Reviews tagging 'Death'

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

47 reviews

rsb12's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Genocide, Murder, Alcohol, Death of parent, and War

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful reflective tense fast-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

4.75

Not quite 5 stars but sooooooo close. This book was an absolute ride and I adored every moment. There was a bit of a lull in the middle and I got whiplash a few times with all the changes, but ultimately this was a fantastic examination of cult mentality, facism, radicalisation and deconstruction of dangerously right-wing views. Absolutely brilliant. Will be reading more of Emily Tesh's books for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, War, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood

literaryintersections's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My brain ➡️ “idk what tf is going on but I LOVE IT”

Y’all get this book. It’s queer. It’s a SPACE OPERA. It’s violent. Some of the best sci fi I’ve read recently. What are you waiting for????

A few things - I think this book does an amazing job of worldbuilding. You are immediately dropped into an Earth type world but have no clue what is going on. And then you are just along for the ride as Tesh slowly feeds you bit after bit about what happened to Earth, who the aliens are, who the villains are. The twists and turns took me by complete surprise. I can't say more without spoiling but that first shift in the story I literally just put the book down and stared into space. 

Now I loved Kyr. She is truly a horrible character in the beginning because she is brainwashed. BUT, as she learns, as she explores other people and experiences, as she starts to break away from being a cold robot, she becomes so much more. And she gets challenged in her shitty ways. I think Tesh did a great job of giving us a rough character who we ultimately know is terrible and has other characters tell her that she is terrible. It's not just shitty for the sake of shitty. And I loved Cleo. She was prob my favorite character in the entire book besides Yiso. 

There's been a lot of talk about the whole hair part at the end. As a Black person, it didn't bother me. Does it make sense? No. But it didn't take away from the story for me. 

It is also important to note that this is sometimes billed as a "sapphic space opera" and imo that is not correct. Queer? 100%. Sapphic? Not 100% clear. There is an inkling of sapphic romance. There is very much queer relationships. But it is not a romance book. Nor does it even have strong romantic elements. 

Overall I fucking loved this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Violence and Sexual violence

Minor: Sexual harassment

mo345's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Blood, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Grief

Minor: Medical content, Cursing, Alcohol, and Abortion

The xenophobia tag refers to opinions some characters in the book have about aliens.

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Child abuse, Genocide, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Outing, Torture, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexism, Violence, and War

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Plot: 4★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/4.5★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 4.5★
Ending: 4★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, Violence, War, Homophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Gore, Outing, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Racism

Minor: Bullying, Blood, Abortion, and Alcohol

sissix_'s review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

5.0

Holy shit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Suicide, Violence, and War

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, and Ableism

miraclesnow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Suicide, Xenophobia, Violence, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Genocide

Moderate: Colonisation, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Rape and Outing

analenegrace's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This fantastic one-off "social science fiction" captured so many moral dilemmas in it. Kyr as a character was written fantastically, unlikeable, yet the necessary person for this role. Tesh is able to capture what is so dangerous about fascism, fanaticism, and bio-essentialism while also giving the reader a space opera. It captured so many elements of sci-fi that I enjoy. 

The feminism of this book is so important as it takes a character who is a staunch believer in her bio-essentialist community and learns to see the amazingness of the women around her and the women who came before her; especially those who beared children for their community.  

An important line that stood out to me was, “She wasn’t Earth’s child. She was Elora Marston’s and Yingli Lin’s and Ursa’s, and she owed her duty not to some abstract unknown planet but to the women who’d come before her.” 

Often we not only forget the women who came before us, but forget the women around us, forced to live a bio-essentialist life. This book is an important reminder, especially in a post-Roe world, the importance of who we consider when we discuss feminism, intersectionality, and bio-essentialism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, War, Body shaming, Classism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Confinement, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Abortion

ptaradactyl's review

adventurous dark sad 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

3.5

I’m glad we knew up front how unlikable some of the characters are, because it gives you patience. I’m not usually a big

alternate universe and messy timelines

fan, so there were parts of it that just didn’t hold my attention. I wanted more Magnus throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Sexual assault and War