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deedireads's review against another edition
- 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
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!
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Rape
italapas's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and War
This does refer to forced pregnancy and implied infanticide. It's not a large part of the book, but is definitely there.sidneyellwood's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Genocide and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, and War
trips's review against another edition
- 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 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.
Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual violence
elee2013's review
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Phobia towards genderqueer/nongendered peopleddclarke's review against another edition
- 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
... 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.
Graphic: Biphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, and Gaslighting
sincetheflood's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
avacadosocks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Violence
Minor: Genocide, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
srolniak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicide, Xenophobia, and War
emily_mh's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Major: queer used as a slur 6 times, loss of a loved one, bioessentialism, eugenics, misgendering Minor: suicide ideation