Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

327 reviews

michellegaudet's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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crystaltheacademic's review against another edition

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dark funny 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

Beautiful story, gripping and heartfelt. The only reason it’s not 5 stars is because I think the Markus plot line wasn’t handled the best. 

Other than that one plot line, this book was sooo satisfying. Highly recommended for those who enjoy the rare  treat  of both sci-fi and fantasy. 

I understand why Markus had to be locked away. But I perceived the Endplague as a form of mental illness so the fact that Lan was so dismissive of his feelings and it all blew up felt like so much bigger than only Markus. Especially because she goes on to realize her mistakes with Shirley. I don’t know if Shizuka can be redeemed after functionally killing 6 people felt weird that Markus couldn’t have been/spoiler> 


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heyzelda's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book has so much going on that it’s hard to know where to start. It will give you constant whiplash (affectionate) between the interwoven plot lines of entirely disparate genres and also between moments of grief and horror that are followed by real hilarity. If you’ve read a summary, please know that the actual book is so much more entertaining than the summary is capable of letting on. If you haven’t read a summary, please please read this book with no foreknowledge other than that it’s about being trans, being an immigrant, becoming a musician, claiming and reclaiming humanity, escaping the exile of cynicism, and pure expressions of love. The way Aoki writes about music is a special highlight, often characterized by ratatouille moments of one sort or another.
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rickireadss's review against another edition

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These 45 pages were filled with so much information, but it felt like most of it didn’t really pertain to the story or add any useful background to the characters. Also the shifting POVs constantly was a little hard to keep up with, and the inner monologues (which was most of the story thus far, as there is very little dialogue) didn’t flow very well & felt very disjointed. Lastly, I think this was supposed to be sci-fi but that part wasn’t really introduced until the third chapter, and even once introduced, I still had several questions about how the world worked.
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zackseuberling's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense 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

4.0

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.5

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kchantry's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

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invertedsquares's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

I wasn't ready for this book, but I can see some people loving it. Parts were very good, cute and fun and insightful and interesting, but so much of the book was sadness and violence and transphobia which I found hard to bear. Read the trigger warnings!! 
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caseylovett's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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winter_is_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

Excellent audiobook too. I’ll be recommending this to friends, family, and those that love music, violins, video games, Southern California, sci-fi twists, and Asian American, transgender, and Sapphic stories.

To trans pain and trans triumph, to violence and violins, to classical Bartok and 8 bit Undertale. This book has me stopping, reflecting, smiling, and crying. It’s not a sad book, but the beautiful introspection had me tearing up when I least expected it.

There are heavy themes in this book. There’s a lot of transphobia and violence against trans women. There’s anti-Asian racism, sexism, flashbacks to child abuse, and mentions of sex work and rape. But again, I wouldn’t say this is a sad book. There’s a lot of triumph and beauty despite the evils of men. 

I can’t recommend this book enough. 

Angst: 4/5
Spice: no spice, but there’s a darling romance
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