Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.

I picked up this anthology for three reasons: a) I always want to read more stories written by and for neurodivergent people, b) sci-fi is one of my favorite genres and c) Ada Hoffman, author of the The Outside series is in here and I love what I've read of their work so far. And if you too enjoy these three things (or just the first two) I can already tell you to please read this anthology once it comes out! It's fun, there's quite a few gems in here that are really, really good, it features a not just neurodivergent, but generally diverse cast of characters and did I mention it's fun?
Now as you can see since I only gave this book four stars it is not perfect. One issue I have that I hope might still be fixed is that one of the short stories "The Grad New York Welcome Tour" by Kay Hanifen features a line that unfortunately reproduces cissexism: "Because the status of their genitals was considered a private affair, we relied on neopronouns when we didn't know their names and preferences." While this line tries to justify the use of neopronouns, I think the way it is currently phrased reproduces the idea that gender & pronouns can be tied to the status of somebody's genitals and that is obviously not okay. I do not believe that reading to be the intent of the author or the publishers, especially with other stories in this anthology, which feature quite a few transgender characters, but it is something I noticed while reading and while I am just one nonbinary reader I do believe that it might be good to think about if this should be kept in the finished piece. Another thing that bothered me is that another short story in this anthology "Scary Monsters, Super Creeps" by Cat Rambo mentions that the violent, abusive, can't-take-no-for-an-answer-ubervillains are "narcissists", which just felt extra bad in this case as people develop superpowers due to traumatic events in their childhood and adolescence. NPD is also born out of extreme childhood trauma. Claiming that it is something that universally turns somebody into an abusive partner and a violent monster without the capability for empathy... does really not sit well for an anthology that is by and for neurodivergent people, as it exclused those of us who have NPD, or who don't have any or only have low empathy and don't deserve to be labeled as "Scary Monsters, Super Creeps". The final reason I'm only giving this anthology 4 stars is that unfortunately a few of the pieces in here left me feeling a bit bored, like I couldn't fully connect to the characters or as if something was missing from the story. This is however only a minor problem as the incredible breadth of works presented here does definitely make up for the fact that I did not enjoy every single piece presented here.
So let's move on the things I really, really adored about this anthology: the amount of sci-fi that it explores. There's space exploration and alien first encounters, both peaceful and violent, scientific and cultural exchanges, AI and superheroes. If you like sci-fi, regardless of which type of sci-fi, there will be something here that works for you!
I enjoyed the Illustrations that are features here by barbara Candiotti, Vincenzo Cohen and Natasha Von. They always added to the story and it was always a lovely suprise to flip a page and see that the story I had just finished had received an illustration that added to my imagination.
As mentioned above there is also a great diversity of characters: a wide variety of neurodiversities, characters from across a variety of genders, aliens with incredibly bodily differences (not just the stereotypical green dudes from Mars) and a great variety of hobbies and interests.
I also like that the anthology includes trigger warnings in front of each piece.
My favorite short stories in here were "The Pipefitter" by Tobias S. Buckell, "Shadows of Titanium Rain" by Anthony Francis, "The Space Between Stitches" by Minerva Cerridwen, "The Zeta Remnant" by M. D. Cooper, "Navigational Aid" by Holly Schofield, "Heart-Side Sometimes-Table" by Madeline Barnicle, "Stopping for Fuel on a Starry Evening" by Crystal Sidell, "Meeting of the Branes" by Kiya Nicoll and "The List-Making Habits of Heartbroken Ships" by Stewart C. Baker.

I also wrote a short list of thoughts and opinions on most pieces (except the art and I've also left out the very short poems as I often found I didn't have anything interesting to say about them.) If you want to read that as well here you go (I also extended some of the trigger warnings, but seldomly). My favorite pieces (as mentioned above) are marked by an asterix:

When the Aliens Came by Avra Margariti: a short poem exploring the demands humans could place on aliens since they also place them on autistic people, interesting and heartbreaking
Tw mention of physical child abuse

Music, Not Words by Ada Hoffmann: A mostly nonverbal autistic girl finds happiness in music, when the Aliens arrive she hears the music they make first, heartbreaking but with an interesting end
Tw emotional abuse

The Grand New York Welcome Tour by Kay Hanifen: A person with ocd and undiagnosed but peer-reviewed autism is tasked with guiding a group of alien students through their first earth trip. Unfortunately not my style, despite the intended sweet moment of self recognition in the alien. It does feel incredibly American to invite Aliens to New York and immediately show the Hamilton though.
Tw for racism, anti-alien violence, slight cissexism as the story once implies that pronouns are determined by 'the status of their [the aliens'] genitals' (which we don't know as its considered private, so neopronouns are used).

A Conversation with a Xotiran by M. A. Dubbs: A poem about talking with an alien whose brain works the same way as the neurodivergent MC. Interesting!

* The Pipefitter by Tobias S. Buckell: A lower ranks worker in a space ship finds herself as the highest ranking person around during a ship wide emergency, can her adhd maybe help her in this chaotic situation? Very interesting and very fun, I really enjoyed the writing style! Did make me cry for the main character!
Tw death, injury, internalized ableism

Impact by Jasmine Starr: An autistic girl meets an alien thats also autistic for its species, interesting and sweet, even if the feel good ending was a bit unexpected

Where is Everybody by Anya Leigh Josephs: Love at first Alien Sighting. Autistic girl meets autistic alien. Very short but sweet.

