I tried multiple times but I'm not sure this book is for me. The first chapter was a bit boring and not a great hook for a reader (like me). I feel like it wasn't super grabbing and I needed more from the book to be able to really engage with the plot and characters. Maybe I should have tried one more time, but it was just too much for me to bite off at once, unfortunately. The cover is lovely, and the writing itself isn't bad, I just didn't feel the plot.

I was drawn in by the blurb, premise, and cover, plus the fact that this was Roxane Gay's printing imprint! Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I liked both characters fine, but a quarter of the way in it did not draw me in in the way I had hoped. The voice and writing leaned a bit too heavily on description versus action and I often was confused as to what was exactly happening in the action. When "TBQH" was used in the book in all seriousness, it turned my corny meter on and unfortunately I couldn't get past the tryhardness of the writing to see the plot :( Might work for someone else, but not for me!

I am in two minds about this book. Firstly, I love picturing the sprawling brownstone filled with Glory's art. I loved reading the descriptions of glittering Harlem and its history and I felt like Glory and Parkie's relationship was realistic, for the most part. On the other hand, it took a long time for the book to feel like it had kicked into gear. I would've loved to know more about Eleanor and her place in her community, and Harlem in general. I found Parkie's professional storyline underdeveloped and was blindsided by Madeline's behaviour during the auction. 3.5✨

Lush Lives had so many aspects to its story that drew me in - high stakes art world, set in New York, a sapphic romance, all set within this mysterious house. Honestly, the most unbelievable aspect of this story is that Glory, who is a struggling artist, wasn't immediately relieved when inheriting a fucking brownstone in New York. Like??? In this economy???

That gripe aside, I appreciated the nuanced portrayals of both Glory and Parkie as complex, flawed characters. However, alongside the mystery/historical plot and lush (ha) writing, there were some missed opportunities to truly delve deeper and reach a more complete arc for the characters as a couple. I almost wish Lyon had decided to choose either a character study or place more emphasis on the storyline, as together it ended up feeling like too much to balance and left me feeling unsatisfied.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy!

Loved this one. The pacing fell somewhere between literary and commercial, my favorite. Glamorous queers and juicy gossip--what's not to like?

What an excellent book! I was so happy to see a diverse cast of characters that were real, flawed, and very loveable. A modern sapphic romance with BIPOC and disabled leads that takes place in the NYC art scene? Yes, please. I could not love this more. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This book fell a bit flat for me. It was a bit boring at times, and I wanted more from the romance aspect of the book. There were things I enjoyed (ie. the characters), but it is not very memorable for me.

I'm all for a lesbian romance novel but this was boring AF. I had much higher hopes for a Roxane Gay choice.

This book did feel a little slow at points so it was a little hard to get through, but on the plus side i really enjoyed the dual point of views and the representation of the Nyc art scene but my biggest downfall with it was the diet culture references, they honestly just felt a bit out dated.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, I had issues getting into the story and had to put it down. I appreciate the chance to read though! :)

2.5 ⭐️

Thank you so much Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I was so excited for this book. I mean, a sapphic interracial romance? Come on, too good not to pass up. BUT, this book was a huge disappointment. There was so much miscommunication and fighting and drama. It felt like the couple was fighting more than they had cute moments.

I was also WAY more invested in the side plot than the actual romance. Is it bad I actually DIDNT want the main couple together?

I really did not enjoy this book and it felt very long with not much happening and way too much drama. Definitely a disappointment

Thank you to the author, Roxane Gay Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found a lot to love in this convoluted story with multiple threads. The insight into the insular worlds of art - both those creating and those wanting to represent the creators - and art auctioneering was fascinating and absorbing. The historical look at the Harlem Renaissance and how that thread tied in to the present day - I wish there had been more meat on that bone, but what there was, was a good start. The love story - yes, I suppose you could all it "lush", it was steamy, if a bit predictable and at times annoying because: communication. Lots more like ethical quandries when you're just trying to make a living and get ahead, coping with familial expectations that don't mesh with your own wants and desires, and race/class distinctions. Yes, there were gaps and weaknesses, and the book could have used one more stringent edit - but overall this is a great read and I look forward to more from this author.

Lush Lives had a lot of ingredients I really liked. A love story between two ambitious women working in the art world, an inheritance that connects to the Harlem Renaissance, and the conflict of having to be part of a job project that clashes with major ethical problems. The two indivisible plots of the leads were interesting, but their relationship didn’t quite come together for me. The instant love trope is not my favorite, so that did not help, but there were several decisions that left me frustrated. While I was glad to see two accomplished, ambitious women in the lead, unfortunately, this one missed the mark a bit for me.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. Reading about a community I am so passionate about is always a goal and a pleasure. This book had so much going for it, interesting and relevant plot points, diverse representation, well researched art scene. However. I cant help but feel the plot development was lacking. I also feel like many of the conversations were stilted and used as a device rather than feeling natural. This book was ok and I would include it in displays with relevant themes but I would not specifically recommend it to library patrons.

