Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

42 reviews

alyxbeau's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I don't rate this lowly because it is a bad book, but because I did not enjoy it. This does not mean you will not! Especially if you enjoy books with huge political/social commentary as part of the messaging. I personally do not look for messaging when picking books to read. I get enough from social media and friends/family. This becomes a detractor for me when what i am looking for is an escape. 

I also dont enjoy most sci-fi. This is absolutely that. 

The rest of my review I feel should be in spoiler tags. Read at your own risk. 

The book did not go where I thought it would, and ulimately that is the only thing that kept me from DNFing at 40ish percent. However, it didnt lean into the redo over and over scheme enough for me to have enjoyed it. I really should have quit at 20 percent in when I was just uncomfortable listening to the brainwashed Kyr. She never does become entirely likable. 
The book covers a lot of massively disturbing concepts- and it covers them from the mind of a blindly accepting cult. Its VASTLY unnerving and uncomfortable. Eugenics, Child/adult relationships and assault of minors, forced childbearing, militant control and brainwashing. Truly heinous. 

I do not reccomend this  book to people who read for enjoyment only. This book is meant to be critiqued, not pleasantly enjoyed in an evening or two. You will walk away disturbed chapter after chapter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and War

sadhbh2525's review

adventurous dark 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: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Pregnancy

dejahentendu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow! What a first novel. I was obsessed with this book,  grabbing it to read every moment I had to spare. I'm generally not that interested in war stories any longer, but this was so much more. I don't want to give away too much, but it was rich and full and had varied and realistic reactions to really bad circumstances. This book deserves every iota of attention it's gotten.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

avilareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

One of the best science fiction novels I have ever read. There are some incredible explorations of bio essentialism, imperialism, revenge, and cult mentality in this. One of the strongest points of this novel is the difficult and harrowing process of de-radicalization and the depths of consequence when it comes to cult programming. such an incredible novel!!!! and queer!!! and emotional!!!! i loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

mweld's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The story is interesting but sometimes the slow character development is frustrating. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and War

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

indy_go_go22's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

3.75

The pacing was a little odd. I think this book might have tried to tackle too much in too few pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and War

ceruleanseas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

valjeanval's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I ended up pretty mixed on this one. At first, I was really bored. The lawful neutral protagonist who can't get a clue in a dystopia that just didn't make any sense.

You want the human race to survive by both training women for war and also relegating them to a breeding harem? And you are controlled breeding people but also have sex as much as you want with the concubines but being gay is not ok? I see the inspiration in other controlled societies, but this one seemed like it shouldn't have lasted 2 years, especially with a leader as lacking in charisma or skills as Jole.

It feels like the message of the book is a good one, but for me that message superseded the actual writing, and made the story as a whole fall a bit flat for me. It still won the Hugo, and while it wouldn't have been my pick, I see why it got the nomination. The aliens are good, the plot once you're off of Gaea station is intriuging, and the pace is sharp. As a rule though, I just kept coming back to the fact that I didn't really enjoy spending time with any of the characters, and that this was one of the dumber dystopias out there, built more to highlight reality's flaws than because it makes sense for the world-building.

So yeah, I'm going with 4 stars because it was better than a lot of things I give three stars, but overall kind of meh.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cdomonoske's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War