Light from Uncommon Stars

CW: racism, xenophobia, transphobia, parental abuse, anxiety and panic attacks

It's probably more of a 4.5.

This is another book which wasn't at all on my radar but then I read some reviews and immediately felt like this was something I couldn't miss. And I was so right.

The first thing I have to say is that this felt like something I've never read before. The way the author blends fantasy and sci-fi with raw humanity is masterful and I was left in awe. The writing in this book is exquisite, with every feeling that the author describes digging deep into our souls and leaving an indelible impression on me. The prose is raw and unflinching, and I did feel extremely sad and scared and so many other things at many points, but it was the quiet and sweet moments that make this one special. The book is also peppered with subtle commentary about the importance of found family and community - especially for queer people; the grief of displacement as well as the joy of finding a new home; and the myriad ways in which music enriches our lives.

But despite the world here spanning a galactic empire mired in a war as well as a devil trying to take back souls to hell, the backbone of this story are music and food. I have always loved singing and listening to music since childhood, but I hardly have any detailed knowledge about instruments, especially nothing about western classical music. But the way the author describes each tone in the music being played, the differences and the charms of each classical piece, the way the music deeply affects the player as well as the listener - all this just touched my heart. And the food .... that was just something. The day that I started listening to this wonderful audiobook, I also started a diet and fitness program due to which there are very few foods I'm allowed to eat. And this book just happens to be filled page after page with mouthwatering and delectable food descriptions and the sweet and savory smells and flavors. Im pretty unfamiliar with most Asian cuisine but I could still feel how delicious the items being talked about are. But the ones that left me craving and very frustrated were donuts, Cinnabon's cinnamon rolls and just any form of bread - because not only can I not eat them during this diet period, my mom would never let me touch any of them as long as I'm still stuck here at home.

The ensemble cast is just brilliant in this book. Katrina is a young trans girl runaway who is escaping her abusive home and struggling to make a new life. Her parts were very difficult to read initially because there were some graphic descriptions of physical abuse as well as her struggle to survive in a new place with very few resources, while also beating herself up about being a freak and not being normal. Her only solace in these tough times is her self taught violin which gives some escape from the harsh real world. All that changes when she is taken in by the legendary violin teacher Shizuka, who sees her as a beautiful soul capable of producing enchanting music and doesn't care about her body or gender. Together with Shizuka's housekeeper Astrid, they both give Katrina the home she doesn't have, the space to feel safe enough to explore her love for the violin as well as a future as a musician, and lots of delicious food to sustain her.

And then there's Lan and her family of unique beings. She may be a starship captain doubling as the owner of a donut shop, but she is also a mother and a woman with desires. Her developing relationship with Shizuka is a sweet slow burn, with two women who have been alone for a long while realizing that having someone along the journey of life is not such a bad thing. Lan's children and aunt are also a bunch of interesting people with different personalities, trying to navigate life away from home on a new planet, discovering more about this world which maybe behind them in technology but is vibrant and full of amazing people, but also full of hatred towards the people whom anyone perceives as the other.

In the end, this might have been a bit harsh and angsty and heartbreaking at times, but it's also a beautiful story of broken people coming together to make a wonderful life for themselves, creating new experiences and sharing their joy with everyone around them. It's a story of hope and family and community, as well as how important a part music and food play in enriching our bodies and souls. It's also an excellently narrated audiobook and I'm glad I got to listen to it.

DNF - PG 34

Why?

Look, I had been interested in the title several times but then read the synopsis and immediately knew it was not the book for me. Then the absolute waste of my money that is Just the Right Book decided that this was ‘just the right book' for me and ....

Okay. First of all, not really a fan of contemporary, earth bound sci-fi or fantasy. Which this is. Combining sci-fi and fantasy can be a mixed bag. This does.

The line breaks are serious annoying. I just opened this book up to a random page in the middle (190 and 191 in my paperback copy) and there are five line breaks on those two pages - only one of which has the ‘***' that indicates a point of view shift.

There are usually multiple line breaks every page. Chapter one is five pages long and it has seven line breaks including one that is for a POV shift. Chapter two has this scene as the entirety of the story between line breaks:

‘But if this wasn't the right student, either?Soon the kitchen filled with the gentle aroma of the simmering soup. Astrid dropped the heat to low, so it would be ready when Miss Satomi returned.And then Astrid waited. For now, that was all that she could do.‘

...

I kid you not. This section deserves its own line break before and after.

The shortest line break I came across in the part I actually read was all of three lines for a total of fourteen words. This book needs to be reformatted in the worst way.

Shizuka Satomi is immediately unsympathetic and, ostensibly, our main character. (That likely gets everything she ever wanted and the romance to boot.) Because she is selling the souls of young musicians to the devil. No. Literally. It's an interesting concept. I don't see how that can be made sympathetic and someone you actually root for to succeed.

