I downloaded this book a while ago now, and I must've completely forgotten the description - especially the bit about the San Gabriel Valley - because when I started reading I was surprised and delighted to discover this book takes place in my old stomping grounds! (I'm from Temple City!) Now that I live halfway across the country from where I grew up, it felt a little extra special to have the area so accurately and lovingly depicted in a science fiction book. So the book ticks one major box right there for activating my nostalgia/homesickness.

Second, a large part of the plot revolves around music, and music instruction with a main character named Katrina who loves to play covers of video game music. And that's another box ticked, because when I'm not reading books I'm a piano teacher by trade, and one of my favorite music genres to play for myself is OSTs (Original Sound Tracks) from movies, anime and video games.

At this point, I find myself wondering 'who is this author, and could we be friends?'

Now, beyond those two bonus points for the setting and plot just speaking to some of my own real-life experience, this book really is a wonderful read. And you don't have to know the SGV or be a musician for that to be true by any means, because the author provides so much detail and nuance that you'll feel right at home. We've also got aliens, a stargate, crazy rare violins, love over donuts, deals with demons, LGBT+ representation, and feeding ducks at the park. . . which probably sounds like a lot. And it is. This book has a LOT packed into it. But somehow it really works. It has you rooting for the characters, keeps you on your toes as to what could happen next and ends up delivering some really good feels by the end.

I'd add Content Warnings for the book for physical abuse of a child, mention of rape, and transphobia (for context, Katrina is transgender and encounters transphobic awfulness from her own parents before running away, as well as out in the world.).

What a delightful and heartbreaking book. I want to cry while eating donuts and listening to violin when I think of this book. Creative and curiosity lovely.

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki blends: a detailed portrayal of a particular mostly-Asian neighborhood in California; the competitive world of classical music, including performers and luthiers; a transgender queer violinist; lots of lovingly described food; and Faustian bargains condemning souls to the underworld. I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s a gripping story and I loved it.

Content warnings: mentions of death by suicide; racism; the unexpected murder of two people; and domestic abuse of the transgender woman character Katrina. She also experiences frequent microaggressions and harassment in the course of the book. (She later experiences a validating, happy ending.)

Alien beings, refugees from the oncoming Endplague of a galactic empire, are making a home in a doughnut shop while building a stargate…inside the giant doughnut atop the building. They’ve taken on human forms as the Tran family: captain/mother Lan; her Aunt Floresta; and her children Shirley, Markus, Edwin, and Windee. Meanwhile, renowned violin teacher Shizuka Satomi is seeking her seventh pupil, who like her previous six, is meant to sell their soul to hell, through her, in exchange for a brilliant career; this happens via a cursed violin bow made by the family of Lucy Matia, a luthier descended from a long line of luthiers, all male. Shizuka’s music cannot be heard anywhere on Earth until she delivers a seventh soul; should she fail by her February deadline, she dies. She and her accompanist/housekeeper Astrid have returned to Shizuka’s childhood home, in the same neighborhood as Starrgate Donut. Meanwhile, Katrina Nguyen runs away from her abusive family, only to be taken advantage of by the person she thought would help her. Katrina dreams of a career playing gaming and anime music on YouTube; she might be willing to trade her life to achieve her dreams. When she and Shizuka meet, it seems clear where the story is heading…except that isn’t where the story is heading. The specific details of the different worlds colliding make the plot and its outcome fresh and surprising.

There are many dark themes, but ultimately, this is a hopeful book, perhaps more so because the hope comes after serious darkness. Every one of the characters, even the minor ones, has an arc of self-discovery as well as in relation to the other characters. Lan, Shirley, Shizuka, Katrina, and Lucy all suffer from feeling they’re good not enough for the lives they actually deserve. Over the course of the book, they find their own power within, and figure out how to live the lives they want when the world is against them both passively and actively. In the end, this book is about wanting to live, and about discovering the things we truly live for.

I loved this book, and I look forward to more from this author.

I absolutely devoured this; such a joy-filled book with very necessary moments of pain. Each character was written wonderfully, and the overall story was so cool and inventive. I will 100% be looking out for books from Ryka Aoki and hope we can work with her in the future

Sublime and Unique

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.

Deals with a demon, aliens, donut shops and transgender runaways, all mixed together in one novel. It shouldn’t work, so many elements but this novel is such a harmonious whole bound together by a love of music and of humanity, of family, and love not perfect but otherworldly. Ryka Aoki does an incredible job of blending all of these elements together, creating a beautiful and sublime story about redemption, family, and embracing the unique qualities that make us human. 

Perhaps it is Ryka’s way with the characters. Despite Shizuka’s bargain with demons, she is absolutely likeable. I fell in love with Katrina, her bravery and her willingness to escape her past into a better life. I loved Shizuka’s parental love for Katrina and her desire to risk new relationships, with Katrina and with Lan. And I love Lan, her family, and the donut shop. All the unique elements of the story come together in such a wondrous joy that I couldn’t even stop reading. 

Part of what made it so incredible is the diverse relationships and characters. One of the best elements is Katrina being transgender and her voice in the story, showing others both the struggles and the joys. The descriptions of music are beyond detailed and incredibly knowledgeable. And the different points of view make the story rich and full of depth. 

This is one of the best novels I’ve read and I highly recommend reading it. You won’t be disappointed and you will fall in love with the story and characters as much as I did. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 donuts.

Rating: 4/5 Stargate Donuts

Format: e-book and audiobook. I’d like to thank the author and Tor Books for sending me a copy of this book to review!

To sum up:
Shizuka Satomi is looking for a seventh soul, a musician who will allow her to regain her own music. Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, might just be that seventh soul. But as the two get to know each other, the price starts to feel too high. This story is set in California’s San Gabriel Valley and also features a retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and donut shop owner, Lan Tran. As these three characters’ lives become intertwined, they find love, safety, and music in unexpected places.

What I enjoyed:
I love the setting and themes in this novel. The pursuit of a legacy, of creativity, and of a sense of home and safety are blended together beautifully. There is wonderful trans and lesbian representation in this story and setting it in the SGV makes it even more fun since that is quite close to where I live! I loved the mixing of genres as well, the sprinkling of sci-fi into this story about souls, passion, and music was a really cool combination!

What was meh:
I had some issues with the shifting perspectives which at times felt a little jarring. When we are looking at things from Katrina’s point of view, the world is a threatening and dark place, brightened only by her love for music and a new friendship. The other POVs by contrast are fairly light and frothy so this contrast was a little jarring at times. Overall, the things Katrina has to go through weighed on me pretty heavily (I probably should have looked up trigger warnings beforehand), and the tone of this story was a lot darker at times than I expected.

Overall, I thought this was a unique and beautiful story about music and survival, but does explore mature themes. I put some content warnings below if needed!

CW: Thoughts of suicide, child abuse, transphobia, trans hate, LGBTQ discrimination, racism, sex work, rape, sexual harassment.

Donuts, Violins and Aliens Fuel Self-Discovery in Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars

Ryka Aoki’s new novel, Light from Uncommon Stars, is packed with as much variety as a box of lovingly prepared assorted donuts from your favorite, funky-but-long-standing neighborhood donut shop.

One of the book’s primary settings is, in fact, a donut shop, but unlike other Los Angeles donut shops it is run by a family of refugees from a faraway galaxy.
The story revolves around three women—the matriarch of the outer space family, Lan Tran; Shizuka Satomi, a world famous violin teacher, who is also contractually obliged to deliver souls to hell; and her newest student, Katrina Nguyen, a trans runaway fleeing an abusive home who has no formal violin training but is a brilliant musician with natural talent.

With a book focused on musicians, Aoki relied on narration to convey the power of Katrina’s performances. “When one is a poet and writing novels, sometimes … I feel at a horrible disadvantage. I still write at the speed of a poet. … But during certain moments, I’m really glad I’m a poet because I know darn well that I can convey music through words. … I can use imagery. I can use analogy, but mostly I can vary my sentence structures. I can play with clauses. I can concatenate my grammar. I can write sentences so that one sentence jams into the next. I layer sentence fragments occasionally to build a collage of meaning. And these are all things that are poet tricks.”

The themes of Light from Uncommon Stars are as varied as its cast. The books is about talent and genius, creativity and love, and the sacrifices—or deals with the devil—that some people may make to achieve success.

Ryka Aoki is a poet, composer, and teacher. Her mixed collection Seasonal Velocities and poetry collection Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul were both finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards. And is also the author of the novel Hey Mele Ah Hilo.

