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kira_apple's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Homophobia
piratenami's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Suicide, Violence, Genocide, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Transphobia, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
azrah786's review against another edition
3.5
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, injury, murder, death, death of parent (off page), suicidal ideation, suicide, war, genocide, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, xenophobia, ableism, sexual assault, rape (off page), pregnancy, child abuse, radicalisation, gaslighting, confinement
--
Some Desperate Glory is a fast paced, action packed sci-fi that will keep you on your toes.
The story revolves around Kyr, a young super soldier who has been brought up on Gaea Station as part of a militarised fascist cult, a group determined to avenge humanity from the Majoda - aliens who obliterated Earth with the help of a reality bending technology known as the Wisdom. However, when it comes to being assigned a division to serve in Kyr is allocated to Nursery, where she is expected to bear children, and her brother is sent on a mission to certain death. Less than pleased with her fate Kyr sets off to save her brother instead and to claim her higher purpose in the war against the Majoda. What she doesn’t expect is the reality check she gets along the way.
One of the big selling points about this book is that it is labelled as a queer space opera. Some things you should know going in is that yes the MC (and a few of the supporting cast) identify as queer but there is not much in terms of romance in this book. There is very little. In fact with characters who are so rigorously indoctrinated as part of a patriarchal community there are a lot of disparaging attitudes towards anyone who identifies as queer in the story and the MC’s journey has a lot to do with unlearning her brainwashing and coming to terms with her own identity. On that note there are A LOT of heavy topics so please take care when picking this one up and definitely check the content warnings before doing so.
The various characters in the book are all pretty morally ambiguous but the single POV narrative means we mainly get accustomed with Kyr and she is not a likable protagonist at all. Her age and mannerisms make the book have a YA feel to it which again is not what you would expect going in so this might be off putting for some people. Her journey and development over the course of the book are in some way inspiring and make you warm towards her a little but I’m not sure I totally liked her by the end either. Her saving grace in a sense and what allowed me to put up with her was how much she actually cared for her brother. I'd definitely give Tesh credit for character relationships throughout this book because they were an interesting mix and written and developed quite well.
What I also really like were the little snippets from text/books that we got at the beginning of each part fleshing out the history and philosophy surrounding everything occurring in the book. Plus I always love seeing different interpretations on reality bending / subrealities / alternate timelines and Tesh’s take on it was pretty cool. Otherwise I have to say the worldbuilding does come across as a little simplistic.
This is an edge of your seat type of read where a lot is happening. The plot itself is simple but it’s the type of sci-fi where everything is storming on ahead and by the time you register what they mean some new twist gets thrown in. Sometimes this makes for the best sci-fi, other times this can be quite frustrating. I’d say for the most part this book falls into the former however, I did get lost by some parts when it came to the reality changing / Shadowspace technology. It is never fully explained so didn’t feel even slightly credible.
The last thing that I do want to point out is a very questionable moment which occurs towards the end of the book which I really don’t think was necessary - Rebecca Roanhorse’s review touches on it here – and this made me knock off another half star.
But all in all this was an extremely engaging story about indoctrination and survival that despite not being particularly ground-breaking was an entertaining read all the same.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
**I received a proof copy from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, injury, murder, death, death of parent (off page), suicidal ideation, suicide, war, genocide, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, xenophobia, ableism, sexual assault, rape (off page), pregnancy, child abuse, radicalisation, gaslighting, confinement
--
Some Desperate Glory is a fast paced, action packed sci-fi that will keep you on your toes.
The story revolves around Kyr, a young super soldier who has been brought up on Gaea Station as part of a militarised fascist cult, a group determined to avenge humanity from the Majoda - aliens who obliterated Earth with the help of a reality bending technology known as the Wisdom. However, when it comes to being assigned a division to serve in Kyr is allocated to Nursery, where she is expected to bear children, and her brother is sent on a mission to certain death. Less than pleased with her fate Kyr sets off to save her brother instead and to claim her higher purpose in the war against the Majoda. What she doesn’t expect is the reality check she gets along the way.
One of the big selling points about this book is that it is labelled as a queer space opera. Some things you should know going in is that yes the MC (and a few of the supporting cast) identify as queer but there is not much in terms of romance in this book. There is very little. In fact with characters who are so rigorously indoctrinated as part of a patriarchal community there are a lot of disparaging attitudes towards anyone who identifies as queer in the story and the MC’s journey has a lot to do with unlearning her brainwashing and coming to terms with her own identity. On that note there are A LOT of heavy topics so please take care when picking this one up and definitely check the content warnings before doing so.