Unfortunately, "Lush Lives" by J. Vanessa Lyon fell short of my expectations.

The lack of sufficient editing impacted the narrative structure, leaving it confusing and jumbled throughout the story. Connecting with any of the characters proved challenging, and their relationships felt forced rather than genuine, making it hard to fully invest in the plot.

While I appreciated the book's attempt to comment on the art and cultural scene, it seemed to take on too much, leaving several aspects feeling underdeveloped.

Overall, I feel that "Lush Lives" had potential, but it needed more refinement to deliver the compelling and authentic story I was hoping for.

Thank you to Roxane Gay Books and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a tricky book to rate! I enjoyed Lush Lives. Surprisingly, I found the plot more engaging than the characters. Glory and Parkie were interesting (though frustrating at times), but the dual plots of 1) figuring out the story behind the unpublished manuscript found in the brownstone and 2) the Flagg auction at Cuthbert's really held my attention more.

Sometimes the plot felt a bit meandering, with things thrown in unnecessarily. For example, we hear about Parkie's ex a bit, and toward the end, she reunites with her and they have a long talk about their relationship and choose not to hook up. Cool? Truly something I did not need closure on.

One of my main complaints about this book is it feels like it's trying very hard to be ~woke~ (a word I hesitate to use since it's basically meaningless at this point, but not sure what else to call it). It comes across as a little fake, or like reading a manifesto, rather than reading two realistic characters having a realistic conversation. There are interesting points being made about race and class and art and operating in our current capitalist society, but it's written in a way where it almost feels like the author is trying not to get canceled. Intersectionality is all around us, we get it! The novel would've been stronger if it just let the characters and story speak for themselves rather than getting preachy at times.

For a book that tries so hard to get it right when it comes to race, class, queerness, etc, some parts still somehow felt problematic to me?! 1) Manya Shaw is bi and is portrayed as the stereotypical slutty/greedy bisexual, which rubbed me the wrong way. Eventually we come to see her as a good friend and smart business ally, but how she was presented for most of the book was kind of icky. 2) Nicholas is written as a very stereotypical gay man and it didn't feel authentic. 3). OMG SO MUCH DIET CULTURE GARBAGE. That bothered me. Constantly talking about the calories in the crumb cake Glory's brother-in-law is eating, how many servings of ice cream Parkie indulged in that she shouldn't have, etc. For being such intelligent, empowered ladies, would've loved to see them not hung up on calories.

All that being said: the plot was riveting. I'm interested in art and you could tell the author really knows her stuff/did her research when it comes to the NYC art world. I loved picturing the brownstone full of art and hearing about Lucille and her lovers back in the 40s. That was a cool storyline, I would've loved to see more of that!

Ultimately, I feel like this book could have used some editing (prose was so verbose), but it was an enjoyable time!

dnf. I could not for the life of me get into the book. It was unbelievably dry to the point I had to reread numerous paragraphs to get what they were trying to say. Somehow the sentence flow was both stilted and dragged on. There were way too many elements to the story and it just didn't work with my brain. I did not like either Glory or Parkie and I felt like Parkie was very objectified. I can't continue.

I wanted to love this book! And I did really love the setting, the queerness, the poly-rep, and a couple of the characters. But the writing lagged in spots and read as under-edited, needing tightening up. The ideas were good, but the pacing was slightly off so emphasis was not quite brought to the right places, and that messed with how and where tension appeared/was dispelled and how I felt about the characters and their relationships. There were some inconsistencies in the drawing of the characters themselves wherein they acted or spoke in ways that felt inconsistent with how they'd been shown. I also didn't buy the central love story--there wasn't enough establishment of connection to render believable the depth of feelings that were supposed to be propelling us forward.

All told, there are good bones! The setting, characters, and relationships had potential! The sources of building tension were believable, and the mystery they uncovered was compelling. But the execution made it tough for me to finish this one.

I really wanted to love this book. I loved the first book from Roxane Gay's imprint and was looking forward to another queer story full of heart. Unfortunately, Lush Lives by J. Vanessa Lyon didn't meet my expectations. Overall, I feel like the book would have benefited from more editing. The narrative structure was confusing and jumbled for most of the story. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but it made for a less than desirable experience while reading the book. I struggled to connect with a single character in the book and the relationships didn't feel real. It felt like they were just grasping onto each other out of the need to not be alone, and not because they actually loved each other. Which is totally fine except I don't know if that was what I was supposed to get out of the book. I appreciated the ways that Lush Lives was trying to make comments on the art & cultural scene. Ultimately, I just feel like this book was attempting to do too much and nothing felt fully fleshed out.

Glory and Parkie meet when Glory brings some of the things she's found in the brownstone she inherited from her great aunt Lucille to the gallery where Parkie works. Its clear from that moment that these two will have a fraught relationship that swings between devotion, jealousy, and so many other things, especially when Manya enters the picture, This is a romance set in the art world with lots of themes- perhaps too many, It's received a fair number of negative reviews but my major complaint is that it needed another edit, a paring of pages, to tighten it up and make it more of a page turner. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.