Age Rating: 13/14+

Special thanks to FierceReads and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

I have never read an anthology before. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Serendipity is a YA romance anthology edited by Marissa Meyer where each story follows a favorite romantic trope. Sounds cute, right? It definitely was. There are 10 stories by 10 authors, most of which I’d heard of, maybe half of which I’ve read before, and a couple that were totally new to me.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to review this, because each individual story is unique and I had differing opinions and ratings on each one. In the end, I decided to give a mini review of each story (no spoilers—promise).

So, starting with the first story:

Bye Bye, Piper Berry by Julie Murphy
4.5 stars
Trope: Fake Dating

One of my favorite tropes, an author I know and love, and a great start to the anthology.
I loved the characters; I loved the story; I loved the writing. I wish it was longer. Like, if this story were turned into a 3-400 page novel, I would read it. That said, I do think Julie Murphy did a good job of taking this trope and writing such a short story. From the start, I was skeptical. Fake dating didn’t seem like it could be accomplished successfully in like 30 pages. But the chemistry was there, and I got into it. I want more, but I don’t feel like it needed more like I did with some of the stories.

Anyone Else but You by Leah Johnson
4 stars
Trope: Forced Proximity

Leah Johnson is an author I’ve so many good things about, but have never gotten around to reading, so I was excited to get a taste of her writing in this anthology—and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Another trope I can’t help but love, but the fact that it takes place over one night did make me apprehensive. I am not a fan of instalove. But the characters had enough history and chemistry that it felt more like the acknowledging of feelings than them just poofing into existence. The little epilogue at the end was also adorable and I thought it was a great touch.

The Idiom Algorithm by Abigail Hing Wen
2.5 stars
Trope: Class Warfare

I read Abigail Hing Wen’s debut novel, Loveboat, Taipei, and really enjoyed it when it came out, so I was really excited to get to her story in the anthology… but unfortunately it disappointed.
To start off, I didn’t know what class warfare was. All of the other tropes were ones I was very familiar with and were all prevalent in YA romance, so I kind of assumed it meant academic rivals? I realized pretty soon that was wrong, and eventually I realized it meant socioeconomic class. I’m pretty sure I’ve never read a YA romance where that was a major trope, but that wasn’t the main problem I had with it; it was just a confusing piece. It just didn’t feel romantic. The girl the character spends the whole time trying to win back was kind of rude and stuck up. There’s no chemistry, nothing making me vote for them. With the way it ends up, maybe it would have been more enjoyable if it were a full novel, giving the reader more time to grow to care for the characters and build chemistry between them, but as it is, it was my least favorite of the stories.
I also thought it was weird that it was in 3rd person when everything else was in first person.

Auld Acquaintance by Caleb Roehrig
3 ish stars
Trope: The Best Friend Love Epiphany

I really liked the plot. I really liked the characters. The writing style was… not for me. I don’t know if it was objectively bad, but there was just something about the narration that bugged me, and I couldn’t get into it like I wanted to. But the romance was cute, the characters were relateable, and I think that it worked well as a short story. Also I dont know what “auld” means but thats irrelevant.

Shooting Stars by Marissa Meyer
5 stars
Trope: One Bed

Marissa. Freaking. Meyer. AND ONE BED TROPE?? Enough said.
But I will say a little more. This was my favorite (although I did rate another of the stories 5 stars) story. I adored the characters. I adored the writing. I love this so much. More Marissa Meyer contemporaries please and thank you.

Keagan’s Heaven on Earth by Sarah Winifred Searle
3.5 stars
Trope: The Secret Admirer

ITS A GRAPHIC NOVEL/COMIC!!! I was super excited to see this, because I wasn’t expecting it and I love a good graphic novel. Plus, the drawings were stunning. I liked the characters. I liked the idea behind the story. I just needed a bit more. I didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters and events seemed to jump around too fast. It just needed a bit more. But it was still fun, and I enjoyed it.


4 stars
Trope: The Grand Romantic Gesture

This one was really well written and I fully enjoyed it. It just wasn’t really a romance? At all? But I loved the main character and her friends and the events of the story were tons of fun. I think it worked really well as a short story. And again, the writing was so good; it swept me in immediately. I haven’t read Elise Bryant’s debut, but it is sitting on my shelf, and it just jumped to the top of my TBR. Despite the fact that I didn’t think this was really a romance at all, which is weird for a romance anthology, it was still one of my favorites.


4 stars
Trope: Confined Spaces

So again, this one wasn’t really a romance? Yes she ends up in a confined space with a person, but it’s about friendship, not romance. The other character is her best friend’s boyfriend. But it was another of my favorites. The writing style was so much fun and I absolutely adored the characters. I’ve never heard of Elizabeth Eulberg before, but I’m definitely going to check out some of her books, because I really like her voice.

Liberty by Anna-Marie McLemore
5 stars
Trope: The Makeover

Did “the makeover trope” play into this story, like, at all? No. I think a better trope would be Celebrity Crush or something. But still—it. Was. So. Freaking. Good.
I love Anna-Marie McLemore. I’ve read several of their books and enjoyed every one, but I actually think I liked this more than I liked any of their novels, simply for the plot of it. They should write a whole contemporary romance novel. Maybe… they could write this into a novel??? Pretty please???
But seriously. I adored this story. I loved the characters, the plot, the way it handled some seriously tough issues in such a short story and did it so well. And I think it worked really well as a short story. Nothing felt too rushed. Nothing felt missing. I just want more.

The Surprise Match by Sandhya Menon
4 stars I think?
Trope: The Matchmaker

I liked this. It was solid, it was fun, and I’ve always liked Sandhya Menon’s writing. It was just one of those where it felt a little rushed. It just needed a little more fleshing out in places. But regardless, it was still fun and I did enjoy it.

All in all, this was tons of fun, and a great first anthology! I highly highly recommend!