The various characters in the book are all pretty morally ambiguous but the single POV narrative means we mainly get accustomed with Kyr and she is not a likable protagonist at all. Her age and mannerisms make the book have a YA feel to it which again is not what you would expect going in so this might be off putting for some people. Her journey and development over the course of the book are in some way inspiring and make you warm towards her a little but I’m not sure I totally liked her by the end either. Her saving grace in a sense and what allowed me to put up with her was how much she actually cared for her brother. I'd definitely give Tesh credit for character relationships throughout this book because they were an interesting mix and written and developed quite well.
What I also really like were the little snippets from text/books that we got at the beginning of each part fleshing out the history and philosophy surrounding everything occurring in the book. Plus I always love seeing different interpretations on reality bending / subrealities / alternate timelines and Tesh’s take on it was pretty cool. Otherwise I have to say the worldbuilding does come across as a little simplistic.
This is an edge of your seat type of read where a lot is happening. The plot itself is simple but it’s the type of sci-fi where everything is storming on ahead and by the time you register what they mean some new twist gets thrown in. Sometimes this makes for the best sci-fi, other times this can be quite frustrating. I’d say for the most part this book falls into the former however, I did get lost by some parts when it came to the reality changing / Shadowspace technology. It is never fully explained so didn’t feel even slightly credible.
The last thing that I do want to point out is a very questionable moment which occurs towards the end of the book which I really don’t think was necessary - Rebecca Roanhorse’s review touches on it here – and this made me knock off another half star.
But all in all this was an extremely engaging story about indoctrination and survival that despite not being particularly ground-breaking was an entertaining read all the same.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Death, Suicide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Sexism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Ableism, War, and Child abuse
Moderate: Gaslighting, Confinement, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Rape, and Pregnancy
orangegroves's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, War, and Suicide
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
musingsonliving's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
2.0
Some Desperate Glory is a slow-burn space opera with a nice found family vibe that follows Kyr a young soldier raised on Gaea Station who has trained her whole life to avenge the murder of planet Earth. While it tries to tackle some very serious issues it addresses them by having the main characters actually be racist, homophobic, xenophobic and more, with the idea that by the end of the book the MC recognises that this way of thinking is wrong. Unfortunately, the depth and sensitivity it needed to pull this off were lacking so the characters are often offensive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Xenophobia
ezwolf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Kyr is a teenager born to fight for humanity after Earth is destroyed by The Wisdom and she has the training scores to prove it. When she's assigned to the Nursery and sends her twin brother on a mission meant to kill him, she breaks the rules and goes after him. Venturing to a planet inhabited by "traitor" humans, Kyr begins to learn that maybe everything she's learned is not the whole truth.
This book brings up a lot of great topics, the faults of humanity in the future, as well as currently. Gaea is everything you would expect from a society that's almost entirely white and able bodied, xenophobic, homophobic, and forces its women to be pregnant for years and years. Of course, this is why Kyr starts off being immensely unlikeable, but she does grow and learn to realize how narrow minded her thinking was and at one point even recognizes that even though she has made progress, she still holds internal biases.
But this is getting a solid 4 stars from me because I could not stand Kyr for a good chunk of the book. I know that was part of the plot and Kyr had to realize that Gaea was brainwashing everyone, but I was never endeared to her. I wanted her to succeed because no one should grow up the way Kyr did but I didn't particularly care about anyone other Yiso, I didn't like any of the characters other than them.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
This book brings up a lot of great topics, the faults of humanity in the future, as well as currently. Gaea is everything you would expect from a society that's almost entirely white and able bodied, xenophobic, homophobic, and forces its women to be pregnant for years and years. Of course, this is why Kyr starts off being immensely unlikeable, but she does grow and learn to realize how narrow minded her thinking was and at one point even recognizes that even though she has made progress, she still holds internal biases.
But this is getting a solid 4 stars from me because I could not stand Kyr for a good chunk of the book. I know that was part of the plot and Kyr had to realize that Gaea was brainwashing everyone, but I was never endeared to her. I wanted her to succeed because no one should grow up the way Kyr did but I didn't particularly care about anyone other Yiso, I didn't like any of the characters other than them.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Homophobia, Grief, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, War, Blood, Death, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Torture
Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Abortion, Death of parent, Racism, Rape, and Pregnancy
enchantressreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have a few thoughts about this book, but I will start off by saying that I loved the writing in this book. Any issues that I have are not with the writing, but the plot itself. I need to read more of Emily Tesh’s work!
There are a lot of things about Some Desperate Glory that I was excited about: a space colony with cult vibes, girl friendship, fun family dynamics, and a redemption arc.
I was not a huge fan of Kyr in this book, and I know that it was purposeful and because of indoctrination, but I couldn’t get myself to look past it. I felt bad for everyone around her, and even though she realized the reality of her situation, I don’t think she got any better. She never really apologized for anything.
The time traveling, multiverse part of the story was surprising to me, but it took me out of the story when, about 1/3 through, it started all over. And then once again, about 2/3 in. I did like the idea of it, but didn’t really vibe with how it ended up. And queer space opera? No, that’s not quite right.
I know there’s a few criticisms, but I do recommend this book to my science fiction lovers. Some may love it more than I did, and I always recommend stories like this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the chance to read this advanced review copy.
CW for suicide, violence, child abuse, murder, genocide, blood, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, racism, bullying, sexual assault, rape (implied, not on page), suicidal thoughts, and ableism
There are a lot of things about Some Desperate Glory that I was excited about: a space colony with cult vibes, girl friendship, fun family dynamics, and a redemption arc.
I was not a huge fan of Kyr in this book, and I know that it was purposeful and because of indoctrination, but I couldn’t get myself to look past it. I felt bad for everyone around her, and even though she realized the reality of her situation, I don’t think she got any better. She never really apologized for anything.
The time traveling, multiverse part of the story was surprising to me, but it took me out of the story when, about 1/3 through, it started all over. And then once again, about 2/3 in. I did like the idea of it, but didn’t really vibe with how it ended up. And queer space opera? No, that’s not quite right.
I know there’s a few criticisms, but I do recommend this book to my science fiction lovers. Some may love it more than I did, and I always recommend stories like this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the chance to read this advanced review copy.
CW for suicide, violence, child abuse, murder, genocide, blood, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, racism, bullying, sexual assault, rape (implied, not on page), suicidal thoughts, and ableism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, and Child abuse
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Sexism
Minor: Ableism
wanderonwards's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to Macmillan/Tordotcom for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions.
Some Desperate Glory was one of my anticipated releases this year. This was a story I had trouble putting down: every time I thought I knew where the plot was going to go the story would veer off in a completely unexpected direction. While the plot choices were completely unexpected for me, and some of them could have used more development, most of them grew on me and I’m glad the plot followed the path it did. The world outside the society Kyr was brought up in has a lot of potential to be further explored, and my favorite parts of the novel were the ones when she wasn’t on Gaea Station (but, to be fair, I don’t enjoy reading about cults that much).
I was hoping this would be an outstanding read for me, but there were several things that prevented this novel from being 5 stars. First, I was rooting for Kyr’s society to implode from the first chapter and that satisfying payoff I was looking forward to didn’t really start to happen until the final part of the novel. Some readers might enjoy this build up, but for me the delay was disappointing. Without spoiling parts of the plot, I was hoping Kyr’s society would have greater chunks in its foundation chipped away with each of the novel’s parts. Second, Kyr was so unlikable to me for so much of the story. While she did end up growing on me, there was some explicit homophobia, transphobia, and racism expressed through her lens as the main character that I don’t think was ever properly addressed. I think you can share the nastiness of a cult society without the main character explicitly sharing and reinforcing its beliefs throughout the story. Finally, I felt this story didn’t end in quite the place it should have. There was one major part I felt was left unresolved, and even one more page of text could have wrapped things up in a way that was satisfactory for me.
While this novel didn’t quite meet what I hoped it would, I would be interested in trying more from this author in the future. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Genocide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: War, Sexual harassment, Rape, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Violence
aliteraryescape's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Homophobia, War, and Xenophobia
sunbirdbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A truly excellently crafted novel of truth and consequence that analyzes fascist indoctrination and grey-morality; I would've rated higher but I'm not personally a big fan of unlikeable narrators. However, I think the intimate perspective on a product of this reality is honestly a plus structurally. Softer sci-fi but not too hand-wavey, I suspect I'll enjoy it more on a second read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Ableism, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Genocide
Moderate: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Colonisation