Never wanted to pick it up. Might have given it another chance but I'm trying to get rid of my tbr.

I have rarely enjoyed any character dynamic as much as Sophie's with the inhabitants of the moving castle. Such a heartwarming, fun, and comforting read <3

Honestly disappointing. I don't usually know how to rate shortstory collections as the quality often differs and while that can also be said here, the better stories/poems seemed to be the exception, not a rule.

With a cover and title like this, I was hoping for stories that would feel me empowered and hopeful that we can create change. The stories inside did not match up. Most of them were incredibly dark and depressing and while I don't mind a few of those, certainly pointing out the freedoms that still don't exist is vital, it did seem to be the majority. 

Furthermore, most of the stories seemed uninspired. They depended solely on the shock factor and awfulness of their material and neither the writing nor the story itself were creative. A great counter example from this collection is "The Invention of Peanut Butter"; I loved the folktale feeling and the visualization of capitalism which it provided, but sadly it was of the few stand outs. 

Considering how many stories in this dealt with racism and the fact that this is made in support of Amnesty International, I was shocked at how few PoC writers were a part of this (unless I missed someone, there are four). The stories from white people about racism or islamophobia often seemed like they just learned about the issue or that now that they were invited to write about freedom they could bring out some real bummers to show how socially aware they are. I didn't like it.

I also would've appreciated trigger warnings for each story. Some tw just within the first few stories would've been: pedophilia, suicide, rape, homophobia, etc. (during the first few stories I tried to rate them individually and I also noted down trigger warnings for myself but I got lazy). Going into these stories without knowing any of what was gonna happen made me feel physical ill at times, and again I don't think that's due to author's writing talent in many cases.

Last, but not least. I don't want to leave you guys feeling depressed, so here's the list of stories I actually liked:
Dulce et Decorum Est, Chibundu Onuzo
The Invention of Peanut Butter, Matt Haig
Black/White-Amy Leon
Darling, Amy Leon
Robot Killers, Tim Wynne-Jones
Harmless Joe, Tony Birch
The Importance of Screams, Chrisitie Watson
Push the Week, Jackie Kay

This is so important. Everybody interested in gender equality should read this. It’s a well written, quick paced book, which while it does some analyzing of the boys in question lets most of their talking speak for itself. And it does speak for itself! It’s a great introduction to exactly why we must include the ways boys are treated by society in the conversations we have and in our activism if we want to achieve a better and fairer world.