But the real reason I quit reading this book is because I went searching to see if anyone else agreed with me that Shizuka was unsympathetic and was instead treated to new information.

The one friend that Katrina can call on to live with when she runs from her parents? Just casually rapes her, says it's for rent. [According to: https://www.reddit.com/r/romancelandia/comments/u9uovr/light_from_uncommon_stars_please_dont/]

There are many, many places that give Content/Trigger Warnings on this book that look like this:

This book contains references to and depictions of sexual assault and rape, verbal and physical abuse, suicidal ideation, drug use, and violence. It explores themes surrounding LGBTQ+ identities and features verbal abuse and slurs directed toward trans women and lesbians. It also depicts prejudice toward immigrants and people of color, particularly those of Asian descent.

And this:

Transphobia; parental and familial abuse, including mental, physical, and sexual; rape and sexual assault; depiction of consensual and non-consensual sex work; racism; mentions of self-harm and suicide.

I don't want to read this. I don't have a grand reason - and I don't need to, other than the fact that I don't enjoy reading books with this kind of content. You might say that this is important stuff to have in a book, but I've heard that Katrina's whole story is torture porn. I don't know.

I do know that I'm not enjoying the book, I don't like the content that has been tagged as needing a warning, and I don't need to have a reason for DNFing a book beyond I am not enjoying it.

I am not enjoying it.

Ryka Aoki put together a beautiful portrait of being a trans girl in the Asian community of Southern California. The science fiction aspects play second fiddle (heh) to an intimate look at a young girl trying to find her place in the world and her passion for the violin, shared with a woman who made a deal with a demon. 

The book gave me a newfound appreciation for the violin and, as someone who is “cishet” but doesn't entirely know what that means, for what it might be like to grow up as a trans person. It is ultimately a tender, touching, and soulful story of hope. 

Such a weird, touching, beautiful and, sometimes, heartbreaking story. I'll say that I understand the 1 et 2 stars reviews: yes, there's a lot going on here; yes, the point of views changes often, sometimes paragraph from paragraph; yes, the characters may appear to some to not get that much development; and yes, maybe if you're not a musician, some stuff might fly over your head.

I agree that it's not a book for everyone. But for me, it worked. It touched me in a way that I know that I don't want to read it again. But I'm happy to have read it.

my fucking god! these bitches gay! good for them! good for them.

the tears in my eyes haven't ceased for hours, this book is so beautiful and healing

In April, I will turn 50. In just under a half-century of reading, I have had many favorite books. Light from Uncommon Stars is the best book I have ever read. Like Shizuka and Katrina’s music, the words evoked/unlocked memory after memory for me; I wept. To read this book is to be broken open, chapter after chapter. To be stabbed, to be held, to be dangled, to be soothed.

This review is my applause, and it thunders. My only question is: what kind of deal did Ryka Aoki have to make to create art that does this? And how can I save her from the payment that must be due?

This was...weird. I'm between a 3 and 4 here. There were three separate story lines and I'm not sure that really any came to a meaningful or satisfactory ending. That said, the characters themselves were beautiful and their stories engaging. I appreciated the craft with which the author portrayed anxiety, but/and I would love to hear a trans person's take on how that experience was portrayed. It felt like sometimes the author was making assumptions about experience or playing a bit too hard on certain points or aspects, such as dysphoria and abuse, but not as much on moments of gender euphoria or uplift.

Anyway, a fine book—certainly a unique one—but not one I'd recommend to many people.

oh man I'd heard great things about this book but the title + cover pairing made me think it was going to be more Srs Sci-Fi than it actually is. It's a little goofy–I saw a review comparing it to Good Omens and I think that's pretty apt–and so sweet and such an original take on some fairly common themes (power of food/music/culture, deal with a devil, uncaring space empires, etc) but so well-executed and with such great characters!!

Somewhere between 3.5 to 3.75. The premise of this one was really great, so many chaotic moving parts but it somehow came together in the end really nicely. We have Lan Tran, a donut-selling alien bringing her family to escape her war-torn planet. We have Shizuka Satomi, a violinist casually known as the Queen of Hell who has made a deal with the devil to send him seven souls in order to get her own back, and she's already done six. Then we have Katrina Nguyen, a trans female protagonist running away from a life of brutality, oppression, and exploitation because she also just so happens to be a prodigy with the violin.

Everything meshes together really well and the book has a lot of heart. It also has a very strong message against the repression and exploitation of queer people, especially those from the trans community. I support this message, but I also found that it was too on-the-nose here, and sometimes almost felt a bit didactic. But I acknowledge that perhaps this on-the-nose-ness is necessary in order to reach out and perhaps help some teens out there struggling the same way Katrina did, and to provide just that bit of encouragement and affirmation that they are seen, and that's great for them. Personally, it dampened my enjoyment a bit which is why my rating is the way it is, but hey, if this book does some good in the world, I'm all for it.

