I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
This is a unique story and I admit it a bit of a strange one. The writing is good and the MC is quirky. The story is fast paced with plenty of action
On the whole a good book.

I've tried and tried, but although this has a great premise and fab worldbuilding, I just can't get into it. I don't think it's a bad book; I think it's just that Anders has altered their style quite a bit in writing their YA debut, so I'd caution fans of their Adult books before picking this one up. It's very different in tone and style from City in the Middle of the Night or All the Birds in the Sky, and like I said, I don't think that's *bad*, but it's something readers should be ready for going in.

I think fans of YA + aliens are going to love this immensely, but those of us who were expecting something more like All the Birds are inevitably going to be disappointed.

I just love Charlie Jane Anders. All the Birds in the Sky was one the the books that brought me back to the sci-fi genre, so I was glad to get my hands on an early copy of Victories Greater Than Death - her YA debut.

They book follows Tina, who happens to be an alien clone of the galaxy's most brilliant commander. Tina is desperate for her own adventures to begin, but she gets a bit more than she bargained for when she has to save the world.

This book is a sci-fi mash up that is queer and strange and lovely.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Charlie Jane Anders, the author of the critically acclaimed All the Birds in the Sky and The City in the Middle of the Night, exceeds expectations in her upcoming novel Victories Greater Than Death (April 13, 2021).

While reading, I had to put my Kindle down after reaching the 70% mark. I didn’t want Tina’s story to end. Doctor Who, She-Ra (2018), and Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse come to mind while reading. There’s action, fascinating alien worlds to explore, and high stakes to keep your eyes on the page. Anders has written a compelling story that will resonate with its target audience.

Anders wastes no time in getting you buckled up for the ride. Tina’s voice is established from the first page. She speaks and acts like the average teenager today, even though she has a destiny that she must embark on once the time comes. She is the clone of the space hero Captain Thoah Argentian, her DNA masked as a human on earth to avoid being hunted by enemies. When those enemies have tracked her down, she and her best friend Rachael are transported to the spaceship The Indomitable, where a diverse team of aliens awaits the arrival of Argentian’s clone.

Victories Greater Than Death navigates themes about supremacy, genocide, heroism, and identity. Tina questions her existence as the clone of an infamous alien hero. She doubts her ability to live up to Argentian’s legacy. What I still don’t see in a lot of superhero media is the vulnerability and sense of self that comes with the package. Tina’s personal journey mostly revolves around her fears of failing her human and alien friends. At the end of the day, she is a teenager, and there are moments where she releases her fears and doubts.

The story’s external conflict involves the ongoing battle with the Compassion, a group of aliens that have committed genocide despite their aim to spread peace throughout the galaxy. The Compassion’s leader Marrant, Argentian’s enemy and former friend, wants to achieve a superior form of existence. An ancient alien race called the Shapers has left behind a superweapon that could grant Marrant’s wish. This part of the story seamlessly intertwines with Tina’s arc. In between The Indomitable crew’s mission in defeating the Compassion, Tina wonders about her place in the universe. Her relationships with the other characters, particularly her developing romance with Elza, adds dimension to Tina’s narrative arc.

Besides Anders’s carefully crafted scenes and balance of action and interiority, her sensitivity in human diversity is impressive and appreciated. The aliens and homeworlds show Anders’s infinite imagination, but her attention to her human characters deserves recognition and praise. The story introduces Yiwei (Chinese), Damini (East Indian), Keziah (Black British), and Elza (Black Brazilian, travesti). Chosen to help defeat Marrant and the rest of the Compassion, they apply their skills and talents while adapting to life on a spaceship. However, the story also allows room to develop these characters, putting them as people first. Anders had consulted with sensitivity readers to make sure those characters are represented well.

An exciting story that explores what it means to be a hero, Victories Greater Than Death is a fantastic start to a new YA series.

I really liked this story, the characters, plot, setting, use of pronouns and consent and diversity were all done very well. I felt there was a little bit missing in terms of describing the action and story line but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone looking for a new Sci Fi/Fantasy read. 3.5 starts rounded up.

Wonderful story. The world building was awesome. I loved the friendship between the girls the most. I could picture everything in my head and that to me is the best kind of book!

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

I love sci-fi, so I was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, my hopes were too high.

