Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

62 reviews

juniperhope's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, War, Addiction, Child abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Violence

silentquercus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad 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, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Racism, Body shaming, Bullying, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Vomit, War, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

shinypurplepants's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This was not my cup of tea. There were ideas I liked here but the way they fit together was disappointing. I especially hated Lucy and the whole violin-making family and their storyline. It felt like it only showed up to interrupt more interesting scenes and I didn't care for the internalized sexism of the Maestro.

The book tries to be so whimsical and uplifting but it's got all these random edgy passages of violence that serve no purpose to the narrative. Physical assaults, sexual violence, use of slurs, harassment, abuse, self harm. Every character seems to have unaddressed internalized -isms that the books chooses to just ignore rather than help them through it. It drags down any elements of lightness the book was working to cultivate. I did not enjoy this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: War, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Abandonment, Sexism, Racism, and Hate crime

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

I feel a bit torn when it comes to this book. On one hand, I was very engaged with it and wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen. I liked the mix of characters and perspectives, and even some of the surprising things (that at first felt like a mix of too many genres) ended up feeling natural and fine. 

However, I also feel like I ended the book missing some of the point. Like, there was just so much going on, and I'm not sure what my takeaways were supposed to be. Also, there was just so much transphobia that Katrina had to deal with; it was hard to read and felt like some of it wasn't totally necessary? Idk. I get that that can be real but it's not like every single trans person has to go through all of the things she did, and it just was so rough to read. Between that and the racism and violence, I would definitely recommend checking out the content warnings before reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Outing, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Fatphobia, War, Vomit, Child death, and Ableism

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, War, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Child death, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, and Suicide

Fetishization of trans women and women of color. Deadnaming in only one scene. Assault briefly on-page, but mostly implied/discussed; mild sexual content in the form of camming and sex work. Use of transphobic/homophobic, racial, and ableist slurs, both reclaimed and otherwise.

yggie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This was such a painful book - in a good way, in a true way, but wow. I did see the hope, I did see the love, I did see the ‘growing into yourself, becoming strong and confident’ thing, but I can’t shake the pain. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing.

The pain is not what made me go for just three stars. I’ve seen people complain about the switches in pov but those felt natural to me, I only got confused once and that was on me. The truth is, I got tired of reading about donuts. Donuts and chicken and duck and tea, it never ended and it didn’t add much for me. Also, Windee made me cringe every time she entered the narrative. Terrible character. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

lotten4's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

The mc is a youtuber :-/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship

teo_rodas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

This book left me in utter despair, immediate favorite. So incredibly beautiful. So unspeakably human. So resounding and comforting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, War, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexism, and Self harm

mazomazli's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

5.0

This is a beautiful book discussing a lot of very very heavy topics while also having vivid depictions of LA, super emotional violin music that it feels like you could hear it (do check out author’s playlist!), and deep relationships I couldn’t get enough of. All of three main characters are amazing and I cared deeply for them. The TWs are not to be taken lightly !!! Seriously!!! I do feel like they were all handled with with so much and love and care. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Outing, Deadnaming, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Sexism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Self harm, War, and Homophobia

laurareads87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful 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

4.0

Light from Uncommon Stars follows three characters: Katrina, a young Asian-American trans woman who is a skilled violinist, Shizuka Satomi, a violin teacher who must deliver one more soul to a demon in exchange for her own, and Captain Lan Tran, a starship captain turned donut shop proprietor.  It is a true combination of science fiction and fantasy -- blending plotlines following alien species with deals with the devil and curses and more.  As a result, it has a <i>lot</i> going on: describing the different story lines, it feels like it should feel muddled but somehow it doesn't -- it really works.  Aoki's writing is evocative -- the food! the music! the settings! -- and the book manages to address a wide range of serious themes, including horrible & traumatic experiences of oppression and violence, while somehow having an overall tone that is predominantly gentle and tender rather than heavy while also definitely not trivializing or making light of the serious subject matter in any way: this is really, really well done.  I look forward to reading more from Ryka Aoki in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Alcoholism, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse