I love fantasies that incorporate crew elements, and this was such a good ride.

This follows Tina who, after a lot of expectations being set for her, learns she actually has to live up to those expectations when things go very, VERY wrong.

The world building in this was fun and original, and I really enjoyed the conversations the crew all had with one another.

Pick this up if you love character driven stories that rely on wit, banter, and humor.

All Tina’s life, she’s known she’s destined for something different than her other peers on Earth. She’s actually the clone of an alien starship captain, and she waits to one day be whisked into the stars. But when that day comes, will she be able to live up to her legacy?
I spent a good deal of the book trying to figure out what wasn’t working for me and I’m still not entirely sure.
The tone of the book is definitely more humorous than I expected, which isn’t bad, but it’s something you might want to keep in mind that this isn’t “purple prose and deep thoughts on humanity’s place in the universe” it’s “humor and trying to deal with heavy themes.”
The pacing of this book is incredibly fast paced, but also clunky in a way. Like we hit the ground running with Tina knowing and wanting her destiny (an aspect I liked) and move pretty quickly into alien’s First Contact with humans. From there the book keeps a steady pace, but we do skip around in places that kept me slightly in the dark as to how much time had passed.
If you’ve read a SFF review from me before, you know I’m a sucker for world-building and that stayed the same for this book. There were SO many alien races with distinct looks and cultures. It might get confusing, but there is a glossary of sci-fi terms and aliens in the back. I also loved that traditional Space introductions included mentioning your pronouns. And there were a variety of Space greetings with different responses. It was a nice touch.
In a similar vein, it’s a large cast. There are humans and aliens and bad guys, it was a little hard to keep everyone straight. You could also tell some characters were being shafted to give other people screen time. It was a diverse, queer cast from around the world, including the first appearance of someone identifying as a travesti that I’ve seen in YA.
There were also mixed media elements! They were able to add to the story, but they added to the weird pacing.
The one thing I explicitly did not like that I hope is adjusted in the final copy is the mention of aliens visiting Earth when the Earth was still young. Not much more is said, which still leaves the door open for Ancient Aliens, a.k.a the racist idea that early civilizations couldn’t create their monuments without help from aliens. I don’t think the author was implying that, but implying aliens visited early human civilizations, you can’t have it be a throwaway line, you have to make it clear that you’re not headed in that direction.
The more I think on it, the more I consider this a 2.5 or 3-star book, which is really a shame. I do think this has the potential if you’re a fan of science fiction, the pacing just ruined it for me.

This was a super interesting concept - a teenage girl who has spent her entire life in anticipation of leaving earth because she's secretly a clone of an alien commander. Like, what?
Despite the cool sounding concept, this book was a little rushed and messy for me, with some issues were glossed over so quickly that it was weird that they were even a plot point anyway.
Some of the characters were really well thought out and interesting, while some seemed a little 2D and flat.
I thought Tina was a super interesting character, well written and realistic (for an alien clone).
All in all, super interesting, but kind of flat in places.

In spite of being more than 50 years older than the target demo, I liked this quite a bit. It has tragedy and death, but also hope and optimism, cooperation among wildly different people and aliens in pursuit of a common goal. The first part of a new series, one I will want to follow.

Tina is just your average teenage girl... whom is also an alien with a beacon in her chest that will go off when it's time to start her new life... in space. And yes, it's just as cool as it sounds!
When Tina's beacon goes off, her and her best friend, Rachael, make a run for it. They are soon surrounded by the enemy aliens (super creepy enemy aliens), but they are still doing their best to escape. Luckily, a friendly face appears... or, at least, a face that doesn't look murderous, Yatto the Monthaa. Yatto (they/them) takes both Tina and Rachael to The Royal Fleet... and things get even more exciting.
This story is a tale of the best group of misfits working together, a tale of what it means to really be a hero, and ultimately a tale of peoples coming together to fight oppression. I couldn't help but cheer everyone on at the end, but don't worry.... there will be more! And I can't wait to find out what happens next!

This book was AWESOME! It is hard science fiction, so if you aren't into space, aliens, and the tech info that comes from those storylines, you might have some issue.

BUT -- the pure range of alien species and gender expression was AMAZING, and the overarching themes of "boo colonialism" and what it might look like for a space fleet to zip around the universe doing stuff for different planets over time (hint hint, time gives you a good ole' look at what was definitely a terrible thing to do to people in the past) and how people now are adjusting to what can be helpful or hurtful to civilizations based on power and access to different technologies. It was a bit like taking socio-economic factors of the world and different cultures and different accesses to different tech and $ and power and putting them into a universe and looking at it as if each "difference" was found on a new planet. I loved it!

