meanieheadbookreviews 's review for:

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

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This book was so beautiful. I don’t remember where I came across the recommendation, and I was super skeptical at first. There’s a family of alien refugees (extraterrestrial, I mean), a demon from hell with a soul collecting quota, and a violin prodigy trans girl runaway who finds herself caught between the two. That sounds like a mess, but it’s not. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in the beginning, but once you get them down, it’s smooth sailing through the rest of the book. I was constantly grounded in the text, the writing was elevated but accessible, the content was evocative, I genuinely cared about the characters… checks many of my boxes. I was actually bummed when I got to the end because I wanted to live in this reality a little longer. It made me think a lot about what makes a soul, and the importance of a body and one’s autonomy over it, and how critical human connection is. Absolutely wonderful and timely material. Great Asian and transgender representation if you’re seeking to diversify your media ingestion. Might just be one of my favorite books of the year.