Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

55 reviews

tinysierra's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Light from Uncommon Stars was both mundane and magical. It was like an episode of Doctor Who or Good Omens. It was bizarre. 

Maybe this is silly but I don’t get why specific car types were mentioned more than once? I don’t see how those details were central to the story 😂 but I’m not a car person so idk

CW: sexual assault, transphobia (deadnaming, death threats, misgendering, sexual harassment,  etc), physical abuse, homophobia, racism, sex work

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Body shaming, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Self harm and Murder

Minor: Sexual content and Miscarriage

bucketsjen's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Good enjoyable read. It was a surprisingly hopeful story, especially given the premise. I went into the book completely blind, a friend handed it to me and said I'd like it. It was fun to be surprised as certain things kept getting added which you'd know if you read the synopsis or even the back of the book. A 19 year old transgender woman who flees an abusive family and is a violin prodigy... a violin teacher who made a deal with Hell and now has to deliver 7 souls or else her own is forfeit...  

a space alien family fleeing a galactic war and plague

who now run a donut shop . The book is weird, with those things, but it's delightful. 

There were a couple spots where it felt like "more" was needed to fulfill a particular storyline or character arc, which stopped me from feeling completely fulfilled.   A character from early on reappears briefly in the second half

and it gives the impression they'll do more... but then they drift out again until the last few pages

. It felt incomplete. Another character does something horrific and it's not REALLY addressed.

They kill a bigot, that's fine and dandy... but also murder the person the bigot is dating, who they have a crush on, while hating themselves for even liking them

. That was jarring.

They get put into a stasis and don't directly appear again but that's it. I wish something different had been done there

.

The ending is good but on the contrived side.

All that said, the book really was overall enjoyable. 

There's multiple minor plotlines woven in that I loved, and a big theme running through it all of what it means to be human and a person and alive, and of joy and soul.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Death

blue_boy62's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book definitely took me by surprise in a lot of ways. It’s got a really interesting mix of genres through its sci-fi and supernatural elements, and it’s a nice twist on a lot of different tropes.  I loved the wide range of Asian cultures within it and how it depicted them through languages and food. I also really liked how it handled its queer and trans characters; it’s not afraid to show the messiness of our experiences/communities and has a balance of both the pain and joys we often face. I’m a sucker for the found family trope, and I really enjoyed it in this book. I was definitely invested in all the characters and how their stories intertwined.  Overall, despite all the fantastical elements, at its core, the story is very human. It’s about connection, community, love, and the power of art, especially music, and it handles those themes beautifully. Definitely worth the read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Self harm

Moderate: Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, and Mental illness

Minor: Misogyny and Alcoholism

gabr7ellereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Bullying

zackseuberling's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Racism and Rape

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Outing, and Misogyny

winter_is_reading's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Excellent audiobook too. I’ll be recommending this to friends, family, and those that love music, violins, video games, Southern California, sci-fi twists, and Asian American, transgender, and Sapphic stories.

To trans pain and trans triumph, to violence and violins, to classical Bartok and 8 bit Undertale. This book has me stopping, reflecting, smiling, and crying. It’s not a sad book, but the beautiful introspection had me tearing up when I least expected it.

There are heavy themes in this book. There’s a lot of transphobia and violence against trans women. There’s anti-Asian racism, sexism, flashbacks to child abuse, and mentions of sex work and rape. But again, I wouldn’t say this is a sad book. There’s a lot of triumph and beauty despite the evils of men. 

I can’t recommend this book enough. 

Angst: 4/5
Spice: no spice, but there’s a darling romance

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Hate crime

pan_dulce08's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I felt the book started out really strong with the main protagonist, Kristina, really intriguing me as I found her relatable but also somewhat mysterious with how she acted, and I wanted to see her develop and come into better circumstances. I also liked the setting of Southern California and how it is picked apart and commented on by the character of Shizuka. However, I feel with everything that was added as the story progressed and how long the cast-list came to be the book fails a bit with balancing the diverse set of themes present in it. It also fails in some ways to really think critically about what is portrayed in it, which makes the characters feel less... human.

(Yes, I know some of the characters are literally in-human, but even so, actions like murder of multiple innocent people should still be treated with the gravity that action deserves by the alien characters as well, as that act is still wrong where they come from!)

For example,

Shizuka offhandedly mentions how she had done sexual favors for people in exchange for nice things like the car she drives, and later on Katrina begins the same practice... as a seventeen year old minor. Katrina was involved with sex work before, however it was clear the abuse she suffered while on the job was simply endured by her because she needed the money from it to stay alive, and the harsh nature of the clients she had to see and what they would make her do was given the narrative weight it required, but that theming and narrative standard does not carry through with what Katrina does later on in the story.

I feel like this carelessness about the acts of sexual exploitation of young women in a male-dominated industry is very confusing with what a lot of the book's focus seems to be, which is that on two women, one younger and one older, who both have scratched and clawed their ways to succeed in what they are passionate about. If anything, those acts should be treated with far more heaviness than they are by the book so as to not confuse the reader so much! 

Sorry this is so long... I enjoyed a lot of aspects and characters from the book when I read it, but a lot of things about it bothered me as well and I wanted to talk about those things...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Misogyny, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Racism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcoholism

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“When two violins are placed in a room if a chord on one violin is struck
the other violin will sound the note”
—Say Yes, Andrea Gibson

Light From Uncommon Stars is difficult to distill. A plot synopsis often leaves your audience thinking “how does that fit together?” This is actually Stars’ greatest strength—it contains multitudes, and its insight is fathomless. Like Gibson says in the poem quoted above, Ryka Aoki is able to play the exact chords that resonate and sound in the reader. The result is a moving and incredibly affecting story of legacy, love, connection, community, mistakes, the condition of being alive, and the connective power of music and donuts. These words will stay with me for years to come. Keep tissues on hand, and do not read this book hungry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Violence, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Dysphoria, Sexual content, War, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Outing, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Medical content

scmiller's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Transphobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, and Gore

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Deadnaming, Cursing, Misogyny, Outing, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Sexism, and Racism

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Xenophobia