Thank you for the audio!! I’ll tell you, Sena Bryer knocked it out of the park for me. Some really good and completely different voices in here.

This is an interesting concept. Earth was lost, and those on Gaea are raised to train with only one thing in mind, revenge. It’s an endless war. But when the main character, Kyr finds out that her brother has gone “rogue” and that she has been sentenced to work in the nursery, a near death sentence regardless of her being a top solider, things start to become a little clearer.

This is almost like an Inception-y, Time Travel creating changes like in Loki, multiversal kind of mixture that had a great pace to it. Can the past change the future if it’s the one that already exists? The twists are present, and they’re interesting, I just kind of felt like maybe the execution was a tad off. I found things that I thought were cool or interesting, but felt like they didn’t exactly pan out, and I wasn’t as engaged as I should have been.

The idea of the nursery as a whole, a set of selected women that were chosen for life to birth the next generation of humans, could have been set up to make a hell of a statement…but it kind of just is what it is—lacking commentary? Even in the future, during an all-out war for survival, even while being the top marks solider out of all the women, you can still be seen as just a womb. And while that is kind of what it’s saying it also felt kind of flat, like they didn’t try to really get the point across. It also kind of felt off putting to me that Kyr’s brother, the large and muscly super solider was weird and different, and the way that it was played off was that he was different simply because he was gay? At least that’s how it feels. It needed to be deeper, or to not be there at all for me.

The other main issue I had, was that many, if not most, of the characters are just genuinely unlikable. It’s hard to be truly surprised, heartened, or heart broken with the twists when you don’t feel enough for those it’s happening too. So while there were things that kept me going, kept me listening on to the end, I just feel kind of somewhere in the middle on this one.

2024 Pride Month

Kyr has trained all her short life to avenge the murder of Planet Earth. When command assigns her to Nursery (yes, in a very The Handmaid’s Tale-esque manner), she starts to forge her own path.

I loved the beginning and end of this book much more than the middle. I enjoyed Kyr's character. While young, she makes less terrible decisions than other protagonists in the genre. I liked the aliens we interacted with.

Maybe controversial, but are all human starring space operas basically colonization on a grander scale?

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

This was such an intriguing tale that took turns that I did not anticipate. You will adore this if you are a fan of the concept of parallel universes.

Was feeling the need for a good sci fi book, so I picked this up on a whim, and I was immediately sucked in. The protagonist is SO unlikeable, which usually makes books hard to get through for me, but I was really impressed with how well the author demonstrated why she was unlikeable and gave her character growth. That combined with “wait, are we the bad guys?!”, and some fun timey wimey business made this one of my favorite books of the year.

After too many months I've finally finished this and I can say that I am happy that I did. While the subject matter caught me off guard at first, causing me to put this on hold, I finally got into it and devoured this.

Kyr is an incredibly unlikeable main character but I loved her arc. The struggles that she had internally were realistic and the constant battle with herself was well done.

While there were elements of the plot that I didn't love, this was an important book about family, war, and the struggle to do the right thing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Reviewed on TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@manda.lyn_reads/video/7278265286103534890?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7264539609161778731

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for a copy of the arc audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished 'Some Desperate Glory' by Emily Tesh. This book was so much fun from start to finish. Creatively written, with an exciting, dynamic storyline and an immersive world. It's certainly up there among the top books I've read this year. The only reason it's not a 5 stars for me is that I wasn't totally compelled by the characters. This might be a me-problem, since I read this as I was coming out of a reading slump. Nonetheless, a great book.

I didn't love this at first. The main character was very unlikable, and it felt a bit too YA for my tastes. However, I pushed on and ended up really enjoying it!

The setting is a far future where humanity has encountered other intelligent aliens. There has been a war that ended with the destruction of Earth. So, we are following a character who has grown up on a space station with the remnant of humanity in what is basically a military, human-survivalist cult.

The story is fairly predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. We follow a young woman as she comes of age and begins to question the things she has always believed about the universe. I found the themes cathartic, likely based on my background. It isn't super deep, but it feels good.

I've heard some criticism that this should be marketed as YA rather than adult. I completely get that argument, but I don't know if I agree. I usually don't enjoy YA; I enjoyed this. I think it rides the line between YA and adult. Do with that what you will.

