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kirilaw's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Racism, Homophobia, Rape, and Xenophobia
dramaticdoodler's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
5.0
Ingenious plot aside, this book does an incredible job telling a story about manipulation, from the perspective of a young woman in a patriarchal society.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, and Suicide
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Homophobia
eidiya's review against another edition
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, War, Violence, Gun violence, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, Homophobia, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Torture
Threat of forced pregnancy, groomingka_cam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Fans of Le Guin and similar will enjoy this- the world building reminded me of the Hainish cycle but more queer. A lot of reflections on what is humanity, war, redemptive suffering and violence, revenge, and how fascistic militarized groups make meaning out of suffering and grievance to cause more suffering. Was very engaging, page turner. Best not to think too much about the physics!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death of parent, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Abortion, Racism, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Bullying, and Rape
becasaur27's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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
5.0
I generally like to marinate a bit before writing up any sort of "what did you think?" or review of any sort, but I also then forget things and wander away and get distracted and did I even read that book? when? oh yeah? so anyway, yeah, I am not generally as much of a character driven reader - much more of a plot driven reader. This has both, but the character development is pretty impressive, imo. Reminds me a little bit of Scholomance in that regard. I really don't wanna give too much away, so I really won't. I will say that I didn't think the summary/book jacket was a great description for this book. I'd not have read it if I didn't hear about it elsewhere and get intrigued. I will tell you that the main character is very unlikeable at the beginning. Even if you don't like her and don't generally like unlikeable characters, maybe try to stay with it. She has some growth along the way. :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
mellomorissa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, and Suicide
deedireads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
All my reviews live at https://deedireads.com/.
Honestly, I can’t believe Some Desperate Glory wasn’t on my radar until it was nominated for the Hugo, especially with such blurb power (VE Schwab, Tamsyn Muir, Alix Harrow, Shelley Parker-Chan, John Scalzi, and more). But wow am I glad it showed up!!
The book is set in a future where Earth has been destroyed and the last colony of humans lives and trains to exact revenge. The main character, Kyr, is an unlikeable but highly skilled trainee about to receive her official placement — until that placement goes wrong and everything she thought she knew gets turned on its head.
This is one hell of a story. It especially picks up halfway — I think I literally said “whaaaaat!” out loud in a room all by myself. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book about what is essentially an awakening from brainwashing, but it does set up a lot of exploration of important themes like racism, homophobia, sexism, suicide, and eugenics. In fact I’d almost say it’s a little heavy handed on some of this stuff, but in a forgivable way.
The audiobook performance was also good, but because there’s a decent amount of worldbuilding, I’d recommend starting the book in print and switching to audio once you’ve got a handle on things (or listening as you read along).
I could definitely see this winning the Hugo!
Honestly, I can’t believe Some Desperate Glory wasn’t on my radar until it was nominated for the Hugo, especially with such blurb power (VE Schwab, Tamsyn Muir, Alix Harrow, Shelley Parker-Chan, John Scalzi, and more). But wow am I glad it showed up!!
The book is set in a future where Earth has been destroyed and the last colony of humans lives and trains to exact revenge. The main character, Kyr, is an unlikeable but highly skilled trainee about to receive her official placement — until that placement goes wrong and everything she thought she knew gets turned on its head.
This is one hell of a story. It especially picks up halfway — I think I literally said “whaaaaat!” out loud in a room all by myself. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book about what is essentially an awakening from brainwashing, but it does set up a lot of exploration of important themes like racism, homophobia, sexism, suicide, and eugenics. In fact I’d almost say it’s a little heavy handed on some of this stuff, but in a forgivable way.
The audiobook performance was also good, but because there’s a decent amount of worldbuilding, I’d recommend starting the book in print and switching to audio once you’ve got a handle on things (or listening as you read along).
I could definitely see this winning the Hugo!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Suicide, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Rape
sidneyellwood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Sexual violence, War, and Suicide
nerp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
WOW. Wow. WOW!!! I thought I knew what this book was going to be—a sci-fi “I escaped a cult” reprogramming, like Adora escaping the Hoard but not having the princesses to run to. But that barely scratches the surface of Kyr’s character and journey. I love that this is a standalone and that there’s so much hope in what seems like a hopeless world. We’re in a blessed age of spec fic!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Violence, War, Genocide, and Confinement
Minor: Rape
trips's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is tough to write about, on one hand I do applaud the author for trying to write something that is rather nuanced and complex as this story. But on the other hand, I have to cut the applause short because I think the author took on a little too much and maybe should have stuck to 1 or 2 of the conversations it was trying to have.
This book at its core is a "Huckleberry Finn"-like book. The MC however, is pretty insufferable for the first half of the book. More than just being an ignorant product of her upbringing, Valkyr is a huge bully and is genuinely mean to almost everyone she speaks with. She has dashes of homophobia and racism at the beginning as well. She needed a BIG arc showing her reconciling with herself as her world is blown wide-open but...she doesn't really get it because the playing field changes so often and so quickly in the 2nd half of the book.
I could really tell this book was trying to be a little bit like...Enders Game for children, but it just didn't entirely work.
A lot of the action was quite interesting but ultimately at the end, I felt like the characters needed more onscreen growth rather than split decisions to do the right thing...shrug.
This book at its core is a "Huckleberry Finn"-like book. The MC however, is pretty insufferable for the first half of the book. More than just being an ignorant product of her upbringing, Valkyr is a huge bully and is genuinely mean to almost everyone she speaks with. She has dashes of homophobia and racism at the beginning as well. She needed a BIG arc showing her reconciling with herself as her world is blown wide-open but...she doesn't really get it because the playing field changes so often and so quickly in the 2nd half of the book.
I could really tell this book was trying to be a little bit like...Enders Game for children, but it just didn't entirely work.
A lot of the action was quite interesting but ultimately at the end, I felt like the characters needed more onscreen growth rather than split decisions to do the right thing...shrug.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual violence