McCarthy Knew by A. J. Dalton: A poem about paranoia, very short

* Shadows of Titanium Rain by Anthony Francis: a really sweet story about an autistic artist achieving first contact to warn an alien race of danger, very star trek-esque, very sweet
Tw injury

The Interview by Brian Starr: An alien is interviewing a very anxious man for an ambassador position, investigates the (weird and convoluted) nuances of conversation, I felt very seen

Someone Different Like Me by Daane Dunnewold: A university student meets an alien and they are different together, very short

Scary Monsters, Super Creeps by Cat Rambo: A person with anxiety in a world with evil superheros finds out she's been dating a superhero all along, interesting and I enjoy the dark worldbuilding but i could have done without the ableism against people with NPD and low empathy and would have enjoyed it more if the villain of the story had been explored in more depth instead of "with great power comes low empathy and also abusing people."
tw ableism (narcissism used to describe a person who doesn't care about others and constant mentions of "empathy" as the thing that makes someone act in ways that don't harm others), domestic abuse, violence

These Things Never End Well by Maub Nesor: An autistic programmer encounters an Alien species, the aliens have rules that are very autistic as well and the autistic person might be humanities only salvation from war, short but interesting, I especially liked the first half

First Contact by David Manfree: An autistic man encounters an alien and helps him rebuild his ship, sweet
tw: harassment, mentions of ableism

* The Space Between Stitches by Minerva Cerridwen: A gas like alien arrives on earth and encounters an autistic person who uses neopronouns and they talk about favorite hobbies, very sweet

Cadre by Sam Crain: two autistic scientists meet alien children, who are also kind off autistic and they get to share their research with them, adorable

The Cow Test by Lauren D. Fulter: an alien girl with adhd needs to abduct a cow to pass her class but accidentally abducts a human girl with adhd as well, they bond over it, very sweet

Our Connected Space by Swarit Gopalan: A short poem about how certain autistic traits (hypersensitivity to sound, attention to detail, lack of societal judgement) could be helpful when meeting an alien

Gamma Zaria by Gail Brown: an autistic person who thinks in pictures and struggles with communication finds an alien planet where she might find a home

Poetry by Chief Red Chef: a very short poem, but stylistically quite interesting

Where Monolithic Minds Can't Travel by Akis Linardos: A person with DID encounters aliens that also house multiple consciousnesses in one body, really interesting!
Tw past attempts to cure, forced medical intervention

* The Zeta Remnant by M. D. Cooper: A space explorer explores a new planet with an AI when they encounter something dangerous, The space explorer and the AI were really adorable together and I enjoyed the way the story managed to hint at the history of characters and the world while still working really well as a short story!

Are We Human? by Brianna Elise: A short and rather academic piece about an alien encountering humans, interesting, but a bit too disjointed for me to fully grasp

A Hint of Color by Jody Lynn Nye: A person with Synesthesia is sent out to explore a new planet, she's the only person that can communicate with the local species there, interesting

Be Your Own Universe by Kay Alexander: A worker on a space ship gets possessed by an alien entity and finds their purposes, interesting, very Star Trek, I enjoyed it, tw: death

* Navigational Aid by Holly Schofield: A lone survivor of a spaceship accident encounters an alien being, heavy focus on communication between different languages, very good

* Heart-Side Sometimes-Table by Madeline Barnicle: A really interesting short story about linguistics and conlangs and an autistic understanding of the world! I loved it!!!!

Trading Partners by Jennifer R. Povey: An autistic woman meets a trading convoy of aliens and joins them, short but sweet.
Tw: mentions of suicide

Greetings from Earth by R. S. Mot: An autistic young adult summon Aliens to her world and shares their existence on TikTok. Interesting and again a lot about communication, which I enjoy.

Close Encounter in the Public Bathroom by Keiko O'Leary: A short poem about a person with OCD encountering an alien in the public bathroom, short and sweet

Primordial Voices by J. L. Lark: an autistic opera singer meets an actress and feels a strange sense of calm when with her, loved the girlies, hated the boyfriend
Tw biphobia, bimisogynistic abuse, emotional abuse & domestic violence

Tangible Things by Jillian Starr: An autistic person faces a violent alien invasion on Earth. They might be the only one able to stop it though. Interesting and fun to read, but the end was very abrupt.

* Stopping for Fuel on a Starry Evening by Crystal Sidell: A short and sweet poem about encountering aliens that communicate in mental pictures while drinking tea in the garden, very sweet

* Meeting of the Branes by Kiya Nicoll: An autistic spaceship pilot with a stutter encounters one alien being known and worshipped by others as Angels, very interesting and fun to read
Tw ableism, bullying

Meaning Green, Unclear by Clara Ward: Two neurodivergent explorers manage to communicate with a newly discovered alien being, interesting set up but a bit short

* The List-Making Habits of Heartbroken Ships by Stewart C. Baker: A sentient ship grieving for their lost crew, heartbreaking but also lovely
Tw grief