Reviews with content warning for Murder - Some Desperate Glory

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Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

36 reviews

trips's review

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.

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ddclarke's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful 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

4.5

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book when I started. I went in knowing nothing but the back blurb (which felt very trope-heavy and YA focused) and the Hugo nom, and the beginning of the book propped that up...

... but then I couldn't stop reading, and by about halfway through it was clear there was something great happening.

I loved the turning of the tropes, the themes, and all they wonderful grey. I also love that this seems to be a standalone book; while I'd love more from the universe, I hope the characters specifically are let to rest.

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I read this book on a friend’s recommendation and honestly bless her, because it was phenomenal. It’s the kind of story where I had no idea what was going to happen next, and I mean that in the best possible way. Every time I would be like “ah, it’s this trope”, and then pages later Tesh would flip everything on its head. I was sooooo invested and truly hooked by this fresh, original approach.

The plot was not the only mind-blowing thing about the book. It was also packed with existentialism, posing questions such as: what choices in the past lead us to our current reality? Are there certain outcomes which are inevitable in every reality? Who gets to decide what is for the “greater good” - who gets to even DEFINE the “greater good”? I love when books pose these ethical and philosophical questions and then the whole narrative is an exploration of them. Some may be answered, some may be left open, ultimately beyond the scope of the story to answer. But in every case the reader is challenged to consider things they may never have before.

Tesh also tackles extremist indoctrination as a main theme, as MC Kyr (along with most of the SCs), experiences this having grown up on Gaea Station, a military post containing the humans who survived the destruction of Earth and seek revenge from the alien perpetrators. This was heavy to read about. Gaea’s society is founded on eugenics (specifically relating to race and ability), as well as misogyny, sexism, queerphobia, and bioessentialism, and the sexual violence these engender. And Kyr, at the beginning of the book, is the poster child for Gaea. Her character arc is inexplicably wrapped up in deprogramming her indoctrination as she is exposed to the world outside Gaea. It is truly astonishing how much Kyr changes over the course of the novel, and how much she discovers about herself when free from oppressive social constructs. Kyr is by no means perfect at the end of the book, but she also isn’t the same person she was in the first chapter. It is important to note that Tesh as the author always presents the above topics (eugenics, sexual violence) as abhorrent. Even when Kyr doesn’t understand their horrors, you as the reader know that Gaea is deeply, deeply wrong, that Kyr is deeply, deeply wrong, and Tesh does too.

I wouldn’t say this is “found family” like the synopsis proclaims. Every relationship in the book is too complicated and messy and often filled with both love AND hate, to fit neatly into a usually wholesome and straightforward trope. And that’s to this book’s credit. The characters all feel real because none of them can be perfectly squared away into an archetype, their understandably complicated reactions to one another birthed out of the complex situations they find themselves in.

I am so glad my friend recommended this to me and that I decided to give it a go. The only criticisms I can think of right now are that I wish the commentary on eugenics and disability had been made more explicit, and that the ending felt a touch deus ex machina (but maybe that was ironically intentional). Regardless, this book deserved its 5 stars.

Rep: queer MC, queer SCs, Afro-Latina SC

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lcgordon's review

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3.0

Cool premise, bad pacing.

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exaal's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

"Some Desperate Glory" is an exciting tale with many twists and turns. Taking a page out of Ender's Game, this book explores the morality behind warfare, the conscription of child soldiers, xenophobia, and the fate of the human race. With LGBTQ+ undertones, the main character, Kyr, goes through drastic changes in character in this story that spans time and space.

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eyesofcrows's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.75

A pretty good book. I liked a lot of the themes and the slow progression of “frick, I’m the bad guy” that isn’t all together rushed. There were some surprising things and twists that I wasn’t expecting and I actually enjoyed. I wished there was more detail of some of the cultures and surroundings and minute little things, but this is a YA book and I’ll allow it its brevity.

I like how most characters aren’t individual bad or individually good but victims of the cruelty and surroundings they were born with or raised in. That’s vey cool.

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring 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

3.75

Context:

I borrowed Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh from my library through the Libby App.

Review:

Just to get it out of the way: Some Desperate Glory is billed as a “queer space opera,” but that’s not really what this book is. So, if that’s why you picked up the book, you might want to adjust your expectations. In fact, I would recommend letting go of a lot of expectations even as you start the book because the plot takes a giant left turn at around the 30% mark.

That being said, there is a lot about this book that impressed me. Tesh writes the main character, Kyr, as despicable and deeply unlikable at the beginning, but manages to give her a convincing character arc throughout the story. The side characters, too, are well-written and fascinating. The overall plot hooked me, and I found the ending section to be riveting.

One of the biggest issues I have with Some Desperate Glory is the worldbuilding technological mechanism that allows the plot and character development to occur: it’s baffling—nonsensical, even. The more I try to think about how and why such technology might work, the more my brain hurts. The author even admits that it’s nonsensical in the book’s acknowledgments! Furthermore, Tesh uses this fantastical “technology” to create an unnecessary deus ex machina ending. If I didn’t like the core storyline and the characters so much, this flaw would have ruined the book for me.

In terms of the thematic elements of the book, I liked that the book used its (quite dark and disturbing) dystopian elements to condemn fascism, misogyny, homophobia, etc. There are a few missteps here and there—

for example, I found it impossible to root for a character, who, in a slightly different timeline, casually committed mass genocide of trillions of people

—and some lack of nuance as Tesh focuses on developing the story and characters. However, I couldn’t help but cheer on Kyr as she grows as a person and fights to save the world and the people she cares about.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Some Desperate Glory if . . .

· You want to read a story with flawed, complex characters

· You like time travel/multiverse fiction

· You want a gripping sci-fi story that keeps you on the edge of your seat

You might not like Some Desperate Glory if . . .

· You are sensitive to the triggers listed at the beginning of the book—seriously, things get dark!

· You don’t want to read from the perspective of someone who is truly a garbage human being (at least to start)

· You want to read about a lesbian romance (there is little to no romance in this book)

· You hate when science fiction worldbuilding makes no sense

A Similar Book:

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Similarities include:

· A young, genetically engineered protagonist who is trained and groomed to fight in a war between humans and aliens

· Discussions surrounding genetic engineering/eugenics, military propaganda, and genocide

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milliemudd's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

3.25

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toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Really loved this, it kept me on my toes the whole way through and the characters were so interesting and compelling. The audiobook was amazing too, the narrator did a great job with all of the voices. Wonderful.

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minervacerridwen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful 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

I love that this book didn't treat brainwashing as something a character can just as easily shake off. The things Kyr had learned all her life kept returning to haunt her, and I think that's the strength of this book. Action-packed with some shocking turns and interesting worldbuilding, Some Desperate Glory was an impressive rollercoaster.

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