Week 16 Reviews: Victories Greater Than Death, Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak

From Goodreads:

Outsmart Your Enemies. Outrun the Galaxy.

Tina never worries about being 'ordinary'—she doesn't have to, since she's known practically forever that she's not just Tina Mains, average teenager and beloved daughter. She's also the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon, and one day soon, it's going to activate, and then her dreams of saving all the worlds and adventuring among the stars will finally be possible. Tina's legacy, after all, is intergalactic—she is the hidden clone of a famed alien hero, left on Earth disguised as a human to give the universe another chance to defeat a terrible evil.

But when the beacon activates, it turns out that Tina's destiny isn't quite what she expected. Things are far more dangerous than she ever assumed. Luckily, Tina is surrounded by a crew she can trust, and her best friend Rachael, and she is still determined to save all the worlds. But first she'll have to save herself.

Buckle up your seatbelt for this thrilling sci-fi adventure set against an intergalactic war from international bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders. 

From Goodreads:

From internationally bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders (All the Birds in the Sky) comes the sequel to Victories Greater Than Death in the thrilling adventure Unstoppable series, set against an intergalactic war.

They'll do anything to be the people they were meant to be ― even journey into the heart of evil.

Rachael Townsend is the first artist ever to leave Earth and journey out into the galaxy ― but after an encounter with an alien artifact, she can't make art at all.

Elza Monteiro is determined to be the first human to venture inside the Palace of Scented Tears and compete for the chance to become a princess ― except that inside the palace, she finds the last person she ever wanted to see again.

Tina Mains is studying at the Royal Space Academy with her friends, but she's not the badass space hero everyone was expecting. Soon Rachael is journeying into a dark void, Elza is on a deadly spy mission, and Tina is facing an impossible choice that could change all her friends lives forever. 

My Review:
These were such great reads! I don't read a lot of sci fi, but when I do, it's always a great read! I really enjoyed watching Tina go on this journey, with thoughts of a future that maybe she didn't get the full picture of. They were such great reads!

The main thing that I loved about these books is the cast of characters. We had a wide variety of people, Tina who was a clone of a lost general, and Rachael is her artist best friend, the outcasts and the loners, and such wonderfully queer characters. I loved this found family! 

This world with the alien war, where a brilliant hero was killed too soon, and they made a clone, that was Tina, and left her on Earth to grow up. It was so interesting to read, and once she got the memories, well, then things got going! 

Dreams was a darker book. There were some losses in the first book that really illustrated how bad war is, and there have been consequences that the characters are dealing with. Plus there's the pressure that they're under to make things better. Not an easy time! But I did love that we got 3 perspectives in it instead of just Tina! 

Really enjoyed reading these books, and I'm so excited for book 3!

Author: Charlie Jane Anders  
Series: Unstoppable #1, 2
Read: April 16th, 17th, 2022
Source: Bought, NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Books! and Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak is a WoW Book!
Publisher: Tor Teen
Published: April 13th 2021, April 5th 2022

Victories Greater Than Death: 

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars