A review by julianship
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

emotional hopeful medium-paced
Leaving off a star rating right now. I was really excited for this book, but unfortunately it didn't thrill me. It has way too many plotlines, and Aoki also switches POVs frenetically, sometimes after only a paragraph. This really undercuts any sense of tension, so I found it hard to believe in the (galactic and soul-wrenching!) stakes. There are some pretty jarring tone shifts as well. 

It also means we don't spend enough time with the characters to really develop them emotionally. I still don't have a great sense of who Katrina is apart from the things that have happened to her, which is a real shame because she has the potential to be really interesting. 

I also think it's worth a content warning that while this book has an ultimately hopeful tone, it spends a LOT of time in Katrina's head as she deals with the aftermath of transphobic abuse from her parents and also, apparently, basically every person she's ever met, including sex work clients and so-called friends. There's a ton of internalized stuff and the book spends a lot of time with it, which can feel kind of jarring when the other subplots are about... donuts? There's also an onscreen rape scene and a very graphic murder (the murder is not related to Katrina's subplot.)

I guess this book just felt underdeveloped to me. To follow the donut metaphor, the ingredients were there, but it was underproofed and then covered in a lot of different kinds of sprinkles. 
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