Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

156 reviews

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

This book has so much in it. So many plots, so many characters, so many trigger warnings (seriously check them, i didn't and almost stopped), but it's also filled with so much love that it is hard to critique it. It loves its characters, music, donuts, the community of Monterey Park, me, you, and every messy thing. Much like Katrina's music, discordant notes are brought together into an interesting whole. I'm typing through tears and my heart is full. (Though the people who say this book is cozy is a dead liar)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Death, Child abuse, Outing, and Transphobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, and Child death

abookwormspov's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, Cursing, Outing, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Rape, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death, and Abandonment

nerdysread's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Violence, Transphobia, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Incest, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, and Deadnaming

django018's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Violence

scarroll178's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

The writing is SO GOOD in a really elegant, understated way. Some writers overexplain themselves, but Ryka Aoki knows when to pull back and let the writing surprise you. It was a really fun, immersive read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Racism, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia

galliexyc's review against another edition

emotional 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

ericageorge91's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

I have GOT to start reviewing closer to finishing the book because the details have slipped 😂 

I doubt you’ve read a story like this before. Light From Uncommon Stars is a sci-fi novel with a donut shop run by alien refugees, a violin master looking to find her seventh soul for the devil, and a runaway who just wants a safe place to rest and the freedom to be the woman she is. 

I remember finding the story intriguing and enjoying the writing and the characters. Lan was adorable in that, “I’m new to this planet. What do you mean by that?” kind of way. Katrina filled me with so much hope and she deserved all the love in this world. Finally, to see a woman as intimidating and formidable as Shizuka fold over these two women was just 🤭

I’m cis so take this with a grain of salt, but of the books that I’ve read that have trans characters, this has been my favorite portrayal. I felt like Katrina was handled with such care. The transphobia she endured was heavy, don’t get me wrong, but once she was under Shizuka’s care, very few instances went unchallenged. 

Beware of a lot of POV shifts within one chapter.  It’ll seem even more abrupt and random if you’re listening to the story.  

I’ll also be honest, I was kind of lost about what the alien refugees were running from, but I don’t read a ton of sci-fi so maybe that was the reason 🤷🏾‍♀️ Either way, I vibed with everything else in the book and still had a great time.

TW: Child abuse (references), transphobia, racism, homophobia, sexual assault (brief), suicidal ideation (brief), gender dysmorphia, self-harm, sex work

Rep: Trans woman MC, Sapphic MCs

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Violence

chelsealynnmcmanus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, and Transphobia

queersicles's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I love slow paced, slice of life books. Much of what I love about this book is about that. The book describes food with such texture and depth, it feels very comforting to step inside this world where there are clear problems but those are taken just as seriously as the character's meals. I love the relationships between these different women, power dynamics of adult-teenager, cis-trans, human-AI, and parent-outside adult giving perspective on her parenting choices were all explored. It felt like love between women was the main focus of the book. Grappling with the outside pressures of war, immigration, misogyny, racism, transphobia, etc, were battled out. No one woman was saving anyone else, they were grappling with power dynamics and how to listen and respect one anothers autonomy throughout, which was beautiful to see unspool in such a cooky little world where the devil and aliens are running around
 That all being said, I felt frustrated by the ending.

the end leaves Shizuka (the woman who was selling the souls of her students to hell for her own fame/glory) with a happy ending and a gay relationship which had depth and felt interesting and flawed, but left Katrina with no romantic relationship (which would have been fine) except her getting a Tesla and seemingly carrying on some kind of relationship with a man who literally sexually assaulted her the very first time he met her (he grabs her genitals through her dress in a backstage dressing room with a bunch of people around) which felt just.. like such a betrayal? She starts the book running from her abusive family, escapes and finds a new family to be a part of, but then the end, the book doesn't focus on her growing friendship with an AI named Wendy who I think would have been a more satisfying ending to see how their relationship was developing, and instead ties her to this rich asshole where she is (this is a presumption on my part) still in some way doing sex work in exchange for money/a Tesla from a rich asshole? It just felt like a slap in the face. </Spoiler> that unsatisfying ending detail took a lot away for me, which is why I couldn't give it 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Outing, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Physical abuse

tofutofutofu's review against another edition

3.5

The premise of this book is terrific. Three lives intersect: a trans girl running away from home, a violin teacher who made a deal with the devil, and a space alien who owns a donut shop. There are some very lovely moments, but the writing is not very good. It's repetitive, there are far too many fragments, and half the book seems to be written as questions. A bit pizzicato for me. This book is also pretty cruel to the trans character, particularly how she thinks about herself, and the book spends too much time giving space to transphobes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Self harm

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, and Deadnaming

Minor: Rape