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kirilaw's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Racism, Homophobia, Rape, and Xenophobia
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: Transphobia, Suicide, Homophobia, 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, Misogyny, Sexism, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia
This does refer to forced pregnancy and implied infanticide. It's not a large part of the book, but is definitely there.nerp's review
- 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
Moderate: Suicide, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Violence, War, Genocide, and Confinement
Minor: Rape
ddclarke'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, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Sexism, Murder, Suicide, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Genocide
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Rape
wreathedinviolets's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Genocide, Sexual harassment, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death, Cursing, and Emotional abuse
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, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, 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: 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
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: Homophobia, War, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Sexism
brekaboujie'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
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.
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