Also, the range of characters was great! Once we're on the spaceship with Tina (clone of dead alien captain but grew up human) and Rachael (regular human who needs a lot of alone time, artistic and introverted), we meet different species all in one place, all introducing themselves and identifying their pronouns. Then we get some more human genius kids from different places on board, including from Mumbai, China, Peru, USA, and see their range of skills and approaches to the situation. Elza and Tina's relationship is also interesting because it explores Tina's feelings about not having a lot of general attraction to anyone, regardless of gender, until Elza, and it explores Elza's feelings about getting into relationships as a trans person and what that has meant in her past and in her culture, including exploitation and mistrust.

All around, this was a great book. And I admit I was hesitant because of the mixture of reviews, I did sort of expect to not be drawn in, but I was drawn in immediately and continuously until I finished! It actually reminded me a bit of Nnedi Okorafor's "Binti" trilogy, which is an AWESOME series to read if you love the whole idea of exploring culture and acceptance and justice from a science fiction perspective. Also young adult, but so so good.

Tina is an alien hidden on Earth until she is called back to space to fulfill her destiny. Very quickly in
the story she is back in space and I was expecting a fast paced adventure, but found a much
more technical story, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not what I expected. I was really drawn in by the cover of this book as well as the space theme. I was a bit disappointed the character development. I felt so many characters are thrown at you once you get to the
spaceship, but not much stands out about them or makes them memorable enough to distinguish.
I did really like that we have a plus size character, a lgbtq relationship
and a female lead in the book.

Overall, I liked the idea and theme of the story, but I just felt a lack of connection with the characters and too much of an info dumb of facts as opposed to emotional connection or a thrilling story.

A fast-paced and absolutely wild ride through space. Our main character, Tina, is the clone of an alien war hero, and while she's spend her childhood on Earth, she will one day regain the war hero's memories and regain her rightful place to fight in an ongoing intergalactic battle. Tina has such an intriguing role, a twisted version of the Chosen One trope.

The book faced an interesting problem because of its premise, however: in many ways, it's contemporary fiction, as our present-day world is where Tina and her best friend Rachael grew up. But the tone established early on in this context doesn't shift well into the spaceships and intergalactic battle scenarios of the second part of the book. For me, this lowered the stakes of this book considerably.

The best thing about this book is its characters—there are so many cool people with fabulous backstories and attitudes and relationships. But that also presents another problem: there are too many named characters with *some* page time to really get to know or flesh out any of them at all. We didn't get to see enough connection building for me.

I received a digital advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book that honestly slaps. It has a queer romance, it has space, it has aliens. It's everything I desire in a book.

I really loved this book, even though some of the character names made my brain-voice tongue tied at times (am I the only one that has a brain-voice for reading?), but that's a personal thing.

I loved the space chases, the DNA spoofing, and the cloning. It was absolutely great.

Definitely a book I was kicking myself for not reading fast enough, honestly!

Rating: 4.25/5


Review active from 19/3

Tina knows that she is destined for the stars, she just wishes they would hurry up and come and pick her up. When they do she is put into a huge war between the Compassion and the Royal Fleet. Along with a few other earthlings who are the brightest young adults on Earth.

I had to suspend some of my disbelief on the "new cadets" being smarter and more able than the regular crew of the starships. The story held my interest after I surrendered to that fact. The story was definitely different from other space operas that I have read. I will look forward to more in the series and seeing how the "cadets" develop into their skills.

Tina is an alien growing up secretly on Earth, and all she knows is that she is a clone, has a great destiny, enemy aliens are after her and she has an internal beacon that will light up when it's time to go.

She finds out she was created from an intergalactic war hero named Thaoh Argentian. The way she deals with the life she's always known intermingling, even clashing with who she is supposed to be is an A+ in character development. Great emotional depth. The fact that she suddenly isn't a seasoned warrior and she fumbles while learning makes this more grounded, and a lot more interesting.

An inviting narrative with an air of anticipation permeating through it, that hooks you from the start, and there is an endearing quality to the uber-likeable protagonist. The author's eye for detail is a thing of wonder giving such clear pictures of what she is imagining, I feel like I'm there. So much is going on but you never get lost. The worldbuilding is complimented by such colorful imagery. Creative gadgets, names, types of aliens, etc. And a truly evil villain that you love to hate.

I really like that her best friend not only knew the truth and believe her, but that she ends up traveling in space with her too. The aliens introducing themselves with their pronouns is a great nod to gender awareness. The story also presents a smirk-worthy sense of humor that was just delightful.

There were some changes between scenes that were whiplashy and sometimes the protagonist's POV gets a bit whiny. Also some gadgets, I just didn't understand them, but none of these things diminish my love for this book.

