Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

330 reviews

secretofmusing's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.25

Overall... I liked the story but this read more lit fic than sci-fi and once I realized that it was easier to continue.

Rating the book:
1. Characters? - Characters except for Shizuoka Satomi made sense to me ... in that I could understand/justify their motivation, wants, and needs etc.  BUT

I don't think I ever really heard why or how Shizuoka was okay with collecting souls. (I understand it was to save her own soul)  I could maybe have justified her having collected one or two souls already, but six?  You'd think that after seeing what happened to the first person, she would have been like nah, I can't do this but she kept going. That says a lot about who she is as a person and that no one was able to reach her, and in my mind she's probably just as bad as Tremon.

1. 
2. World-building/setting? - yes. 1.
3. Plot? It was ...okay? .25
4. Originality? - I have never read anything else like this. 1
5. Writing? Great. The writing was brilliant. I have a few quotes that will stick with me. When it came to some dialogue I did not like the occasional swear word, or racial slur, none of them felt genuine or necessary.  Instead they felt very jarring and almost in the story for shock value. I don't really know.  I loved the language used when Akoi described music and art and what it means to create. Especially Lucy's POV chapters. 1
6. Pacing? Nope, this was kind of a slog to get through. Especially with all the POV switching. 0
7. Themes? quite expected, and they kinda fell flat for me. 0
8. DID I CRY/WILL IT STICK - I did not cry, but it may stick just for being so weird. .5
9. Enjoyment? eh, I loved specific story lines, Lucy Matía.  .5
10. THE end. It was okay, I saw it coming a mile away.

I loved how Aoki described the musical piece Katrina plays at the competition.

1

math - 6.25/10 = 3.125/5 = 3.25/5 - the rating might change as I let this story settle. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Self harm, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Misogyny, Mental illness, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

virgilsinferno's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

I absolutely loved this and it might even be a favorite of the year. I adored this fun read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Racial slurs

readwithria's review against another edition

emotional slow-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

2.75

This book was a TRIP, but not the kind I was looking for.

I read this blurb and comp titles, and went into the book with expectations of a cozy sci-fi that dealt with morality. I was wrong.

Light From Uncommon Stars is a very literary book with some mild elements of science fiction and magical realism. Because of the heavy emphasis on the violin music throughout the book it reads more like a piece of literary fiction than a SFF book. The language surrounding music and food is very descriptive and flowery, and while that isn’t a bad thing it also isn’t what I was looking for.

The characters are really what saved this book for me. I loved Shirley and Astrid, and grew to like Shizuka and Katrina more as the book progressed. The themes of personhood and identity were really well done, and it was in those themes that I saw why The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet was chosen as a comp title.

The story, however, was not my cup of tea. I found that the mid-chapter POV switches were hard to keep track of (I listened to the audiobook, so maybe this would be better in print?) and that made it hard for me to connect with what was happening sometimes. I also think there were too many storylines that didn’t  get fleshed out enough for me to care about them.

I don’t regret finishing the book, but it definitely wasn’t my cup of tea. I’d recommend this for people who typically read contemporary fiction and are looking to get into sci-fi. 2.75 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Moderate: Deadnaming, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, and Racial slurs

Minor: Cursing and Outing

zgreyz's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Xenophobia, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Rape

dominosmum444's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, and Racism

mklmy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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 and Racism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, War, Violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Lesbophobia

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

jrbenson95's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, War, Violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? No

3.25

I couldn’t tell if the perspective switches in the middle of a conversation was brilliant or lazy. The mysterious way the author inserted little bits of information you need to fill the time and meaning gaps was exciting and had me guessing what the end would be. Because of that the ending fell short, although it involved many expected twists. Great characters! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Racial slurs, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Racism, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, 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