Queer Space Opera, yes please! I found the narration very enjoyable and easy to listen to. There is so much emotion and feeling conveyed for each character that they're all brought to life beautifully. The motivations and layers of each character's story weaves into complex tale of love, responsibility, nationalism, and power.

I would recommend this to any sci fi lovers, especially anyone looking for more diverse and forward looking story. Loved it and can't wait to read more from Emily Tesh.

Goodreads review (four stars)

I’d suggest reading the author’s note on Goodreads, as this could be a big ball of triggers for some people. I think it’s important to note that readers should go into this book expecting to hate the protagonist in the beginning. Her character arc is strong over the course of the story, but she doesn’t undergo a personality transplant and by the end I respected her more than I liked her. So don’t pick this one up if you aren’t comfortable with an unlikable protagonist.

I found the beginning of the story to be a bit of a slog, but a necessary one for setup. I thought I had some sense of where the story was heading, but after about a third of the way in, I had no idea what was coming next.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this audiobook via NetGalley!

Instagram review (four stars)

- timey-wimey space opera about deprogramming from a militaristic cult
- protagonist is pretty awful at the beginning. she’s kinda awful at the end too but a much better person at least. A solid character arc tbh
- I thought I knew where this was going, but then the plot got there at 33%, so I was like uhh what happens now? A wild ride, that’s what
- this is being marketed as queer but that’s more of a character trait than a description of the story. no romance here
- tw: all of the things? esp SA, homophobia, xenophobia, depression, sexism, racism, genocide
- thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the audiobook

Recommended for…

- People who are willing to hate the protagonist and still enjoy the story
- Plot-heavy scifi fans ok with a YA-level examination of social justice issues
- people currently in cults who want to leave! (probably one of my primary audiences)

This book really pulled me in and I was completely rooting for it to become a favorite since it had all the elements, but somewhere between all the restarts it lost me… it’s still a great enjoyable book but I think it was rushed and lost something in the execution but I can’t decide what it is. Perhaps more development for side characters? Not sure… I still enjoyed it and think sci-fi fans should read it, but it had potential to be more.

Loved this book so much! The timeline was super fun and I enjoyed every twist and turn! The ending put such a big smile of my face! Loved all the versions of each life and it just was such a whirlwind of a book in all the right ways!

I struggled for the first 60-70% of Some Desperate Glory. That was largely due to the fact that it makes use of a literary trope I strongly dislike, Groundhog Day. However, I was extremely surprised and satisfied at how well Tesh was able to use it to a satisfying conclusion. Not only did the use of the trop and the multiverse create a complex and original plot, it helped to build the characters in ways that I have never seen before (and quite frankly, wouldn't have been believable outside of this context). I would encourage any potential readers to invest in the audio, it is fantastic.

Thank you Emily Tesh, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for my advanced review copy. My opinions are my own.


Plot - 4
Writing and Editing - 4
Character Development - 5
Narration - 5
Personal Bias - 4
Final Score - 4.4

A queer space opera with differing timelines, plots to take over the world, sentient aliens, and our main character realizes she has been drinking the kool-aid her whole life?? This was quite fantastic. A little weird and info heavy at times but that is pretty standard for sci-fi. The social commentary was spot-on alongside the sort of moral dilemmas our main character faces when she leaves her rather totalitarian/extremist life behind and realizes the world is larger than anyone allowed her to know. Go into this one with an open mind and there is a good chance you will be swept away.

I would rate this book 3.5 stars.
This story focuses on the main character Valkyr “Kyr” who is in a space station called Gaia that is a community built after Earth is destroyed. Kyr’s part of what is called Earth’s children who have been trained through childhood to be a form of super soldier. Being trained for a mission to fight the other space stations that are at war with Gaia to control the new utopia universe. Kyr is training to be one of the super solders who are chosen for the special mission of fighting the aliens and forces that destroyed planet Earth. If not a super soldier mission Kyr may be placed in some of the other misogynistic areas like the nursery.
At times Kyr’s loyalty to Gaia is annoying when she doesn’t realize the importance of the new space universe she finds herself in. Kyr finds out that other subsets of Earth humans that have survived and other species that exist. Kyr also finds out that the people and family members she thought were traders are not what she believed to be.
Kyr realizes that her belief system is not as she thought it but that she learns more about the universe as she opens herself up.
Kyr finds out what family and friends truly are. There are LBGT story lines with characters and the use of pronouns but it is not the main focus of this story.
Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this opportunity to review this book.if you are a fan of science fiction I highly recommend.

An absolute banger. Queer space opera forever. I wound up grabbing a copy of the book because it was a little difficult to follow as an audiobook though the narrator’s voice is lovely. I hope everyone who picks it up enjoys!

Happy book birthday to Some Desperate Glory by @emilytesh! This has been my favorite book so far this year. I've already read it twice and it just came out today! When I saw the audiobook available on Netgalley, I couldn't resist seeing how the audiobook is. It didn't disappoint! The narration was great. I'm going to copy and paste part of my original review:

"THIS BOOK. I haven't been this invested in a story in quite a while. Kyr is so unlikable at the beginning. Since she has been raised in a militarized cult, she has a lot of beliefs and thoughts that are very cringeworthy. But she has incredible character development over the course of this story, and by the end I just wanted to hug her and tell her it would all be okay. I also adored the alien character, Yiso. They are so beautifully written and complex. Some Desperate Glory is full of characters to love and hate (in some cases simultaneously) and I'm just incredibly impressed with Tesh's skill at character development.

This book is such a wild ride! I don't want to go too far and ruin the experience for anyone, so let me just say that this is the type of book where you have to sit back and let it carry you along into the wild unknown universe. I couldn't stop thinking about Some Desperate Glory both while reading it and afterward. I adored this book so much!

Some Desperate Glory contains sexist, homophobic, transphobic, racist and ableist attitudes, sexual assault, violence, child abuse, radicalization as child abuse, genocide, suicidal ideation, and suicide."

Now that it's out in the world, I hope more people will discover and love this one!

The first half had some promise (although an intentionally unlikeable fascist MC) but then the book completely changed into convoluted alternate realities. I never cared for any of the main characters so overall this was just fine and not anything special

I received an audio ARC through Netgalley for an honest review
I don’t know how to feel about this. The world building was done well and that’s about it. Character development was okay, our main character begins to distrust the leadership of Gaea station due to them sending her brother away. But then, while escaping the station she finds one of the aliens that is supposed to be the enemy and abandons the morals/values she has been taught for years and years and is like “hmmm, friend?” And takes them with her. I also found myself spacing out more towards the end of the book and I would find at an hour had passed and they were still talking about the same thing before I had spaced out. Over all, I thought this was just okay.

Emily Tesh’s debut novel, SOME DESPERATE GLORY, is a gripping queer space opera that explores themes of vengeance, survival, and the complexity of family relationships in a post-apocalyptic universe. Kyr, the protagonist, is a fierce warrior, haunted by the murder of her home planet and determined to avenge her people. When her brother is assigned to certain death, Kyr rebels against her assigned role as a child-bearer and sets out on a dangerous journey to save him and seek justice. The story is told in three versions of the same event. Tesh's writing is sharp, evocative, and immersive, drawing readers into the richly detailed and intricately constructed world of the Majoda. SOME DESPERATE GLORY is an emotional YA Science Fiction story with strong characters.

this book is amazing, and a great listen on audiobook form as the narrator is so nuanced with her performance. that said it does feel like many other SciFi books of this and past years where there are boxes to tick and it does so in all good intentions and organically. it is mindblowing being Tesh's first novel. the characters are rich, deep, and engaging with the core cast growing very much. the SciFi world building is top notch.
you as the reader and your level of engagement and enjoyment with being directly related to how sophisticated your views on the big topics hammered on repeated in this book: gender, fascism, and racism.
if you are a SciFi military, space opera, or just a general genre fan you will like this book.

I was enjoying this book but at the 24% mark the audiobook stopped working. I am switching over to the ebook bc I cannot get it to play anymore.

2.25

I wanted to love this so badly, but to be honest I struggled to finish it. A lot of this reading experience very frustrating because I could see pieces of a really interesting book, but for my tastes at least, the execution of this fell flat in almost every way.

First off, Kyr is such an unlikeable protagonist. I understand that she grew up in a cult and was indoctrinated and all, but that did not make experiencing this book through her perspective an enjoyable reading experience. Maybe I would’ve been less aggravated by it if I had found her growth/redemption arc believable, but in my opinion it didn’t feel earned.

I also prefer thematic exploration that is a little more subtle, and worldbuilding that’s a little more explained. Kyr’s society on Gaea Station is meant to be a far future humanity, post-war with aliens that destroyed the Earth, and there’s multi-verses and time slips and technology that’s typically found in science fiction stories, but all of those things felt really surface level, like they were used to hand wave the plot forward and there wasn’t really thought into how that technology would work.

Honestly, between the young naïve protagonist, the heavy handed themes and the fast pace of the plot, I think this book would be more successful if marketed to the young adult/new adult age range than as an adult title.

I did mostly enjoy Sena Bryer’s narration. There was one character voice that I didn’t get along with but the rest of the audiobook was well narrated.

This was a unique read. I agree with what others are saying about the main character being unlikable, but for me that's kind of a draw. Seeing Kyr's entire world view shatter around her and learn that not everything is as black and white as she thinks is incredibly interesting. Seeing that deconstruction, and how it was written, was enough to keep my reading.

The plot was a bit hard to keep up with at times because of the way you just get thrown into things. I found myself rereading certain paragraphs several times before I thought I had a grasp on things. Those thing said, I really enjoyed this story and how Tesh told it. It's a great example of sci-fi that makes you question yourself and the things around you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance reader copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

It had been a while since I had read a space opera and I really really enjoyed this one! I'm definitely hoping this will turn into a series! The plot was pretty smart and it really didn't shy away from some deep topics. It's marketed as an adult novel but some of the ways the themes are done and the ease of plot progression made me think it was maybe better suited to be a YA book. With that perspective, I really thought it was excellent. I had early access to audiobook thanks to Macmillan Audio and I thought the narration was easy enough to follow once I got into it (sci-fi & fantasy gets tricky with audio sometimes) and I enjoyed the narrator!