With a healthy respect for individuality, this story shows that everyone matters and everyone can make a difference. A little compassion and understanding can go a long way. The wrongness of prejudice is at its core, as is the intricacy of justice. And it is a testament to the courage of being who you need to be.

Fun and engrossing, this space-trotting adventure is full of breath-stealing action and wonderful diverse characters that will make it difficult to pick a fave. May the Hosts of Misadventures be with this series and help us be patient for the sequel.

I had such high hopes for this novel since there aren't a ton of YA space books, and it sounded like a lot of fun. It *was* fun, but there was just so much going on and so many characters that we didn't really have a chance to bond with them before the action started. And some of the "fun" veered a little bit too much toward the ridiculous. (Admittedly, I'm not the intended audience and I think I would've probably enjoyed the humor and wackiness a lot more at 15 than 35.) I also wanted more worldbuilding. My favorite part of the book was when the crew lands on Rascal Station -- I was left craving more descriptions of intergalactic life like that.

I did find the plot entertaining enough overall, but I don't know that I enjoyed the book enough to continue the series. For me, it just didn't hit the mark enough to compete with similar series like Skyward by Brandon Sanderson and The Aurora Cycle by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for a free review copy.

Fantasic characters. Interesting plot. The story will keep you engaged the whole time. I loved it from the first sentence. Charlie did a fantastic job!!!!

"Victories Greater Than Death" has a beautiful cover and a fun title, but there wasn't much more that I enjoyed about this book.

I think there were two things that went against this book for me: the first was a high expectation. I have never read anything by  Charlie Jane Anders, but I've seen high ratings on her other works. Thinking that this would be an amazing 5-star book for me going into the story, I was very disappointed pretty quickly and the disappointment fueled more disappointment.

My main issue with the book is the writing. I understand that this is the beginning of a YA series, but that doesn't mean that it should be written for a dumbed down audience. The main character often narrates adding "like" into her thoughts. Like, why is that 'like' even there?

And UGH. As in, I got sick of seeing the main character say/think "ugh." And "gross." If overusing words bothers you (as it apparently does for me), then I would likely not recommend it. That being said, I am reviewing an ARC of this book. I hope that editing will fix this problem before final publication.

The main character, Tina, is a clone of a famous alien commander that died in space battle. Her DNA has been hidden/changed to match a human until she is 'old enough' to join the space battle. Once in space, Tina receives some of the memories of life as a commander, both only enough to always be just the right amount of convenient.

I wish I had liked this more, but it just wasn't for me. Thank you Netgalley and Tor Teen for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have to first specify that I unfortunately DNF'd this book at the 20% mark, but I will give my best feedback as to why.

This book promises Star Wars meets Doctor Who, but unfortunately feels a lot more like Galaxy Quest for middle schoolers. My main issue with this book is that it is incredibly juvenile for a YA book. I know that technically 13-19 is the age range for a teenager, but this book reads a lot more like the first Percy Jackson novel rather than a full fledged Young Adult novel we're more used to in 2021.

I knew this book wasn't going to be for me within the first 5%, but I genuinely did try and trudge on. I wasn't sold on the maturity of the book the moment the main character and her best friend decided to have a random disco party outside the studio of Monday Barker; a Piers Morgan type character, which is very relevant to todays political climate but I think I would have rather they did an actual protest rather than all of them dancing silly in spandex and glitter...Once again reminding me of how YOUNG the novel is aimed toward.

The other thing that I didn't enjoy was how low stakes the book felt. Tina, our main character, is the clone of a wonderful, amazing space commander and one day she will awaken to her true calling and save the entire galaxy from an evil alien race known as The Compassion. Except, within the 20% I read, half the time Tina and her sidekick best friend, Rachael are making snarky jokes and calling one another "space butts" as an insult...I never once believed that Tina or Rachael were in any genuine danger, and I fully knew the entire time I was reading this that Tina was going to come into her power and save the day. It's not necessarily a bad thing to know a book will have a happy ending, but I at least want to feel as though they have to fight for it.

The world building was...minimal. You get some info-dumpy stuff from Tina once she inherits her old memories (sort of) and that's kind of it. Which is a shame. Books involving aliens should focus heavily on world building. I know it's a short young adult novel, so maybe I shouldn't have too much hope but still. I did appreciate that all of the alien characters introduce themselves with their name and pronouns because it feels like a step in the right direction, but it felt awkwardly placed and could have done better. They're alien races, so to focus on pronouns and gender from their perspective seems a bit odd. Having the human main character ask someone's pronouns feels like it would have fit better, especially since the concept of pronouns in general is a human thing. But, I like that we're putting such things in young adult novels to make them feel more inclusive.

I also would like to note that I hadn't met the love interest yet. I would have liked to and would have loved to see it, because human/alien romances have always been a weak spot for me. But as soon as the sidekick character suggests they should bring "other nerds from Earth" to help with their cause, I just knew I was going to continue to dislike this.

