(audiobook) - this story had a beguiling mix of cutesy fluff with sharp depth. there was a lot there in the glimpse of a trans teen girl's experience - physical violence from family, sexual violence from "friends", the highs and lows of sex work, the toxic hate from strangers online, the casual hate from strangers in public. and then there's a love story between a soulselling violinist and a space alien running a donut shop. the author did a great job of conveying a love for, or at least knowledge of, violin music and donuts and southern california asian culture.
This book had a unique feel to it, something like enthralling and enchanting. It brings together a number of strange characters and strange elements (the aliens who struggle with human concepts, an evil woman who delivers souls to hell but turns out to be nice, the nerding out about violins and certain music pieces) and that shouldn't work at all but it does.
It's also cozy and affirming, at least most of the time. Unfortunately, the other 10% of the book are really quite grim. There's a lot of vicious anti-trans hate (a bit too much, in my opinion) by others against Katrina and there's also a rape scene and sexual harassment. The last one doesn't really get adressed. So, I can't recommend it unreservedly but still recommend it with those caveats.
The blurb I read touted this as "Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in a defiantly joyful adventure", which is not how I'd describe it. Though I quite liked the prose itself, I was either annoyed or irritated by every single character, I hated the Faustian/sci-fi crossover, found the endless descriptions of music and food tedious after a time, and thought the ending was obvious and then silly. If this is your type of thing, you'll like it. I'm not overly sentimental and found it mawkish. Not for me.
Loved the book. It is original, creative and heartwarming. Both characters and story take you through the world of donuts, music, Southern California, and the galaxy in a really unique way. Many complex topics were discussed evoking emotions including but not limited to: disgust, hope, humor, joy, etc. The story and characters carry this book. Glad I bought a hard copy!!
Yes there were really hard parts, yes I was triggered at times, but Aoki managed to expertly balance this with such heartfelt and grounded writing that I never felt unsupported when the story ventured to the cliffs edge. This has been added to my list of all time favorites and will be slotted in as a challenging comfort read I return to to remind me that it’s ok when life gets hard and the worlds ugly - I just have to find the friendly face in the dark.
I’m so happy I listened to this, Cindy Kay was the perfect narrator. She also narrates the Sing Hills novellas, so check those out too if you want more expert story telling.
Review of 'Light From Uncommon Stars' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
I’m never going to do this justice in a description and I’m sad it took me so long to get to this book. This was tugging my heartstrings nonstop for the past 2 days.
Shizuka Satomi is a renowned violinist who made a deal with the devil. To save her own soul, she must deliver 7 prodigies to sign over their own. In 48 years she has nurtured 6 students and convinced them to hand over their souls to the devil. Not just any souls, but exquisite souls which make beautiful music in the flames. For her 7th and final student, she is looking for something spectacular for hell.
She feels she has found it in Katrina, a trans girl running away from her abusive family and friends and surviving in parks and sex work. While she has had no formal training, Shizuka sees raw and beautiful talent in Katrina. …
I’m never going to do this justice in a description and I’m sad it took me so long to get to this book. This was tugging my heartstrings nonstop for the past 2 days.
Shizuka Satomi is a renowned violinist who made a deal with the devil. To save her own soul, she must deliver 7 prodigies to sign over their own. In 48 years she has nurtured 6 students and convinced them to hand over their souls to the devil. Not just any souls, but exquisite souls which make beautiful music in the flames. For her 7th and final student, she is looking for something spectacular for hell.
She feels she has found it in Katrina, a trans girl running away from her abusive family and friends and surviving in parks and sex work. While she has had no formal training, Shizuka sees raw and beautiful talent in Katrina. A soul to deliver worthy of Shizuka’s moniker, Queen of Hell.
But a chance interaction between Shizuka and Lan, a woman who runs a donut shop with her family who happen to be galactic refugees fleeing a plague, leads to more. As they grow close, Shizuka doubts whether she can hand over Katrina and save her own soul.
