4.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio-ARC of this book. It was a really highly anticipated book this year.

I've seen a lot of people whose opinions I really trust not enjoy this novel and I completely understand why, but I certainly did. I think it was a HUGE gamble to have a main character who was unlikeable for most of the book. Kyr is a young soldier indoctrinated into a military/terrorist society of human warriors holding on to old hatreds from the previous war with the galaxy. You are clearly not supposed to like her. No one really does. She believes everything she was taught in this cultish society, thinks that attachments are just a distraction from training, and basically hates everyone that's not a human. She's deeply unpleasant, but one does feel a certain sympathy for her when all her hard work yields a position in the nursery to birth the next generation of soldiers rather than in a combat unit. She takes it upon herself to go and save her brother instead of giving herself to the cause.

That being said, I think that this was a highly ambitious character arc (primarily Kyr but the secondary characters too) and I think it was pretty successfully done. There is a twist and a bit of a redemption arc, but it feels tempered with caution. Some of the themes were, perhaps, not as nuanced as these extremely difficult topics should be - that would be quite difficult, but I really enjoyed the ride and respect what the author was trying to do. I would have rated this higher, but I really have to bond with the characters and Kyr was just not done growing as a person. At least she realized that her indoctrination would be with her for a long time and she needed to look inward to make further strides. I really enjoyed the story and the world-building. I would really like a sequel to see what happens after all of THAT amazing action, but I believe this is a stand-alone.

I really feel like I would enjoy this one (even more) the second time around. I'm impressed with this author and I plan to pick up their other books asap.

This one didn't really work for me. I liked the premise, looking at a militaristic society after the destruction of Earth, and I understand what the author was doing in making Kyr so unlikeable, but I didn't enjoy listening to it.

I think part of this was the audiobook's narration: it's very harsh and feels like overacting to me. I disliked the voices the narrator gave different characters (a hissing voice for an alien, a whiny voice for a nerdy character) and that made it hard to listen to.

I DNFed at 30%, but I am curious about where the story is going and might try this one in print someday, to see if the problem for me was the writing or the narration.

This book starts with a litany of trigger warnings.

A queer, military space opera crossed with a Handmaid’s Tale-like Cult.

You don’t like the MC by design but you are witness to her coming to the realization of her reality. There’s a fun robot sidekick.

This book started my April mood reading journey off on a sci-fi trajectory. It doesn’t say it’s YA but the simplicity of the plot & age of the protagonist, I’d say it was YA/NA.

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio!

Kyr is a teenager born to fight for humanity after Earth is destroyed by The Wisdom and she has the training scores to prove it. When she's assigned to the Nursery and sends her twin brother on a mission meant to kill him, she breaks the rules and goes after him. Venturing to a planet inhabited by "traitor" humans, Kyr begins to learn that maybe everything she's learned is not the whole truth.

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!

Valkyr was born on Gaea Station after the destruction of Earth. Unlike the other inhabitants of the station she has known family, her brother Magnus. She also has a sister that is thought to be a traitor that escaped. Gaea Station is an extremely structured military society. Kyr’s main focus is being the best of the best to achieve the best possible assignment. She barely notices the lives of the people around her, they are simply her competition.

Kyr’s character growth is absolutely the heart of this story. Learning to care for others and uncovering the rot of the society she lives in completely changes her. This book was so compelling. One of my favorite reads of the year.

I also highly recommend the audiobook. The production value was great and so were the narrators.

This was a super fun, fast paced, and exciting sci-fi standalone. I thought the world building was good, but a little info-dumpy at times. The twists were unexpected and I never really knew where the book was going.

The first 50% is pretty dreadful. the main character is not just unlikable, she’s cruel and awful and vile. She’s homophobic and transphobic and racist and a eugenicist and it’s such an unbearable POV to read from. The second 50% is more like 3 stars just because it was so action packed it was hard to not be moderately interesting. But Kyr’s “redemption arc” was so fantastically undeserved it was almost ludicrous. Some Desperate Glory tackles some extremely heavy topics (racism, homophobia, eugenics, resisting fascist governments) in an incredibly shallow way. There is so little characterization and the plot is basically just ex machina after ex machina. None of the “science” in this sci-fi is even remotely explained and the world building was very half-baked. So much of it just felt silly (world-ending darts, really?). It feels like the events of what could make up a trilogy were half baked and thrown into a single book.

