I tried. I really tried. But when all I can do is rant about what I don't like and avoid the book, it's time to let it go.

This should have been everything I wanted: sci-fi, aliens, LGBTQ is the norm. But everything just felt very forced.

This book suffers from the opposite of an infodump. We get deposited into the book in the middle of Tina's life, Tina's friendship. And inside jokes come and go without explanation. Then once we're in space and Tina starts to remember her former life, we get trivia thrown at us that doesn't even necessarily pertain to the plot. It felt so out of place.

While I did love that there were so many LGBTQ characters and that it was commonplace, I also felt that some of it was stiff. I didn't feel like all the characters that were introduced were important enough to the story. Instead, they felt like they were there to fill a quota.

Also after all the different variations of the salute/greeting on the ship, this book started to feel like a parody of a sci-fi.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay. This is another one I picked up mostly because the cover is absolutely stunning and there’s queer rep. I will pick up almost any queer book. I also really liked the title. The premise was pretty intriguing. I’m not the biggest space story person nor do I normally care for aliens, but I was willing to try something new and push out of my comfort zone.

For the most part, I’m really glad I did decide to go ahead and read this. The adventures this book took us on was pretty interesting. This story kept me mostly engaged throughout it. I liked that the teenagers actually felt like they could be teens, which I think is something that is often lacking in many ya novels. I also really loved the amount of diversity and awareness in this novel, which is something else I don’t see quite as often. I don’t know. I feel like there’s so much more to be said, but at the same time, I feel at a loss for words.

I think that overall, this story was worth the read and even if it’s not your favorite, it’s still enjoyable.

Tina Mains was told by her mother at a young age that she wasn't human and was in fact the clone of a decorated alien hero... a clone that was genetically modified to look like a human. When her embedded interstellar rescue beacon goes off, Tina and her best friend Rachel find themselves thrown into an epic adventure on a ship staffed with a crew of humanoids from various planets. They are trying to stop the baddies from their evil goal. They decide to recruit some fellow, brilliant teens from Earth to help them on their mission.

This was an action packed YA adventure with a truly diverse cast. The teens were from various races, genders, LGBTQ etc. The starship crew was also very into introducing themselves with preferred pronouns. This was a fun read with great messages for teens about staying true to themselves and caring for others. This is the first in a new series from author Charlie Jane Anders, who also wrote All the Birds in the Sky, which I read earlier this year. This book may appeal to fans of Anders along with fans of Becky Chambers. I am looking forward to the second book in this series.

What to listen to while you read...
Under the Moon by Claptone
Are You Even Real? by James Blake
The Key to Life on Earth by Declan McKenna
Space Song by Beach House
Tranz by Gorillaz
Is it True by Tame Impala
Another Life by Jadu Heart

Victories Greater Than Death is the first entry in Charlie Jane Anders' YA Unstoppable series. This SF space opera romp stars a teenage girl, who has the usual hopes, fears and angst, but also a challenging destiny.

Tina is a clone of a legendary galactic heroine, hidden on Earth to keep her safe until the need became desperate. Now it has, and Tina joins the HMSS Indomitable, along with her best friend and also enlisted teen Earth geniuses.

Soon it's time for Tina to step up and show her superhero origins - which she does, with a little help from her friends.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan-Tom Doherty Associates, and Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review.

There are super cool aliens, a horribly evil bad guy, Earth kids that are coming into their own, lots of pronoun usage and awareness, an Earth kid who has always known she's an alien with a destiny when the time comes, and let's not forget... Adventure (with a capital A). Buckle up for this one, it's a heck of a ride! YA novels have a bad habit of aging their characters up to make situations more realistic (so often times even if the characters ARE teens, they don't feel like they are), but in this, the Earthlings FEEL like teens (albeit super smart ones), they do amazing things and problem solve under pressure... but they also are full of your standard teen anxiety and insecurities.

BUT ALSO... the Queen of the Firmament is a.... LIBRARIAN (well, basically anyway)?! Amazing! I was already enjoying this book but with that paragraph, Charlie Jane Anders secured their spot in my heart for good.

An exciting new YA space adventure!

I don't think there is enough YA sci-fi that takes place in space, deals with aliens, etc. Victories Greater than Death is a welcome addition to the genre and I hope that a lot of people pick it up. They won't be disappointed!

DNF at 50%

The concept and plot of this book was exceptional, but I didn't thin it was executed properly. I loved the diversity of the characters, and honestly, they're the only reason I even got through half the book. The writing was all over place, and wasn't as appealing as I had expected.

