I really enjoyed The City in the Middle of the Night and was excited for the first YA novel from this author. It was good, but I think I had the same issues with it as I do most YA novels. While there are strong leads, there is a lot of teenage angst and I think I'm just over that.

Life's tough enough when you're a teenager, but what if you're special?

Tina has a lot of pressure on her - she's the clone of an alien commander who is supposed to leave the earth and locate a special stone before a dangerous alien species finds it and causes the end of the universe. And with the help of the memories of her cloned self and some other outcast teenagers, she's ready to fight in an intergalatic war to save the universe.

There is a lot to keep straight in this book, including alien names/alien species/future tech/ etc. that sometimes I found it hard to keep it all straight. But there is ultimately an interesting idea and story in there to keep readers going and waiting to see what Tina will do next.

Victories Greater Than Death was a hilarious and beautifully queer space adventure that many readers are sure to love. The casual inclusion of queerness was so fun to read, and the expansive world building made it a wonderful sci-read. There were a few aspects I really enjoyed, like the wide array of characters and the moral questions about war and military that were introduced throughout the book. However, I do feel that the writing style and character voice is something not every reader will vibe with. The main character is compelling, but at times her arc felt rather predictable. I also think the plot felt rather unoriginal, but the book was still quite enjoyable and left off on quite the cliffhanger that I’m sure will have readers coming back for book two.

Tina was adopted as an infant... a small, female, rather purplish infant. The clone of a heroic space captain, fated to take the captain’s place when she’s old enough and can regain her original‘s memories - and she has every intention of doing so. Unexpectedly, while she gains her predecessor‘s world knowledge, her personal memories don’t return, to the disappointment of all those around her who had pegged their hopes on her return. And yet, with a style all her own, Tina recruits several other human teens, and they go off to try to save the galaxy. Join Tina and her friends as they quest across the galaxy, seeking to save the universe - and hang on, it’s a bumpy ride!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for the opportunity to read and review this book. This book is one that is already getting a ton of buzz and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. This is because for me, sci fi can be really fun or really dense. In this particular instance, there was a mix of both but in a good way. There are a ton of alien species mentioned, several mini missions like on the star trek shows, and the world-building was so vivid, it truly felt like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book. One of the best parts though, is that there is a lot of inclusion included here with pronoun differentiating, varying ethnicities and fluctuating sexual orientations. There is also a person who represented the extreme introvert which was something that I felt after reading this, is underrepresented in fiction. However, I did have a couple of issues. One is that there are moments in the writing that I felt that I was just plopped into the middle of the action especially when it came to the missions like after a commercial break on a tv show. I would have appreciated more context. The other issue I had was although the main character finding a great unique romance was a fantastic side plot, I wish some of the other characters were more flushed out than the love interest (because it sounded like the love interest was just saying the same lines over and over again). But, I know sometimes teen books need more romance than I do plus with the inclusivity they should definitely read this. Overall, I truly enjoyed my time reading this book and I am excited to see what comes next in this series. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to receive an ARC of Victories Greater Than Death.

I had very high hopes for this book, but I think the main issue I had with it was the writing. For the very childish metaphors to some of the simple, undeveloped, parts of the plot, I couldn't help but feel like I was not the target audience for the book. I do normally enjoy YA, but this book was simply too... simple. I can't find another way to put it. I'm sure someone out there will truly love this book. Unfortunately, that person won't be me.

I really liked the character of Alice and the comradery between her and her friend Rachel. They bravely face the fact that Alice is about to be picked up by aliens and returned to her home planet, but then I kind of lost interest. Not enough explanation or backstory is given as to why Alice has to go fight a galactic war, so I put this book aside at about the 25% mark.

I've loved every book I've ready by Charlie Jane Anders, so I wasn't shocked to love this book just as much. Tina was literally born for great things. She's the clone of a great alien warrior. But when she finally gets picked up by a spaceship, it's not quite the futuristic experience she expected.

I loved the world building of the galaxy and alien races, as well as the questions Tina has to answer for herself about what her destiny really is. I think this is the best YA science fiction I've read in a really long time.

I won't spoil the ending, but it invokes one of my favorite tropes in science fiction, and I can't wait to see where the series goes next.

Science fiction writers are known for their vivid imaginations. Fiction alone is one thing, but imagining things that just aren’t is something entirely different. Aliens, far off stars, “impossible” technologies, incredible landscapes.

Then there is Charlie Jane Anders!

Anders’ fiction opens doors that you didn’t even know were closed. In Victories Greater than Death, Tina is a young woman who has learned she is not entirely human. Within her is a beacon that, when activated, will summon a spaceship to take her back to the life she does not remember. Her best friend Rachael knows her secret and accepts the truth. Rachael only hopes that she can go to space with her friend.

