
Light from Uncommon Stars
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Buy Now for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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Cindy Kay
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By:
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Ryka Aoki
About this listen
Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in Ryka Aoki's Light from Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in California's San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: To escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.
When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.
But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.
As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.
Critic Reviews
2022, L.A. Times Book Prize - Finalist
2021, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year
2022, ALA Alex Awards Winner (Adult for Young Adults)
2021, NYPL Best Books of the Year
Several layers of complexity. Always entertaining
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Lovely narrator and a story that is worth listening to
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Beautiful!
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The narration is exceptional, providing distinct and recognizable voices for each character, along with a palpable portrayal of their emotions. My sole critique of the audiobook is the narrator's love for whispering, often employed unnecessarily. However, this minor issue pales in comparison to the overall brilliance of the work.
A masterpiece
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Other than that, the story was fine. Narrator did a great job.
difficult
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2 story elements didn't mesh well enough
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Unexpected
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Light-filled storytelling!
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The main character Catrina constantly finds herself in a victim role. but fair enough, a lot of terrible things happened to her.
Confusingly, to me at least, being misgendered is more problematic for her than the fact that she had to (?) resort to (child) prostitution. she didn't even entertain the thought to earn money any other way (maybe busking?). just very briefly it is mentioned that this is the fastest way to earn a reasonable amount of money. her past is quite colorless and cartoonish: some mean kids at school, her parents are exclusively evil (her father) or just barely mentioned (her mother).
another recurring character also is cast as an unlikely victim. a female luthier (violin builder) who was told by her father and grandfather that this was not a girls job.
despite all these older male relatives being dead she still does not entertain the thought that SHE herself could possibly do this job and take over the family business. this is ludicrous in a story set in the 21st century in California - regardless how conservative your family is.
then there is an alien family that is so much like a human family that it is unintentionally funny and terribly contrived. despite having just arrived and not having grown up with any of Earth's conflicts and racial predjudices they are outraged when someone is called "gook" (who even uses that type of insult these days?). they are not even Asian! they are wearing human costumes! also someone gets called "dyke". but so what?! is homophobia even a concept for their species? The completely over-the-top reaction is that one of the aliens kills two people to... preserve honour?
but then, the book is very ruthless with any non-PC characters: someone else who insulted a violin and did a misgender gets struck with a supernatural heart attack.
while someone who literally dedicated their life to sell people out for their own benefit (but not for racist motives, phew!) gets a chance to redeem themselves.
The plot twist in the end is not terribly smart and a bit mediocre.
story is ideologically correct but poorly written
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Narration ruined it for me
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