DNF - PG 34
Why?
Look, I had been interested in the title several times but then read the synopsis and immediately knew it was not the book for me. Then the absolute waste of my money that is Just the Right Book decided that this was ‘just the right book' for me and ....
Okay. First of all, not really a fan of contemporary, earth bound sci-fi or fantasy. Which this is. Combining sci-fi and fantasy can be a mixed bag. This does.
The line breaks are serious annoying. I just opened this book up to a random page in the middle (190 and 191 in my paperback copy) and there are five line breaks on those two pages - only one of which has the ‘***' that indicates a point of view shift.
There are usually multiple line breaks every page. Chapter one is five pages long and it has seven line breaks including one that is for a POV shift. Chapter two has this scene as the entirety of the story between line breaks:
‘But if this wasn't the right student, either?Soon the kitchen filled with the gentle aroma of the simmering soup. Astrid dropped the heat to low, so it would be ready when Miss Satomi returned.And then Astrid waited. For now, that was all that she could do.‘
...
I kid you not. This section deserves its own line break before and after.
The shortest line break I came across in the part I actually read was all of three lines for a total of fourteen words. This book needs to be reformatted in the worst way.
Shizuka Satomi is immediately unsympathetic and, ostensibly, our main character. (That likely gets everything she ever wanted and the romance to boot.) Because she is selling the souls of young musicians to the devil. No. Literally. It's an interesting concept. I don't see how that can be made sympathetic and someone you actually root for to succeed.
But the real reason I quit reading this book is because I went searching to see if anyone else agreed with me that Shizuka was unsympathetic and was instead treated to new information.
The one friend that Katrina can call on to live with when she runs from her parents? Just casually rapes her, says it's for rent. [According to: https://www.reddit.com/r/romancelandia/comments/u9uovr/light_from_uncommon_stars_please_dont/]
There are many, many places that give Content/Trigger Warnings on this book that look like this:
This book contains references to and depictions of sexual assault and rape, verbal and physical abuse, suicidal ideation, drug use, and violence. It explores themes surrounding LGBTQ+ identities and features verbal abuse and slurs directed toward trans women and lesbians. It also depicts prejudice toward immigrants and people of color, particularly those of Asian descent.
And this:
Transphobia; parental and familial abuse, including mental, physical, and sexual; rape and sexual assault; depiction of consensual and non-consensual sex work; racism; mentions of self-harm and suicide.
I don't want to read this. I don't have a grand reason - and I don't need to, other than the fact that I don't enjoy reading books with this kind of content. You might say that this is important stuff to have in a book, but I've heard that Katrina's whole story is torture porn. I don't know.
I do know that I'm not enjoying the book, I don't like the content that has been tagged as needing a warning, and I don't need to have a reason for DNFing a book beyond I am not enjoying it.
I am not enjoying it.