Shizuka Satomi, deemed the Queen of Hell, is a violin teacher in search of a seventh student whose soul she can serve up to hell in order to save her own. Katrina Nguyen is a runaway transgender youth, fleeing an abusive home with nothing but a go bag and her violin. Lan Tran is an intergalactic space Captain, who has fled her wartorn home world in order to protect her children, and is now the owner and operator of Stargate Donuts. These three find themselves connected to one another, and none of them will ever be the same.

This book blew my mind. The intricate ways in which the story was woven together. I guess this was more of a beautifully composed piece of music, with every note perfectly hit.

The story draws you in immediately; and, with everything happening and all of the different characters it should seem too busy or too much, but it it not. Each aspect, from big to little is intrinsic in telling this amazing story. Every harsh moment of Katrina's life before she meets Miss Satomi, Miss Satomi's dawning realization that she cannot live the life she has been, Lan's need to care for her children, without thinking of herself. At the main intersection of each story trail is a woman realizing her strength, her truth, her power. From Katrina using the terrible memories of her life to infuse her music with such emotion it touches souls, to Miss Satomi taking in Katrina and continuously sticking up for her in small ways and relearning how to love music, to Lan finally realizing she has taught her children how to survive and maybe they no longer need her.

A truly unique and beautiful story about acceptance and love. I cried a few times while feeling so angry at the way Katrina is treated by so many, but felt so utterly hopeful for the few who actually treated her with the humanity she deserves. To have a world constantly criticizing your life, threatening your well being, actively hating you for being yourself. I am disgusted that this is a reality right now for so many transgender individuals and it is heartbreaking.

However, in the moments of hopelessness these strong women find a way to save each other. To fight for what they believe to be right and to trust in each other, when they have so little to trust. All of them have horrific stories they must overcome, trauma they must heal from, homes they have lost. So, finding family in each other, a community in which to grow and flourish, after everything they have been through, is truly what makes this book such a winner.

Also, the addition of the science fiction element just heightened everything about the book. Having an alien species come to Earth, that is so advanced, but realize they are lacking in the emotions that both music and food provide for the soul. They very much resemble the immigrant families within their community, trying to make a living in California after having to flee from war. They have left their home behind, knowing they can never return. They also learn to begin appreciating aspects of the world they have found themselves living on. For Lan that comes in the form of love for Miss Satomi, for the others it might be the food, the people, or even the knowledge.

One of my favourite parts of the book is the way in which the music and food are shown to be such important aspects of humanity. Both have the ability to bring a person back to a time and place in their lives, generally a good memory (whether it be home, or the first time you pick up an instrument, etc.). Food brings people together, mends broken bonds, shows someone you are thinking of them, shows care and kindness, encourages learning about other cultures. Music can do the same, a song can bring you back to a moment when you were truly happy, or a sad song can remind you of someone or something you have lost. A good song can mend a broken heart or break a heart all over again. The book reflects these simple things being much more, meaning much more.

I just loved this book so much, honestly might be my top read of the year. I want everyone to read it and fall in love with the writing and the world and these magnificent characters. It is a book about redemption, love, courage, and, most of all, the power of music.

This book absolutely blew me away. I finished this quite a while ago and still can't stop thinking about it. The characters were lovely, the story was intricate yet easy to follow, the trauma was real, and the found family was precious. I cannot wait to dive into the author's next book.

When I read the blurb it did sound quirky. It totally is! The quirkiness of the story is lovely and enjoyable. The novel is a joyous celebration of Asian Americans, queerness, space aliens, music, and yummy food.

But it has a lot going on. In addition to the aforementioned themes, Aoki tackles weightier topics like racism, transphobia, self-harm, rape, and abuse, and Light From Uncommon Stars suffers for the too-busy plot. Aoki is unable to devote adequate time and attention to these aspects of the story, resulting in a weak, thinly-stretched narrative and flat characters with minimal growth.

This book was sweet and strange, but ultimately felt a little underbaked (donut-related pun unintended). The characters were fun and complicated, with Katrina Nguyen as an earnest and lovable protagonist. There's some interesting moral relativism and genre bending, too. But overall, things felt a bit thrown together. I will be curious about Aoki's next novel regardless!

