Reviews tagging 'Death'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

79 reviews

readerette's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense 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 the book started so slow and I realized how many characters there were, and with how loose of ties to one another at first, I almost decided to stop. 

But Katrina's experience as a transwoman kept me in it, as she experienced pain after pain and still learned to trust again. It was emotional to read, but beautiful. The trigger warnings are accurate, and there's enough lightness, goodness and love to balance them out.

Once I got used to the writing style (perfunctory and shifting between characters) and started to see where the story could go, I didn't want to put it down. The existential questions in this story were also refreshingly posed.

The Endplague just feels to me like civilization levels of mortal despair, and raises the question of what to do in the face of that knowledge: the same question each of us individual mortals has to answer for ourselves.

If you like sci fi/fantasy with a heart (the Becky Chambers comparisons are apt), I recommend this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death

Minor: Vomit, Murder, Mental illness, Outing, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Suicide

achingallover's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense fast-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

3.0

overall i really enjoyed this, even though it had some tough subject matter.
i really liked the themes and descriptions of music and food and family and parallels between katrina and shirley.
unfortunately some of it felt disjointed or clumsy. but overall i enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Rape, Terminal illness, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

tanouska's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, and Outing

spookieboogie's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia and Deadnaming

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, and Self harm

bi_n_large's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Racism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Blood, War, and Child death

upperjackpain's review

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, Sexism, and Self harm

kattyenn's review

emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Self harm, Rape, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Hate crime

bookiecharm's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Death, Transphobia, and Pedophilia

Minor: Outing and Panic attacks/disorders

bebidocrimes's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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 is such a beautiful exploration of what makes humankind so special. The descriptions of music and food both are so carefully crafted, you really feel the love for creation. But more than that, it shows how your passion can help you love yourself, your world, and help you grow into the person you need to be. Shout out to Shizuka for 1) burning down someone's house and 2) killing someone else both for misgendering Katrina. Lan heard music for the first time and said 'you could make a religion out of this' and she did.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Transphobia, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Outing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Deadnaming, Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, and Toxic relationship

lilifane's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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

If you need a book that feels like a warm hug, a soft blanket and a hot chocolate, just read this. 
The writing is simple, the story not super thrilling and silly sometimes (especially the sci-fi elements) but the plot is not the important thing here. It's the characters and their interactions, it's the diversity, the trans representation and the heart. There is sooo much heart in this book. It made me cry several times because of all the feels. I also loved the way Aoki describes food and music. Especially the music. I know nothing about music, it's basically magic to me, and this is how music felt in this book - like magic. 
But most importantly, though: Katrina is everything, and she deserves the world! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence