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gracew 's review for:

A Universe of Wishes by Dhonielle Clayton
5.0
challenging emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
 
  1. A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim 5/5 brilliantly crafted world building with characters you love in an instant. I would happily take an entire novel full of this world 
  2. The Silk Blade by Natalie C Parker 5/5 great action and a lot of power in a little space. World building was bare but also impactful. The action was beautifully written and kept me on my toes. Plus that good good romance!
  3. A Scarlet Woman by Libba Bray 2/5 this doesn’t actually finish and is part of a bigger story and feels completely out of place with the rest of it. I kept feeling like I was lost for this one, too long and doesn’t conclude very disappointing 
  4. Cristal Y Ceniza by Anna-Marie McLemore 5/5 fun twist on the Cinderella story, a lot of solid character work and world building in a short amount of time. I don’t need more of it it was just right as it was
  5. Liberia by Kwame Mbalia 5/5 lovely lovely story, powerful and impactful and perfect. I love Mbalia’s work already and this just cements him in my mind as one of the best there is.
  6. A Royal Affair by V.E. Schwab 4/5 I’m not a big fan of the Shades of Magic series but I liked this well enough. Very open ended and I’m sure there’s more in the books of these two. I liked it but not enough to revisit the series
  7. The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse 4.5/5 took the .5 off because it ends somewhat abruptly and I would have enjoyed a bit more exploration of the world but overall a really solid story. I love robbing empires to take back stolen museum items and would 10000% watch a movie about this. This is actually my first Roanhorse story and I’m excited to read more!
  8. Dream and Dare by Nic Stone 5/5 LISTEN!!! I am WEAK for this story. I screamed in delight while reading it this story is EVERYTHING
  9. Wish by Jenni Balch 3.5/5 cute but not meaty enough, not enough world building or character depth in the shortness of this story. Could have been great but just didn’t do it for me.
  10. The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton 5/5 a great example of how to do a good open ending! Good character growth in a short span and good world building too! Very good example of how to do a short story right 
  11. Unmoor by Mark Oshiro 5/5 Maybe my favorite piece of fiction by Oshiro. Interesting world building, love the character growth, love the complex narrative and the unreliable nature of the narrator. 
  12. The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed 3/4 Maybe not overly surprising that I’m not a big fan of “people are the virus” bullshit stories. I know it back tracked a bit with “we are earth’s greatest resource and its doom” but I really hate the way these things get worried and maybe I’m just overly tired of such a cynical world view but regardless I thought the story was weak in plot, weak in structure, weak in story.
  13.  The Beginning of Monsters by Tessa Gratton 3.75/5 I started off really, massively disliking more or less everything about this premise and plot but the longer the story went on the more it grew on me. It would have been a 1/5 but Gratton managed to pull off the story regardless. I still didn’t care for the characters, though, which is why the rating is staying as low as it is.
  14. Longer Than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Cordova 4.5/5 I like the world building a lot, didn’t adore the characters as much as I have in some of the other stories but I still liked them. Cordova is really great at world building and is shows in this story. 
  15. Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi 5/5 LOVE ENDING THIS BOOK BY JUST SOBBING! This story is lovely, truly. I felt this story in my gut and I am so glad to have read this. I think this one might be my favorite but it is a close tie with Sim’s and Stone’s. It was a joy to read this one, really it was. I’m glad it exists in the world, we are better for it.

Overall I think this Anthology is a really solid one with mostly fantastic stories. The few that didn’t hit for me notwithstanding, I highly recommend it. It is full of such unique and talented voices, most of whom you may know but some you might not. I’d check it out because if I didn’t already love 90% of these authors this book would convenience me.