Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Some Desperate Glory

SECOND READTHROUGH, 2024: Man, this book still slaps.

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Where to start with this review? I loved this book a lot. There are a number of content warnings so if you have triggers you should make sure to check them out.

Following the destruction of Earth, the last scraps of humanity have gone to live on Gaea, a space station that is barely self-sustaining. Kyr has grown up on this station, trained since birth to be an obedient solider, bent on fighting for humanity against the aliens who have destroyed the planet. Gaea is a radicalized, fascist society, and the novel follows Kyr as she slowly becomes deradicalized.

This book was great. The characters were all fantastic. It's really easy to hate Kyr. It's really easy to hate a lot of the characters. The process of unlearning all the things they've been taught is long and it's not easy.

I found that the ending got a little overambitious with some of the things that it wanted to tackle; it lost some of the nuance that makes up the first 3/4ths of the book. Regardless of that though, I still found this to be nearly a five star read. The characters were fantastic, with lots of depth and nuance and so, so many flaws. The prose was great, and I found a lot of the descriptions to be very cinematic. The plot kept me hooked; I didn't want to put down this book the times that I had to.

There are definitely flaws with this story, but none of them really took away my enjoyment for the novel as a whole.

Content Warnings

gondorgirl's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

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adancewithbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

After having read the authors Novella duology I was excited but also hesitant for this full novel. Because a fantasy novella is quite a different thing than a full novel science fiction story. And I didn't love it. Right away.

The thing about Some Desperate Glory is that you aren't going to like the characters, especially our main character Kyr. She was raised to be a facist, radicalized. It was the only view she knew and she never questioned it. There was no room. It isn't until her brother dissapears and she doesn't get the assignment she wants (breeding factory instead of soldier) that there is slight room for critique.

Kyr spends this book trying to unlearn everything she has been raised to believe and it takes quite a few different realities for her to be able to discard some of that. The saving of the universe is just a backdrop to that. It shows an interesting look at how internalized some of those teachings can be and how hard it can be to realize, analyze and then actually do something about it. The mind is a funny thing. It also deals with all kinds of abuse and suicide. In that way it can be a hard book to read.

'The wisdom was a transtemporal and pandimensional intelligence capable of shaping the fates of trillions. I am a pleasure yacht.
"Seriously?"
I intend to experiment with unseriousness. I am finally of a size appropiate for levity.'

That doesn't mean it is all seriously. There is a whole lot of bonding between the characters and room for some humor as well. And that created a whole book that I ended up loving for a variety of reasons.

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alexalala's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Wow. I was blown away by this book!

Kyr has trained her entire life to avenge Earth's destruction aboard Gaea station with her mess, the Sparrows. She expects to be placed in a fighting wing, but instead is placed in Nursery to bear humanity's future children. Shocked, and a little disillusioned, Kyr takes destiny into her own hands, stealing a ship with a captive alien and another Gaean. What follows is a heartwrenching tale through space, time, and different dimensions.

Everything about this book was incredible. Kyr goes through grief, disillusionment, and grapples with understanding who the "good" guys are, if there are any. This book explores what it means to be sentient, empathetic, what family is, and how to stand up for what's right. This book is also very heavy, as it deals with ideas such as indoctrination, eugenics, mass murder, cult-like communities, abusers, suicide, and the literal weight of the world. All was very well handled, with grace and empathy. It asks many questions about ethics, morality, and relationships.

It also featured many different types of relationships throughout contexts - whether it be familial, abuser/abusee, romantic, friendship, or interspecies. The characters were extremely complex, all wrapped up in their own biases and background while trying to make sense of the truth around them. In particular, Kyr grows immensely throughout the book,

from a brainwashed cadet incapable of empathy to a kind, empathetic person who critically thinks through her actions and those of others.

Yiso is also particularly well done, changing through different dimensions and even becoming a little morally grey.

Though the beginning was a bit slow, it sped up quickly and alternated between medium and fast-paced. It was a very entertaining read, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and felt extremely emotional by the end. The prose was beautiful but very readable, and I never felt like it was going over my head, nor that it was a simplistic read for the beach (though I did read this on the beach successfully since I couldn't put it down). The plot had many twists and turns, but they felt very earned and added to the plot, rather than being for shock value. Each plot point had a purpose for the overall plot and message of the book.

Overall, this was an incredible book that will definitely make my best book of the year list.

You will like this if you like: space operas, multiple dimensions, aliens, sci-fi, cults, strong emotions, heartbreaking conflict, and complicated characters.

Content Warnings

sunbirdbooks's review against another edition

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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

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