Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

44 reviews

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

sipspsps's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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: Child abuse, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, War, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Child death, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Drug use, Incest, Pedophilia, and Suicide

Fetishization of trans women and women of color. Deadnaming in only one scene. Assault briefly on-page, but mostly implied/discussed; mild sexual content in the form of camming and sex work. Use of transphobic/homophobic, racial, and ableist slurs, both reclaimed and otherwise.

sarah984's review against another edition

hopeful 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

This book has a lot of disparate elements (violin history and culture, refugee experience, trying to find community as a multiply marginalized person, LA food culture, aliens, demons and more) but ties them all together in a way that kept me engaged. The characters were mostly great, and while the author is realistic about the difficulties in our world today it also carries both defiance and hope. I like the way history is presented in the book where change over time is noted and discussed without putting the old against the new.

One of the plot lines wrapped up a little weird and there was a strange dig at vegans near the beginning that felt crueler than the rest of the content but it wasn't a big enough issue to make me drop a star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Outing

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Death, and Murder

kennyrae89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

How this book started out was a little confusing. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. It is also formatted strangely with how it jumps around between characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia

achingallover's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense 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

overall i really enjoyed this, even though it had some tough subject matter.
i really liked the themes and descriptions of music and food and family and parallels between katrina and shirley.
unfortunately some of it felt disjointed or clumsy. but overall i enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Rape, Terminal illness, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

val_so_'s review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Hate crime, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Deadnaming

bookiecharm's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Death, Transphobia, and Pedophilia

Minor: Outing and Panic attacks/disorders

kelecoo's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

For the love of Christ, check the trigger warnings. This book is beautiful but it is brutal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

If you need a book that feels like a warm hug, a soft blanket and a hot chocolate, just read this. 
The writing is simple, the story not super thrilling and silly sometimes (especially the sci-fi elements) but the plot is not the important thing here. It's the characters and their interactions, it's the diversity, the trans representation and the heart. There is sooo much heart in this book. It made me cry several times because of all the feels. I also loved the way Aoki describes food and music. Especially the music. I know nothing about music, it's basically magic to me, and this is how music felt in this book - like magic. 
But most importantly, though: Katrina is everything, and she deserves the world! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence