Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

132 reviews

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

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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

jaimc's review

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria and Transphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Outing, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: War

droggelbecher42's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism

jareadforfilth's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

I loved this book, the writing is so enjoyable and the characters are juicy and warm! Katrina has an incredible arc through this book and there are beautiful themes of what makes a family. The sapphic romance is so sweet and wholesome, and the plot is really good as well! It’s interesting—there are incredibly soft, touching and light moments of found family and blossoming friendships amidst an almost never-ending see if racism, transphobia, hate speech etc  that are very jarring to read but also an unfortunate reality that needs to be addressed. The juxtaposition of this light hope and dark despair is masterful, and the feminism in here is also miraculous. My only qualm is that the pace itself felt rather slow, I had to switch to audio because it was just taking me forever to get through and I could only read like, a chapter at a time before putting it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, and Body shaming

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

leanne_miron's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Hate crime, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Misogyny

mari_library's review against another edition

challenging 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? N/A

4.0

That last chapter before the epilogue, legit felt like it came straight out Gravity Falls lmao

Overall, this was a great book! I love the queer and trans representation, and how it's mostly an all-women cast of characters. 

I did find that certain parts of the book dragged a lot and I could see how it could've been shorter. Apart from the three main characters mentioned in the synopsis, I did not feel connected or even interested in any side story lines. Since this is a character-focused story, there isn't a lot of plot and any conflict is resolved fairly quickly. I did enjoy this aspect of it because it did feel like we got to spend a lot of time with the characters. The downside is that the time jump also lead to scenes not being on page. This definitely harmed the relationship between two of our female leads. I didn't really believe in their relationship since we didn't spend a lot of time with them together but instead spend more time with individually. Each character grew throughout the story but Satomi was the biggest one for sure and I found her being my favorite character. 

The sci-fi element went over my head a lot and the end felt... Meh. I think that the story itself kinda dug it's own grave because concluding it in general would be difficult. But this is where, in my eyes, an open ending might've left a bigger impact. I can't believe I'm saying this but we had too many answers. 

However, I adored the messaging and this idea that music is the thing that connects all of us. I like how it explores humanity and human connection. I like how it explores found family and the impact of safety on trans and queer kids. The conversation identity and legacy is truly immaculate and original in many ways. 

100% recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Mental illness, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Bullying, and Body shaming

Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

Minor: Domestic abuse

Most of this is found Katrina's sections, and it's more present in the beginning of the book and slows down towards the end. Dead naming happens towards the end but there are a few scenes where Katrina is misgendered, but the author does address this immediately after.

there multiple scenes where the character is misgendered while going shopping or being a crowded room but at the very end of the book, Katrina calls her mother and her mother answers by calling her dead name. This was very jarring to read so be aware. Furthermore, at the end of the book, there is a sexual assault scene where an man in power grabs Katrina's genitalia without her consent in public. This is not addressed, nor is the rape scene in the beginning of the book when Evan rapes Katrina in the shower. While not explicit, it is not addressed.

flamesocks's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Racism, and Body shaming

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

lcady23'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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Addiction, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, and Physical abuse

alice_persephone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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, Emotional abuse, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Sexual content, Bullying, Dysphoria, Racism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Grief, and Outing