This was dizzying and addictive with a sharp sense of humour. The cover is what caught my eye and I was completely unfamiliar with Jospeh’s work prior to this but now I plan to read more of her books! It is probably one of the most unique books have I read in a long time which is heightened by Jospeh’s atmospheric writing style. It’s hard to talk about the book without giving anything away, just go read this book!!

Lean Cat, Savage Cat is a novel about a woman who moves to Berlin after art school and falls for a musician in a world of parties, drugs, and obsession. Charli meets Alexander Geist, charismatic up-and-coming musician, in London and decides on a whim to move to Berlin with him. There, she falls in with old friends, but becomes increasingly obsessed with Alexander as they move between parties, and as Alexander's success grows, Charli finds herself losing herself to him.

Having read Lauren J. Joseph's previous novel, I would've read this one regardless of what it was about, but in fact, the summary was right up my street: Berlin, rock stars, and a comparison to The Talented Mr Ripley that I should've remembered whilst reading. The novel has a faded glamour updated for the 21st century, with Charli the party girl who, as someone in the novel remarks, talks like a character in The Secret History, and who is fascinated by Berlin of the 1970s, Bowie and Romy Haag. You are immersed in the world as you would be in an Isherwood novel, but at the same time, there's a concurrent narrative that gives hints that things aren't all quite right. It's hard to talk more about the plot without giving anything away, so I won't.

There's so much about queerness, sex, gender, fame, and the self in this book, but the reading experience is a rollercoaster of parties, gossip, and a hint of danger. I love how the real life figures of David Bowie and Romy Haag hang over the novel, all part of the doubling that takes place throughout. By combining contemporary and 20th century Berlin in this doubling, Lauren J. Joseph makes a book that feels timeless and exciting.

Dark and gritty this title echoes of Easton-Ellis, with a strike of raunch and sharp writing. Lean Cat, Savage Cat is a propulsive and wickedly smart piece of literature.

This wasn’t at all what I expected but I absolutely loved it.

Lean Cat, Savage Cat takes us on a wild ride into underground Berlin and the ascent of an upcoming popstar from the perspective of manager/girlfriend/drop out art student Charli.

After an art show failure and a case of mistaken identity, Charli meets Alex in a London bar and follows him to Berlin where he is transformed into the next David Bowie.

This book is sexy and grimy and intriguing and hypotonic. Charli is completely captivated by Alex and so are we.

It’s also interspersed with messy dreamlike passages (some of which are in German) where start to wonder Charli and Alex’s fates.

I absolutely loved this and can definitely see myself picking it up against. Deserves to be an underground sensation.

5 stars

This is a lush, intoxicating novel following Charli, a disillusioned art-school graduate who impulsively follows a charismatic musician to Berlin and is swept up in a decadent world of hedonism, fame and self-destruction. Joseph’s prose is sharp and atmospheric, capturing both the glamour and the dark underbelly of obsession and excess. It’s a seductive, heady blend of sensuality and tragedy that evokes The Talented Mr. Ripley with a glorious Berlin twist.

this novel follows charli as she trails an enigmatic stranger to berlin, pulled in by his promise of stardom and her undeniable attraction to him. their bond forms quickly, but his cruelty is always present, simmering beneath the surface and only exacerbated by fame, drugs, and power.

charli feels for alexander so intensely that she lets herself be used, reshaping her entire life around his ambition out of a desperate need to stay close to his glamorous orbit, with those around him constantly competing for his attention. the prose is addictive as we explore berlin’s nightlife scene through sex clubs and drugged up after parties. the story is thrilling, like a car crash you can’t look away from, as charli hits self-destruct on her life the more she yearns for alexander’s affection.

i love how perverse this book is, though the graphic depictions of sex will definitely put some readers off (those readers are not the intended audience for this book, anyway). the writing here is filthy, hedonistic, yet genuinely beautiful - lush and poetic without tipping into overwriting. it’s also incredibly readable, propelling you forward as you try to work out where, exactly, all of this is heading.

the underlying inspiration of david bowie and romy haag hovers in the background, with charli and alex acting as modern-day doppelgangers. i don’t know how much of this story is completely imagined or drawn from fragments of truth, but it’s utterly compelling either way. i admired the refusal to redeem these characters. they don’t grow or learn any lessons, they remain fucked up from beginning to end. any attempt to force total transformation or moral resolution would have felt tonally off base, so i’m glad the novel resists that impulse.

overall, i absolutely loved this book. It falls perfectly within my love of queer, erotic, rebellious fiction and i would highly recommend it to all those who don’t mind the darker themes and graphic scenes, perhaps for fans of eliza clark and similarly dark stories with a sharp, witty edge.

An intoxicating deep dive into Berlin's underground music and arthouse scene (the kind of presentation that makes you understand just how wrong you've been doing it) and a totally fresh and unique presentation of queerness, sexuality, obsession and the price of tying yourself to the wrong person's rising star.

Joseph is a stunning talent, and though the final quarter of the novel slightly lost me in its rush towards the ending, they are most certainly an incredible voice to watch for the future.