I don't usually read short stories, so this was really fun! Some of them I felt were a little too short and didn't quite give enough meat for me to really bite into, but others felt like just the right amount. 

1. Starsong by Tehlor Kay Mejia: ★★
I liked that this had an f/f romance budding and that there was an interesting magic system that was kind of explained, but most of the story was just a budding romance of DMs between the characters and then we don't even see the date they go on so it's kind of a let down.

2. Afterbirth by Andrea Cremer: ★★
I know this was meant to be a sort of play off witch trials and the old interview logs, but I didn't really care for it that much. I didn't connect much with the characters so that is generally a surefire means that I'm not going to care much for what's going on. The writing style was great though.

3. The Heart in Her Hands by Tesse Sharpe: ★★★
I liked some things about this story and disliked others. Whenever I hear soul-marks I instantly want to barf. Especially when it's the kind that's "these are the first words they'll say to you" because it's a horrible fandom trope. I understand that the whole point was the main character rebelled against it, but just the fact that it existed in the world makes my stomach ache. The f/f relationship was cute, the whole kitchen witch was also a cute thing you don't see a lot and I liked the whole spin on how her magic changed in the end. 

4. Death in the Sawtooths by Lindsay Smith: ★★★★★
I liked this world a lot! Such a weird world that had me thinking of a lot of video games and TV shows all bundled into one world and it's always great when it's a reluctant pair of main characters forced to work together. I don't know why this one really resonated with me, but I just really loved the world building in this and I felt instantly connected with the main character.

5. The Truth About Queenie by Brandy Colbert: ★★★
I liked Queenie and her family and her friendship, but was a little disappointed with the love triangle angle it took. It also was light on the witch aspect and would be more interesting to see Queenie come into her power as it seemed to be an interesting magic they have.

6. The Moonapple Menagerie by Shveta Thakrar: ★
I sort of checked out during this. It was extremely confusing toward the end and I couldn't tell what the hell was going on, so I honestly can't tell you what happened.

7. The Legend of Stone Mary by Robin Talley: ★★★
This was interesting enough with a f/f relationship that I guess was supposed to be a sort of gotcha though in such a short story doesn't quite work so it might as well not have been included at all. It also felt kind of strange that

a hunter would know so much about a witch curse and the witch wouldn't?

I liked the characters though and it was a nice ending.

8. The One Who Stayed by Nova Ren Suma: ★★
I guess this one was trying to not give too much face to the coven and only to the newest member who was actually named in the story, but the way it was written felt clunky and made it difficult for me to stay connected to it.

9. Divine are the Stars by Zoraida Cordova: ★★★★
Funnily enough, I was expecting the 'come and collect' line to be about 'coming to get the magic' and not about 'getting wealth' from the beginning, but I certainly hadn't expected to see their grandmother the way she was. It was really great imagery and the family had a great dynamic that felt realistic.

10. Daughters of Baba Yaya by Brenna Yovanoff: ★★
This was kind of forgettable to me. It felt pretty childish and unremarkable and truthfully, I don't really remember much about it.

11. The Well Witch by Kate Hart: ★★★★
I don't generally like wild west sorts of stories, but I kind of liked this one. I wasn't a huge fan of the second act or the open-ended nature of it, but I guess that means that I can choose to believe that it ends well.

12. Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths by Jessica Spotswood: ★★★★
This was one of those stories where the characters think they are doing the right thing (by doing something that isn't exactly great) but basically fucks everything up spectacularly but the result still winds up basically the same in the end. All thanks to prophecy. It's really good and more f/f grandness.

13. Love Spell by Anna-Marie McLemore: ★★★
This was interesting as the church isn't usually in a witch story as anything but a means to condemn and especially not for a witch that wants to take part in religion. 

14. The Gherin Girls by Emery Lord: ★★★★★
This one was probably one of my favorites. You could really feel the love these girls had for one another!

15. Why They Watch Us Burn by Elizabeth May: ★★★★
I like that this started out with the women being falsely accused as witches (as they do back then) only to then turn into witches as time goes on. It was really powerful. f/f relationship in this one.