Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

58 reviews

solspringsreads's review

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, but I’d primarily been excited to read it because I found it on a list of books with “trans joy,” and I seriously hesitate to classify this as a “trans joy” book. It’s a book where a trans character suffers immense amounts of abuse (in literally every aspect) and has to actively work through her trauma—and while there’s certainly a lot of joy that she feels throughout the book, it’s usually at the cost of a huge asterisk next to that brief moment of happiness where you know something bad is going to happen to her immediately after. She’s not quite “a woobie” in the trope sense, but she just borders on it enough throughout the book that it can be kind of exhausting. Even so, I still hesitate to say that her struggles are inaccurate to the lived experiences of trans women, especially trans women of color; Katrina suffers from a lot of mistreatment, and while it can be pretty overwhelming to read, it’s unfortunately pretty reflective of what it can be like to just… exist while trans. I personally just felt frustrated by it because it felt like her character arc never quite moves past the rampant transphobia she faces and how it makes her dysphoria worse; while other characters get to have sapphic love stories (and somehow still have subplots involving homophobic slurs) and family curses and all of these other things, Katrina’s main motivations are more-or-less to just survive and not get actively dunked on for, again, existing while being trans. She does find joy in her music and find a family of her own, but while listening to the audiobook I think I constantly felt like I was holding my breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Again, while this might be accurate to true trans experiences, I had perhaps hoped for a little bit more escapism from the hardships that trans people face. After all, this book includes a love story between a “Queen of Hell” and an intergalactic war general with the backdrop of a kitschy family-owned donut shop. If this can exist within the same book, I don’t think “trans girl experiences 0.5 seconds of unadulterated, non-dysphoria-inducing, no-strings-attached joy” would be a huge stretch.

This was a long rambling review to still say that I enjoyed the book very much. It touches on a lot of great themes, and the audiobook was fantastic. I just want to urge readers (especially other trans readers) to check out the warning tags for this one and to prepare themselves for some intense and heavier moments in an otherwise lighthearted and whimsical book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Sexual violence, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, War, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, and Toxic relationship

rora114's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

The transphobia was hard to get through, but I'm glad I switched to audiobook towards the end. 

Overall this was a challenging, heartbreaking, beautiful story. 

Do check out the content warnings though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing and Transphobia

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, Gun violence, Rape, and Physical abuse

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

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

snickbit's review

challenging emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Dysphoria, and Racism

Moderate: Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual content and Panic attacks/disorders

tree_star's review

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

There was so much that I loved about this book. It all seems so unlikely and chaotic but the writing is so good that it works. 
It's campy. It's fun. The descriptions of food and music are excellent and put you right into the atmosphere. 
The characters have their own agendas and personalities and it all makes sense at the end.  Don't ask me how it just does. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Deadnaming, and Body shaming

francestea's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing 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

4.0

I was expecting this story to be more fluffy and upbeat (re: doughnut slinging aliens) but it ended up surprisingly tender. It’s packed full of music and food and family stories, complex characters and family dynamics. When it’s not fun, it’s impactful and thought provoking and bizarro in a great way. I particularly loved the side stories of how the AI Shirley came to be and of Lucy Matía finding her way within her male dominated family business. Really unlike anything I’ve read before!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Self harm and Miscarriage

businesscasualcowboy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

Light from Uncommon Stars is a special book worth reading. Katrina — our transgender protagonist — is particularly well-written. Her life has significant hardship due to transphobia, but! She is also loyal and talented. She is ultimately uplifted and deeply cared for. There are harrowing moments, but there is also joy. And tangerine juice. And aliens who fled war to make donuts. And a woman who sold her soul for the love of violin. I rolled with this wacky world, grounded by a trans girl I wanted the best for. 

The pacing did start to drag

because it became clear quite quickly that Shizuka was not going to sacrifice Katrina’s soul.

Despite revolving around eternal damnation, the plot ultimately lacked stakes

since I correctly assumed Katrina’s soul was safe and Lan would save Shizuka (like she saved everyone else she loves).

Regardless, I enjoyed this book very much. And think The Daniels should adapt it for the big (or little) screen. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, and Homophobia

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

bluebreex's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

I don't think I've ever read a book like this before - it was beautifully written (and even more beautifully narrated). This is a heavy story in my opinion, so please check trigger and content warnings before starting. It focuses on the struggles and pain surrounding transphobia and racism, especially in certain circles and cultures, as well as the intense pressure often seen in the classical musician scene.

I loved reading a plot so involved in music, as someone who used to be involved in the world of professional violinists and competitions, it felt so special. The combination of classic music and fantasy/sci-fi elements is not a mix I would expect to work as well as it did.

Honorary shout out to all of the food descriptions in this book being so good! And special shout out to Aubergine, Katrina's violin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Rape, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Self harm