“Tomorrow is tomorrow. Over there is over there. And here and now is not a bad place and time to be, especially when so much of the unknown is beautiful.”

A fresh story based on new ideas and a good feeling for timing.

Fuck me, that was beautiful. An absolute delight.

a really funny, sweet, and kind yet also brutal read about identity, love, acceptance, and art. reading this made me realize how little fiction i've read about trans people, especially that by trans people - i definitely need to seek that out more!

Wonderful and clever writing. This book is deep and gorgeous. It explores many themes on relationships, life and music. Depiction of love and humanity puts this book in line with Becky Chamber's work.

Looking forward for more from the author ✍️

So a transgender, self-taught violin prodigy escapes her abusive family and happens to be discovered by the “Queen of Hell” who hopes she will be the seventh and final musical soul consigned to damnation which frees her from her debt to the demon Tremon. Meanwhile intergalactic refugees escaping the “Endplague” are hiding in plain sight at Stargate Donuts where they replicate doughy treats to sell while quietly constructing a warp gate for some imagined future filled with Imperial tourists.

Thats a lot, and I haven't even mentioned the sentient AI seeking some sort of autonomy, a violin repairer contending with her family's legacy and rampant duck abuse. (no assortment of waterfowl should, in good conscience, be fed the sheer volume of donuts evidenced here)

With that many balls in the air you don't pay too much mind when a couple fall to the ground. There is no shortage of nitpicking and lost threads that could be argued, but honestly with so much plot you're just holding on for the ride. I love that Katrina's trans identify is her superpower and Aoki writes about musically so beautifully that I wished I still had my viola to pick up (even if only to remind myself once again why I put it down in the first place) I adored the argument of how technical perfection isn't enough and that there is an ineffable art to evoking the notion of “home” in your craft whether it's a concerto or a cream-filled. And there's the budding romance, the growing confidences, the looming deadline, the inevitable sacrifices and the unexpected curveballs just kept me turning the pages. I might quibble with the plot holes but I can't complain about the propulsive story.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful books I've ever read.

Hard stop.

I had a few hurdles to overcome early on (was okay with demons, then we got a donut-slinging starship captain and I absolutely exclaimed “oh c'mon” while reading), but I'm thrilled to have continued on.

If I had to sum this book up, it would be that it's a story about very specific outsiders who face systemic, western-society induced hurdles that prevent them from being their true selves. While there is a literal Faustian bargain here, most of the characters are living in the same reality. One where demons are making deals with musicians for souls, starship captains from a far off empire are trying too hard to be perfect to gain acceptance, a luthier grapples with her family's generational misogyny and a trans runaway faces nonstop discrimination and somehow the core conceit for this entire story is the game UnderTale.

There's a lot to digest here.

What happens, though, is we get to see how love, encouragement and community can help. Maybe it can't heal these wounds and make the awful people go away, just like it can't make the mysterious “EndPlague” the empire faces stop, but by sharing beauty and love, in this book's case through music, it can reach other people and help them feel like they aren't alone.

Isn't that the point of art? I know it always was for me.

I can't recommend this book enough.

Great story winding different cultures and goals together along with a satisfying conversation about grace filled love. 

4.5/5 stars
Will there be a sequel??

v v v fun read had such a good time. Loved the characters, wholehearted embrace of sci fi and Faustian bargains all in a story about found family and music. It was v cool huhu

An amazing comfortable story about alien bakers and demons trading souls for musical prowess. Very weird crossover event but I truly loved the characters, their interactions and thought processes.

Not sure what I think. Did I enjoy it? Sorta. I did finish it, so that's something.

Not a spoiler per se, but the end lacked oomph. It builds and builds and builds then petered out into “everything was fine.”

Beautiful, devastating, and somehow ultimately hopeful. All the characters were so perfectly created and I loved them all. I will fight anyone who hurts Katrina Nguyen!

Also, you MUST listen to the Bartok sonata at the end. It's absolutely essential to the understanding of the book.

I think one of the best books I've read this year and I'm going to be hounding everyone to read it.

This book has a lot of disparate elements (violin history and culture, refugee experience, trying to find community as a multiply marginalized person, LA food culture, aliens, demons and more) but ties them all together in a way that kept me engaged. The characters were mostly great, and while the author is realistic about the difficulties in our world today it also carries both defiance and hope. I like the way history is presented in the book where change over time is noted and discussed without putting the old against the new.

One of the plot lines wrapped up a little weird and there was a strange dig at vegans near the beginning that felt crueler than the rest of the content but it wasn't a big enough issue to make me drop a star.

Second time around I'm just as in love as the first. This is a story with violinists, demons and aliens and I absolutely adored it. It's about a lot of different things and I can see how this won't be for everyone because of that, but if you like books with a lot of different moving parts, especially around characters and themes, I highly recommend.