Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

122 reviews

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

turrean's review against another edition

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

4.0

I finished the book not quite clear on how the resolution was achieved.  Is hell a place? A force that can be evaded once you’re off the planet? I thought the references to the video game NetherTale implied rescue for all the lost students, not just Katrina and Shizuka. What will happen to Shizuka’s soul when she dies? Is there an afterlife if you die off Earth?

Music is a largely a closed book (uh, unheard song? Unplayed melody?) to me, and so its role in destruction and salvation was mystifying to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body shaming and Bullying

gabr7ellereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Bullying

lia_automata's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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: Bullying and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual assault

ncq's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A beautiful story of many kinds of love

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Homophobia

Also features sex work throughout, but without being anti-sex work

raybudbury's review

dark emotional 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

3.75

Be aware of the content warnings.

The transphobia and sexual abuse/assault I would say could be triggering for some ppl. This one is both a warm hug but can also knock the wind out of you which the author did well in setting the mood for those situations. 

The concept was so ambitious as there is extensive music and violin knowledge/playing, Faustian bargains, found family, and… aliens. And honestly the author pulls it off for the most part. I do think the strongest bit of this book is the relationships between characters more so then plot etc. 

(Also this is a 3 am review so if this makes no sense sorry about it)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Classism, Bullying, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Rape, and Body shaming

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Rape, Transphobia, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Violence, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Outing, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

buttercat42's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to like this book sooo much more than I did! I finished it because the story was really compelling and I wanted to know what happened, but the writing was very much not my thing. It felt like watching a movie with my eyes closed, it seemed like there was so much information missing. Instead of being immersed in the story, I felt like the author was giving a long, drawn out description of a TV show she had watched. The first half went really fast, which was fine, but the second half really dragged and I think the author was trying to do too much, to the detriment of every part of the story. Ultimately I think this would have made a much better animated TV show than novel. The story was wonderful, truly, but I just can’t recommend the book in good faith because of the writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Bullying, Physical abuse, Deadnaming, Self harm, and Transphobia

k_fry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Outing, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Rape, Violence, Transphobia, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Self harm, Murder, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Blood, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Domestic abuse

ngrant88's review against another edition

Poorly developed characters and relationships, way too much plot without anything actually happening, POV changes mid paragraph and EVERY TRIGGER WARNING there is. This could have been a good book if someone else wrote it (and removed several plot lines).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Child abuse, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Transphobia, War, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, and Sexual violence