Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

342 reviews

bean_7088's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.75

Took me a while to get used to the narrators breathy reading style, but I got there. 

What a strange mix, violins, deamons, and aliens 🤣 gonna be a hard one to explain. 

There are definitely hard, uncomfortabl  parts to read, Katrina really reminds me of one of my friends. A lot of things Katrina talks about I have heard my friend express about themselves. 

I loved everyone, I'm kinda sad to be done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Deadnaming

This story heavily features the narrative of a young transformation who has been abused. It is mostly in the beginning of the book, but it's really rough.

avanthiannotates's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was delightful in ways I absolutely did not imagine and did not see coming. There was so much about this that was truly just so beautiful.. and so heartachingly raw.
This was also written in such an interesting way that admittedly, I had to re-wind a fair bit because I didn't realise there was a character POV switch (even though it's written in 3rd person which I love). And I really loved how they utilised the 3rd person POV to give us a wider breadth of knowledge and understanding about the characters reacting to the same situation and how that could impact later scenes where we may only see it from one or two POVs. It was really delightful and honestly considering making a 5-star rating.

If you love aliens, AI, found-family, queerness, transness, music (violins), multiple weaving storylines, doughnuts, demons and ducks, this may be the story for you.

My fave quote:
"One does not play memories of music; one plays music itself. And lifetimes, from beginning to end, are as sheets of music, ready to be played"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Deadnaming, Racism, and Sexual assault

allonsyechoes's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Racism

Minor: War

brinsay's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

This book is so good it amazes me question wether anything else I've given 5 stars is worthy in comparison. I love these characters, I love this story l, I love the big donut. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Miscarriage, Racism, Mental illness, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, and Grief

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad 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

4.5

This is a beautiful and wacky book about spaceship captains, doughnuts, violinists, luthiers, and the occasional demon. The fun part is seeing how they’re all connected. 

The backstory of Katrina and the agonies of being trans is wrenching. When I read something like this, I realize yet again how lucky I have been to have had a peaceful life of acceptance. It’s rewarding to see her growth from cowering victim to self-confident performer. 

The more fantastical and funny bits about the doughnut shop (spelled donut), the space aliens, and the frog-faced demon offset the seriousness of Katrina’s history. My only quibble is how often we hear about Lucia being told she’s unworthy because she’s a daughter - about half the mentions would have been enough. 

Overall a charming and lovely book about otherness and acceptance, including accepting ourselves as we are. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Misogyny

rainbowshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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

Oh! Really painful to read at times but in the end so lovely and hopeful. Will also potentially make you hungry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Outing, Murder, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Violence, Body horror, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Deadnaming

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, and Grief

It's difficult to choose Graphic, moderate or Minor accurately but I'll do my best

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.5

This book has so much in it. So many plots, so many characters, so many trigger warnings (seriously check them, i didn't and almost stopped), but it's also filled with so much love that it is hard to critique it. It loves its characters, music, donuts, the community of Monterey Park, me, you, and every messy thing. Much like Katrina's music, discordant notes are brought together into an interesting whole. I'm typing through tears and my heart is full. (Though the people who say this book is cozy is a dead liar)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Death, Child abuse, Outing, and Transphobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, and Child death

ehagen11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective

• 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: Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Racism, Rape, Outing, Xenophobia, and Sexual violence

kabaum's review against another edition

I didn’t check the content warnings and I can already tell this is going to be a problem for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Rape

Minor: Racism

renstrange's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

update after finishing in 2024: this was a soft dnf last year, but i always intended to give it another shot. i’m so glad i did. i connected with it instantly this time. i especially love katrina and the mother-daughter relationship that forms between her and shizuka.

the writing style takes some getting used to and the main relationship lacks some development. due to this, i’d thought i would give this book 4-4.25 stars. and then i hit the last 20%. 

this book made me cry. i rarely cry, so any book that affects me so deeply automatically needs to be five stars. sorry, i don’t make the rules.

2023: dnf for now. i’m having trouble connecting with this book, but i don’t want to fully give up on it yet. i’ll try it again another time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Bullying, and Lesbophobia

Minor: War, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

Misgendering, transphobic slurs, lesbophobic slurs, underage sex work