Book Review | Light from Uncommon Stars

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki is a poignant, heartfelt, and achingly beautiful love letter to music that follows the intersecting lives of three different characters.

- Lan Tran: a captain and an alien refugee operating a donut shop alongside her family.

- Katrina Nguyen : a trans youth who fled to LA with her violin in hopes of making a living for herself.

- A music teacher who, after making a deal with a demon, must deliver Hell 7 souls from music prodigies. Now she only needs one more, and she finds herself mysteriously drawn to both Katrina and strange noises coming from a doughnut shop …

I can see where the Terry Pratchett’s Good Omen comparison in the blurb comes from. This book is charmingly whimsical and zany, and yet, at times it’s also pensive as well and tackles heavy themes such as abuse.

There’s one subplot of the book I could have done without though. You might have guessed from the summary, but there’s A LOT going on in this book. (I mean, we’ve got aliens and a demon!)

While most of the story comes together and wraps up wonderfully by the end, there’s one huge can of worms that feels more like an unresolved afterthought.

All and all, Light from Uncommon Stars is a queer, messy but beautiful story about three souls banding together and helping each other.

Thank you, Tor and NetGalley, for providing me an with ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : September 28, 2021

Publisher : Tor Books

ISBN : 1250789060

Pages : 386

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