From the premise alone, I thought this was going to be a YA version of something Becky Chambers would write. And in many ways it was. It had the rag tag team of aliens from across the galaxy. They each had their own personality, they introduced themselves with their preferred pronouns. And many of the explanations Tina and Rachel ask for are met with a direct response that gives you more context to how the world works.

The added bonus of this book that Becky Chambers doesn't have is the addition of six human kids from Earth. I really liked this component especially since each of the kids has their own personality, their own backstory, and reasons for doing what they do. From building robots that make music with their girlfriend or running away from people who don't understand you, this book runs the gamut. I think many people who read this book will feel the inclusion right away and happy to see themselves written into a story. I'm going to say it because this is exactly how I felt while I read it; this was The Goonies in Space.

It definitely feels like a Charlie Jane Anders books where the emphasis is more on the characters and their development. Much of the story centers the six kids and their lives which was great, but then the other characters (who were all aliens) were kind of left by the wayside. I also wanted to get to know them or at least hear some secrets from the universe.

There was also this bigger theme of otherness as well. One of the main goals of the villain was to destroy the life that doesn't look like humans. Aliens from across the galaxy that have two legs and two arms were saved by the villain, but anyone else was considered fodder for murder. I love that Tina and the rest of the Goonies came out to prove them wrong and show that despite what you look like (whether it's three arms and three heads or you're a blob-person), there's always something good to find in them.

And then there's this epic villain who reminded me so much of Thanos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His power, his strength, and his reasoning were all parts of him you should fear. However, his motivation for all of this outside of wanting to endorse the anti-humanoid agenda felt lost.

I think my biggest issue with this book is that a lot of context is missing for the sake of the adventures. There was a lot of action, but not enough time to explain what was going on or what the bigger plot was going to be. I get that this is a YA story, but not all YA stories need to move at lightning speed. I wanted more context especially when it came to Marrant and Tina's relationship, their motivations, and ultimately what they were trying to accomplish.

Overall, this has been a fun one and will move quickly. I loved the humanizing aspects, the found family, and even the romance that happens in the story, but I think in the end, I wanted so much more from a space epic.

Thanks to Tor Teen for gifting me a copy of this book. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.

I loved the inclusivity, the story, and the ending. The visuals painted by the narrative and the universe building is done well, but I do have questions about so many of the different races introduced. The beginning was a bit slow to get into, but it was worth it to stick it out. This was a great first YA novel by Anders.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the dArc of this work in exchange for my honest review.

This book bubbles over with charisma. Tina’s voice is furiously buoyant even when she’s miserable, often course-corrected by the wry observations of her fellow teenage Earthling geniuses who make up the book’s beautifully diverse core ensemble. Anders uses humor like citrus in a fruit pie, cutting moments that threaten to become saccharine with sharp, hilarious twists.

Tina has known for years that she’s not just an average teenager, but she’s been waiting (im)patiently for the day when she will be called upon to complete her purpose. Tina holds the embodiment of a highly regarded alien space Captain within herself. She was cloned and sent to Earth for her safety, to be called upon when the time came to finally defeat the one who threatens the universe. When Tina’s day finally arrives, she’s got her best friend Rachael by her side and assembles a team of extraordinary humans. But when her destiny doesn’t run the course she’s set up for herself, Tina begins to question who it is she’s supposed to be, and how she can save anything.

As I’m reveling in the finishing of this book and working on getting my thoughts onto the page, I really have to give it to Charlie Jane Anders for creating such a popping sci-fi adventure. The story starts off with a bang and hooks you right away.

The problem is that eventually things have to slow down and we have to take a little time to breathe. Besides having rollicking action sequences, I understand the importance of slower moments to really take in this new outer space world, but it’s in those moments that I felt things dragged a tad bit and for me that initial momentum was difficult to regain.

Keeping with the story, however, I absolutely loved the commentary on destiny and identity. Tina has been so set on who she believes she’s supposed to be, that she’s never really taken time to figure it out for herself. Despite things not going to plan for Tina, I loved that readers get the opportunity to see her come into her own and have this well of opportunities place before her, on her own terms, not ones preset for her based on her DNA.

What’s more the bond between the “Earthlings,” especially that between Tina and Rachael, is a wonderful thing to behold. Having this group of unknowns from varying backgrounds, band together, work together, and lift each other up successfully was such a bright spot. To that end, however, there were times when I would stop and think about how we still only got a surface level insight into many of these characters. Charlie Jane Anders definitely doesn’t pull punches in going for emotional impact. Unfortunately, the gut-punch feeling didn’t always come through for me and I wanted more of that emotional connection.

I did appreciate that we don’t get a case of “us vs. them” in regards to humans vs. aliens, with aliens being the villains. That villainy of megalomania transcends species and even knowing that this person truly believes that what they want for the universe is right, doesn’t mean they aren’t a villain and sometimes the real test is being able to confront these truths within people that you would otherwise care about.

Charlie Jane Anders definitely leaves things in a position where I’m eager to find out what happens next. While there is a certain amount of resolution, there’s also a can of worms that’s undeniably just been opened as well. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see Tina becoming ever more comfortable in her own skin.

Victories Greater Than Death is Charlie Jane Anders' YA debut. It's the first part of a Sci-Fi space opera.

I'm sorry to say that this was my third book by Anders and I still don't like her style of writing. The story is good, there is an interesting MC and a huge cast of secondary characters, but it didn't draw me in as much as I had hoped.

Everyone needs some sci-fi in their life. And who better to create that world than Charlie Jane Anders?
Victories Greater Than Death is the adventure you have been waiting for. Join Tina as she is whisked from Earth with her best friend, Rachel, and how they learn that leaning on your friends and playing to your strengths is the smartest way to win any battle. Even when the odds are completely against you. Action packed, but full of soulful stories of romance and acceptance, this book has it all.

This book was so good for a YA sci-fi. It was such an innovative concept that read so well for mature readers yet still appropriate for YA readers. I may be biased since I'm a HUGE fan of Charlie Jane Anders (especially her podcast!)

Tina Mains is destined for greatness… someday. On Earth she’s an outcast, but someday she’ll prove herself worthy to take up the mantle – and memories – of Captain Thaoh Argentian, the famous alien soldier she was cloned from on the brink of death, and her home fleet will return to claim her. Someday her life will begin and she’ll become herself but more.

Then the beacon in her chest lights – and what unfolds is not as simple as Tina imagined.

Stranded in orbit, unable to access Captain Argentian’s personal memories, and faced with the reality of a diminished Royal Fleet that is locked in a galactic war against an enemy force, Tina will have to fight for both her life and for her identity.

*****

This review contains minor spoilers, but I tried to limit it to concepts introduced in the first quarter of the book.

I want to say first of all that this book isn’t without its flaws, and I’d recommend reading a variety of reviews to see if it’s your thing – but for me it was an enjoyable, funny, heartfelt story, and a love letter to space operas. You might enjoy this if you’re a fan of space heroics, interrogations of the “chosen one” trope, the power of friendship and teamwork, and space-themed pop culture references.

Victories Greater than Death reminds me of the irreverent tone of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: the plot is full of life-or-death struggles, but you also have an alien character who redeemed their people by becoming an action movie star (who now lives in disgrace because they gave up stardom to join the Royal Fleet), and a narrative voice that gives lines like “I roll onto my back and look up at the stars until they come into focus: a chorus of splendor”, “spewing accelerated mercury ions like puke from a party bus”, and “the afterimage of that toxic flare still spanks my retinas” a few pages apart. The Royal Fleet recruits brilliant Earth teenagers to fill out their greatly diminished crew with phone puzzle apps (“How else do you get Earth teenagers to take a ton of weird math and science tests voluntarily?”). The narrative tone takes the piss out of genre tropes while playing its central plot and themes straight.

But the humour isn’t mean-spirited; this is an inclusive world at its heart. See how everyone in the Royal Fleet introduces themself with their preferred pronoun – except the alien entity for whom being addressed with any pronoun is offensive enough to warrant a fight to the death. This takes personal pronouns to the point of absurdity without invalidating their importance. Another example: Tina’s best friend, Rachael, desperately wants to leave the planet where she was bullied out of high school – and while the narrative pokes fun at Rachael for fearing bullies more than the possibility of a violent death in space, her desire to stay where she feels accepted isn’t the butt of the joke. This is a story about becoming yourself and finding where you belong; while it’s filled with funny moments, the humour doesn’t punch down or invalidate any character’s identity, which is a big part of the novel’s charm.

In addition to personal pronouns as a standard of self-introduction (i.e. “My name is Yatto the Monntha, and my pronoun is they“), this novel includes a bisexual main character, transfem bisexual love interest, and Earth recruits from around the world – China, Brazil, India, England, and the United States. The human cast is inclusive and diverse, and the aliens range from humanoid to murder noodles (with attention paid to the common trope of aliens appearing humanoid and attractive – as with many genre tropes addressed here, Anders pokes fun at the concept, but also spins the narrative so that this trope is intentionally addressed).

