Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Light from Uncommon Stars

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

23 reviews

gwenisnonbinary's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

Many many triggers in this book but it was one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read.

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apollinares's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

3.0

I thought I'd enjoy this book more based on recommendations from friends and other reviews, but a lot of what people praised about it felt a bit overstated/almost cheesy, to me. The sci-fi element (from the name of the book, to the promise of starship shenanigans in the blurb) felt kind of hastily done, and a lot less thoroughly world-built than Shizuka's origins/development (Faustian bargains, Hell, etc). It almost felt like a disservice to Lan as a tritagonist, to have so much less of her history, thought, and motivations explored and revealed.

There were many things I liked about the book, I'm just disappointed I didn't enjoy it more. Katrina's arc was well executed, albeit cliché at times; as a trans writer, I feel like Aoki can make her trans protagonist as universally relatable as she wants, she has that right (speaking as a trans person myself). Also, many trans people will pour their heart and soul into a hobby as a means of escape, to the point of obsession, and get so good at it that it feels mary-sue-ish - I'm guilty of this with art, and one of my trans roommates is making a phenomenal video game right now. I bring this up because cis friends who have read this book see Katrina's violin playing skills as "overpowered", for lack of a better term, and I completely disagree, trans people are just that cool.

Lan and Shizuka's relationship was everything I loved in a meet cute - two older wlw (When do you see that??? I love that!!! They're giving owl house Eda levels of pining) struggling to flirt and falling flat on their faces. And the misunderstandings! Ugh, when Shizuka

got a call from Astrid about making dinner and Lan assumed a "housekeeper" was a romantic partner, and got really sad about it, it was so cute.

Or when

Shizuka saw Lan in uniform and had a gay little freakout, I may have squealed in delight despite being way too old for that myself.

Older wlw absolutely carried this book for me,

age gap be damned. They're both consenting adults, and yes, one's in her mid 40s while the other's almost 80, but has Shizuka really lived these past 46 years, suspended in a weird violin-murderhobo stasis? I don't think so. Let her kiss a hot starship captain I beg of you.

So, what didn't I like? I've already mentioned the story's treatment of Lan - her voice and inner world just feels much emptier than that of Katrina or Shizuka, and she deserved more as a tritagonist. Also, regarding Marcus:

the treatment of Marcus was... not great. He killed some people and never really got a resolution. The other loose ends were all tied up, and Marcus was just sort of left with nothing. For a book that is all about community and healing and support, this kid, who was clearly hurting, never got the support and rehabilitation he clearly needed. He was just forgotten about by his own family, who seemed to move on from his absence far too quickly.

Similarly, nothing ever came of

Katrina's friend Evan. I would have liked to see something occur there - like, there were all these threads that got converged at the end, there was even an undocumented immigrant Floresta hires in the epilogue - a random new character shoved in there - and you're telling me Aoki didn't have time for a petty moment with Katrina and Evan's friends, except with the power dynamic now flipped? Come on.

Some of the more cringe-worthy moments like

Astrid walking in on Katrina

gave me the worst second hand embarassment. And Lucy's character felt just a bit cliché with her inferiority complex and the way she spoke about/dealt with it.

All in all, a fun read with excellent representation that unfortunately fell short in many places. My library doesn't stock the Wayfarers series, so I continue in my fruitless search for good queer sci-fi that doesn't "masquerade as sci-fi" through a contrived title and cover.

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cimmarion's review against another edition

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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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tahsintries's review against another edition

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5.0

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martinatan's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Everything I would want out of a queer modern fiction story. I was so delighted and moved by how authentically every single one of the main cast was written, and how Ryka Aoki does not shy away from letting the realities of living while queer/trans and Asian/mixed race play out as they do for many. The whole story represents to me the beautiful complexity of what it means to belong to multiple marginalized communities and understand others within them. I love the use of sci-fi and fantasy elements (my favorites) to explore themes of immigration and displacement, transformation, and self-actualization. I appreciated the connections between music, food, identity, and types of love that all feel essential to my own experience as an Asian American.

Chapter 35 was my favorite part of the writing in the book, but the entire novel is laced with such care and tenderness, as well as wit and charm, that by the first chapter I could tell it was something really special. Most of all I want these characters and anyone who identifies with them to be happy. Hopefully this book reaches others like me who will find much needed comfort in its story. Much love to Ryka Aoki for every word of this book!

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