If there is one book that's been thrust (hah) at me from every corner of my social media existence since the start of quarantine, it's Luster. Now that I've read it, I can see why, and I can fully understand the hype.

While the plot, in itself, is simple (a broke Black millennial girl with artistic ambitions and a dreary day job gets swept up in her relations with a rich White man in his 40s, and, after being fired, becomes the unlikely housemate of said man, his wife and their adopted Black daughter), the story thrives on its characters. No one is truly likable, except maybe Akila, the aforementioned preteen daughter, who is struggling with her identity in more ways than one.

The relationships in this story are all uncomfortable, filled with tension (not the good kind) and power (financial, societal, ...). The sex scenes (of which there are a lot, compared to other books in the genre) are immensely unsexy, and more unnerving than anything. It's not the sort of erotically-charged "daddy" situation that is prevalent in today's social media spheres, but instead uncomfortable; Raven Leilani makes sure that we are aware of this. Her writing is impeccable, which is obvious even in the audiobook. A few times I paused, rewinded and jotted down some quotes; I really wish I could have underlined and tabbed them in the book itself.

Raven Leilani crafts a believable and raw millennial experience, touching on the sheer hope- and aimlessness of it all in a way that hurts, though the pain feels numb and hidden somewhere deep inside.