Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

131 reviews

clarabooksit's review

emotional 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Outing, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: War, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Self harm

eni_iilorak's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Transphobia

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Murder, Self harm, Bullying, Classism, and Homophobia

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicide

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Light From Uncommon Stars is a beautiful symphony from start to finish. Every pastiche-style chapter slowly develops the relationship between its three main characters: Shizuka Satomi, a violin teacher who needs to sacrifice one more student to Hell to be able to play again; Katrina Nguyen, a transgender woman escaping her transphobic and abusive family only to become Satomi's student; and Lan Tran, an alien refugee fleeing a galactic war with her family by pretending to be the owners of a donut shop. The prose reveals and hides at every moment, building to a powerful concert the night before Satomi's contract with Hell is up, and either she or Katrina has to die. The ending completely surprises and lends itself well to the book's themes of being oneself and sharing one's soul with the universe to stave off apathy and hate. Incredible book that I've recommended to everyone already!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Stalking, Violence, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Self harm, Transphobia, Cursing, Death, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Rape, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

hawk_just_hawk's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Drug use, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Violence, Bullying, Death, Rape, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

avanthiannotates's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was delightful in ways I absolutely did not imagine and did not see coming. There was so much about this that was truly just so beautiful.. and so heartachingly raw.
This was also written in such an interesting way that admittedly, I had to re-wind a fair bit because I didn't realise there was a character POV switch (even though it's written in 3rd person which I love). And I really loved how they utilised the 3rd person POV to give us a wider breadth of knowledge and understanding about the characters reacting to the same situation and how that could impact later scenes where we may only see it from one or two POVs. It was really delightful and honestly considering making a 5-star rating.

If you love aliens, AI, found-family, queerness, transness, music (violins), multiple weaving storylines, doughnuts, demons and ducks, this may be the story for you.

My fave quote:
"One does not play memories of music; one plays music itself. And lifetimes, from beginning to end, are as sheets of music, ready to be played"

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Deadnaming, Racism, and Sexual assault

mgmotley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Death, Bullying, and Deadnaming

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad 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 is a beautiful and wacky book about spaceship captains, doughnuts, violinists, luthiers, and the occasional demon. The fun part is seeing how they’re all connected. 

The backstory of Katrina and the agonies of being trans is wrenching. When I read something like this, I realize yet again how lucky I have been to have had a peaceful life of acceptance. It’s rewarding to see her growth from cowering victim to self-confident performer. 

The more fantastical and funny bits about the doughnut shop (spelled donut), the space aliens, and the frog-faced demon offset the seriousness of Katrina’s history. My only quibble is how often we hear about Lucia being told she’s unworthy because she’s a daughter - about half the mentions would have been enough. 

Overall a charming and lovely book about otherness and acceptance, including accepting ourselves as we are. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Misogyny

rainbowshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

Oh! Really painful to read at times but in the end so lovely and hopeful. Will also potentially make you hungry. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Outing, Murder, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Violence, Body horror, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Deadnaming

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, and Grief

It's difficult to choose Graphic, moderate or Minor accurately but I'll do my best

renstrange's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

update after finishing in 2024: this was a soft dnf last year, but i always intended to give it another shot. i’m so glad i did. i connected with it instantly this time. i especially love katrina and the mother-daughter relationship that forms between her and shizuka.

the writing style takes some getting used to and the main relationship lacks some development. due to this, i’d thought i would give this book 4-4.25 stars. and then i hit the last 20%. 

this book made me cry. i rarely cry, so any book that affects me so deeply automatically needs to be five stars. sorry, i don’t make the rules.

2023: dnf for now. i’m having trouble connecting with this book, but i don’t want to fully give up on it yet. i’ll try it again another time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Bullying, and Lesbophobia

Minor: War, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

Misgendering, transphobic slurs, lesbophobic slurs, underage sex work

emi_momo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, War, Abandonment, Bullying, and Child abuse

Minor: Murder, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Racism