Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

185 reviews

sgrunwald96's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

A sweet book and an odd book. A mixed up love letter to the food of the San Gabriel Valley, immigrant families, violin performance, and runaways finding a home. There is some absurdity in the number of directions this involved (see: aliens, a doughnut shop, a cursed violin bow, a cybernetic daughter, a real demon, etc etc), but the characters are sweet and full of depth. It’s an entirely unbelievable story, but that’s kind of the point. Music and the human experience are the relatable parts. Writing wise, I had a bit of trouble with how quickly it jumped viewpoints and that it never comes back to the Marcus character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Transphobia

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Homophobia

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Minor: Deadnaming and Incest

koiolee's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

Not a bad book, but hard to recommend. I feel like this book has too many things going on. They all make sense by the end, but I think it's doing too much. I guess I don't like the combination of the fantasy and scifi elements without going too in depth about the fantasy elements. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Pedophilia, Outing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Rape, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, and Racism

adalinemccormick's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Rape, Self harm, Racial slurs, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

rhi_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Child abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Violence and War

anna_brawn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Transphobia, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Racism, Outing, Domestic abuse, and Deadnaming

spookyaz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Rape, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Incest

jamiemamie's review against another edition

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

Good Omens meets Becky Chambers meets Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I loved this book so much. I wish I kept count of how many times I said “this book is so good” out loud. It’s a little bit sci-fi, a little bit fantasy (in the “demons are real” way), and a lot a bit something all its own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: War and Injury/Injury detail

annabella's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

This was fun and I feel has such good trans representation. The book made me want to play music again, it was inspiring in that way. I thought it was a nice balance of the main protagonist with the queen of hell’s own story but also kinda ensemble with the  doughnut lady, Shirley, etc. I unfortunately dropped off in the last half hour or so but I liked the sense of adventure. And the ‘weird’ off the beaten track places for ‘weird’ people and instruments is nice. Though I’m confused bc I wasn’t listening properly about how it ended for Lucia. I definitely felt the first half of the book where it established characters but you didn’t quite know what ea h person’s motivations were was the strongest bit. I liked how the author wrote to make us very empathetic towards Mrs Satomi and the boundaries of good vs evil were blurred and in fact not even existent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

danimal_crackers's review against another edition

Beautiful, but bizarre.

Found the homeless storyline and resortion to prostitution haunting and triggering.

No disrespect to the author, this is an amazing piece of fiction, it just is not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Transphobia, and Domestic abuse