The day comes, the beacon comes to life, and the adventure starts. The problem with the beacon is that it does not only call Tina’s allies. Her enemies are also alerted, and they are quite willing to kill anyone and everyone to capture or end Tina before her memories return.

So begins an adventure that takes Tina, Rachael, and an unlikely group of young adults across the galaxy on a quest to find a missing artifact. And I don’t want to say too much that might give spoilers away, except that Anders aliens are more alien than most, her landscapes are stranger than the aliens living within them, and if this is not the start of a series then that would be a real shame.

Anders’ writing has a delightful flow, and this YA book truly sings. What is particularly compelling about all of her work is her compassion for those who are different, loners, misfits, unique. Tina is an alien who grew up as a human. Coming to terms with what and who she is brings a fascinating tension into the story. None of the human characters, and even some of the aliens, quite fit into the stories their families or their species wanted to tell. Whether their differences are gender, identity, talent, body shape, temperament, or something else that makes them “other” in the sight of their peers, Anders finds a place for them to excel as themselves in her worlds.

In many ways I was lucky as a child and young adult. I was a misfit, but still managed to find a compassionate group of friends who accepted me anyway. I often wonder if I would have chosen to live without those companions, many of whom I remain close to even decades later. There are children and young adults who do not have that group of understanding peers who embrace their oddities and cherish their uniqueness. For them, Charlie Jane Anders offers an alternate world where their differences do not make them outcasts. In her worlds, differences make people heroes.

rep: bi/pan mc, trans fem bi/pan li, indian sc, poc sc's, non binary sc's

I really wanted to enjoy this book but the style is very abrupt, there's too many info-dumps, and i don't care about the characters because we're thrust into the action scenes before we can form any attachments to them. A ton of non-distinct side characters are introduced very fast and I couldn't keep track of the cast. The plot of retaining someone else' memories sounded interesting at first, but information kept appearing when it was convenient for the plot which I found boring.

I did like everyone introducing themselves with their pronouns and some of the dialogue was funny, the budding enemies to lovers intrigued me but whenever I started to get interested, the tone changed or the scene ended and we were back to uninteresting plotlines.

DNF

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have tried reading this book about four times. I just cannot get into it. None of it works for me; the synopsis about a girl who is secretly an alien sounded SO interesting, especially since I love science fiction (it's my favorite genre), but this was just disappointing to me. However, I'm giving it a 2 star rating because I think some people may be able to enjoy it. I just did not enjoy any of the characters.

Charlie Jane Anders's first YA outing starts off feeling like a movie, settling into a book, and then ending like a movie. This is not necessarily a bad thing but it gives the book a strange sense of being neither/nor, and makes it feel like a debut rather than a book by one of the best authors of our time. Switching audiences is not easy, but I'd like to see more of Charlie Jane's usual complexity in the future. Teens can handle it. Until then, we have this space adventure, which is at times fun and has a lot of heart, but definitely has a much stronger second half than first.

This was weird for me, right off the bat. Felt a disconnect to the characters, to the world, to everything. I felt like I was dropped in the story with no context. Like, I constantly felt like I was missing things. This was just weird for me? And also since reading it I've forgotten most of it? Except for how I felt which was confused a lot of the time. I didn't like the writing in this, just wasn't for me unfortunately.

I am sure some will find this type of sci fi fun to read. I just struggled to enjoy the humor side of the story. The adventure angle is enjoyable, and the friendship between the two original characters is sweet.

This book was really a lot of fun! Think of the queerest Star Trek you can imagine, and there you are :-) This is the story of an Earthling named Tina, who has known her whole life that she is not like the other humans. Her mother told her that she has a beacon within her, and when she was old enough, it would turn on, drawing alien assassins to her. Tina had hoped it would also bring help, and it did in the form of the HMSS Indomitable and its out of this world crew!

Tina discovers that she is the clone of a celebrated starship captain who was killed by the Compassion, a group bent on wiping out or subjugating every planet in their path. However, she doesn’t quite have the captain’s full memories, so she has basic knowledge but no personal information. As the minimal remaining crew of the Indomitable begins to repair the damaged ship so they can leave Earth’s orbit, they decide to recruit a few more young and incredibly smart earthlings to help them. Then they are off to fight the Compassion yet again. In the middle of all this, Tina is discovering who she really is, and what family and love mean to her.