I understand that Anders is building an entirely new world, but it felt messy and gave us too much in a short period of time. There are so many characters, races, greetings, etc., that it feels bloated and hard to remember. Maybe it's because I have a lot of other things on my mind, but I ended up needing to keep a pen and paper to keep track of who was who.

I think that maybe this world would work better as a series of graphic novels (or even a TV series or movie) that could work as a prequel to introduce us to this world. It would also make it easier to distinguish characters, races, and so on.

Overall, it's a great idea that needed more work on the execution.

This book just shines. Jumping straight into an action packed story of identity and hope and questions, just a really stunning intro. The world building is fun and walks a fine edge between camp and genuine wonder.

I received an early copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to TOR and Netgalley.

Anders' City in the Middle of the Night made me pay attention to her as a science fiction writer. If you've read that, you can imagine how she might approach a YA space adventure. If you've read All the Birds in the Sky you know what to expect from her humor and quirky characters. This book is everything I had hoped for and then some. While a bit lighter than The Expanse, fans of modern space adventures are sure to love this. If you enjoyed seeing queer representation in Star Trek Discovery Season 3, be prepared to love this as well.

The book doesn't spend much time in a high school on Earth. We quickly join an adventure on an alien space ship with a few earthlings recruited from a variety of backgrounds to make things interesting. This allows us to learn the ways of the ship from the perspective of a newcomer. The mixture of comedy throughout makes it feel like The Orville at times, without the unnecessary dick jokes. Maybe on a re read I'll listen to The Orville soundtrack.

Anders makes good use of pronouns and consent in a way that feels natural. The action really picks up in the second half leading to an incredible standoff and satisfying ending. The stakes could not be higher. I will eagerly return if a sequel is ever released. I'll be waiting patiently for a return to the wonderful space and characters. This is some of the most fun I have had in space.

Teens who like Star Wars or Doctor Who are going to adore this book! I can't wait to recommend it in schools (in fact, I've already recommended it even though it doesn't come out until April...oops!). It's a little bit of a bildungsroman, with a main character that has that "Han Solo" snarkiness to her, and a supporting cast that is diverse in ethnicity and sexual orientation (and species). The worldbuilding is super creative. The aliens you meet and the worlds you travel to all feel unique and have their own fun flavor. Plot-wise, it did sort of do the "Rise of Skywalker" search for a Macguffin thing which is not something I love, but it ultimately ended up somewhere cool. It's certainly fast-paced! The chapters are short and often end on cliffhangers. This could be a great pick for reluctant readers who like science fiction!

Victories Greater Than Death is a very good entry into the YA space opera genre, which could probably stand to see more high quality stories like this. I will be widely recommending it. 5 stars.

Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the eARC. Victories Greater Than Death will be released in April 2021.

3.5
I enjoyed the parts I read. I found it a unique story with interesting details and I liked how the narrative was told. However, I felt like chunks were missing. It jumped back and forth and with not much detail of things that set up the story or when it would go back and forth. I did enjoy it just felt it needed a little more to give more context.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy.

Let me start off by saying that I love how LGBTQ friendly this book is. I appreciate the pronoun usages and consistency. My child feels the same.

This book started off strong and sassy and exciting but about 1/3 of the way in i started losing interest. I’ve been reading it with my child and they were beginning to feel the same way. We decided to keep trying but couldn’t make it quite halfway.

I will give this book another try. Sometimes we aren’t in the right place for certain books. I’m hoping this is the case for this book because I really want to enjoy this book and see how it ends. Unfortunately, it’s just lagging and drawing out too much for me.

I could see this as a mini-series on TV.

As far as YA books go, this was a pretty good one! Ended somewhat abruptly, like it needed to hook us for the sequel, which I’ve noticed can be a problem in the genre. Hit all the major representation buttons pretty well (not meaning to be glib - representation is important!) The characterization felt a little thin, which might, again, just be because I’m not the target audience for YA.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for letting me read a digital advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

After reading Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky and The City in the Middle of the Night and loving the beautiful prose and unique stories, I was eager to pick up the first instalment in her new YA sci-fi series.
What a great, action packed adventure it was! It was fast-paced and fun with plenty of space battles, cadet training and planet exploring. Overall, it gave me major Star Trek vibes. It had a lot of great queer representation, both with the human characters and the aliens (I really liked that in space everyone introduces themselves by stating their pronouns!).
I also enjoyed the friendship between the diverse cast of characters- I truly am a sucker for a good found family type story. I really enjoyed the supporting characters in this story but I wish they were explored with more depth! Every time we got a nugget of information about their backstories it was glossed over immediately- I hope they are more fleshed out in the rest of the series.

