Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

137 reviews

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

pobi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.0

While some of the overarching metaphor was a little overdone it was a super cute book with a mix of genres that was really refreshing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Outing, Racism, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and War

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was pitched to me as wholesome & hopeful book and, while I did find the ending hopeful, I would not consider this book wholesome in any capacity. There's lots of traumatic stuff explored so I recommend reading the trigger warnings before starting.
 

I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did. There were parts that I really enjoyed (the relationship between Lan & Shizuka, watching Katrina grow more confident, etc.) but overall I felt that the author was trying to weave too many disparate stories together. At least 2 storylines I do not feel needed to be included at all and there's at least one POV that I think could have been much more limited. It felt like some of these storylines petered out, without impacting the story in any real way. This could have been two books that tie into the same universe, rather than one book trying to smash as much into it as possible. 

That said, I really enjoyed the relationships between all the characters and, as a trans & queer reader, there were so many parts that were emotionally impactful in ways that I especially appreciated. This book could be enjoyed by anyone though, especially given the right information before starting. If I'd had different expectations going in, I may have enjoyed it more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, War, Physical abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Hate crime

Moderate: Child death, Self harm, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ash_ton's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Fr should have read the content warnings for this because some of this stuff kinda bothered me, and normally reading things doesn't affect me that much. I guess it's kind of on me because obviously I have access to content warnings. Oh well. Anyways.

Complaints first, because I'm an asshole. I'm not sure I liked the different shifting POVs. I like to think I'm not an idiot, so at first I'd be a little lost on who was talking. And there were so many. Some of them just side characters. Wack.

I did really like the book though. I don't normally go for sci-fi, and I actually read this or the LGBTQIA+ book club I'm in. At first I wasn't a huge fan of it but I'm glad I stayed with it. Definitely thought provoking and an interesting story. Shirley was my favorite character. All my homies love Shirley.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Dysphoria, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, Self harm, and Transphobia

Moderate: Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Racial slurs, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Suicide, Cultural appropriation, Suicidal thoughts, Deportation, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and War

razzberry_pi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

excellent read but hard to describe. 

weaves together fantasy and scifi elements with themes around found family, the power of music, and the meaning of a legacy 

touches on both the amazing things that technology can do, but also how care and craft cannot be completely replicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Deadnaming, Outing, and War

Minor: Incest, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

additional cw beginning of the book touches on a main character running away from home and dealing with precarious housing as well as somewhat dangeous sex work

tilder's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective tense 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

I really loved this read, the writing has incredible imagery and fascinating story. Each character has unexpected moments (like actual people) and have you looking for more. I learned so much more about violins. 

I think that the ending wasn’t what I wanted. I think that I was expecting either Shizuka or Katrina to evade Trenton. But not in this way, it almost felt too… easy? I think I would have preferred a conclusive death and see how it affects each character. Like Shizuka dying and Lan or Shirley becoming Katrina’s first student. It felt almost like fan service or a cop out. Either way, I really enjoyed this book and I am eager to read more 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Violence, Self harm, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Rape, Hate crime, Racism, and Gun violence

ka_ke's review against another edition

It starts off fine, the individual character perspectives are kept to individual chapters, but then around 25% of the book, perspectives change characters half way through scenes/paragraphs. 

I also think this book would benefit from a content warning in the beginning regarding the fmc’s body dysmorphia, suicidal thoughts, sex work etc. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Sexual violence, Violence, Outing, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Racial slurs, War, and Xenophobia

becktothefuture's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Transphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Deadnaming, Xenophobia, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense 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 was a beautiful book that melded so many genres in a way that I found very successful. All the characters are incredibly compelling and represent the many different ways womanhood happens and exists. Trans characters are more important than ever, especially by Trans authors. I was never entirely sure where the plot was going to go, which can often make a book frustrating, but instead, Aoki made me constantly drawn back in. It's a hard book to summarize, but things like found/chosen family, the importance of art to humanity, and queer joy made this book so powerful, I imagine I will be thinking about it for quite a while!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Incest