Some Desperate Glory

I hate to call books "brave" because that often feels patronizing. However, this book continued to surprise me until the last page. Kyr's narrow view of her world was such a perfect restriction and felt so realistic for the situation she's in. She's a little brainwashed fascist being forced to see that her worldview isn't accurate, down to her perspective on the people she loves most. Absolutely lovely book all around.

This book has given me a lot of mixed emotions. I almost DNFed it at the beginning because the protagonist, Valkyr or Kyr as she's not-so-affectionately known by her teammates, was so so so intolerable and annoying. It was only because I put it down and read another book that annoyed me even more that I eventually went back and finished this. Indeed, Kyr remained unlikeable and annoying for at least the first half of the book. Almost every other character was more interesting and easier to listen to on page than Kyr was.

I mean, I get that there was a reason for Kyr's unlikeability, and it makes her overall character arc/development more satisfying. But I also kinda wish that the annoying parts weren't quite so long as half the book, or that we got more of a hook, something to keep us hanging on to the hope that Kyr's going to get better at the end. When she was annoying, she was really annoying. A whole lot more annoying than Avicenna was, and he's supposed to be the most annoying person on the whole ship.

The book kinda sorta improved after that halfway mark, I guess? Until then I thought the book was moving along in a very predictable sort of fashion, and a lot of my guesses sort of came true. Until they didn't. And then they really didn't.

The second half of the book was a really wild ride. The concepts that they're using isn't incredibly new but there's still something inexplicably fresh about some of the corners of world-building here. Even now that I've finished it, I still can't 100% tell you what exactly happened because I'm just as lost. Sometimes I'm not even sure if Tesh knew fully the details of what was going on either. Nevertheless, it was all right in the way it played out. Not incredibly mind-blowing in the end, but also not unsatisfying.

Spoilery thoughts about the ending: I thought Jole's death was such an anti-climax. After all that, they didn't even have a proper showdown? But I appreciated the foreshadowing and how Jole's death mirrored that of the soldier Kyr thought about when she first went down to the core with Avi in the earlier parts of the book. I thought it was Magnus deserved more character development, but with so much time jumps in the book, it's really only Kyr that gets all the development since everyone else pretty much starts anew whenever the Wisdom reset her to another moment in history. I thought the ending dragged on a bit too.

Emily Tesh’s Some Desperate Glory is a profound exploration of vengeance, indoctrination, and the struggle to break free from control. Set in a future where Earth has been destroyed, the novel follows Kyr, a young woman raised on Gaea Station, a militant outpost obsessed with retribution against the majoda, the alien alliance they blame for the planet's annihilation. Trained since birth to believe in the righteousness of her cause, Kyr never questions her purpose—until she is forced to confront the truth about what her people have become.

At its core, Some Desperate Glory examines the cost of revenge, the difficulty of unlearning deeply ingrained beliefs and the dangers of a society built on manipulation and control. Gaea Station’s rigid hierarchy and blind loyalty turn its people into both victims and perpetrators, with every horror excused as necessity and every cruelty reframed as duty. Those in power seek to mold their people into unquestioning followers, using hate and war as tools to enforce obedience. Its leaders don’t just demand loyalty—they manufacture it, teaching their people to hate so they will never turn their anger inward. Kyr embodies this system—single-minded, self-righteous, and unwilling to see beyond what she has been taught. Her journey is not just one of rebellion but of dismantling the conditioning that has shaped her worldview.

Central to this unraveling is the majoda, long painted as inhuman oppressors. Their existence challenges everything Kyr has been led to believe: if the enemy is not a monster, then what was she fighting for? And if revenge is not the answer, what is left?

Tesh’s storytelling is both intimate and expansive, blending thrilling plot twists with deep emotional reckoning. Kyr is not an easy protagonist—harsh, judgmental, and steeped in ideology—but her transformation is gripping. The novel does not offer easy absolution. Change is painful, messy, and filled with resistance, as real growth always is.

Ultimately, Some Desperate Glory asks whether breaking free—not just from a cycle of violence and the past, but from the systems that sustain it—is possible. Forgiveness is hard, and escaping a cycle requires more than just recognizing the problem—it demands courage, self-reflection, and the willingness to build something new instead of destroying what exists. A haunting, thought-provoking novel, it forces both its characters and readers to confront the consequences of blind obedience, the cost of revenge, and the possibility of choosing a different path—one that redefines survival not as endurance, but as something worth living for.

This book shattered me and immediately earned a place among my favorites. It felt deeply personal—so many of the questions it raises are ones I’ve grappled with for a long time, without finding clear answers. The novel’s emotional depth, unflinching exploration of difficult themes, and gripping character journey made it impossible to put down—and even harder to forget.