Something I want to draw attention to from the acknowledgments: Anders credits a handful of sensitivity readers who gave feedback during the editing process, and I love that. I think this should be common practice, especially when writing outside of one’s own lived experience, whether for main characters or supporting cast, no matter how speculative the genre.

One last character note. If you’re a fan of uncomfortably sympathetic villains, Marrant might be up your alley. Make no mistake: he’s a murderous asshole. His superpower is cruel and unusual. He refuses to take responsibility for the consequences of his own actions. But his desire for a world in which greater meaning exists, for everything he’s lost to make sense in a greater scheme, for perfect symmetry, isn’t so completely inhuman as to be incomprehensible.

*****

My biggest complaint is pacing. The shift from play-by-play action to quieter and longer spans of time made sense in some sections – for example, once the crew is out of immediate danger, there are chapters where everyone trains and adjusts to life on the Indomitable – but in others the reader is plunked into the middle of the action, and the narrator fills in the blanks of how the characters ended up in their current situation with a summary. I feel like this could have been a longer book, even just a handful more pages, and devoted more attention to scene transitions and emotional flow, but overall it worked well enough.

The cast is a bit sprawling, which is tricky, because it makes sense to have a wide host of alien characters in order to highlight a universe’s worth of alien species, but sometimes the novel toed the line of information overload. That said, I had no trouble keeping track of the central cast, and there’s a glossary of time measurements, important terms, and alien species in the back of the book for all those times you’re like “another Zanthuron… what’s a Zanthuron again?” or “how long is a megacycle?”

One aspect of the story that’s produced polarised reviews is Tina’s unlocked memory, which gives her access to all of Thaoh Argentian’s technical knowledge but none of Argentian’s personal or emotionally-weighted memories. I personally liked this approach: it gave Tina the knowledge base to explain and engage with her new alien surroundings without a ton of exposition, so she can serve as translator for her fellow Earthlings and the reader. More importantly, gaining Argentian’s knowledge of the alien world, and having a built-in system to shortcut the minutiae of communication and understanding, doesn’t take away from Tina’s central character dilemma: if she’s not Thaoh Argentian 2.0, then who is she? How can she possibly live up to the legacy of her progenitor? How can she square what she’s always wanted with what she wants now?

*****

Victories Greater than Death is a fantastic YA debut that succeeds on many levels: as an inclusive and expansive sci-fi world, as genre-savvy satire, and as a commentary on concepts like legacy, self-determination, and found family. I’m looking forward to the rest of this planned trilogy!

This YA Science Fiction adventure that is groundbreaking in how it normalizes using character pronouns. No more guessing or assumptions based on behavior or dress- this storyteller tells the reader just as they would for eye color or any other characteristic. And why wouldn’t aliens introduce themselves with their pronouns?

Plus, homeschooling on page one. You know I loved that.

This Sci-Fi adventure sucks you out of whatever reality you live in and takes your mind to this amazing (although troubled) world.

Tina knows she is an alien; she knows that she is a clone of someone important and mixed in her Mom’s DNA to be raised on Earth until the time that someone would come back for her. She also knows that there is a nearly equal chance of getting killed in the rescue process whenever that happens.

This is a world created by a reader for readers. Where else are you going to find a stakes alien invasion scene where the main characters discuss comic books? Nowhere. And hey, it’s #1 of a Duology, so you’ll have even more excitement to look forward to.

I really struggled to get into this one. While the world building was interesting, and the description of the alien species was well done, the book just didn't feel cohesive, like it was jumping from plot point to plot point without as much thought to the story. Also, the story felt like it was going for a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe with humor interlaced with the serious universe ending stuff, but instead it fell a little flat. The book was fun, but overall there are better books out there.

Victories Greater Than Death is a brilliant queer, fast-paced, exciting, young adult sci-fi that I couldn't recommend more to fans of Star Wars and Doctor Who. It has that brilliant combination of serious, even horrifying moments, mixed with campy fun that those series encapsulate. I had a great time with this book, and I'm so excited by young adult sci-fi heading in this direction.

Tina Mains has always known that she's the clone of an intergalactic hero, left on Earth to grow up before her destiny brings her forward to fight again. Things don't exactly go as planned, and Tina struggles with living up to her legendary predecessor. The universe needs a hero, but is it her?

