Diving into the tough subjects, Aoki's book emerges with a joyful, queer, radical ballad of a story.”- Booklist, starred review “Aoki's novel is an exciting, wild web of an adventure, an unputdownable book about music, found family, and identity.

“Filled with mouthwatering descriptions of food and heart-swelling meditations on music, this novel is an unexpected gift.”- Kirkus, starred review and bursts with love and insights on food, music, inheritance and transformation.”- The New York Times And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.Īs 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. 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. She's found her final candidate.īut 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. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. New York Public Library Top 10 Book of 2021Ī Barnes & Noble Best Science Fiction Book of 2021 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.

Light from uncommon stars reviews