A review by cjwitch
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

emotional funny 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

4.5

This book is a completely unique reading experience.

It is an intriguing and beautiful mashup of science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary that feels like each character is stepping out of their own genre to meet here. It’s messy and chaotic, and shouldn’t work, but somehow it does. Not only does it work, but the final product is something wholly charming. 

Each of our three main characters knows something of hell. Shizuka, who made a deal with a demon to escape damnation. Lan, who gathered her family together and fled across space time to escape a galactic war. And Katrina, who faces hell every day merely existing as a young biracial trans woman. 

Shizuka, Lan, and Katrina have all lost sight of everything outside their own struggles to survive their personal hells at the beginning. It is only when the three come together that they begin to heal. 

What I love about this book is that the character growth here isn’t immediate or easy. It’s something that comes reluctantly and painfully. There are misunderstandings and eye opening revelations, but growth remains slow. When you’ve spent decades just trying to survive, you don’t leave survival mode easily. 

There are elements to the book that are perhaps underdeveloped, specifically with the alien society and Endplague. But the characters are so heartbreakingly, heartwarmingly real that I found I didn’t mind. 

Please check your trigger warnings here though. While the overall book is lighthearted given the subject matter, there is harsh transphobia and child abuse, as well as less detailed incidents of racism, homophobia, sexual assault, and rape. 
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