This is one of those books that's incredibly difficult to put down. It's fast-paced, energetic, and fun. The first chapters are a little slower, but when the action starts, oh boy, does it start. The tone and pacing are very similar to Doctor Who or Star Wars, mixing darkness with those important light-hearted bonding moments. There's also a certain level of wit and humour to the writing style that would appeal to people who love those franchises. It was a wonderful book to spend an afternoon reading, and I couldn't stop until I'd finished it.

If you love found family, you need to pick up this book. The crew is such a delight. Every single person is unique and interesting with their own history and motivations. Even those who didn't get a lot of page time I still strongly connected to. I love this cast so much. I especially enjoyed how diverse the representation was. This book has a main sapphic romance, neurodivergent rep, trans rep, black Brazillian rep, black British rep, Chinese rep, and Indian rep! I always love a brilliantly diverse book and Victories Greater Than Death provided.

Victories Greater Than Death features a chosen-one trope, but it completely flips it on its head, and I loved that. I don't want to head into spoiler territory, but I love how much this book focuses on character's autonomy and desires rather than their pre-determined destiny. They hesitate and question, they go against orders, they fight for what they believe in. They don't need to be special or a chosen one to do the right thing. Sometimes it's worth fighting for something no matter how the odds are stacked against you.

Sometimes you just want a fun, fast-paced read that'll restore your hope in fighting evil fascists, and that's the niche that Victories Greater Than Death filled for me. I had such a great time reading this book; with so many of my favourite tropes and a compelling storyline, I can't wait for more.

Tina Mains isn’t an ordinary girl. She was raised by her mother on Earth, but she was actually sent to her mother as an alien clone. Tina was given human DNA so she could blend in on Earth. Now, teenage Tina is being called up to space to fulfill her destiny and return to the role as Captain Thaoh, the person she was cloned from. However, the procedure to return Thaoh’s memories to Tina doesn’t go as planned, so she can’t take on the role of captain. She ends up bringing her best friend Rachael up to space with her, where they join the space crew on an adventure to save all the worlds in space.

This was a gender diverse story. Many of the characters in space were from different species, but they all introduced themselves with their name and then their preferred pronouns. I loved seeing this unity between the worlds, where they had the same form of introduction, even though each of the residents of the different worlds had different appearances and languages. I found this introduction funny at times when an enemy would introduce themself. They would take the time to say their name and pronoun before announcing that they were going to attack. This created a delay in the attack, which could have been avoided without introducing themselves, but it shows how important gender diversity is to their world.

This story was also really funny. The beginning seemed like a comedy of errors when everything went wrong. When Tina was supposed to become the captain she was cloned from, the procedure went wrong so she remained the human Tina. This ruined all of their work of making sure Tina was raised to replace Captain Thaoh. This was followed by another funny scene where they tried to recruit intelligent humans to join the crew. The way they found humans that were smart enough to join them was through a puzzle app. However, the humans they found may have been good at a game on their phone, but they weren’t necessarily the smartest people on Earth. These are just a few of the funny parts of this book.

This was a fun science fiction story with a humorous twist. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Thank you Tor Teen for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tina is an alien who spent her childhood on Earth knowing she would have a great future. Now as a teenager, she dreams of going into space and saving the world. Unfortunately, not everything goes according to plan.

Tina is a young girl who doesn't let herself be pushed around, she doesn't like it when people pick on Rachael, her best friend, and does everything she can to defend her. Tina will have to learn to live with the fact that she has not recovered the memories of Captain Thaoh and she will have to lower her standards a little to save the world.

Rachael is really a beautiful friend, she follows Tina to space and she will stay with her. Rachael is an artist, she draws very well but she is solitary and closed on herself. She will work a lot on herself in order to be able to open up to others. It is even her idea to bring four young teenagers from the earth to help them in their mission.

Everyone introduces themselves by giving their name and pronoun, which is something I appreciated.

Tina is Queer and does not define her sexuality, her love interest in the story is a young Brazilian trans woman Elza. There is also a young Queer black boy, an Asian guy and an Indian girl, not to mention the fact that Rachael is autistic. All these characters are more interesting than each other, they are intelligent and they all have reasons to have left the Earth.

I really liked the story, the characters, the atmosphere, the fights. I would have liked the author to go a little deeper into the feelings of the characters. As I said, they all have a reason to have agreed to leave the earth but except for Elza, the feelings of the other characters are not deep enough for my taste. Maybe they will be in the next volume.

In any case this book is a great success that includes characters of all kinds.

Quick word: A very exciting adventure in space.