Combining demons and space empires in a synopsis confused me before I started reading, but as the themes thread together it works beautifully to give such humanity to the fantasy. I connected deeply to their trauma, pasts and the choices they face. You feel the intricate music of the soul. Katrina is beautifully written and an excellent representation of trans youth. I loved the depth of Shizuka’s apparent amoral character and her connection to Katrina and Lan. Maybe it’s not for everyone, but it deeply affected me.
aoki weaves passion for music together with a sci-fi subplot and a devil's bargain, in what feels like a very strange combination when you read the synopsis, but in fact works perfectly. aoki discusses trans issues, redemption, music, race, and technology with nuance and wit. her characters are vibrant and lively, flawed but lovable. i can't imagine anyone reading this without caring about aoki's characters to the point of tears in both its darker, and more uplifting moments.
Review of 'Light From Uncommon Stars' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
My main take from the story is that it gave me a better perspective on what it’s like to grow up as trans. It has a lot of hurt, but it’s also a reminder that kindness can go a long way.
🎻 There is a lot of music interwoven in a beautiful story. The author describes musical performances in a way that I could even imagine the sound, just from words and emotions. I also liked that it has a high geek factor, there are mentions of Star Trek and references to music from games and anime.
Beautiful story worthy of a recommendation 🧡
My main take from the story is that it gave me a better perspective on what it’s like to grow up as trans. It has a lot of hurt, but it’s also a reminder that kindness can go a long way.
🎻 There is a lot of music interwoven in a beautiful story. The author describes musical performances in a way that I could even imagine the sound, just from words and emotions. I also liked that it has a high geek factor, there are mentions of Star Trek and references to music from games and anime.
Finished this book in about a week. I've heard of Ryka Aoki before but I did not know she was trans, so I was even more hyped to read this book and learn more about her. The writing level is appropriate for something oriented at the YA audience, especially with how it drops pop culture references (lmao Lindsey Stirling, Sword Art Online, and totally-not-undertale) and reaches to the occult and sci-fi. It was easy to breeze through.
I enjoyed the world building and character building a lot for those at the center of the stage, the food is given a lot of care 🤤, it really took the story forward from the start. You start to get draw into the cadence of their life. While the ending felt like what I thought was sufficient for a YA novel, I was disappointed how some characters really did not get their justice/recognition. …
Finished this book in about a week. I've heard of Ryka Aoki before but I did not know she was trans, so I was even more hyped to read this book and learn more about her. The writing level is appropriate for something oriented at the YA audience, especially with how it drops pop culture references (lmao Lindsey Stirling, Sword Art Online, and totally-not-undertale) and reaches to the occult and sci-fi. It was easy to breeze through.
I enjoyed the world building and character building a lot for those at the center of the stage, the food is given a lot of care 🤤, it really took the story forward from the start. You start to get draw into the cadence of their life. While the ending felt like what I thought was sufficient for a YA novel, I was disappointed how some characters really did not get their justice/recognition. There are times that this book feels like a typical YA novel and I wish it said more, but there are other times I remember how important it is that it's doing exactly what it's doing (I say as a queer trans Asian person myself). Just... maybe for someone younger than me (in my 20s)?
As others mentioned, this book could use some content warnings on the traumatic experiences that the main character especially experiences. I also noticed that aspects about inter-Asian discourse aren't really touched on: there's a celebration of primarily East and Southeast Asian cultures, not really a mention of many other cultures like South Asian or issues of colorism.
A book driven by its characters. I think it would be hard not to empathise with Katrina. The momentum keeps going and you want it to keep going for the characters. Leap of faith in the storyline, no problem, I want this to happen for them.
Written with the narrators view it was able to weave the stories of several people together, but with a strong emphasis on a couple of characters. The narration was also used to skip some of the exacting detail about Katrina's early life while explaining it. For sure a content warning for some of that though.
