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618 reviews for:
A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope
Patrice Caldwell
3.94 AVERAGE
618 reviews for:
A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope
Patrice Caldwell
3.94 AVERAGE
1. When Life Hands You A Lemon Fruitbomb by Amerie ★★★★
Idea for this story seemed almost raw. There were so many good plot points and so many raised questions. Almost philosophical short story.
2. Gilded by Elizabeth Acevedo ★★★
This story seemed like a cool intro to an adventure novel. Maybe something with a strong and focused heroine.
3. Wherein Abigail Fields Recalls Her First Death And, Subsequently, Her Best Life by Rebeca Roanhorse ★★★
Story starts out as a shootout western. Then come some mystical magical elements. Instead of bringing the story to a new level everything kinda deflates with a curtain down. I am very much against the curtain down kind of a reader.
4. The Rules of the Land by Alaya Dawn Johnson ★★★★
I kept holding on to magical elements of this story. There were so many familiar elements in here mixed with the not so familiar ones. This one had a tragic feel from the begining but it would be interesting to read more about the adventures of the main heroine.
5. A Hagiography of Starlight by Somaiya Daud ★★★★
The amount of ritualistic elements in this story was endearing to me. I liked the setting and the mythical past feel o fit. The meaning of love and opulence was spot on but the carnality and the power of the dance were dimmed and lacking.
6. Melie by Justina Ireland ★★★★★
My favorite fantastical beasts and cute humour! I loved this story!
7. The Goddess Provides by L.L. McKinney ★★★★
This one walked a thin line between some things I really didnt like and the drama I aparently needed. The drama won out in the end and I appreciated the fire and blood climax!
8. Hearts Turned to Ash by Dhonielle Clayton ★★★★
Tempo and the feel of this story was like a saying goodbye to naivette of first love and coming of age story. It was very emotional and some of the motives touched on a personal level.
9. Letting the Right One In by Patrice Caldwell ★★★
Finally a story featuring vampires! The emo vibe was just too much for me. I am not happy with the way this story ended.
10. Tender-Headed by Danny Lore ★★★★
Getting into this story was something I needed to put effort in. In the end it turned out to be a lot more relatable than I anticipated.
11. Kiss the Sun by Ibi Zoboi ★★★
I loved the setting and the mythology in this story. I would have been interested to learn more about the island and how the magical lives of the characters relate to non-magical chartacters. The plot twist was a bit more harder to grasp for me and the tone of the story even left me depressed.
12. The Actress by Danielle Paige ★★★
A bit too much teen drama style and naivete for my tastes. I liked it but I recognize I am not the intended audience for this type of stories.
13. The Curse of Love by Ashley Woodfolk ★★★★
Much heavier and draker than anticipated. Thought inducing and it made me pensive.
14. All the Time in the World by Charlotte Nicole Davis ★★★★
If someone had told me the idea for this short story in just a few sentences I would have thought it would have been an awesome graphic novel or an original superhero movie.
15. The Witch's Skin by Karen Strong ★★★
There were so many interesting elements and plot points of this story but it all seemed so rushed and I think this ideas deserved more care and more length if not more than one book. All that the author imagined feel flat in the short story form.
16. Sequence by J. Marcelle Corrie ★★
The last story had science fiction and futuristic elements. It was another young adult theme that I just could not connect with.
My thoughts on the collection as a whole
I wanted to enjoy the originality of the motives and stories and it was great to see how some of the social issues were incorporated into them. Some were succesful in this and some less so. I was expecting a collection of fantastical and supernatural stories and that is exactly what I got. Most of the stories were abundant with motives and ideas. I wanted to be blown away by this collection and that didn't exactly happen, but I enjoyed it anyway.
Actual rating 3.5
Read my full review and others like it here!
I got this out of my library and coincidentally, it was the book of the month for this new book club, Twitter.
My average rating for each story was 3.5 stars which, if you've seen any of my past anthology reviews, is a goddamn miracle. Truly, black girl magic at play because that has to be the only reason this anthology just did it for me.
This is majority fantasy/magic elements with one or two sci-fi stories. Some of the magic elements were in historical settings, some in the real world, and some in fantasy worlds. There were 4 stories with queer girls and one with an enby (ownvoices) love interest!
Now let's get to the individual story reviews! They are short stories and I'm not getting spoilery, so they will be short.
When Life Hands You a Lemon Fruitbomb by Amerie ~ 3.5 stars! The ending really made it. It had a rough beginning and a disjointed way of explaining the world and background necessary, but it was very unique. Also one of the only sci-fi ones. This one has a hint of f/f!
Gilded by Elizabeth Acevedo ~ 4 stars! Acevedo would be great writing something not contemporary, and I hope she does after writing this one. Really solid story.
Wherein Abby Fields Recalls Her First Death and Subsequently, Her Best Life by Rebecca Roanhhorse ~ 3.5 stars! I was confused about the timeline in this one, but great mythology/Wild West aesthetic. This one's f/f!
The Rules of the Land by Alaya Dawn Johnson ~ 4 stars! This one was light on the plot, but had good characters and great atmosphere.
A Hagiography of Starlight by Somaiya Daud ~ First 5 stars of the collection! The ATMOSPHERE and the WRITING!! I need an entire NOVELLA!
Melie by Justina Ireland ~ 2.75 stars. It was more humorous than the lyrical story before it, so it was a bit of a tonal shift. Otherwise fine, if bland. Honestly, the ending cliffhanger was more interesting than the rest of the story.
The Goddess Provides by L.L. McKinney ~ 3.5 stars! This was brutal in a way most YA protagonists who are women are too scared to be. Great overall, bit of a quick change of heart at the end.
Hearts Turned to Ash by Dhonielle Clayton ~ 3.5 stars! Good message! Unique take on the affliction and witch!
Letting the Right One In by Patrice Caldwell ~ 3 stars! This felt rushed, but I liked the overall idea. Would read a full novel, which I feel it kind of needed. This was also f/f!
Tender-Headed by Danny Lore ~ F/enby? Introspective? Tugging at heart strings I didn't know I had? An unexpected 5 stars! I want to read everything this writer has written now!
Kiss the Sun by Ibi Zoboi ~ 3 stars! Very cool mythology and how it combined with colonialism and colorism.
The Actress by Danielle Paige ~ This was a 2 star read. Kind of rushed and cliche, didn't go deep into the fantastical element at all. But I will say, younger me probably would've enjoyed it more.
The Curse of Love by Ashley Woodfolk ~ 3 stars. Was not expecting that to be the curse, so points for the twist. Overall good.
All the Time in the World by Charlotte Nicole Davis ~ 4 stars! This was really sweet! Great concept! Would read a novella of this! This was also f/f!
Witch's Skin by Karen Strong ~ Great, unique world building, a twist I didn't see. 3.5 stars!
Sequence by J. Marcelle Corrie ~ 3.5 stars. Twisty and unexpected, more sci-fi than the others. This was f/f!
Since this review is on an anthology of each story, I will be providing a brief review of each story in the collection, as well as any themes that are discussed in the book. The first story is When Life Hands You Lemon Fruit Bombs by Amerie. This was an interesting science fiction story that takes readers on a bit of mind-trip towards the very end. It deals with the concepts of first contact, interplanetary wars and the birth of a civilization. One main theme in this story is that of compassion and humanness. Both Mae and Santos struggle with how the Nokira (the alien race) are treated, and they even set them free before the rest of the humans head back to earth. Mae often observes that there is something almost human about the Nokira, even if there might not be.
The second story in this collection is Gilded by Elizabeth Acevedo which takes place just before the slave revolts on Santa Domingo in 1522. There is an element of magical realism since the main character, Eula, has some sort of magic that allows her to manipulate metals. This is essentially a story about the fight for freedom, and will leave readers wanting more. The next story was Wherein Abigail Fields Recalls Her First Death and, subsequently, Her Best Life by Rebecca Roanhorse. This was a weird tale set in the Wild West, more specifically New Mexico in 1880. This particular story deals with seeking vengeance and making a deal with the devil, or in this case the spirits of the desert. It was really fast-paced and seemed to be over as soon as it began.
Story number four was The Rules of the Land by Alaya Dawn Johnson which was an interesting story about angry sea goddesses, deals made to save a country and the breaking of one's oath. This story was a little confusing in a couple of places it felt like something important would take place but it was glossed over. The fifth story was A Hagiography of Starlight by Somaiya Doud. It is a Middle Eastern inspired tale about a girl who falls in love with a divine being and how her actions serve as a catalyst for the events that will lead to the end of the world. This was a great short story that id a great job at explaining things and provided a great plot in 20+ pages, and the ending was very satisfying. The next story was Melie by Justina Ireland, an interesting fantasy story in which a young woman discovers that the High Sorcerer of the land is trying to create a diversion within the kingdom in order to help another country invade it. It has a strong theme of believing and advocating for oneself and it also has mermaids, dragons and unicorns.
The seventh story is The Goddess Provides by L. L. McKinley. All throughout this story the theme of hypocrisy is woven through fantasy tale, especially since the goddess of this society empowers Akkia, who is considered a heathen, and tells her that the ones who are truly heathens are those who claim to be devout her but commit horrific acts in her name. It also includes a theme of betrayal and deceit when it turns out her brother is still alive and is behind everything. The ninth story is Hearts Turned to Ash by Dhonielle Clayton which serves a cautionary tale about giving one's heart away and making some the center of your universe and how the heartbreak feels awful. Although in this case, Etta's heart is literally being turned to ash and she has to go visit a conjure woman to heal her. This was a magical realism that contained some influences of voodoo and hoodoo.
The next story in this anthology is Letting the Right One In by Patrice Caldwell which follows Ayanna who suffers from depression and is adjusting to life in a new town and is obsessed with vampires. One day she meets a black vampire and falls in love. It is ultimately about feeling out of place in a new environment but eventually finding someone that make you feel like you belong. Tender-headed by Danny Lore was an interesting but weird story, but its main theme was to take pride in what you do and to be kind. The next story was Kiss the Sun by Ibi Zoboi which is about a group of fire witches who feat on evil souls at night. It ends up becoming a story about a fight for power which they think comes from having a lighter-skinned body, however it leads to some major discord amongst the group.
The twelfth story is The Actress by Danielle Paige abut Gamine who plays a witch on TV, but what happens when she discovers that she might actually be a witch? There is a lot of good build-up to Gamine's discovery and there was also some indications of the facts that she is indeed a witch. However, it does promote the trope of the main character not being like other girls, but it is executed pretty well in this story. The next story is The Curse of Love by Ashley Woodfolk which is all about a family that is cursed to charming and beautiful, but they cannot fall love because when they do they immediately start aging and die. Therefore they try to guard themselves from finding love, but eventually they all succumb to love's spell. All the Time in the World by Charlotte Nicole Davis follows Jordan, who discovers that she has the ability to make time stand still and it touches on corporate greed and environmental issues and how people tend to care about a cause when it is affecting them directly. Another interesting feature of this story is that it is told in the 2nd person.
The second to last story of this collection is The Witch's Skin by Karen Strong which is an interesting mix of both fantasy and sci-fi about a witch that haunts an island and steals the souls of men. The main character, Nalah, wants to kill the witch because she killed her true love, however she discovers that the witch has been masquerading as her mother for seventeen years. The Boo Hag tells her that her life is a lie and that everyone on the island has been deceived by the Council. It also touches a little bit on misogyny. The final story is Sequence by J. Marcelle Corrie in which there is a software that can help people see how certain decisions can affect their future. In this case we see Eden trying to decide whether to tell her crush that she likes her and we see the scenario where she does nothing and the one when she makes her move. The point being that even the smallest decisions can end up having an impact on our future and happiness.
Overall, I enjoyed most of the stories, although some of them had content that I don't really like. I also wish some of them had been a bit longer, but I loved how each story was unique. 3.5/5 Stars.
My favorites:
- All the Time in the World by Charlotte Nicole Davis
- Letting the Right One In by Patrice Caldwell
- Melie by Justina Ireland