Light from Uncommon Stars

This book is a combination of a serious coming-of-age / YA novel about a transgender teen girl escaping an abusive family, a star trek parody, and a comedic judeo-christian-urban fantasy along the lines of Good Omens.

The coming-of-age parts are quite touching, although the protagonist is meant to be so extraordinarily talented, it requires a fair amount of disbelief to be suspended.

The soft-sci-fi aspects are amusing, with echos of Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, and some attempt at something more serious (the "Endplague") which didn't quite engage me.

The silly-Hell plot points work better with the YA part of the book than the scifi. The climactic battle between the forces of Hell and the Good Aliens is a bit perfunctory.

I didn't find this addressed issues on the same scale that the Becky Chambers books it is often compared with, although it dives into more depth on the specific trials of transgender teens. I guess it feels a bit more like a diary and less like extrapolation.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the Asian-American-Experience aspect of the book, which is interesting, although mainly manifests through loving discussion of food. I would not know how people feel about being referred to as "Asian" in the USA, but it seems to be an identity claimed by people in the book. It is interesting that the love interest of the Asian-American violin teacher is a space alien, but a space alien who looks Vietnamese (yes, the boat-people metaphor is a bit obvious).