I absolutely loved this book! I was excited to read Emily Tesh's debut novel after her Greenhollow Duology, and she did not disappoint. The plot is excellent and engaging, unique (for me so far anyway), and creates a universe I would love to know more about. Quotations and excerpts from in-world publications fleshed out the setting and history in a way that makes me want the full texts. The characters were so interesting - I'm finding it very difficult to talk about without spoilers. Kyr as a main character started out as someone I didn't like at all as a person, but in the well-written kind of way that makes perfect sense within the story. Her character growth was very well done and flowed really well.

Dealing with breeding and eugenics, race (or lack thereof, so to speak) and racism, sexism, queerness, grooming and abuse, brainwashing and misinformation, corruption, identity, and family... There was a LOT going on and a lot that made me cringe for the characters. 10/10 I love a book that gives me strong reactions to the systems of oppression and control that people have put in place.

The narration was excellent as well, I thoroughly enjoyed Sena Bryer's work on this.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh out 4/11/23
Some Desperate Glory is the story of Kyr, a cadet on Gaea station who is finishing up her training and is waiting on her permanent assignment. Kyr is a warbreed which means she’s been genetically enhanced to be a combat soldier. Gaea station holds the last remaining humans since Earth was destroyed years before by the majoda, an alien race with a god machine named The Wisdom. Kyr has always strived to be the best cadet possible but always fallen short of her brother’s successes. When Magnus, Kyr’s twin, leaves the station all together Kyr’s whole world crumbles. She sets forth on a journey through space and time to save everyone she loves.
Now before I go on, I should tell you that I listened to the audiobook of Some Desperate Glory. I’m just now figuring out that I don’t know how to spell the names of the characters or locations. Didn’t even think of the ramifications of it. So I apologize if any name is misspelled.
This is author Emily Tesh’s debut novel, and what an amazing start. Out of the “sci-fi and fantasy” genre, I generally stick to fantasy. I love sci-fi but sometimes it gets bogged down in the science part and then I can’t enjoy the characters or the story as much. This novel might be considered “hard sci-fi” but not to the detriment of the characters at all.
If you decide to read this and I hope that you do at some point, you need to know about the pacing. Listening to the audiobook keeps you from glancing at the remaining pages to see what’s left like you could do if you have a book. At some point as a reader you’re going to question what’s left because the story pacing is odd for a 400+ page book. I don’t want to spoil anything because what Tesh does is genius but a well-read reader is going to question, “What’s going on?”. The pacing affects the depth of the characters as well. In the beginning, you don’t get fully realized characters, in my opinion, so it’s a bit hard to tell if you should be rooting for them or if they’re an antihero. It’s all fixed in the end and wonderfully so.
I saw this book being touted as a “queer space opera”. I see that now after reading/listening. I don’t particularly see that wholly describing the story. Yes, there are queer characters but that aspect doesn’t really factor largely into the overall storyline and themes. If you’re looking for queer friendly fiction you will find it here after Kyr learns about pronouns.
The audiobook is narrated or performed by Sena Bryer. A few of the voices that she used at the beginning off put me somewhat but as I grew to know the characters they were fine. I listened to the book for a couple hours each night and I finished it this past Sunday night. Almost 16 hours in length I felt that the characters had become friends. I missed them Monday night.

I really loved this book, I mean REALLY loved it. I think it’s innovative and definitely pushes the boundaries of sci-fi. You know how The Walking Dead isn’t really about the zombies but the people in the story? Same with Some Desperate Glory. It’s the characters you’re going to remember.

Would I like to hear more stories about Kyr and her friends? Of course I would but I hope Tesh doesn’t get pressured into a series because it would be hard to replicate this in another book much less many books.

I was blown away by this book. Once you get about halfway through you should feel like you’re on a roller coaster of emotions. It’s so difficult reviewing this because I want to tell you everything but that would take away the enjoyment of a fresh reader. I’ll just say this, go get it!

Happy publication day to Some Desperate Glory, an unexpected triumph of a YA space drama!

Kyr is a supersoldier, an eager young teen raised in a military cult. She strives for excellence and challenges herself constantly, which would be admirable in any other situation. But in her radicalized situation, those values are driven to extremes of rigidity and intolerance for failure. Kyr locks away her emotions, treats others despicably, and doesn't question the indoctrination that characterized her upbringing - until things start to go wrong. What follows is a desperate multiverse bending struggle to fix a messed up world that seems doomed to end in pain. An omniscient AI, an assortment of well-written significant characters, and a cataclysmic event round out this imaginative space opera. Please check your trigger warnings! This book won't be for everyone.

Kyr is a fascinating character, depicted honestly and unflinchingly. I don't know that I've ever appreciated a flawed character so much. A book like this makes me curious about the author's past experiences that give her the ability to nail the main character so well.

Sena Bryer does an excellent job with the audiobook narration, and I definitely recommend picking up the audiobook if you're able.