Reviews with content warning for Racism - Light from Uncommon Stars

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

334 reviews

claralearnstoread's review

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

Sometimes a family can be a young transgender, violin prodigy, her teacher who has a deal with a devil, their housekeeper who loves to bake, and an former captain of a galactic empire and her four children.

This book felt like a fever dream with its blend of sci-fi and fantasy but was also one of the most entertaining books I’ve read. The author did such a beautiful job of navigating difficult and painful themes transphobia, racism, and xenophobia. The characters were flawed and felt so real and yet still so lovable and relatable. I truly rooted for all the main characters in this book and enjoyed all of their story lines.

This book truly was about the power of empathy, compassion, and kindness and I loved it. The only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars from me is just because of the writing style the author uses. It was effective but a difficult to follow sometimes. But that’s just a nit pick on my part. Great book!!!

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twilik's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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clairejoanmarie's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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touchegiantsquid's review

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dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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suchacommotion's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

This book is so devastatingly emotional and philosophical and reads just like an old friend. The themes of identity, family and acceptance under the blanket of music in a sci-fi/fantasy setting all make this book complex, fascinating, and engaging from start to finish.

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michellegaudet's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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crystaltheacademic's review

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dark funny 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? Yes

4.5

Beautiful story, gripping and heartfelt. The only reason it’s not 5 stars is because I think the Markus plot line wasn’t handled the best.

Other than that one plot line, this book was sooo satisfying. Highly recommended for those who enjoy the rare treat of both sci-fi and fantasy.

I understand why Markus had to be locked away. But I perceived the Endplague as a form of mental illness so the fact that Lan was so dismissive of his feelings and it all blew up felt like so much bigger than only Markus. Especially because she goes on to realize her mistakes with Shirley. I don’t know if Shizuka can be redeemed after functionally killing 6 people felt weird that Markus couldn’t have been/spoiler>

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heyzelda's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book has so much going on that it’s hard to know where to start. It will give you constant whiplash (affectionate) between the interwoven plot lines of entirely disparate genres and also between moments of grief and horror that are followed by real hilarity. If you’ve read a summary, please know that the actual book is so much more entertaining than the summary is capable of letting on. If you haven’t read a summary, please please read this book with no foreknowledge other than that it’s about being trans, being an immigrant, becoming a musician, claiming and reclaiming humanity, escaping the exile of cynicism, and pure expressions of love. The way Aoki writes about music is a special highlight, often characterized by ratatouille moments of one sort or another.

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rickireadss's review against another edition

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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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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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