Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this ARC.

Light From Uncommon Stars is an emotional, unique, character driven SFF with found family and strong themes of survival, motherhood, and sacrifice. Over the course of several months, the reader wonders if Shizuka will surrender Katrina’s soul, and if Shizuka and Lan will grow to love one another.
I knew I’d love this from the moment I saw that one of the main characters is known as The Queen of Hell. The food descriptions will make you hungry! I love how Katrina’s character trajectory is handled, especially her eventual sisterhood with Shirley. These characters felt so real. The neighborhood felt like it’s own character, due to the care given to explaining how the neighborhood has changed over the years, with restaurants, businesses, and trends. I found the conclusion to be immensely satisfying. 
The e-reader format complimented the pacing, in that the pauses in chapters or shifts in scenes were easy to follow, and kept things moving quickly.
Ryka Aoki is definitely a writer to follow.