Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

17 reviews

knatreads501's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and War

ceruleanseas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

nikshelby's review

DNF — I only made it to the Content Warning. Some other day I may be in the mood for rape, suicide, abuse, forced pregnancy (and I don’t know what else)…but today is not that day. 

It’s highly rated, and came from recommenders I listen to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

• 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

4.75

I really liked this novel.   It started with the destruction of Earth and tells a story about the perils of Fascism, white supremacy, homophobia, and xenophobia.  It tells a story about what blind spots are developed when one grows up in that system and the price you pay for having those blind spots. 

I liked the characters and I enjoyed seeing them in different incarnations. I appreciated that growing up with very different circumstances didn't necessarily change certain fundamental truths of who the characters were and just because Kyr learned from her mistakes and tried to do better, she still didn't necessarily see the whole picture or naturally see the how to be as inclusive as she needed to be, although she did come to the realization of what needed to happen after it was pointed out to her.   She wasn't magically perfect even when raised outside of a Fascist State  (though still definitely inside an Imperial one)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, Torture, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

I spent a little longer before DNFing than I normally would’ve but I was waiting for the slightest HINT of character development in the MC and a little bit more plot structure coherency, but alas, I didn’t see it.
I may pick this up again to finish it  but I just wasn’t enjoying it this time! 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this book on a friend’s recommendation and honestly bless her, because it was phenomenal. It’s the kind of story where I had no idea what was going to happen next, and I mean that in the best possible way. Every time I would be like “ah, it’s this trope”, and then pages later Tesh would flip everything on its head. I was sooooo invested and truly hooked by this fresh, original approach.

The plot was not the only mind-blowing thing about the book. It was also packed with existentialism, posing questions such as: what choices in the past lead us to our current reality? Are there certain outcomes which are inevitable in every reality? Who gets to decide what is for the “greater good” - who gets to even DEFINE the “greater good”? I love when books pose these ethical and philosophical questions and then the whole narrative is an exploration of them. Some may be answered, some may be left open, ultimately beyond the scope of the story to answer. But in every case the reader is challenged to consider things they may never have before.

Tesh also tackles extremist indoctrination as a main theme, as MC Kyr (along with most of the SCs), experiences this having grown up on Gaea Station, a military post containing the humans who survived the destruction of Earth and seek revenge from the alien perpetrators. This was heavy to read about. Gaea’s society is founded on eugenics (specifically relating to race and ability), as well as misogyny, sexism, queerphobia, and bioessentialism, and the sexual violence these engender. And Kyr, at the beginning of the book, is the poster child for Gaea. Her character arc is inexplicably wrapped up in deprogramming her indoctrination as she is exposed to the world outside Gaea. It is truly astonishing how much Kyr changes over the course of the novel, and how much she discovers about herself when free from oppressive social constructs. Kyr is by no means perfect at the end of the book, but she also isn’t the same person she was in the first chapter. It is important to note that Tesh as the author always presents the above topics (eugenics, sexual violence) as abhorrent. Even when Kyr doesn’t understand their horrors, you as the reader know that Gaea is deeply, deeply wrong, that Kyr is deeply, deeply wrong, and Tesh does too.

I wouldn’t say this is “found family” like the synopsis proclaims. Every relationship in the book is too complicated and messy and often filled with both love AND hate, to fit neatly into a usually wholesome and straightforward trope. And that’s to this book’s credit. The characters all feel real because none of them can be perfectly squared away into an archetype, their understandably complicated reactions to one another birthed out of the complex situations they find themselves in.

I am so glad my friend recommended this to me and that I decided to give it a go. The only criticisms I can think of right now are that I wish the commentary on eugenics and disability had been made more explicit, and that the ending felt a touch deus ex machina (but maybe that was ironically intentional). Regardless, this book deserved its 5 stars.

Rep: queer MC, queer SCs, Afro-Latina SC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Major: queer used as a slur 6 times, loss of a loved one, bioessentialism, eugenics, misgendering Minor: suicide ideation

maggiereadz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and War

lcgordon's review against another edition

3.0

Cool premise, bad pacing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War

exaal's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Some Desperate Glory" is an exciting tale with many twists and turns. Taking a page out of Ender's Game, this book explores the morality behind warfare, the conscription of child soldiers, xenophobia, and the fate of the human race. With LGBTQ+ undertones, the main character, Kyr, goes through drastic changes in character in this story that spans time and space.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and War

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Pregnancy

lady_sharp's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was fun as hell. Mind the trigger warnings, but this is what science fiction should be, using the premise to dig at the flaws of society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror and Abandonment

Contains an on-page suicide, women being forced into the roles of breeding stock, in-depth look at cults, attempted grooming of a minor and a successful past attempt that resulted in the birth of a child, genocide, a forced kiss, and an attempted rape