamotse work is her research. Phamotse, who has written nine other books, creates work that draws you in because of how closely personal her work is, and with her background in criminology studies, her new work has an incredible take on crime factors in her storytelling. ![]() The acclaimed author has managed to once again leave you intrigued and anticipating more. ![]() Phamotse has not failed to bring this outstanding feature in the fourth edition of the franchise. The three other additions of BARE books have shown us some truth about the society we live in. Like any Jackie Phamotse book, it forces you to turn from one page to the next and is nothing short of excellent, as each chapter unfolds you are introduced to a storytelling style like no other. Her fourth book, ‘BARE: Mercy’ introduces us to orphaned girls and the downfall of those powers. ![]() While you may be familiar with Phamotse’s, ‘The Blessers Game’ released in 2017, ‘The Cradle of the Hockey Club’ released in 2019, and ‘Ego’ released in 2020 you are yet to be amazed by the teratology addition. ![]() |