Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

146 reviews

readingpicnic's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

What an incredible book! I was so nervous to read this for a while since it's sci-fi, but that's honestly not the genre of most of the story, so it wasn't hard to understand at all. The writing was incredible, the story had a very satisfying conclusion, and I loved the use of many different perspectives throughout the story, even if we didn't get to stick with some of them too often. I do wish that I had gotten to read more of Tamiko's perspective since she was very interesting and was set up as if she was going to play a major part in the plot, but that kind of fizzled out until the very end of the book when she was briefly mentioned by another character. I would have liked to stick with her perspective a little more because her obsession with Shizuka and creepy way of thinking about her was really attention-grabbing. I also wish I had gotten more of Markus' story, as I found myself questioning why he was in the story at all if he was going to be

put in a stasis and never return as a character. I wish I understood his actions and motivations a bit more before he vanished from the book. I understand that he gave more context on the Empire and the EndPlague, but his character seemed to be very expendable to the story other than that.

I really liked the trans rep in this story with Katrina, and I especially liked how she discussed transition with Shirley in her decision to not alter her body, as well as how she came to love her visibly trans body as the story went on. It didn't emphasize medical transition as necessary to being a trans woman or being trans at all, and I liked how it challenged Shirley's way of thinking of transness, even if she was trying to be helpful. I loved Katrina so much though, and she was definitely my favorite character that I was always rooting for. Shizuka is a little questionable with her actions to me, so I'm still not sure how I feel about her...but she's a complex character for sure and meant to invoke that reaction from the reader, I suppose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Outing, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs

luisaroesch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Rape, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Death, Outing, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

fionamclary's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

You wouldn't think that the three storylines of this book would come together well, but Ryka Aoki has meshed them so beautifully. This book is so full of joy and hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Bullying

Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, and Homophobia

Minor: Self harm, Outing, War, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emmambles's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Outing, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, and Deadnaming

gabr7ellereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Bullying

ceplunk'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? No

5.0

So wonderful. A lot of hard moments that were handled gracefully. Ultimately so much hope and joy. The involvement of the family from space made this quite unique.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Outing, Body shaming, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Deadnaming

Minor: War

touchegiantsquid's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Dysphoria, Rape, Outing, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Violence and War

ashlee2319's review against another edition

It's hard to follow, weird page breaks and formatting indicating POV changes. Some significant points were written in a very insignificant way. There's a huge amount of text about violens and food, but the story line was lacking. There's a lot of missed opportunities to expand on the story and I just got tired of trying to make it work. I didn't feel like taking the time to finish it when I have others on my tbr shelf to enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, Transphobia, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

overthinkereading's review against another edition

4.0

“Where does the music end and love begin?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gun violence, Transphobia, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Self harm, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, and War

Minor: Alcoholism

zackseuberling's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Racism and Rape

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Outing, and Misogyny