Jan 30

Jan 30 Light from Uncommon Stars

Author: Ryka Aoki
Publisher: Tor Books
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

Click above to buy this book from my Bookshop.org shop, which supports independent bookstores (not Amazon). You can also find it via your favorite indie bookstore here.

Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

An 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.

TL;DR Review

Light from Uncommon Stars was such a delight! Funny and hopeful but not without substance, this book is a new favorite I’ll be recommending far and wide.

For you if: You like quirky, feel-good SFF, like Becky Chambers or Douglas Adams — especially with great queer representation.

Full Review

“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.”

Y’all. Y’ALL. If you liked A Psalm for the Wild-Built (or any Becky Chambers) or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, you MUST read this book as soon as possible. I’m only four months behind its pub day, and I still can’t believe I didn’t read it sooner. Funny and feel-good with the weight and substance to make an impact, this is a book I’m going to be recommending far and wide.

The story has two main characters: Katrina, a teenage trans girl who’s run away from a terrible home situation with nothing but her hormones and her violin; and legendary violin teacher Shizuka Satomi, who long ago made a Faustian bargain with Hell to deliver seven musician souls in order to ensure the immortality of her own music. Also of consequence is Lan Tran, an alien woman who brought her family to Earth (and bought a local donut shop) to flee intergalactic war. (Does that not just sound AMAZING? It is.)

This book is exactly what we all need right now. It’s got intensely lovable characters, a plot that has a familiar shape without becoming predictable, beautiful queer rep, an ode to the world of classical music, and, of course donuts. (Warning: You will crave donuts. You may think you are strong and neglect to have donuts on hand when you read it. This is a mistake. You will find yourself in a snowstorm unable to even get overly expensive Krispy Kreme delivery and be sad.)

I will just note, as a content warning, that Katrina has some really, really hard things happen to her, and she battles intense transphobia and even sexual abuse. I thought it was well-done and served the story and the representation in important ways. But it could be hard to read for some.

Anyway, I loved this deeply. Give yourself the gift of this book, my friends!