A review by shinypurplepants
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

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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