magicalghoul's Reviews (115)

I was really looking forward to allotting some time to read this since it's been on my to-read list for Ages. Overall it's an enjoyable anthology and I'll definitely look up some of the authors here so I can read more of them.

I will say though, I was expecting and would've liked a little more variety in terms of BIPOC (out of 17 stories only 7 feature non-white characters) as well as more trans/nb (3 out of 17 stories) and disabled narratives (1 out of 17) since this anthology was supposed to have visibility front and center.

And At Least a warning for the pedophilia in one of the stories.

Noteworthy stories (♢ liked; ❥ loved)

❥ Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
♢ The Dresser & The Chambermaid by Robin Talley
❥ Burnt Umber by Mackenzi Lee
❥ New Year by Malinda Lo
♢ Molly's Lips by Dahlia Adler
❥ Willows by Scott Tracey 
♢ The Girl With The Blue Lantern by Tess Sharpe
♢ Walking After Midnight by Kody Keplinger
♢ The End of the World As We Know It by Sara Farizan
❥ Three Witches by Tessa Gratton
❥ The Inferno & the Butterfly by Shaun David Hutchinson 
❥ Healing Rosa by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Every Shade of Red by Elliot Wake was written beautifully and I Adored the concept to bits but the descriptions and the way some of the characters of color were portrayed left me... With a weird taste.

Also, pedophilia warning for The Secret Life of a Teenage Boy by Alex Sanchez because it, sure is about a 16 year old mc planning to run away with a college aged guy he just met... And the adult reciprocating said advances. I know it's a coming of age story but it being framed so fondly and longingly made me the more anxious. 

That being said, I'm excited for the follow up and I hope they did better to improve the pitfalls of this one. 

It stumbled at the beginning with how it couldn't seamlessly integrate exposition and instead dumped it, but once the scenario and all the characters were set it was a fun read sprinkled with rich prose.

We do love a good enemies to lover slow burn with revolutionary themes and I'm looking forward to the next installment! 

Spent so long chipping away at this one that the constant repetition in the stories actually helped me remember what the hell was going on when I started reading again. 

The corporate horror stories were really good though. 

Liked the writing well enough, loved the main characters, will most probably read book 2... But I'm torn on the idea of a white woman writing a mlm story featuring characters of color. I'm not in a position to judge if she pulls it off, but please don't forget to support own voices sci-fi authors.