That said, I think this has a lot of potential to be really popular among middle grade students! Particularly 10-13 year old's, who will find the humor funnier than I did or relate to the struggling awkward main characters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book!

I love Charlie Jane Anders' work because it's unapologetically weird, but this translates awkwardly to the world of YA sci-fi. The style and tone are a little abrupt, and the concept feels better-suited to an adult book. In the beginning, for example, Tina and her friend are taken by aliens within the first few pages, and Tina idly thinks about how she may never see her mom again--and then she just moves on to something else. That doesn't feel true to how a teenager would respond to such a situation, and we don't really get to know Tina enough to know if that's a normal reaction for her. There's a rushed element to it that I wish weren't there.

Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders is the first in what I believe is supposed to be a trilogy.
***
Tina has always known that she is the clone of someone important and one day her beacon would activate and someone would come for her but she’d have to be careful it was the right someone because both allies and enemies are looking for her. She doesn’t know who she is the clone of, or why but she is prepared and ready for the journey of a lifetime.
When her beacon is finally activated though Tina realizes she is really, really not prepared or ready for this journey.
She faces against terrible evil and injustice and has to find her place in this huge scary world where she has the knowledge of her predecessor but not her actual memories of her lifetime, which leaves her at some disadvantages.
***
I loved the world that is built and presented. I have always loved the idea of space, and travel and other worlds and beings. The book gives you plenty of that.
It also gives you interesting, fun teenagers from very different walks of life trying to work together and come together on a ship with beings they never could have imagined. I loved them all, Damini was my favorite, thrill seeking pilot in the making that one.
The story also builds really well to what the series focus is going to be, which isn’t the very obvious villain you’re dealing with in this book. (Wow, Marrant is a loathsome dude and that thing he can do is awful and disgusting. Very good job at making me hate this guy.)
What it also gives you is slightly ungainly time jumps that throw me because they’re not always consistent when they happen, and a lot of info dumping that felt like they bogged the story down a bit. It was all cool information, but also, how much of it was necessary to what was going on at any given time? I don’t know, but I felt a little overwhelmed at times at all the information I was being given. Maybe that means the books going forward will have it easier because so much was set up in this book.
I’m definitely going to be continuing this book, because it was a grand adventure, and I loved team Earthlings and the Indomitable crew. Looking forward to where this series is going to continue taking us, and how Tina is going to continue growing into the person she chooses to be following the adventure of book one.
***
I’d rate this book a 3.5- 4 stars.
***
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not the target audience for this book and that’s okay! I would have adored this at 14-15 give or take a couple years.
As an adult I like a YA novel where the characters simply happen to be young and the book’s a little cleaner. They make for relaxing reads. The characters in this book are very much teens with all the adolescent angst (totally understandable for the ones with unsafe home lives) and idealistic drama of a teenager. The story is about the central teen and her human friends experiencing the wonders of space and all the handily humanoid life forms they are on a ship with. The plucky teens are of course cast into danger and must save the day!
It wraps up well and leaves the door open for future adventures.
I would recommend this to a teen science fiction fan without hesitation!
For adults that like YA novels or the author’s excellent adult science fiction it’s very much a teen book with teen characters. It’s a good time though and if you’re good with YA novels you should like this one just fine!

DNF. The set up to the plot was weird and underdeveloped, I felt no connection to the characters, and I just wasn't into it.

Tina is actually an alien , a clone here on earth with limited time, awaiting her beacon to signal so that she may leave to conquer much bigger things in the unknown galaxy. However, when the beacon activates, maybe things aren’t quite what Tina had hoped for. Her old memories were supposed to be restored from her previous life, and that didn’t quite go as planned. Her friend here on Earth, Rachael decides to stay on the ship to be alongside Tina to fight off the Compassion (who’s ideology is genocide). With Rachael’s unsatisfactory life on Earth, she views this as a new adventure opportunity with her friend. With a new crew of friends, and even a same sex love interest for Tina, they take on this journey.

I have to admit that although I enjoy watching sci-fi, I don’t really read it. I took a gamble with reading this, and I am not sure it paid off. I was incredibly overwhelmed with there being just so many characters, alien species, and planets, that it’s hard to keep up at times and I felt like it was difficult to connect with the characters. All of the characters are in introduced with their respective gender pronouns, which I can appreciate. However, I was taking so much time trying to process these aspects and I didn’t really feel like I enjoyed the book to it’s full potential. Because of the ending, it is obvious there are more books to come, but I doubt I will continue on with them. Honestly, the book was likely overwhelming for me and impacted my enjoyment of it simply because I am not used to reading sci-fi, and therefore will likely be more enjoyable to others.