I was really curious to read Emily Tesh's next book. I had read and enjoyed her dark fairytale novella, Silver in the Wood. Some Desperate Glory is a very different project! I see very few comparisons between two. I enjoyed this futuristic space setting immensely.

I listened to the audio and thought it was wonderful. Sena Bryer brought a lot of warmth to the characters and narrated with the perfect tone for the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced reader copy!

Content warnings: Sexual assault past tense, sexual harassment, genocide, murder, suicide, torture, cult.

*3 stars*

This was a fun if not simplistic sci-fi adventure. I think it would be a good introductory story into science fiction. It’s not heavy on confusing world building or science systems.

The character development for Kry was interesting, it’s nice to see a protagonist that’s starts out on the wrong side and the descriptions of indoctrination and Gaea station were really interesting. I did think the plot device used to accelerate her deprogramming could have been explored more. The pacing felt kind of off in the second half of the book with the action moving so fast that the world building was kind of lacking. This book felt like it was trying to tackle a lot of heavy topics and just didn’t land with any of them. The second half of the book was a lot harder to get through because of the kind of jarring change that took place and was quickly swept over.

Overall this was fine, but nothing really new or special in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

Kyr is a loyal elite military student in an organization bent on revenge on her aliens that destroyed Earth. When she is sent to the nursery to bear children on repeat instead of using her military training and her brother is sent on a suicide mission, Kyr starts on a journey to save her brother and herself. Little does she know that not all is as it seems and she will gave to confront a new version of reality.

This was decent. There seems to be a surge of disillusionment themes recently, and this fits right in. The story is filled with a extremist military, disillusionment, aliens, and family. The main character is really unlikable throughout the entire book and I felt like at some point she was learning and changing her mind and then a switch flipped and she just turned full on opposite to her previous opinions. I'm wasn't entirely sure how the the time and space fluidity was working. But overall I did enjoy it.

Seeing different versions of the world and characters carried through but different was cool. I like the last end sequence as well and I feel like it ended on a good note. Overall, it was engaging and interesting, I just wish the main character wasn't so unlikable.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in an exchange for an honest review!

This book was one of my most anticipated books of 2023, especially after reading this authors previous books, but unfortunately, I didn't fall in love with it as a expected.

The main character was probably the part of main reason I struggled with Some Desperate Glory/ Kyr was very two dimensional and flat. She was not engaging and I found myself looking forward to scenes with all the other characters instead of focusing on her.

I read this book with the audiobook and I did not enjoy the experience. The writing style and sentence structure didn't seem to fit correctly in audio form. The narrator did a good job. It was just a hard read for me.

A fast and easy read. If you are a fan of New Adult SFF genre, then this book is right up your alley. The twist in the middle part of the book is a fun surprise. While this book is technically adult, I think it would have been more successful as a YA book.

This book also touches on many important topics including racism, fascism, gender expression, homophobia, among others. A large undertaking for any author, and while Emily Tesh gives it her best shot, I do think it falls short at times.

There is a twist at the end of the first half of the book that I did not see coming.Unfortunately the second half of the book is where the story starts to get confusing, and continues to get further and further away from what I originally thought was the goal when I first started the book. The second half does go quickly since there is so much action near the end.

Please check all CW before reading.

Please see my review for the physical book for additional thoughts.

Our thought she knew the truth of things. That the aliens who had destroyed earth had been heartless monsters, that they deserved the revenge she and everyone on Gaea station was training to dole out. She thought life was simple. Follow orders, do what Command says, and everything will work out. She was destined for greatness, better than the majority in every way that mattered. But did it matter? Was she the best? Were those aliens really monsters?

Some Desperate Glory is a wild, space faring adventure reminiscent of popular video game series Mass Effect. Everything is not quite what it seems and it becomes harder and harder to tell who is right and what is the best outcome. With time loops and a millennia old God Machine with a sentience not meant to make its own decisions. A jarring story about the choices and decisions that shape us, even, and perhaps especially, when they’re not our own.

