Title: Light from Uncommon Stars

Author: Ryka Aoki

Publisher: Tor Books 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 372

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

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.

This book defies a simple description or genre. There’s sone science fiction. There’s some fantasy. There’s some family saga, even if it’s a found family. We’re thrown into multiple lives without much extra information. The first section of this book is rough. We get details of familial abuse. We get details of sexual assault and some descriptions of sex work. Once Katrina starts to settle into life with Shizuoka, I started to settle into the story and really appreciate the book. We dive deep into the main characters and sit with their highs and lows. It’s the lows that really pull at the emotions. While I really enjoyed the story and characters, it does settle into a melancholy atmosphere that I appreciated. The writing style took a bit to get used to, but ended up being a an interesting concept. We get a bit of stream of consciousness as a variety of music is played. I loved how we get to read exactly how the specific music affects certain characters. I’m still processing all my feelings and thoughts on this book, but it was definitely a winner.

Next up on the TBR pile: