tehani's review against another edition

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4.0

Among some shining gems there were quite a few lower calibre stories in this anthology. Nothing I actively disliked, only one that made me go "huh?", so overall very readable, and those gems make it well worth the four star rating. Great to see a number of stories with non-hetero YA protagonists.

beaniedorman's review against another edition

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4.0

A lovely collection of dystopian romances. Three stars overall but THE CARRIE RYAN STORY. Blew me away.

fictionaladventures's review against another edition

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2.0

<b>"Hidden Ribbon" by John Shirley: 2 stars (read Aug 25, 2022)</b>
Even though this takes place in the future, it kinda felt like it was a 90s story?? Idk. There was a lot of telling instead of showing. Wasn’t feeling this one. 

<b>"The Salt Sea and the Sky" by Elizabeth Bear: 3 stars (read Aug 25, 2022)</b>
This was really well written! The dystopian elements were pretty subtle but the idea of rightminding was super interesting to me. 

<b>"In the Clearing" by Kiera Cass: 3 stars (read Sept 8, 2022)</b>
This was about a girl named Mackenzie who is kidnapped by a guy named Dylan. Mackenzie was living in this society that is super drugged and unfeeling and Dylan shows her what life is like when there aren’t a ton of opiates in your food. It was fine but not necessarily special. I didn’t really believe Mackenzie’s lack of disdain for her kidnappers lol. The story was touching at times though. 

<b>"Otherwise" by Nisi Shawl: DNF (read Sept 8, 2022)</b>
Couldn’t get into the writing style of this one. 

<b>"Now Purple with Love's Wound" by Carrie Vaughn: 3.5 stars (read Sept 9, 2022)</b>
The idea of a dystopian world where wives are given potion to make them love their husbands was great because I can imagine our messed up world doing something like that. Overall the story was enjoyable, though I would have liked more resolution. 

<b>"Berserker Eyes" by Maria V. Snyder: 3.5 stars (read Sept 9, 2022)</b>
A world where people who might have a recessive gene to make them “serk” (basically get super angry and violent) are feared and controlled and used. This was pretty good and I was into it!

<b>"Arose from Poetry" by Steve Berman: 1 star (read Sept 9, 2022)</b>
Very political. I wasn’t a fan. Too short for any kind of investment. 

<b>"Red" by Amanda Downum: 4 stars (read Sept 10, 2022)</b>
This one had zombies! The world building was super good for a short story. I was invested. 

<b>"Foundlings" by Diana Peterfreund: DNF (read Sept 10, 2022)</b>
This was soooooo weird and I DNF’d pretty quickly. 

<b>"Seekers in the City" by Jeanne DuPrau: 4 stars (read Sept 21, 2022)</b>
This was really cute and wholesome! The dystopian element was definitely more subtle in this story. It was about two teenagers who feel a connection when they see each other once and spend the rest of the story trying to find their way back to each other!

<b>"The Up" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: 1 star (read Oct 6, 2022)</b>
That was weird… And not my kind of weird. I pretty much DNF’d it, just skimming the last part. 

<b>"The Dream Eater" by Carrie Ryan: 3 stars (read Oct 13, 2022)</b>
This was good, but the repetition got a little boring. I liked the idea though, about a society where one girl takes everyone’s bad memories so they’re only left with good ones. 

<b>"357" by Jesse Karp: 2 stars (read Oct 18, 2022)</b>
A little confusing? I sorta liked what I could follow though. 

<b>"Eric and Pan" by William Sleator: 2 stars (read Oct 21, 2022)</b>
I don’t really know what to say about this? The world was very homophobic and racist but I can’t tell whether it was written well or not. 

<b>"The Empty Pocket" by Seth Cadin: 1 star (read Oct 21, 2022)</b>
I honestly have no idea what I just read.

micgmore's review against another edition

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2.0

I read 4 stories, and that was enough to make it clear that this anthology focuses on the romance, and not the dystopia. I read the stories by the 3 authors who have written novels I've read (and liked). The other story I read for no other reason than just to read it. None of the other stories attracted me enough to actually read them.

In the Clearing/Kiera Cass: 3 stars- Predictable, vaguely dystopian, and hard to distinguish between the 2 points of view in some parts.

Now Purple with Love's Wounds/Carrie Vaughn: 2 stars- Dull, but the cliffhanger ending was delightfully shocking. It is so shocking and wonderful, in fact, that I gave this story another star to its 1 star ranking.

