wanderingteacherbooks's review

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3.0

I didn't end up finishing it, because I just lost interest which, but I like most of the stories that I did read. My personal favorite was the one with magic in the Philippines. It displayed a unique dynamic for magic, but I would've like to see that story expanded into something longer. Overall, it was a good source of entertainment for when I was flying to and from Japan.

sometimesleelynnreads's review

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4.0

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to YA Bound Book Tours and Mikki Noble Publications for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

I love that I get to enjoy a taste of new authors through anthologies like this. Especially when it comes to my favorite genre in the entire world. I absolutely adore YA fantasy novels, and getting to read ten short stories in one massive action packed and intense novel was freaking great!

I personally didn’t write any mini reviews on all of the stories inside, and I usually don’t because I feel like it would just make my reviews on anthologies way too long, but I’m sure that others will do so and you can check them out.

I will say that I enjoyed every single one of these stories, and I felt like each of them really brought out each of the authors’ voices to make them unique and entertaining. Again, I won’t pick out a favorite because I liked them all for different reasons, and it feels weird having to pick just one when they are packaged together, you know?

I also feel like having the creative license to be able to write a short story in such a vast genre such as YA fantasy really helps to make sure that the reader doesn’t get inundated with too much of the same plot devices or fantasy storylines. Does that even make sense? I think you know what I mean. It’s different when authors have to focus on one type of story or subject, but it also gives them a better sense of direction. When it’s more broad like this, wow they can write just about anything. So I guess it could be either a good or bad thing, because you can literally have anything come up at you, from gods to fae to shamans… just about anything as long as they have the imagination and time to write about it.

I think that’s what made this novel really enjoyable for me. And I’m actually super bummed that I never heard of any of these authors before I got to read this novel. They definitely need more spotlight out there, and I hope that more people get to check not only this book out, but others from these authors as well.

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