There’s a particular scene at the very end of the book where Kyr asks Yiso (the alien she has spent the majority of the book being racist towards and purposefully misgendered constantly) to touch their hair and they say yes. And then Yiso asks Kyr if they can touch her hair and she says yes…. And it’s framed as this moment of connection where the two finally understand one another and Kyr sees Yiso for who they are. And like… what the fuck? Considering the exoticization of non-white hair and how frequently hair-related micro agression occur, it’s such a weird scene and entirely unnecessary??

“She had been born into a universe gone wrong. She had waited her whole life to come face-to-face with something she could blame.”

This book is a revelation, a gut punch, an anthem. SOME DESPERATE GLORY is the brutal and gorgeous story of Kyr, a teenage supersoldier on Gaea station, the last known holdout of humanity after earth was destroyed by a reality-bending artificial intelligence known as the Wisdom. Kyr is completely obnoxious: hyper-competitive, rule-following, and condescending, a “space fascist girl scout” unable to focus on anyone else’s humanity because she’s too busy suppressing her own for the sake of the cause drilled into her since birth. But trust me, reader, you will be on the edge of your seat rooting for her by the end. This is ultimately the story of a girl decommissioned, of a great unlearning that Kyr undergoes as she is given chance after chance to make new choices until finally, she does. The narrative is compelling from the jump but shifts into high gear at the halfway point; the remainder held me emotionally hostage, sobbing on one page and laughing on the next as Kyr and her merry band of queers seek out a new, just path forward. A fiercely, achingly hopeful book that will be adored by existential gays everywhere. Thanks to Tordotcom and Macmillan Audio for the review copies! This book is out 4/11.

“So what do we do? What do we do now?” // “While we live, we’re alive. And that’s all.”

Content warnings (from the author): sexist, homophobic, transphobic, racist & ableist attitudes, sexual assault including discussion of forced pregnancy, violence, child abuse, radicalization as child abuse, genocide, suicidal ideation, and suicide

this book reminded me of the hunger games. you must survive the elements as best you can with what you can find. i enjoyed the audio book of this. the narrator did a great job with all the characters. 3 stars for me. i normally dont pick up these type of books but wanted to give it a shot. im glad i did

Thank you Tor Publishing Group and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh was one of my most anticipated SFF releases of 2023. I am so bummed to say that I did not love this book.

First, what I liked: this has such a strong start! I loved learning about Kyr’s life on Gaea station. It’s a fairly fast-paced and easy read. I feel SDG would be a good pick for those wanting a transition novel from YA to adult books.

I thought the concept of Some Desperate Glory was better than its execution. The book tries to tackle several “-isms” without providing much nuance. And for an adult novel, I expect there to be nuance when it comes to discussing topics such as facism, sexism, racism, etc. Another pitfall for me was that the main character, Kyr felt extremely flat. She’s a teenage supersoldier with the personality of a doorknob. I never felt connected to her or her motivations to get revenge on the majoda. In fact, I didn’t feel connect to a single character in this book.

I primarily read this book via audiobook and oh my goodness, this was one of the worst listening experiences I have had in a long time. My enjoyment of the story was definitely impacted by the narrator. The narrator sounded very choppy and kept pausing in places where there shouldn’t be pauses. It made for a very irritating listening experience. If you do pick up this book, I would not recommend listening to the audiobook.

I didn’t feel like Some Desperate Glory was doing anything new. It was a fine book. If the synopsis sounds interesting to you, pick it up and go for it but this won’t be a title I’ll be going out of my way to recommend.

3/5 stars

This was truly epic and stunning. It's one of those times I wish I could give an extra star or two on top of the usual 5 because this story deserves it.

Kyr is SO hard to like at the beginning. She's completely brainwashed and has 100% bought in to the narrative her "uncle" Joel is selling: that they're a resistance determined to get revenge and glory for humanity -- rather than a barbaric cult in the middle of nowhere. And yet by the end, you find yourself completely on her side, rooting for her every step of the way and feeling everything she feels.

