Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

60 reviews

jabberwalky's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Deadnaming, Self harm, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

shinypurplepants's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This was not my cup of tea. There were ideas I liked here but the way they fit together was disappointing. I especially hated Lucy and the whole violin-making family and their storyline. It felt like it only showed up to interrupt more interesting scenes and I didn't care for the internalized sexism of the Maestro.

The book tries to be so whimsical and uplifting but it's got all these random edgy passages of violence that serve no purpose to the narrative. Physical assaults, sexual violence, use of slurs, harassment, abuse, self harm. Every character seems to have unaddressed internalized -isms that the books chooses to just ignore rather than help them through it. It drags down any elements of lightness the book was working to cultivate. I did not enjoy this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: War, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Abandonment, Sexism, Racism, and Hate crime

martinatan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Everything I would want out of a queer modern fiction story. I was so delighted and moved by how authentically every single one of the main cast was written, and how Ryka Aoki does not shy away from letting the realities of living while queer/trans and Asian/mixed race play out as they do for many. The whole story represents to me the beautiful complexity of what it means to belong to multiple marginalized communities and understand others within them. I love the use of sci-fi and fantasy elements (my favorites) to explore themes of immigration and displacement, transformation, and self-actualization. I appreciated the connections between music, food, identity, and types of love that all feel essential to my own experience as an Asian American.

Chapter 35 was my favorite part of the writing in the book, but the entire novel is laced with such care and tenderness, as well as wit and charm, that by the first chapter I could tell it was something really special. Most of all I want these characters and anyone who identifies with them to be happy. Hopefully this book reaches others like me who will find much needed comfort in its story. Much love to Ryka Aoki for every word of this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Racism, Body shaming, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Genocide

Explicit deadnaming of a protagonist near the end of the book by her parent

virsamajor's review against another edition

The plot was intriguing, but there were some writing patterns that aren't my jam, and the sudden introduction of the sci-fi elements felt jarring. Combined with the CWs, I wasn't in the place for this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racism, Cultural appropriation, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

mswarning's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

I don't think I was expecting such a lighthearted book due to some of the heavy subject matter. I know a lot of the blurbs mention Becky Chambers, which would have clued me in if I had read any of her books, lol.

I've had time to ruminate and gather my thoughts. Yesterday, when I finished it.. I thought that this was a 4-star book for me. I did not have a strong feeling about it, but I knew that I liked it. The more I think about this book, the more I think how much skill it took to weave together all the different elements in a way that felt effortless. There are some heartbreaking moments in Light from Uncommon Stars, but there is a lot of levity, too. And the beauty and poignancy of the music as well as all the food in this book. *drools* Lan and Shizuka go to so many restaurants, and Astrid cooks amazing meals with varied ingredients grown by neighbors. And then, of course, there's the donuts.

Katrina is such a resilient character, and I love her relationship with Shizuka. As pass times in the book, it becomes less clear who is the student and who is the teacher.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Dysphoria

Minor: Hate crime and Violence

mentalshirt's review

emotional hopeful sad 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

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Sexual violence

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful fast-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: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Death, Classism, Child abuse, Trafficking, War, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Outing, Murder, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Drug use, Deadnaming, Cultural appropriation, and Alcoholism

yggie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was such a painful book - in a good way, in a true way, but wow. I did see the hope, I did see the love, I did see the ‘growing into yourself, becoming strong and confident’ thing, but I can’t shake the pain. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing.

The pain is not what made me go for just three stars. I’ve seen people complain about the switches in pov but those felt natural to me, I only got confused once and that was on me. The truth is, I got tired of reading about donuts. Donuts and chicken and duck and tea, it never ended and it didn’t add much for me. Also, Windee made me cringe every time she entered the narrative. Terrible character. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.5

I generally enjoyed Light From Uncommon Stars. It was an interesting and rather stark mix of sci-fi and fantasy. I've rarely seen demons/hell and aliens in the same book which felt a bit dissonant to start, and I still have some questions about specifis there but I didn't find it too distracting.

Katrina is clearly traumatized by the way her family and other people have treated her in the past. It was honestly a bit hard to read at times.

After having spent some time being treated well by Shizuka, it was heartbreaking that Katrina didn't seem to feel betrayed by finding out what she'd been chosen for. She does not expect kindness for free. I hope she gets to go to therapy in the near future.

One of the most interesting and I think underexplored characters to me was Shirley. I find upacking the personhood of AI really fascinating and I think it's important philosophically to consider what makes a person a person.

It's clear Lan didn't fully process her feelings about where Shirley came from couldn't really allow herself to consider Shirley as a full person or truly her daughter. Watching Lan try to reconcile who Shirley actually was with her preconceptions about AI and her sadness about losing the original Shirley was interesting and proves that sometimes, even if you're smart, you need other people to point out what's right under your nose. I wish though, especially as a POV character, that we had seen more of how Lan actually processed that (if she did).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Racism, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Classism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Outing

Minor: Grief, Miscarriage, and War

lotten4's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The mc is a youtuber :-/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship