Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

215 reviews

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

internationalreads's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Transphobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

gabr7ellereads's review

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

domtheknight's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Dysphoria

There's 1 prominent trans character; she is abused by her parent, and escapes from that house as a teenager. She is raped by a friend, and pushed into doing some sex work, which she doesn't enjoy and wouldn't consent to if not desperate for funds. She experiences ongoing transphobic "jokes" and comments. None of these actions are from the other major heroine/hero characters. There's murder on page from a moderate character, and self harm. Those are separate from the trans character, although multiple characters have suicidal ideation to varying degrees.

ashlee2319's review

It's hard to follow, weird page breaks and formatting indicating POV changes. Some significant points were written in a very insignificant way. There's a huge amount of text about violens and food, but the story line was lacking. There's a lot of missed opportunities to expand on the story and I just got tired of trying to make it work. I didn't feel like taking the time to finish it when I have others on my tbr shelf to enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, Transphobia, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

inpraiseoflucifer's review

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Sexual violence

rickireadss's review against another edition

These 45 pages were filled with so much information, but it felt like most of it didn’t really pertain to the story or add any useful background to the characters. Also the shifting POVs constantly was a little hard to keep up with, and the inner monologues (which was most of the story thus far, as there is very little dialogue) didn’t flow very well & felt very disjointed. Lastly, I think this was supposed to be sci-fi but that part wasn’t really introduced until the third chapter, and even once introduced, I still had several questions about how the world worked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

invertedsquares's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I wasn't ready for this book, but I can see some people loving it. Parts were very good, cute and fun and insightful and interesting, but so much of the book was sadness and violence and transphobia which I found hard to bear. Read the trigger warnings!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Transphobia, Racism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Classism, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

caseylovett's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Self harm

mossybean's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Physical abuse