Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki

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⭐ 7.5/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

This was a wildly original and inventive novel with beautiful writing that I unfortunately never really connected with. Shizuka is a violin teacher who promised to sell seven souls to the devil to eventually save her own, and she's found her seventh student, a trans girl with no training. She also meets a doughnut shop lady who is an alien refugee.(?!)

This book revolves around music and belonging, and the portrayal of the trans experience was poignant and heart-breaking. It was also just so weird, but I appreciate that in a book. The necessity of music and how it can change lives was really big in this book, and that's possibly why I never quite connected with it - I like music an average amount, but I'm in no way a musician and can't understand that need to create it and master it.

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