'Light From Uncommon Stars' by Ryka Aoki is a book about an unusual donut shop and an even more unusual violin teacher.

Katrina Nguyen a transgender violin player finds a new teacher in a park, but has no idea how strange her new teacher is. It turns out that her teacher, Shizuka Satomi, has a deal with hell and is looking for her last student to complete her contract. Add in a donut-shaped donut shop full of refugee space aliens, and you have an idea of the story. Maybe.

It's a pretty disjointed read with too many disparate story elements for me. It does all come together in the end, but I wanted most story and less trope gimmicks.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I really enjoyed this odd, captivating novel. I was rooting for the characters and intrigued by the world. I wasn't sure what to expect but I really got into the story. It was a joy to read and one I keep thinking about even after finishing. For fans of Becky Chambers, Hank Green, and more.

A sci-fi fantasy mashup ("science fantasy," anyone?) that was more delightfully weird than I imagined! It's like "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," but missed his stop and ended up in California's San Gabriel Valley where he ran into a donut shop (as one does) and found himself in the middle of a space opera. Plus: a transgender musical prodigy who is a struggling runaway, a violin virtuoso who is harvesting souls to reclaim her own, an interstellar refugee family whose matriarch must make some galactically difficult decisions. the fate of sentient AI, and so much food and music and craft and more.

My main quibble is that the science fiction side of things felt slightly contrived, like a convenient plot device rather than a well-developed element. But there was *a lot* going on, so I understand the need to keep some things streamlined. And even with that flaw, I love a genre-bender and this was a great one.

A genre-bending novel that involves both aliens and a deal with the devil. It is also a tender queer romance that deals primarily with both the immigrant experience and the transgender experience. Peeling back the layers of this story reveals new surprises and painful truths. But it is tender at the core - full of heart and magic. This is a story that explores art and creativity in vivid and compelling ways, while acknowledging how much of the self goes into creation. There are many ways we create our own stories, our own identities, and Light From Uncommon Stars explores that beautifully.

As many reviewers have said before me, this was quite the odd read. Not in a bad way, but definitely a departure from the Sci-Fi "norm". I don't believe my library would purchase many copies of this title because it doesn't fit the standard structure, but I do think it's worth a read.

Pacing could have been better during the "action"/climax portions of the book, but overall an enjoyable way to spend a read.

If you pitch a book to me as being a blend of Good Omens and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, you just know I'm going to read it, right? Enter Light From Uncommon Stars, written by Ryka Aoki.

Making a deal with the devil is a tale as old as time. For most people, this saying is a metaphor at best. For Shizuka Satomi, it is very much the literal truth. She made a bargain with the devil: her soul in exchange for seven others.

Unfortunately, the deal is a bit more particular than that. It stipulates that she might provide seven violin prodigies, a feat easier said than done. Right as Shizuka was about to finally reach her goal and seal the deal on the seventh, a distraction by the name of Lan Tran enters the scene.

“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.”

Light From Uncommon Stars was such an atmospheric and lovely read; words almost fail to describe it. This is my first novel by Ryka Aoki, and guys – I am absolutely in love. Consider this author added my 'auto read' list.

This novel gets a lot of love from me, as one main character is a transgender WoC, and the other two are sapphic WoC. Plus, the story is so beautifully human, despite the obviously very alien (literally) elements.

What really put me over the edge into loving this book had to be Aoki's writing. My goodness, it's stunning! Every sentence was so evocative and carefully thought out; you could practically feel the words resounding in your heart. I loved every minute of it.

Light From Uncommon Stars is one of the years most talked about sci-fi releases and for good reason. Full of love and joy and magic and wonder, this tale is a force unto itself. It's a story that needs to be read and loved and it is easy to love at that.

A fun and fast moving romp with humans and visitors from other galaxies. Throw in a same sex romance, a musical prodigy, a soul selling pact with Satan and a funky donut shop and you have an interesting, heart warming read. Recommended for those that enjoy stories from other dimensions with unorthodox characters.

This book was absolutely beautiful and hopeful. It was totally unique and I was excited to recommend it to sci fi readers and queer readers. It felt very genuine and wasn't afraid to shy away from dark issues despite containing a message of hope. I think the POV switching was a bit abrupt sometimes but not enough to ruin my enjoyment.