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scifi_rat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/4.5★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 4.5★
Ending: 4★
Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, Violence, War, Homophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Gore, Outing, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Racism
Minor: Bullying, Blood, Abortion, and Alcohol
poisonenvy'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
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Where to start with this review? I loved this book a lot. There are a number of content warnings so if you have triggers you should make sure to check them out.
Following the destruction of Earth, the last scraps of humanity have gone to live on Gaea, a space station that is barely self-sustaining. Kyr has grown up on this station, trained since birth to be an obedient solider, bent on fighting for humanity against the aliens who have destroyed the planet. Gaea is a radicalized, fascist society, and the novel follows Kyr as she slowly becomes deradicalized.
This book was great. The characters were all fantastic. It's really easy to hate Kyr. It's really easy to hate a lot of the characters. The process of unlearning all the things they've been taught is long and it's not easy.
I found that the ending got a little overambitious with some of the things that it wanted to tackle; it lost some of the nuance that makes up the first 3/4ths of the book. Regardless of that though, I still found this to be nearly a five star read. The characters were fantastic, with lots of depth and nuance and so, so many flaws. The prose was great, and I found a lot of the descriptions to be very cinematic. The plot kept me hooked; I didn't want to put down this book the times that I had to.
There are definitely flaws with this story, but none of them really took away my enjoyment for the novel as a whole.
Graphic: Homophobia, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Genocide, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Rape, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship
sissix_'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: Genocide, Suicide, Violence, and War
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, and Ableism
miraclesnow'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: Sexism, Death, Suicide, Xenophobia, Violence, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Genocide
Moderate: Colonisation, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Rape and Outing
millbot'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
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Violence
analenegrace'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
4.5
The feminism of this book is so important as it takes a character who is a staunch believer in her bio-essentialist community and learns to see the amazingness of the women around her and the women who came before her; especially those who beared children for their community.
Often we not only forget the women who came before us, but forget the women around us, forced to live a bio-essentialist life. This book is an important reminder, especially in a post-Roe world, the importance of who we consider when we discuss feminism, intersectionality, and bio-essentialism.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, War, Body shaming, Classism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Confinement, Murder, and Outing
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Abortion
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
solari'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
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, War, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, and Gun violence
There are lots of things discussed in the book that may be off putting. Please read the authors note before reading the story.behindpaperbacks'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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Rape, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
adancewithbooks's review against another edition
- 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
The thing about Some Desperate Glory is that you aren't going to like the characters, especially our main character Kyr. She was raised to be a facist, radicalized. It was the only view she knew and she never questioned it. There was no room. It isn't until her brother dissapears and she doesn't get the assignment she wants (breeding factory instead of soldier) that there is slight room for critique.
Kyr spends this book trying to unlearn everything she has been raised to believe and it takes quite a few different realities for her to be able to discard some of that. The saving of the universe is just a backdrop to that. It shows an interesting look at how internalized some of those teachings can be and how hard it can be to realize, analyze and then actually do something about it. The mind is a funny thing. It also deals with all kinds of abuse and suicide. In that way it can be a hard book to read.
'The wisdom was a transtemporal and pandimensional intelligence capable of shaping the fates of trillions. I am a pleasure yacht.
"Seriously?"
I intend to experiment with unseriousness. I am finally of a size appropiate for levity.'
That doesn't mean it is all seriously. There is a whole lot of bonding between the characters and room for some humor as well. And that created a whole book that I ended up loving for a variety of reasons.
Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Genocide
Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Racism, Ableism, and Homophobia
Minor: Rape