Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

43 reviews

natbrooke94's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders

jlye's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

There are many things I loved about this book. It is beautifully written and the characters are engaging. I particularly loved the character development of Katrina and her relationship with Shizuka. My only major criticism is about the mixing of fantasy with science fiction (two genres that I love). I was never fully convinced by the merging of the two worlds in the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Bullying

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Death, Racism, and Sexual assault

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

nekoshka's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Transphobia, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Deadnaming, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Bullying, Dysphoria, Death, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Rape

Minor: War and Religious bigotry

jabberwalky's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Deadnaming, Self harm, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

silentquercus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Racism, Body shaming, Bullying, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Vomit, War, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

moonytoast's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

I fell in love with Light from Uncommon Stars a mere two minutes into my listening to the audiobook. I absolutely adore the narrator, Cindy Kay, who has such an airy quality to their voice that just feels like I’m hearing the internal monologue of the characters or like being told a story by a close friend. It suits the writing style very well and really brings the words to life in a way that elevates the story, which can be difficult given the weird aspects of the story and isn’t always the case with audiobook productions. 

The narrative structure is third-person limited and primarily switches between the three main characters—Shizuka Satomi, Katrina Nguyen, and Lan Tran—which gives us the space to really learn and understand these characters, their dreams and motivations. Accompanied by Aoki's gorgeous and melodic writing, the story manages to seamlessly switch between point of views mid-chapter or, in some cases, mid-paragraph. Even with a single narrator, Cindy Kay does a solid job of distinguishing these characters, especially within their dialogue. 

In my experience, books that don’t stick to one singular point of view can fall flat in one particular way. This is when one character is far less interesting than the others and readers then get tired of their narration, when they could be spending more time with characters that are more interesting and engaged in more interesting plots. (A primary example: The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan.) Ryka Aoki deftly avoids this by creating three genuinely compelling characters at the center of this story that gradually become entangled with each other’s lives.

The real standout character is, undoubtedly, Katrina Nguyen, a down-on-her-luck violinist with no formal training who has run away from her abusive family that mistreats her because of the fact that she's trans. When Shizuka finds her playing Schradieck at the park, Katrina is couch-surfing at a former friend's place that's not all it's cracked up to be... which she only leaves once her violin is stolen and sold to a pawn shop by that friend. This is a character who has endured so much pain and suffering at the hands of strangers and supposed loved ones alike. We see how that trauma and internalized transphobia has impacted her... the way she constantly apologizes almost on instinct, the way she continuously questions how okay Shizuka really is with the fact she's trans, the way she has one foot out the door in case she makes even the tiniest mistake. The writing along with the narration make the reader's experience of the character incredibly visceral: mumbling and stumbling over her words in a constant state of vigilant fear, dripping with the anxiety wrought by past trauma. This makes her growth and the culmination of her character arc at the Golden Friendship Violin Competition all the more impactful. 

I also love the dynamic built between Shizuka and Katrina. Shizuka went from choosing Katrina as her seventh student with the full intention of giving her soul over to Tremon Philippe in order to save her own soul and her music—to willingly sacrificing herself for Katrina. Not because of Katrina's music, but simply because she wants Katrina to live. She loves this girl as though she's her own child and would give anything for her. At the end, you can feel Shizuka's pride in her final student bleed off the pages. 

I can't say this book is for everyone. Some may find the plot sparse, pacing slow, and the narrative meandering. After all, this feels less like a fun contemporary sci-fi/fantasy romp and more an intensively earnest character study tucked into a fascinating world... but it's one of the best speculative fiction books I've ever read. 

It's a meditation on resiliency, transformation, and the importance of a life. This is best encompassed in Shizuka's internal monologue during her final performance on Earth before Tremon intends to claim her soul: 

With no need for a beginning, nor any reason to end, the music continues. And so, no matter who you are, where you came from, what sins you have committed or hurt you have endured... when you are alone and there is no universe left to remember you. 
You can always, always rewrite your song. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Racism, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Xenophobia

Minor: Death

dattk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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: Physical abuse, Rape, Transphobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Xenophobia, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Racial slurs, Deadnaming, and Self harm

booksthatburn's review against another edition

The backstory involves a deal with hell and also aliens, then (at least in the first fifth of the book) it's a contemporary story about a trans kid who has run away from home, with hints of what feels like a slow burn sapphic romance. To me, it feels like the skipped the (extremely interesting) hell story, involves the most mundane bits possible on the alien story, and I'm not in the right headspace for a transphobia story. The combination as a whole doesn't fit what I want to read right now, so I stopped. I only tried reading it because of the Hugo nomination, since the description alone was enough to tell me this probably wasn't going to be a book I'd like. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

bluejayreads's review

emotional reflective tense

• 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

This book is about a trans girl runaway with serious PTSD from years of transphobic abuse from her parents and a passion for (but no training in) violin, a legendary violin teacher who has one year to sacrifice a student to save herself from Hell, and a space alien starship captain hiding from a galactic plague by running a donut shop on Earth. With those characters, it's sure to be a wild ride, right? Well, this book is actually about the power of love to save both the lover and the beloved, the dangers of being a trans girl and especially being a trans girl in the public eye, and the (sometimes literal) magic that happens when passion, emotion, and music combine. And there's also a scene where a demon attempts to fight an alien. For as absolutely buck wild as the ideas are, it's an astonishingly resonant and intensely emotional story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

Minor: Rape, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Self harm

Survival sex work, PTSD from parental abuse, misgendering, homophobic slurs