Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

80 reviews

jareadforfilth's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

I loved this book, the writing is so enjoyable and the characters are juicy and warm! Katrina has an incredible arc through this book and there are beautiful themes of what makes a family. The sapphic romance is so sweet and wholesome, and the plot is really good as well! It’s interesting—there are incredibly soft, touching and light moments of found family and blossoming friendships amidst an almost never-ending see if racism, transphobia, hate speech etc  that are very jarring to read but also an unfortunate reality that needs to be addressed. The juxtaposition of this light hope and dark despair is masterful, and the feminism in here is also miraculous. My only qualm is that the pace itself felt rather slow, I had to switch to audio because it was just taking me forever to get through and I could only read like, a chapter at a time before putting it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, and Body shaming

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Domestic 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

agilefruit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Body shaming, Rape, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexism, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Racism

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

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

alyb_batgirl's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, and Physical abuse

jogginglake's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

This is a wonderful book, the descriptions are incredible and it's almost dreamlike. I say almost because there are these jarring, heavy moments that thud in the pit of your stomach and make the book really difficult to read, like when

Katrina is raped by her 'friend' Evan for rent, or is sexually assaulted by the bank manager running the big competition specifically because she's trans,

or the very frank and blunt descriptions of sex work. I don't think these things make the book worse, but they really are very jarring in a way that I think was intended, but still is unpleasant to read. I would definitely recommend this book, but I would warn that it's not nearly as light a read as you might expect from the SFF aliens running a donut store description.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, and Outing

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Self harm, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, War, and Physical abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, and Racial slurs

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

lilaceous's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

characters - ⭐️

plot - ⭐️

engaging to read - ⭐️

would recommend - ⭐️

would read again - 

brought me to tears a number of times. although the narration is a bit unclear and poorly written at times (due to what seems to be editing problems), it’s a beautiful story and worth the read if you like fantasy and chosen family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Self harm, Blood, Transphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Misogyny, Outing, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

lorriss's review

adventurous hopeful

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Drug use, Fatphobia, Incest, Religious bigotry, and Suicide