The main issue I had with VGTD was that it feels like in order to appeal to a young audience, the author sacrificed the element of her prose that made it so interesting and dynamic. I am sure there are a lot of young(er) readers that will LOVE this story, whereas it could have had the potential to appeal to YA readers and non-YA readers alike. In general, the oversimplified writing led to few instances of clumsy dialogue and a lot of expositional info-dumps.

Overall, a really enjoyable story in an interesting setting, but with a few minor issues that kept me from being totally enamoured with it. However, I can't wait to see where the series goes!

I loved how diverse everyone was! The use of pronouns was great, and it's so refreshing to have gender and sexual identity be no big deal. Also loved a rag tag group coming together to save the day. There's a LOT going on in a short period of time, which means that sometimes it feels a little bit too much like an info dump. But overall, it's a fast paced, fun read.

I’ll start this out by saying I’m not into reading YA books which may have affected a lot of my review. I think that if I had kids I would let them read this book and in that sense it’s a very successful YA novel but for my own tastes and biases I didn’t really enjoy it.

Victories Greater Than Death is basically like Ender’s Game if it wasn’t fash, with a little Star Trek TNG and Netflix’s Voltron thrown in. It’s a fast moving space opera narrative that’s a quick read. I was familiar with Anders’ All The Birds In The Sky, which I LOVED, though it also felt a little YA-ish, and in both her strength is her worldbuilding. The concept behind the (for lack of a better word) Big Bad is something I’ve never come across in sci-fi, and I wish she had done more with it, though it leaves a story open for sequels (no spoilers!) The story does a good job juggling lots of concepts and a pretty big cast of characters, all of which have discernible arcs, without losing the reader, and that in itself is a feat.

Something that made the prose feel juvenile was that it seemed like a millennial/gen X’er trying to approximate how the younger end of gen Z speaks, which is something I doubt even I could do (as someone on the cusp of millennial and Gen-Z). It’s a very progressive story with lots of minority representation which is part of the reason I said kids should read it, but the way it’s done feels a little hamfisted to me. For example, all the aliens introduce themselves with their gender pronouns, which made me laugh out loud the first time they did it. Maybe I’m a bad person for laughing because it seems well-intentioned… but at the same time the only non-binary characters were space aliens. It’s culturally diverse, but at the same time there’s an alien named Thot, which pretty much sums it up.

3 stars. I think this book may have oversold itself a little bit by comparing itself to Doctor Who and Star Wars. Brief synopsis: an alien clone raised as a human girl for her own protection from enemies awaits the day her beacon will go off to signal her return to the stars as well as when she can begin being tracked/located by alien enemies. At the start of the action of the book, the beacon goes off.

I was hoping that Charlie Jane Anders may have employed the elevated prose of her adult works to transcend the YA boundary here, but I fear that she may have instead decided to go the opposite route and pander to teens. Much of this felt rushed and angsty and I would have so much more enjoyed savoring an elaborate and beautiful new science fiction world. This one feels a little haphazardly stitched together at times, with rough transitions, pacing difficulties, and out-of-place turns of phrase.

That having been said, it was a lot of fun and I rather enjoyed having a trans woman as the lead love interest. The characters are diverse and while still mostly one dimensional, this is something I hope the author can ameliorate in the next installments. The world building is interesting (not to mention wonderfully positive to have a universe in which it's not unusual to introduce yourself with preferred pronouns and to always ask permission before touching another individual) and I look forward to its expansion as well.

**Thank you Netgalley and publisher for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I really wanted to like this book, however I felt that the dialouge was flat as the characters weren't well-rounded. I did like the descriptions of the aliens, they were very diverse.

Thank you to NetGallery and Tor Teen for giving me the opportunity to read this for a honest review.

The cover is amazing and the blurb drew me in. The story is ok. I found that I couldn’t really get into it unfortunately. I had high hopes.

Kids adventure through space and meet all kinds of aliens and fight the bad guys. This title will definitely be popular in my library.

I'm a fan of CJA's adult fiction, and this wasn't quite as good, but she creates quite a great fantasy world that's quirky and fun, along with some fast paced action. I think middle school students will eat this up.