Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

42 reviews

clarke's review

1.0

I nearly DNFed this book early on. It seems to sell itself as a positive book - with hope and found family. There is a little of that between the disjointed multiple narratives, but there is also transphobia, misgendering, violence, sexual assault and exploitation, racism and many other similar topics throughout the book. I didn't feel there was acceptance outside of most of the core characters who quite simply didn't really care about mundanities or things they considered trivial like gender. This book was trying to do too much with multiple storylines and I didn't care about any.

I still don't see the point of Lan Tran and her family's storyline or the scifi ascent at all other than a convenient escape from hell at the end or some handy technology? And just some casual murder? I don't get it

I found many of the chapters samey and this was a chore to read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Bullying

Minor: War

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, Outing, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism

ozeankind's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Murder, and Xenophobia

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Drug use

wizardgenes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

bruisedtigers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.75

I really wanted this to be two books -- in a good way and a bad way. Both the 'Faustian deals violinist' plot and the 'Alien donut shop' plot are unique and compelling in their own ways, but I feel like the themes and characters would've benefited from being individually explored instead of blended together. Some of the blending is fun, but overall I think it sadly hampers the narrative overall. I did enjoy this, and I wish it was two stories that I could fully appreciate, rather than one that I'm a bit middling on.

This may not be a problem for other people, but the not-Undertale reference as a core value all throughout really distracted me. Once or twice, I wouldn't have really minded, but it was repeated very frequently, and I think that same theme could've been used without deferring to another media. This narrative was strong enough to stand on its own, without relying on a reference.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, and Body shaming

mewchellie's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Hate crime, Outing, Sexism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

cimmarion's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

this book is like a warm cup of tea. it has some challenging moments emotionally but it is so comforting. i also learned a lot about violins which was super cool

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Hate crime, Racism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Deadnaming, and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape

tahsintries's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Rape

shinypurplepants's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This was not my cup of tea. There were ideas I liked here but the way they fit together was disappointing. I especially hated Lucy and the whole violin-making family and their storyline. It felt like it only showed up to interrupt more interesting scenes and I didn't care for the internalized sexism of the Maestro.

The book tries to be so whimsical and uplifting but it's got all these random edgy passages of violence that serve no purpose to the narrative. Physical assaults, sexual violence, use of slurs, harassment, abuse, self harm. Every character seems to have unaddressed internalized -isms that the books chooses to just ignore rather than help them through it. It drags down any elements of lightness the book was working to cultivate. I did not enjoy this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: War, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Abandonment, Sexism, Racism, and Hate crime

badmc's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

A young teen flees home; a violin teacher searches for her next victim; a refugee alien family tries to find their place. Not what I expected at all! 

This book was a weird but enjoyable mixture of characters, themes, and food (oh, the food). The tone shifted a lot, going from slice of life to trauma and murder quite abruptly. There was also a mixture of showing and telling, which left me disoriented at times. 

The thing that elevated the book for me, though, was music. I understood and really appreciated all the terms, exercises, and metaphors, and I always appreciate a book with a soundtrack.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Hate crime

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Sexual content