Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

321 reviews

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

narzibenoucdel's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Racism, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Outing, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, and Body shaming

lavloveslit'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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Body shaming, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Outing, Sexual violence, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Rape and Deadnaming

xxkatastrophe's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

I probably bought this book around the time it was originally released. The fact that I’ve had a 5-star read, staring me in the face, sitting on my bookshelf, for years, is dumbfounding. I’m glad I finally picked it up; once I did, I could not put it down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Deadnaming

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

windermerepeak1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Racism

danimacuk's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Rape, Body shaming, Child abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Bullying, and Self harm

miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was so interesting! It was definitely different than anything I've read before--filled with aliens and doughnuts and beautiful descriptions of violin music. I kept thinking about the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" when I was reading it. I love seeing more trans representation, and the way Aoki did it was fantastic. Warning: the trans character experiences transphobia, abuse, and deadnaming but (minor spoiler):

she gets a happy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Violence, War, and Racial slurs

The trans character experiences a lot of transphobia and abuse, but

she gets a happy ending

.

readingpicnic's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

What an incredible book! I was so nervous to read this for a while since it's sci-fi, but that's honestly not the genre of most of the story, so it wasn't hard to understand at all. The writing was incredible, the story had a very satisfying conclusion, and I loved the use of many different perspectives throughout the story, even if we didn't get to stick with some of them too often. I do wish that I had gotten to read more of Tamiko's perspective since she was very interesting and was set up as if she was going to play a major part in the plot, but that kind of fizzled out until the very end of the book when she was briefly mentioned by another character. I would have liked to stick with her perspective a little more because her obsession with Shizuka and creepy way of thinking about her was really attention-grabbing. I also wish I had gotten more of Markus' story, as I found myself questioning why he was in the story at all if he was going to be

put in a stasis and never return as a character. I wish I understood his actions and motivations a bit more before he vanished from the book. I understand that he gave more context on the Empire and the EndPlague, but his character seemed to be very expendable to the story other than that.

I really liked the trans rep in this story with Katrina, and I especially liked how she discussed transition with Shirley in her decision to not alter her body, as well as how she came to love her visibly trans body as the story went on. It didn't emphasize medical transition as necessary to being a trans woman or being trans at all, and I liked how it challenged Shirley's way of thinking of transness, even if she was trying to be helpful. I loved Katrina so much though, and she was definitely my favorite character that I was always rooting for. Shizuka is a little questionable with her actions to me, so I'm still not sure how I feel about her...but she's a complex character for sure and meant to invoke that reaction from the reader, I suppose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Outing, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs