Victories Greater Than Death (Unstoppable)

This book slides from one event to another without giving any clue to the sense of importance the events have. For example, there is a scene where the girl goes to the mall with her mom and they have fun shopping. I know this scene is not relevant to the larger plot of this book, if the book is about a girl going into space and saving the world. I get that this is an example of the author trying to show and not tell that the mother and daughter had a positive emotionally bonded relationship. However, it could have been expressed differently/better with a more relevant scene. Choice of what scenes to include and what scenes to leave out are the major part of pacing and the story’s progression. I didn’t think this book began well and unfortunately I didn’t give it a lot of time to improve. The good parts of the book were: the details of a girl with something inside of her that was going to come out and change her life, how it was alien related, and how some evil alien force wanted to kill her because of what was inside of her. I only read to 4% and didn’t get to the part where she got to space or saved the world. So I am probably not qualified to write a review of this book. What I saw in other reviews that they liked in this book was a discussion of pronouns. So many reviews mentioned that. It made me think that this is not intended to be a space book, but a book about Political Correct topics and progressive ideas. If you imagine going to another planet and need to mention that the aliens there tell you about pronouns.......

I haven't read all that many science fiction novels (at least not compared to fantasy), but I'm liking the genre more and more, especially if it is queer! Victories Greater Than Death seemed like the perfect fit for me - thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an ARC! The story is about Tina, who was raised on earth as a human. But she knows that she is actually the clone of a famous general from an intergalactic fleet and that she will one day step into her legacy. When that happens, though, things do not work out as they were planned and Tina is suddenly in the middle of a war that threatens not only her life and the ones of those she loves, but also the peace of the entire galaxy. I really liked the writing style! Tina is a funny teenager and doesn't even come off as arrogant (even though I think she's supposed to be entitled). I liked that even though the plot references the chosen one-trope, it has the twist that Tina knew about her destiny from the start. That's very refreshing and made the transition into space a lot easier. This book offers awesome friendships and relationships and action packed scenes full of heroism (that Tina desperately strives to replicate) and suspense. I just sometimes had problems with the pacing, because a lot of the build-up for intense scenes is skipped for the favor of throwing the reader in-medias-res multiple times. This threw me off while I was reading, even though I appreciate that there are no parts that were boring to read as a consequence. The story looks at deeper themes of belonging and choosing a future for yourself, while also considering the intricate systems of good and evil, right and wrong. I loved how Tina defends her side, which is supposed to be the good one, but is then confronted with knowledge that they are not in fact perfect. The resolution is great, even if the last chapter opens up a new threat as preparation for a sequel, which is technically a cliffhanger. I don't mind, though, and am very curious to see what else is in store for the characters. I would recommend this novel to any science fiction fans (especially those of Becky Chambers and the Aurora Rising trilogy) and anyone who likes to read about found family and epic space battles!