So this story is full of two things: action and teen romance! If you are into those things, then you’ll probably enjoy it. It does suffer a bit from an over-abundance of characters,some of whom are not very fleshed out. It can also feel rushed at times; the pacing just isn’t quite right.
However, the world building Anders has created here is fascinating- everyone simply introduces themselves with their pronouns, & there are myriad genders amongst the alien races. This is just the first of an intended series, and I look forward to reading more.
This exciting ride will be out on April 13th- mark your calendars!

I have died and gone to sci-fi heaven, now writing this review from beyond the grave. A YA by Charlie Jane Anders? A space opera by Charlie Jane Anders? A YA space opera by Charlie Jane Anders? This gives me hope that we're going to see more aggressively inclusive, queer space operas in YA.

Ok. So we have Tina. She isn't human, but a clone of the brilliant Big Deal alien Captain Thaoh who is, when the time comes, going to come back and save the universe. No pressure, right? But when Tina's destiny doesn't turn out quite as planned, well...cue story of adventure and heroism!

I enjoyed Victories Greater Than Death, and would have absolutely no problem recommending it to young readers. The voice is sassy and snappy, the world is vast--full of diverse alien (to us) species who introduce themselves with their pronoun WHICH I LOVE, and the characters are queer and trans and accepting. Yes, the big bad is a cruel jerk who can kill with his toxic touch, but he's no match for our ragtag team of teens.

Or is he....???

Thank you for granting me this book to review!

This was very disappointing in a variety of ways. It had good ideas but did almost nothing good with them. Some things just utterly did not make sense, uses of Portuguese words and Brazilian names were obviously not researched well, it had very little plot and didn’t make you care about the characters before deep diving into their feelings. It’s completely unbelievable to me that the main character would get into a days long funk about being a clone of a woman who didn’t want to be cloned before she would get into a days long funk about missing the mother who raised her and then just abandoning that mother, but she’s fine because her best friend came along for the space journey? And the jargon these people use with each other sounds ridiculous, teenagers don’t talk like this. And don’t get me started on the aliens names, one of which was literally uiuiuiuiui. Over all it’s just poorly done and an not enjoyable read.

Tina has been waiting her whole life to be called to her destiny, to leave Earth and travel through the galaxies. Knowing she is a clone of one of the greatest alien commanders, she knows she is meant for great things. Yet when it happens, it is a lot more than what she expected or was prepared for.

This is my first book I’ve read by Charlie Jane Anders, and it won’t be my last. I am glad I started with Victories Greater Than Death too, because it shows how much I’m missing by having not read Anders other books. Considering all that, Victories Greater Than Death wasn’t entirely the book for me despite it being incredibly well written and being able to see the talent that Anders has.

The characters in the book were great - Tina was an interesting main character, dealing with what she considers her destiny and trying to balance the life she left behind. The closeness of the friends she has and the friends she makes throughout the story was one of the most touching and engaging parts of the book. In truth, I could have just read about the relationships between all of them without ever touching on the space opera part of the book, which just shows how good of a writer Anders is if it makes me want to even read the most mundane aspects of a characters life. Of course, it was also incredibly diverse, with a wide range of LGBTQ+ characters, and each character introduces themselves with their pronouns which I really liked, and hope to see more of in other books.

What didn’t work for me was a lot of the story felt like a plot of convenience. A human friend just being able to come along felt too simple, as though there should have been more conflict with leaving her friends behind. This trust of aliens for the humans felt a bit surprising too, as it wasn’t entirely clear if Earth had any awareness of these aliens before yet were immediately accepting. The story also moves a bit too quickly, creating a lack of flow and feeling like there is little connection between the chapters. I would have liked it to be a bit more cohesive, or be more clear how much of a jump happens between sections.

All in all, I did really enjoy the book and wanted to know more as I was reading, yet some parts just felt jarring and took me out of the story. I find this is often the case in young adult books, and so I’m expecting to love Ander’s adult books much more. For fans of space operas, science fiction, and young adult books though, this is definitely one they won’t want to miss as there is a lot to love in Victories Greater Than Death.

That was a ok book.
I do enjoy young adult books but this one has a lot of cliches that I hate and it kind of threw me off.
It was interesting to see a Brazilian character and so many brazilian things in there, even if some were a little off (and some typos).
I liked it but it was just good.

Tina, placed on earth as an infant, has an interplanetary rescue beacon planted in her chest. She always knows one day she will be called back to space. When it happens, she becomes enmeshed in a war to save her new planet. My problem with this book is the overwhelming number of characters. I found it difficult to keep all of them straight because some were mentioned only once or twice -- more as a way to describe their unusual bodies [think about the bar scene in a Star Wars film] than anything that advances the story.