Watching events play out, feeling the layers of brainwashing being stripped away as the narrative progresses, was incredible. The twists were shocking, the characters endlessly compelling, and the plot was truly stunning, once you get to the end of it and look back. I LOVED it.

The audiobook narrator did a phenomenal job giving all the characters unique voices and capturing the pain and trauma they have lived, and the transformation Kyr undergoes.

Absolutely one of the best books of the year.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Tor/Forge, and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy and early audio copy for review.

Some Desperate Glory is a new-adult space opera that follows a young woman as she realizes the world she new may not be the correct way to exist.

Some Desperate Glory has a very strong opening and overall concept. Earth was annihilated and you get to follow someone who was raised to believe the remaining humans needed to fight to preserve humanity. The writing and world building is very strong at times. It’s very inconsistent though. Never has a book given me such whiplash how into it I am.

For the first 20% of the book, I was hyped and enthralled. The main character quickly got a bit boring and cringey. It’s to be expected when you are seeing her perspective as someone essentially brainwashed. She stays on the unbearable side of unlikable for more than half the book. I was very excited to see a satisfying wake up call and character arc but her changes started super late. Most of the side characters were more interesting than she was.

Without spoiling the plot device used in the back half of the book, I will just say it lends very easily to repetition and slumps. The pacing would ramp up for a brief whirlwind then swing down again and repeat.

I don’t think I’ve ever read something that I was simultaneously so into and also very detached. Had the whole book been on par with its good parts, I would have absolutely loved it.

As it is, I enjoyed it just fine. I can see why others like it. It being marketed as adult and lgbt perhaps set it up to be a bit of a disappointment as that’s partly what got me excited about it, but I wouldn’t really label it as either. Borderline YA to new adult. It has queer representation but I didn’t get any lgbt focus except in a couple tiny scenes. It was there but the author tackled so many social issues that it felt more like it was in line with general social commentary, not that it was central to the plot.

I'm a simple woman. I see a Tamsyn Muir blurb on a book and I immediately read it.

Some Desperate Glory was one of my most-anticipated spring releases and while it didn't disappoint, it also didn't sweep me off my feet the way I hoped it would. I say this because it took me a while to get invested, as the plot was slow-moving to start and Kyr was not a particularly pleasant main character.

However, once we got into the plot and things really took off, I couldn't put the book down. Because of this, I highly recommend sticking this one out until at least the halfway mark if you are struggling to get into it but don't want to DNF.

In the end, I did really enjoy this and would definitely recommend it to fans of sci-fi and, specifically, Tamsyn Muir. The second half, specifically, had a little of the same confusion and literary gas-lighting of Harrow the Ninth, which was what ultimately grabbed and held my attention.

----4/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillion-Tor for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Wow! What can I say about this novel... This is like if Ender's Game was written for a contemporary audience (so minus the awkward anachronisms), added with time loops, a (sort of) sci-fi version of multiverses, and a dash of queer representation.

The audiobook is well done when it came to certain scenes, such as when Kyr confronted her sister. The narrator really brought out all the emotions and I could feel the anger and despair and tension in the scene. Wow! Kudos to Sena Bryer!

The novel started out like your typical "militarized teenagers living in a totalitarian hellscape" novel. I was honestly about to brush it off as a run-of-the-mill YA dystopia, but then I kept listening and was really happy that the hype around the novel is real.

I'd suggest coming in knowing that this is more science fantasy than hard military sci-fi, so you won't be disappointed. Once you understand that some ideas either aren't or can't really be explained by science (ex. the Wisdom weapon/AI/god thing, or the shadow engines [which I still don't fully understand but whatever. Suspension of disbelief and all that]), then this becomes a thrilling life or death journey for humanity's future. And past. And present.

Because, you know, multiverses and time travel and stuff.

Kyr is one of those bitter and angry and depressed at the universe type of MCs, and sort of reminds me of Katniss Everdeen. So fair warning, you might not like her.

There were times when I didn't understand her decisions, and honestly a lot of them stemmed from her emotional volatility (so I'm not sure how she even became a leader...). But I kept listening because truthfully, she reminded me of myself and I wondered if she'd do the right thing in the end.

But the queer representation that the blurb kept touting... It felt very tacked-on just to appeal to the queer demographic. I understand that being queer is subversive to the Handmaid's Tale-esque society that they lived in, but... It didn't really add much to anything imo. It's like, "Hey queer people exist in this futuristic hellscape!" Good to know!

But despite that, hopefully there will be a sequel or prequel, even if it's more of a spiritual successor. I'd honestly love to learn more about this universe and the interactions and history between humans and the Majoda alien race, including learning more about the Wisdom god/machine/AI thing.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this arc.

Just a fantastic experience, the narrator was amazing. Hugely enjoyable. I'll be recommending both the book and the audio production.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

Oh boy...where do I even begin?

This might have been the most unlikable cast of characters I have ever read, which is quite the feat. Kyr starts out as a very shitty person, has zero development, and then BAM suddenly she is a great person ready to sacrifice herself for others. 75% into the book is far too late for her to finally have some introspection and realize how shitty she has been. There is no slow realization that those around her are people who matter, but it's a very sudden shift to, "hey, I'm a good person with actual morals now." It's jarring and never gives time for the reader to connect with her or sympathize with her in any way at all. She has no redeeming qualities until she changes timelines and suddenly understands her beliefs were wrong, but by that point, it was far too late for me to like her in any way at all.

Kyr never wrestles with her beliefs. She never actually thinks about what "being a person" means, she just suddenly loves the alien. She never has any realization that queer people are just people, she's just suddenly queer herself and that makes it okay. There's no actual growth, which could have been so interesting and fun to watch her work through. It just materializes without the journey being shown.

The rest of the characters are either shitty people or too shallow for the reader to connect with. The plot twists are supposed to be surprising, but it's always just people who have been shitty the whole book once again doing shitty things. This plot could have been so good, could have been so fulfilling, and yet it fell so flat and annoying. The writing was so amazing that I could have had a new favorite book. Alas, I have a new least favorite.

This one I cannot rate for the life of me it was good *at times* but then others it lost me. There was so much going on or I just didn't enjoy the plot/characters. At first the FMC was super unlikeable and I was wondering how more people who had the arc didn't dnf. There is a HUGE event that happens about halfway that makes you want to push through and see how it ends. That part really captured me. Overall I felt like it was really long for the story. It also required you to suspend more disbelief than necessary. If you enjoy sci fi then check it out but I really needed to get at least 55-60% in to be truly grasped by it! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my review.

This is an interesting one to review because if it had been sold as YA science fiction, I would be praising it. It has a young protagonist and really reads like YA, but much better than most YA science fiction on the market.

But Some Desperate Glory is being released as an adult title. And as a sci-fi novel for adult audiences, it's fine but rather simplistic and not super memorable. It's fairly engaging and fast paced, trying to tackle big themes like indoctrination, misogyny, and abuse but doing so in a fairly simple way. And while the scope of the premise is a large and interesting one, it's all told through a single perspective with a character who is not very self-aware or quick to pick up on things around her. The character work lacks the depth and nuance that I want from an adult title and while reasonably well-executed, the story is pretty straight-forward and not doing anything I haven't seen before. This concept could have been leveled up with a couple more character perspectives of different ages and personalities, deeper character work and world-building, and an ending that carries more emotional impact.

As it is, I would recommend this to readers of YA science fiction looking for something a bit more mature. It would work as a sort of crossover title. Not bad, but also not what I was hoping for. The audio narration is good though. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

<b>3.0 Stars</b>
This was a fast paced engaging new science fiction novel. While marketed as adult fiction, this one felt like more of a YA crossover due to immaturity of the character and simplicity of the themes. The story attempts to address some serious issues but it does so in a rather basic way. The modern dialogue kept pulling me out of immersion. I wanted to love this but I was underwhelmed.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Some Desperate Glory, which is a queer space opera about a militaristic death cult. Tesh does some excellent character work with the main character, Kyr, as she is forced to question her role in her society. Sena Bryer does an wonderful job at narrating Tesh's debut novel, which I also think was excellently written. Each character has such a distinct voice, and Bryer did a lovely job at distinguishing them from each other. Tesh's story was very compelling and that Bryer's voice acting definitely compliments the story well.