Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

96 reviews

amarreth's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

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

tinysierra's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Tomorrow is tomorrow. Over there is over there. And here and now is not a bad place and time to be, especially when so much of the unknown is beautiful. (pg 186)

Light from Uncommon Stars was both mundane and magical. It was like an episode of Doctor Who or Good Omens. It was bizarre. 

Maybe this is silly but I don’t get why specific car types were mentioned more than once? I don’t see how those details were central to the story, besides what car Shazuki drives 😂 but I’m not a car person so idk

CW: sexual assault, transphobia (deadnaming, death threats, misgendering, sexual harassment,  etc), physical abuse, homophobia, racism, sex work

This is the song of a queer kid who escapes from a window to a sidewalk in the middle of the night. This is the song of a trans girl just wanting a fucking bathroom in the middle of the day. 
So what if you don't understand? So what if you think I'm a half-woman freak. 
This is my song. My voice. My voice leads. (pg 338)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Murder and Self harm

Minor: Miscarriage and Sexual content

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Blood

fionamclary's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

You wouldn't think that the three storylines of this book would come together well, but Ryka Aoki has meshed them so beautifully. This book is so full of joy and hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Bullying

Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, and Homophobia

Minor: Self harm, Outing, War, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ccaz's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Rape

domtheknight's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

This book was slow and thoughtful in pace, and I read it quite slowly as a result.  The narration was beautiful, sometimes kind of understated.  The descriptions of music were perfect (I am not a violinist but other types of music I do).  Also, the donuts.  I loved the different characters, all the varieties of women.  As the plot was unfolding and intertwining I really hoped the ending would go pretty much where it did, and I was delighted to read it.

There's some heavy stuff in this book, in some ways these events didn't feel as upsetting as they might have in a more brutal narrative style.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Dysphoria

There's 1 prominent trans character; she is abused by her parent, and escapes from that house as a teenager. She is raped by a friend, and pushed into doing some sex work, which she doesn't enjoy and wouldn't consent to if not desperate for funds. She experiences ongoing transphobic "jokes" and comments. None of these actions are from the other major heroine/hero characters. There's murder on page from a moderate character, and self harm. Those are separate from the trans character, although multiple characters have suicidal ideation to varying degrees.

overthinkereading's review against another edition

4.0

“Where does the music end and love begin?”

I’m honestly not sure where my love for Light From Uncommon Stars begins, but as a hobbyist musician for most of my life, probably safe to say it started with the heartfelt way music and its importance is portrayed in this book. I don’t think I’ve seen a better representation of the transcendence of music and the way it impacts a musician and connects us to other living things.

The trans representation in the book is impeccable. Major CW for realistic portrayals of the dangers of being trans, but trans joy is also depicted so, so well.

It’s otherwise really difficult to describe this book. It was unexpected and a little weird - but really beautifully weird! Demons and humans and intergalactic refugees and music and queer rep and badass AAPI women and donuts all rolled up into one story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Gun violence, Murder, Outing, Rape, and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, War, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

zackseuberling's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Racism and Rape

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Outing, and Misogyny

monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.5

Characters: 9/10
Relationships: 8/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 10/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot/Intrigue: 9/10
Internal Logic: 8/10
Entertainment: 9/10
Overall: 62/70, 4.5* 

sometimes a family is 2 parents, 2 kids, and a household pet. sometimes a family is a transgender runaway, The Queen of Hell and her living companion Oki, and a group of intergalactic refugees-turned-donut shop proprieters. 

I think my biggest issue with the book boils down to the pacing. with 3 primary interconnecting storylines and 1-2 secondary storylines it definitely felt like none actually got the thematic exploration they deserved. specifically I would have loved to see more about the violin shop! this was also the most triggering read I've ever finished. while not necessarily a detriment never feeling like I knew when things would get very heavy very quickly definitely made it difficult to enjoy some of the more sweet and lighthearted moments. 

the pros are many though. I actually appreciated the quick POV changes, they were challenging but gave a depth of understanding I appreciated. the LARGE number of neurodivergent-coded characters was also great, love to see a group of people with highly specialized interests who just want to info dump to one another. some of the character beats felt unrealistic at first, but I was quickly able to suspend disbelief when considering some of the sociocultural experiences of the characters (and, again, just coding all the characters as being neurodivergent in some way). given how explicit the writing is in other ways I would have preferred seeing more explanation of how and why characters other than Kristina react the ways they do in-the-moment, but the context clues and overarching pattern of experience was definitely there for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Classism, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Racism, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Outing, War, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

rape was on page and fade to black, harassment/violence was on page and explicit, assault covers all 3 so I consider it explicit