Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

135 reviews

mandal1226's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

A tale filled with music, demons, and Aliens?! A must-read in the LGTBQ+ community, but a necessary read for every community.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Deadnaming

Even if you don’t know anything about classical music, and specifically violin lore, the story is so much bigger than that.

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Light From Uncommon Stars is a beautiful symphony from start to finish. Every pastiche-style chapter slowly develops the relationship between its three main characters: Shizuka Satomi, a violin teacher who needs to sacrifice one more student to Hell to be able to play again; Katrina Nguyen, a transgender woman escaping her transphobic and abusive family only to become Satomi's student; and Lan Tran, an alien refugee fleeing a galactic war with her family by pretending to be the owners of a donut shop. The prose reveals and hides at every moment, building to a powerful concert the night before Satomi's contract with Hell is up, and either she or Katrina has to die. The ending completely surprises and lends itself well to the book's themes of being oneself and sharing one's soul with the universe to stave off apathy and hate. Incredible book that I've recommended to everyone already!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Stalking, Violence, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Self harm, Transphobia, Cursing, Death, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Rape, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

hawk_just_hawk's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Drug use, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Violence, Bullying, Death, Rape, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

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

yinflower's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: War, Self harm, Rape, Blood, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, and Outing

kiandrareadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

galliexyc's review against another edition

emotional 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, War, Child abuse, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs

kaitlinlovesbooks's review

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Transphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Deadnaming, and Outing

Minor: Racial slurs, War, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, Child death, and Drug abuse

skeuomorphism's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.25

while reading LFUS i kept thinking of the word effervescent, which as it turns out is a damned good fit! i loved the characters - the shifting pov works a charm for their stories. it made them approachable and greatly emotive.
i also liked the plot - very unpredictable at times

(literally expected a Galactic Empire invasion. i was eyeing the stack of remaining pages in fear of the Abrupt End)

and ryka aoki has such a way with end-of-chapter cliffhangers.

+ a hunch that eeaao fans would love LFUS. not because both works revolve somewhat around baked goods of course, haha

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Rape, and Self harm

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Religious bigotry and Alcoholism

queersicles's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I love slow paced, slice of life books. Much of what I love about this book is about that. The book describes food with such texture and depth, it feels very comforting to step inside this world where there are clear problems but those are taken just as seriously as the character's meals. I love the relationships between these different women, power dynamics of adult-teenager, cis-trans, human-AI, and parent-outside adult giving perspective on her parenting choices were all explored. It felt like love between women was the main focus of the book. Grappling with the outside pressures of war, immigration, misogyny, racism, transphobia, etc, were battled out. No one woman was saving anyone else, they were grappling with power dynamics and how to listen and respect one anothers autonomy throughout, which was beautiful to see unspool in such a cooky little world where the devil and aliens are running around
 That all being said, I felt frustrated by the ending.

the end leaves Shizuka (the woman who was selling the souls of her students to hell for her own fame/glory) with a happy ending and a gay relationship which had depth and felt interesting and flawed, but left Katrina with no romantic relationship (which would have been fine) except her getting a Tesla and seemingly carrying on some kind of relationship with a man who literally sexually assaulted her the very first time he met her (he grabs her genitals through her dress in a backstage dressing room with a bunch of people around) which felt just.. like such a betrayal? She starts the book running from her abusive family, escapes and finds a new family to be a part of, but then the end, the book doesn't focus on her growing friendship with an AI named Wendy who I think would have been a more satisfying ending to see how their relationship was developing, and instead ties her to this rich asshole where she is (this is a presumption on my part) still in some way doing sex work in exchange for money/a Tesla from a rich asshole? It just felt like a slap in the face. </Spoiler> that unsatisfying ending detail took a lot away for me, which is why I couldn't give it 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Outing, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Physical abuse