Berserker Eyes/Maria V. Snyder: 5 stars- I want a full length novel continuing this story, pronto. This little story had excellent characterization and plot, as well as a true dystopian nature.

Seekers in the City/Jeanne DuPrau: 3 stars- Whoever thought this was dystopian was on crack. The romance was totes adorb, though:)

2 stars for this anthology. Only 4 of the 15 stories interested me, and the reason behind reading 3 of those was the author behind it, and not the story itself. I would give it a 1 star ranking, but a star has to be added for the presence of Berserker Eyes.

raix's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm gonna give the book overall a rating but I'll mention each story on its own. This book actually surprised me and was a lot better than I expected.

Hidden Ribbon by John Shirley
I didn't really like this one at all. I found the writing to be kind of immature and the characters seemed to fall flat. Things happened without much building up to them. The romance wasn't didn't feel real - the author made sure to mention that the two main characters "talked all night", but nothing was shown of any conversation that might make their relationship deeper. The reader is expected to assume.

The Salt Sea and The Sky by Elizabeth Bear
I really liked the atmosphere of this one. I think it seemed to capture the setting very nicely. Bear took "dystopian" in a new direction - instead of living in poverty and hardship, the dystopia comes in having to live a life of uneventful comfort without being able to follow one's passion. I liked that it was based on an established relationship, and not new love. It was also nice to see gay couples treated as a normal thing.

In The Clearing by Kiera Kass
The beginning of this story was a bit troublesome because the male lead kidnaps the female lead, referring to it as "taking something for himself". Not cool. World building is sort of interesting but lacks a big-picture kind of view. It seems to be kept to one little town only. The romance is decidedly teen, with the two falling in "forever love" after what seems like only one night. The captor/captive romance - although that dynamic doesn't last the whole story - is a little off-putting, but I did enjoy the story.

Otherwise by Nisi Shawl
Excellent voice. A very nice view of a dystopian world, and what kind of people emerge from such a world. Certain things were left unexplained, but I find that the allusion to them works well enough to carry on the story. A nice diversity in characters, and it involves a polyamorous relationship, which I have not seen written about in a positive way before. Very good story, one of my favourites.

Now Purple With Love's Wound by Carrie Vaughn
I really liked what this one explored. It used a dystopian society to explore feelings, and how we know what is real. It had a very tense ending, though I liked that it ended where it did.

(adding more later)

taldellorrie's review against another edition

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2.0

Favorites:
In The Clearing by Kiera Cass
Now Purple With Love's Wound by Carrie Vaughn
Berserker Eyes by Maria V Snyder
Seekers in the City by Jeanne DuPrau (Love this one!)

bookish_bobbin's review against another edition

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3.0

I was really excited to read this! Some of the stories focused more on the dystopian than the romance which means I couldn't connect with the characters and I feel that some of the stories would have benefited more from being a novel and not squashed into a short story. Never the less I really did enjoy some of the stories.

courtofsmutandstuff's review against another edition

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3.0

I really liked The Clearing, Berserker Eyes and The Foundlings, a lot of the other stories weren't that good, hence the lower rating.

lpcoolgirl's review against another edition

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5.0

Really enjoyed these short stories, they were interesting, and there was of course love, young love, and yeah, there was a short story by Maria V. Snyder, so loved that one a lot!

pluralise's review against another edition

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4.0

I took way too long to read this... But that's the great thing about short stories. You can take a break in the middle for as long as you want.

Anyway, like all compilations, there were some that were better than others... But nothing I strongly disliked. (Yes, Becky, I am capable of disliking things.) I appreciated the variety of dystopias represented, as well as variety of relationships.

Favorites: Berserker Eyes (interesting premise - kids with recessive berserker genes are locked away until they either serk or get old enough to be presumed safe), Foundlings (twin stories are all close to my heart except THAT BOOK cough[b:Her Fearful Symmetry|6202342|Her Fearful Symmetry|Audrey Niffenegger|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327939087s/6202342.jpg|6382826]cough), The Dream Eater (faint resemblance to [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234]? but different.)

I really wanted to like Nina Kiriki Hoffman's story, since I loved everything I read of hers in high school, but it was just so... I don't know, it reminded me of [b:The City of Ember|307791|The City of Ember (Book of Ember, #1)|Jeanne DuPrau|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347778595s/307791.jpg|2285229]. Which I liked but did not particularly love.