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bookcheshirecat's review
2.5
“There are victories greater than death. I can see justice coming.”
➽ I had high hopes for Victories Greater Than Death as it sounded like a fun space opera! The story follows Tina, the clone of a powerful alien commander, who has been hiding out on Earth until it's time for her to return. When the beacon inside her activates, she's suddenly on the run from dangerous aliens who want to finish what they started. I really liked the idea of Tina being a clone who is supposed to take the place of her predecessor and original who died at the hands of the villain. Tina herself was immediately lovable, she's loyal and fierce, but also insecure about the expectations she was burdened with. Everyone looks to her to save the galaxy from the evil Marrant. Reviving her memories and skills doesn't quite go according to plan, so Tina is scrambling for another plan to fulfil her destiny.
➽ I liked the beginning of the story, as it was a fast-paced chase to escape Earth. I also enjoyed Tina's dynamic with Racheal, her socially anxious best friend who stands by her and ends up going to space with her. In general, the story had potential as it covers a vast, expansive world with multiple different species and their cultures. I liked the discussions about Marrant's xenophobia, as he believes only humanoid species should exist and rejects anyone who looks too 'alien'. His secret power is especially sinister and actually poses a threat to the crew!
➽ Unfortunately, the story was all over the place. After an interesting start, things quickly stagnated and I didn't feel invested at all. The author made many abrupt scene changes (like we'd suddenly be in the middle of a random mission/training) and sometimes we'd just be told something had happened instead of seeing it first-hand. The book both felt too short and too long at the same time. There was so much room for a better-developed plot, but at the same time, the story was full of info dumps that made it dense. Tina becoming a space Wikipedia was so annoying as she'd randomly give us all the information on an alien race/planet/ship etc. like she'd read an actual Wikipedia article out loud. It was such a clumsy way to explain the world and led to me not remembering anything about the alien races we met. The lore wasn't incorporated into the plot and I feel like the expansive world was wasted.
➽ I also wasn't charmed by the characters or relationships. Apart from Tina and Rachael, everyone else was so forgettable. I think it was a mistake to have Tina recruit promising teenagers from Earth to join them. Why not focus on the alien crew of the ship? That way we could have actually learned about the different species in an organic way and it would have been more interesting than reading about a bunch of human teens. Tina and Elza's romance came out of nowhere and they went from disliking each other to being in love way too quickly. The rest of the human teenagers had one or two characteristics but then weren't further developed. It was disappointing to have the spotlight on them and not the actual aliens, who had much more experience and different backgrounds.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexism, and Transphobia
zombiezami's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Transphobia, and Abandonment
indeedithappens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
anniereads221's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
thewildmageslibrary's review
3.5
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, and War
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Transphobia
chippyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and War
Minor: Transphobia and Police brutality
valpyre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
3.5 stars
it honestly took me a <i>really</i> long while to get into this book. i am glad i stuck with it -- it has a lot of heart and nuance. i personally found the plot fairly straight-forward (which is not a bad thing!) and for me, that gave it a more childish vibe than i was expecting. i did come to appreciate that as a balance to some of the heavier topics that were dealt with throughout, and i thought it was a fresh tone considering the protag and friends were teenagers. the dialogue throughout was kind of simplistic, in my opinion, and sort of broke immersion for me at times.
i enjoyed the inclusivity throughout the book, because anders showed that having such decency throughout didn't make for a utopia. the book actively confronted some of the more meta features of itself (like the types of alien species represented). i enjoyed and was touched by my listening experience, but i doubt that i'll be continuing the series.
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Murder
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail
obscurepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The plot was intriguing, but it can get confusing. I feel like the pacing and the writing style could also be better. Fortunately, all the action really makes you anticipate! And I think it was the characters and the world-building that won me over. The diverse cast and their journeys were a joy to read about and I loved learning about the different kinds of aliens, and their customs and culture.
Now that I think about it, this book was also poignant in its own way. It talked about leaving legacies, finding your own self, making friends and creating your own kind of family with your own people. It was beautiful.
Of course, I also love the fact that this was so, so queer. Some of the characters even use neopronouns? I think this is a first I've seen in YA. Overall, a solid read! Exact rating 3.5 stars.
TW: violence, murder, torture (mild), homophobia, transphobia
(Received an e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This, of course, did not affect my overall opinion of the book.)
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, Transphobia, and Murder