Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

44 reviews

avacadosocks's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Death, Sexism, and Transphobia

Minor: Genocide, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

brekaboujie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

This book was SO GOOD. Another point to add to my mental list of "why do I bother reading sci fi by men, women do it so much better". This is a great combination of flawed and interesting characters, extreme high stakes, wonderful twists and turns, great pacing, and a really clear idea from the author of what they wanted to get out of this story. The whole premise of Gaea and our introduction to a terribly biased narrator was brilliant. I had such a sinking feeling through the beginning of the book and going on that journey of discovery with the main character was GREAT, it was so tense and emotional and interesting. 

It was also super immersive - I was completely sucked into this world and every scene and section felt necessary and useful to the plot (seems a low bar but honestly such a relief after my recent reads which were not like that at all), and I loved how everything kept falling into place perfectly set up from the previous scenes and knowledge I'd been given. 

Also the end !!!!!!!!!! Heck yeah. Solid ending. Love a good ending. 

Final point - it's quite an intense book, and the version I read had content warnings at the beginning which was cool. I will say that everything was done really sensitively and well - very little explicit showing of the nasty content warnings, much more themed and just general knowledge of things Just Being Like That. It did remind me a bit of The Handmaid's Tale thematically, but imagine that's a side plot and it's not quite as bad and also they're in space and have guns. So nothing like it really. But regardless, there was a point towards the end of this bookwhere in my mind I literally went WOMEN YES WOMEN THE CONNECTION OF UNIVERSAL SUFFERING !!!!! So enjoy that moment if you read this. Great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, War, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Genocide

Minor: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Abortion, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

A lot of heavy themes but all dealt with sensitively! There is one scene where somone

shoots themselves in the head in front of the main character. This is sudden, and there is a description after of the image of the death. However, they move on quite quickly in the book and (bigger spoiler here on the actual plot) that person doesn't stay dead.

The rape tag is not explicit, people just talk about how that probably was what happened to someone in the past, and it goes hand in hand with the pregnancy tag, which the author calls "forced pregnancy" in their content warnings. This again isn't explicit, it just is accepted as normal in their society and only questioned fully towards the middle and end.

hanz's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Transphobia, Genocide, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Ableism, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Abortion

exaal's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Xenophobia

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual harassment, Grief, Death of parent, Child death, Misogyny, Gun violence, and Pedophilia

Minor: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, and Physical abuse

crownoflaurel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia and War

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Outing, and Rape

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Hate crime, Ableism, War, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Genocide, Misogyny, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Pregnancy, and Rape

forthe_girlwhowaited's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Genocide, and Suicide

rowans_revenge's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Absolutely amazing. Emily Tesh crafts a compelling space opera that serves as an allegory for modern warfare. This is a truly unique and well written book, and though it was a little dense at times, I can’t wait to read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Pregnancy, War, Sexism, and Racism

brindlecat's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Xenophobia

Moderate: Homophobia, War, Sexism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Grief, Death, Xenophobia, Cursing, Violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Genocide, Rape, and Pregnancy

Minor: Police brutality, Racism, Incest, Abortion, and Outing