I was sold on the first half of this book. It's military sci fi with a dystopian twist and I was along for the ride. Then the twist happened. It felt forced, and I did not enjoy the second half of the book because of it. I struggled with the characters because some of their choices did not feel true to their characters but rather what the author wanted them to do. I also struggled with the world itself because even though Valkyr is supposed to be the catalyst for some of the major events, she ended up feeling adjacent to most of the major action towards the end of the book. If you're just starting sci fi, you may have a fun time with this book. It was definitely not my cup of tea. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook e-galley.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I thought I was going to like this a lot more than I did. It definitely had an interesting premise and some decently developed world building, but I did NOT like the main character and it didn't get any better as the story went on. While it was fast paced, it also dragged on too much for me. The narrator was good overall.

I both loved and hated this book at the same time. The character of Kyr was quite rigid and unlikeable, yet her story arc was about redemption and changing who she wanted to be. My favorite character is Yiso. They are so meek and mild and yet had a core of strength that I loved. Every time I thought I had the book figured out it would change story lines on me.

Disclaimer: I received a review audiobook copy through the publisher (Tor) via Netgalley. Scheduled to post to FanFiAddict on 4/29/023.

Emily Tesh’s Greenhollow Duology is one of my favorite duologies of all time. Tesh has a gift for creating emotion and taking the reader into the story with few words. It’s safe to say I was looking forward to Tesh’s debut novel, Some Desperate Glory. I couldn’t like it as much as I wanted to. While reading, I experienced a wide range of emotions. There were elements I loved, but they were countered by elements I strongly disliked. That’s why I landed on a 6/10 FanFiAddict rating or 3/5 Goodreads rating.

Much of my difficulty with this book was due to the characters. I didn’t care for any of them because they were all unlikable. I also believe it is necessary to state that if you are anticipating a queer sapphic space opera, you may be disappointed. Even my favorites, such as found family, were tough for me to enjoy. I really wish I could find one positive thing to say about the characters.

What I appreciated was the plot and the twists and turns. The writing was adequate, however I was hoping for some of Tesh’s poetic style that we saw in the novellas. The writing isn’t anything I’ll remember in the future. There was a character that provided a change of pace in the dialogue by making funny and snarky remarks, but it didn’t stick with me because it was so constant. I think the pacing was fantastic, and Tesh did a good job with the plot. I loved the timey-wimey things.

Tesh attempted to target some ambitious ideas and themes here. I believe that if the character development had been explored further, the complex philosophical themes would have came together better in the end.

Unfortunately ... after ADORING The Greenhollow Duology this one didn't quite live up to my expectations. But I am rounding my review up because I think that was way more of a reflection on me and my tastes, than the actual book!

I did really enjoy the tension between our characters and how much of a rule-follower our main character was and how solid she was in her convictions.

What a book!

This is one of those books that I want to talk about but only with those who have already read it. As far as recommendations go, this is a sci-fi book that deals with some deep themes from feminism to utilitarianism. Content warnings include a graphic depiction of suicide and off-page sexual assault, likely amongst others.

In this book, Earth is gone, and humanity has lost a war with other species, collectively 'governed', more or less, by a nearly magical AI that can bend reality to its purposes. Twenty years after Earth has been destroyed, we meet our main character, Valkyr.

Valkyr is a human woman cadet, living on a small station that hosts a relatively extreme group of humans, still intent on fighting the war that claimed Earth. She is about to be assigned her career, and she desperately wants to be a soldier.

Of course, things don't work out the way they seem, and Valkyr is presented with all sorts of choices and complications. She has to examine what family is, where loyalties should lie, the true costs of war, and her internal prejudices.

Ultimately, Some Desperate Glory is a magnificent space opera that challenges the reader (and Valkyr) with some intense choices, all while the book fills in characters with depth, a rich world, and a real sense of awe.

Tesh doesn't quite reach the same level of coziness as her previous novellas, but this isn't that kind of story. It's a well-paced, tense space opera that takes the reader for a ride from start to finish.

Great stuff.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC!

It's hard to put Some Desperate Glory into an exact genre... It's definitely sci-fi, but's it's definitely kind of space-opera-ish, but it's definitely gender=bending, but it's definitely time travel; but it's definitely... etc. And the great thing is that it succeeds marvelously at being all of these things!

I was hooked from the start with this one. The narration by Sena Bryer is masterful, and helps to instantly draw you in to the story. There is so much humanity in the story, despite the fact that it takes place in a universe where humanity has basically been wiped out. The characters and settings are very relatable and serve to further draw you in.

If you like any of the genres mentioned above, or if you enjoy a darn good story, definitely check this one out. Well done, Emily Tesh.