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A review by surelyinthefountain
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.25
Sometimes, I like to check out a book that is being touted as really great that I suspect is going to be triggering. And hey, yeah, this is absolutely a book to take the triggers seriously on.
There's nothing really wrong with published fiction originating in fanfic, but man, sometimes you can really tell that something came out of there. If you were on tumblr in the early to mid 2010s, way too much of this book is way too familiar. It's kind of a shame, because the writing that is very grounded in a place and a community -- i.e. the Asian American community in the San Gabriel Valley -- are so good. I do appreciate the portrayal of um...let's just say a certain kind of white queer person lol; it's painfully accurate. But man, the central romance in the book just reeks of "you've come into this fanfic already shipping this (possibly genderbent) pairing, so you don't need help becoming invested in it within the fic itself," because I found it very hard to become invested in it. Plot's not for me, either. And a personal thing, but I don't love when Asian American authors give the "wow I don't get why this Asian person doesn't have solidarity with Asian people of a different ethnicity" line. Do I agree that solidarity would be nice? I mean, yeah obviously, but people don't work like that; it's so fucking reductive to not acknowledge that Asian countries have history with each other too lol.
There's nothing really wrong with published fiction originating in fanfic, but man, sometimes you can really tell that something came out of there. If you were on tumblr in the early to mid 2010s, way too much of this book is way too familiar. It's kind of a shame, because the writing that is very grounded in a place and a community -- i.e. the Asian American community in the San Gabriel Valley -- are so good. I do appreciate the portrayal of um...let's just say a certain kind of white queer person lol; it's painfully accurate. But man, the central romance in the book just reeks of "you've come into this fanfic already shipping this (possibly genderbent) pairing, so you don't need help becoming invested in it within the fic itself," because I found it very hard to become invested in it. Plot's not for me, either. And a personal thing, but I don't love when Asian American authors give the "wow I don't get why this Asian person doesn't have solidarity with Asian people of a different ethnicity" line. Do I agree that solidarity would be nice? I mean, yeah obviously, but people don't work like that; it's so fucking reductive to not acknowledge that Asian countries have history with each other too lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Child abuse, Transphobia, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual violence