I love the author and was so excited to see what she did in a YA book and I loved the exploration of gender while also just allowing gender queer to exist and to exist in a world where they are welcome. This is an important book for any gender queer teen who just needs to see themselves and see themselves exist in a world that accepts them.

Victories Greater Than Death sounded great, but when I started reading, I quickly lost interest. I never wanted to read more than one chapter at a time and the premise just wasn't intriguing enough for me. The sci-fi aspects were a little too "out there" for my taste as well.

While this wasn't the right book for me, that doesn't mean plenty of other readers won't enjoy this. I think the genre, writing style, and subject matter just didn't pique my interest.

Thank you so much to Macmillan-Tom Doherty Associates, Charlie Jane Anders, and NetGalley for the ARC of Victories Greater Than Death.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-ARC of the book in exchange for a review.

This book was a little bit of a slow start for me, but it soon picked up and I was hooked and thoroughly enjoyed the story.

I loved how zany and off the wall this book was. It has serious X-Files vibes at times (in the best way possible). I absolutely loved it. A great, fast-paced story.

Victories Greater Than Death was such a fun surprise!
Tina's adventure to space was so thrilling and I loved every second of it! The way everyone introduced themselves with their pronouns was so cool.
I really enjoyed the way this story 'explained' how most races in space are humanoid.
The relationship between Tina and Elza was cute - a little instalove but when you are in space i don't think it matters.
The queer rep in this book was amazing! Just the representation, in general, was amazing.
Can not wait to pick up the sequel and see how Tina and her crew will figure out the next disaster.

Ok so the only really weird issue I had with this one was that when anytime a new person came into the book they would let us know their pronouns. I just don't know how that would really work in real life. I mean it's not really a thing that comes up. At least not in any conversation I have ever had. And in this story it felt really weird. The plot wasn't all that good either and after starting this review I have to say that I think I will be lowering my stars. I just can't really think of anything that I really enjoyed about this one other than the setting.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

The concept and summary for this one was sooo intriguing!! I tried really hard to get in to this one but I just couldn’t. I felt like it lacked that something to make me want to read this one.

Victories Greater Than Death (Unstoppable) by Charlie Jane Anders
Edited by Miriam Weinberg
Review by Sam Lubell
Tor Teen Hardcover / eBook ISBN/ITEM#: 9781250317315
Date: 13 April 2022

Nearly all adolescent science fiction fans, at some point in their lives, have daydreamed that the reason they feel alien from everyone around them is that they really are an alien and someday their spaceship will come and take them where they really belong. For Tina Mains this is no daydream; she is a clone of an important alien planted on present-day Earth to hide her from the original version's enemies. Tina has a rescue beacon inside her that will trigger when she is ready to leave Earth and begin to fulfill her destiny (she hopes it is as the heir to an alien casino). But she has been warned that the beacon will also be detected by an alien murder team who will try to kill her.

When the book starts, Tina is in high school and beginning to have memories of the person she used to be. With the help of her best friend Rachael Townsend, a homeschooled introvert who draws comics, she manages to trigger the device by refusing to get scared and then survives the murder monsters from beyond our world (by hiding in a paintball court) long enough for the Royal Fleet run by the good aliens to rescue her.

It turns out that Tina is a clone of Captain Thaoh Argentian, a hero of the Royal Fleet who sacrificed her life to save her crew. Unfortunately, something goes wrong with the process of restoring Tina's Argentian memories. She regains her general knowledge of the culture, the ship's engineering, and her fighting abilities, but no personal memories, like an amnesia victim who knows how to eat and speak but not her identity. Despite this, the Captain puts Tina to work as the junior tactical officer since the ship was damaged in fighting the enemy and needs every available fighter.

When the ship is attacked while transporting young Earth math and science geniuses intended to replace deceased personnel, Tina violates orders and risks her own life to save them. Rachel remembers that the evil aliens made reference to wanting to interrogate Argentian about the Talgan stone. So, Captain Othaar decides they need to find it first, creating the quest that drives much of the action side of the book's plot.

The story focuses as much on the personal relationships of the characters as it does on space battles. Even though Rachel is normally timid when she faces high school bullies, she insists on helping Tina run from the murderous aliens (who call themselves the Compassion) and accompanies her to the HMSS Indomitable. She refuses to go back to Earth and leave Tina. She is the one who comes up with the plan to recruit young Earthlings. These young Earth geniuses become Tina's new group of friends and one becomes her romantic interest. Even the main villain, Marrant, has a personal connection to Tina as he used to be Argentian's trusted subordinate and friend.

On occasion it is unclear if Anders is satirizing the space opera conventions or playing them straight. For instance, one of the good aliens defines the evil aliens as "The Compassion ... Their name sounds friendly, but they follow an ideology of total genocide and subjugation." All the usual Navy accouterments are present but with slight deviations; they can customize a portion of their uniforms and there are tons of different phrases and responses for all situations. Still, one would think a writer of Anders' imaginative caliber would create something more original than another space navy.

The book is very gay-friendly. All of the characters introduce themselves by saying their preferred pronoun. Near the end of the book, Tina starts developing romantic feelings for another girl.

Victories Greater Than Death is marketed as a Young Adult novel and the main characters are adolescents. A key theme in the book is finding one's self as Tina has to deal with her discovery that Captain Argentian did not want to be cloned and Rachel has to recognize her own abilities and courage. Still, it has much to offer adult readers who want a fun adventure with interesting characters. I look forward to reading the recently released sequel, Dreams Bigger than Heartbreak.

This is just a fun queer space opera perfect for fans of Jupiter Ascending. Although I love Jupiter Ascending the writing and memory loss shtick didn't do it for me.

A YA sci-fi space opera! Unfortunately, the book is full of clunky writing and info-dumps. Even the diversity and representation started to feel forced even though at first it seemed like it was going to be seamlessly intertwined into the narrative. Great idea though.

I enjoyed everything about this book. I'm a Charlie Jane Anders fan and I'm so thankful I got to read this arc

Title: Victories Greater Than Death
Author: Charlie Jane Anders
Pages: 288

Tina is an alien hidden on earth, entrusted with the very important interplanetary rescue beacon, which once it activates will take her on wild adventures.

Tina.... is a bit stupid... Or maybe this book was just out of my age range. Although very easy to read, it was riddled with over used Sci-Fi jargon and did not, in my opinion, present a new and interesting story to follow. Although the characters were nice enough they feel like they were based off templates I've seen in this genre before. I have to this is why I have, in large stayed away from Sci Fi stories, because After Star Wars, Dr Who, Star Track, Ender's Game and a few other classics, how much of the Sci Fi genre is left to tell.

BUT I have to say the plot was easy to follow and as fun as you can expect from a YA novel. I really enjoyed Tina's interactions with the side characters although it been done before. The writing was fun to read.

This might be the book to get your child into the Sci Fi genre. It is with that in mind that I would recommend. Not the most original, but definitely a fun read altogether.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. This is my honest review.

Although the book is labeled as "teen" it is a fabulous read for everyone.

Charlie Jane Anders is an accomplished writer. She injects humor into a plot about brilliant teens who find themselves on a spaceship, fighting an evil foe.

More than that, it is about finding and being true to yourself

It's an excellent read and I am hoping there will be a sequel.

This book was a DNF @ 35%. The story was too convoluted and hard to follow. I feel like the cast of characters was too big for average reader to follow each one.

I felt like the novel itself was well written, and I can easily see how this story would capture some, but it was fell short for me simply because of the amount of work it took to keep afloat with the characters.

Interesting twist on the story of a character trying too fill shoes that are too big. In this case, she is the axact copy of the hero, but without the upbringing or training. How she accomplishes what she does was enthralling reading.

I ended up starting and then putting this on down. Not sure if it was just not my thing but will try again later

A galaxy-hopping adventure that never lets up -- sometimes to a fault.
Anders is setting up a whole trilogy here but honestly this first book could've been three books. There's a lot packed in here and she keeps holding out a hand to bring the reader along, making sure you're there the whole time. It gets a little bit overwhelming at times and the ending feels less emotionally impactful as a result of the pace, but there are two more books! Should be a blast.

DNF'd at 10%. Could not get into the writing style. Thank you Net Galley for this ARC and a chance to read this title.

What a amazing book! I feel in love with this one. The story is spectacular, all the characters are super vivid. I recommend with my heart.