Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

94 reviews

tinysierra's review against another edition

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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 so often? 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, homophobia

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maryellen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.75


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fionamclary's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

You wouldn't think that the three storylines of this book would come together well, but Ryka Aoki has meshed them so beautifully. This book is so full of joy and hope.

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ccaz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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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domtheknight's review

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted slow-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 was slow and thoughtful in pace, and I read it quite slowly as a result.  The narration was beautiful, sometimes kind of understated.  The descriptions of music were perfect (I am not a violinist but other types of music I do).  Also, the donuts.  I loved the different characters, all the varieties of women.  As the plot was unfolding and intertwining I really hoped the ending would go pretty much where it did, and I was delighted to read it.

There's some heavy stuff in this book, in some ways these events didn't feel as upsetting as they might have in a more brutal narrative style.

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overthinkereading's review against another edition

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4.0

“Where does the music end and love begin?”

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zackseuberling's review against another edition

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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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monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring 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

4.5

Characters: 9/10
Relationships: 8/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 10/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot/Intrigue: 9/10
Internal Logic: 8/10
Entertainment: 9/10
Overall: 62/70, 4.5* 

sometimes a family is 2 parents, 2 kids, and a household pet. sometimes a family is a transgender runaway, The Queen of Hell and her living companion Oki, and a group of intergalactic refugees-turned-donut shop proprieters. 

I think my biggest issue with the book boils down to the pacing. with 3 primary interconnecting storylines and 1-2 secondary storylines it definitely felt like none actually got the thematic exploration they deserved. specifically I would have loved to see more about the violin shop! this was also the most triggering read I've ever finished. while not necessarily a detriment never feeling like I knew when things would get very heavy very quickly definitely made it difficult to enjoy some of the more sweet and lighthearted moments. 

the pros are many though. I actually appreciated the quick POV changes, they were challenging but gave a depth of understanding I appreciated. the LARGE number of neurodivergent-coded characters was also great, love to see a group of people with highly specialized interests who just want to info dump to one another. some of the character beats felt unrealistic at first, but I was quickly able to suspend disbelief when considering some of the sociocultural experiences of the characters (and, again, just coding all the characters as being neurodivergent in some way). given how explicit the writing is in other ways I would have preferred seeing more explanation of how and why characters other than Kristina react the ways they do in-the-moment, but the context clues and overarching pattern of experience was definitely there for me. 

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sofiadanielle's review

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adventurous funny 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

4.0

A book with many stories, themes, content; from aliens to deals with hell, from classical music to anime/video game theme songs, and many a queer story overall. 

I didn’t know much about the story before diving in, and I was pleasantly surprised! The way this is written reads very easily and quickly; though I was maybe a bit confused in the beginning, after a chapter or two, the paragraph/character POV started to really flow. 

The ending seemed almost cinematic, in the sense that it flowed in a lovely way! Some themes pertaining to sexual violence (or just. really negative sexual experiences for Katrina) made me uncomfortable, but also, it’s worth noting that those aspects may not always be fiction, especially to queer individuals. It was great to see Katrina come into her own; her growth is certainly a highlight of this book. 

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k_fry's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

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