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bookishwondergoth'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
4.75
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, War, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Gun violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood
literaryintersections's review against another edition
- 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
Y’all get this book. It’s queer. It’s a SPACE OPERA. It’s violent. Some of the best sci fi I’ve read recently. What are you waiting for????
A few things - I think this book does an amazing job of worldbuilding. You are immediately dropped into an Earth type world but have no clue what is going on. And then you are just along for the ride as Tesh slowly feeds you bit after bit about what happened to Earth, who the aliens are, who the villains are. The twists and turns took me by complete surprise. I can't say more without spoiling but that first shift in the story I literally just put the book down and stared into space.
Now I loved Kyr. She is truly a horrible character in the beginning because she is brainwashed. BUT, as she learns, as she explores other people and experiences, as she starts to break away from being a cold robot, she becomes so much more. And she gets challenged in her shitty ways. I think Tesh did a great job of giving us a rough character who we ultimately know is terrible and has other characters tell her that she is terrible. It's not just shitty for the sake of shitty. And I loved Cleo. She was prob my favorite character in the entire book besides Yiso.
There's been a lot of talk about the whole hair part at the end. As a Black person, it didn't bother me. Does it make sense? No. But it didn't take away from the story for me.
It is also important to note that this is sometimes billed as a "sapphic space opera" and imo that is not correct. Queer? 100%. Sapphic? Not 100% clear. There is an inkling of sapphic romance. There is very much queer relationships. But it is not a romance book. Nor does it even have strong romantic elements.
Overall I fucking loved this.
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Violence and Sexual violence
Minor: Sexual harassment
bookswithbethx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Child abuse, Genocide, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Outing, Torture, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexism, Violence, and War
gondorgirl'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: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Incest, Sexual harassment, Torture, War, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault
alienor's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, War, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, and Racism
ezwolf'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
4.0
This book brings up a lot of great topics, the faults of humanity in the future, as well as currently. Gaea is everything you would expect from a society that's almost entirely white and able bodied, xenophobic, homophobic, and forces its women to be pregnant for years and years. Of course, this is why Kyr starts off being immensely unlikeable, but she does grow and learn to realize how narrow minded her thinking was and at one point even recognizes that even though she has made progress, she still holds internal biases.
But this is getting a solid 4 stars from me because I could not stand Kyr for a good chunk of the book. I know that was part of the plot and Kyr had to realize that Gaea was brainwashing everyone, but I was never endeared to her. I wanted her to succeed because no one should grow up the way Kyr did but I didn't particularly care about anyone other Yiso, I didn't like any of the characters other than them.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Homophobia, Grief, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, War, Blood, Death, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Torture
Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Abortion, Death of parent, Racism, Rape, and Pregnancy
wanderonwards's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Genocide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexism, Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: War, Sexual harassment, Rape, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Violence
csevet'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: Suicide
Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Genocide
obscurepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love the world-building and all the details the author put in this story. Those passages from books/journals/accounts about human race, the wars, even the insertion of philosophy and humanity? They all helped build and set the tone of the story, as well as the history and foundation.
I love the both the familiarity and surprise of the storytelling and the plot. Like it got me feeling I know what's going to happen next and that I've seen it before (naive soldier realizes how fucked up the system is and realizes not everything is what is seems). But then the author throws you into some sort of deep end and suddenly you're caught unawares. Several times I wanted to rip my hair out because of the plot twists and details, but oh I loved it.
And perhaps one of the best parts of the book is the main character herself, Kyr. She's so annoying. Well, I guess, not anymore. Because in those 400+ pages, she has annoyed me, frustrated me, confused me, made me sympathize with her, made me understand her, touched my heart, made me root for her. She made me love her. Kyr is such a complex and compelling character, and I just loved being on this journey with her.
Overall, Some Desperate Glory was an incredible and expansive book. If you give it a try you might like it too.
CW: death, genocide, murders, mentions of rape/sexual harassment, homophobia, transphobia/queerphobia
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death, Transphobia, Murder, and Homophobia
Minor: Rape and Sexual harassment