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silentquercus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
This collection put out by We Need Diverse Books truly has something for everyone. Boasting that it "contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world" is exactly what this story collection accomplishes. There are some stories that I was more attached to than others; however, this collection, overall, is a winner.
I received an ecopy of this book via Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own.
I received an ecopy of this book via Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own.
ohclaire's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really solid YA spec-fic anthology. Nearly every story was fantastic, and I loved the diversity, not only in the modern sense, but also in the sense that each story was set in a very different world and written in its own distinct way. I did think there was kind of a lot of romance, but that's YA. All in all, 4.25 for sure.
thureris's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
animelanie's review against another edition
3.0
For Review
With fifteen short stories in this anthology, 'A Universe of Wishes' contains just so many stories - something for everyone. From harvesting magic from the dead; prisoners in foreign countries communicating through letters in their cells; a daughter fighting for the right for her mothers to be together; a colony ship transporting a young crew and their valuable, natural cargo; even a reimagining of Rapunzel; to a genie in a lamp story. As a few of the authors included in this book have written popular YA series (Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab; Gemma Doyle by Libba Bray), the inclusion of stories that are pre-series or side stories will be a delight to those who have read the main series.
As these stories are diverse in terms of content, genre and authors, there are a variety of writing styles. Each story has a different pacing, though the majority are fast paced due to the length of the story. There are some stories written from the protagonist's point of view, while others move between characters. Some stories leave you wanting more, while others are the perfect length and conclusion. Authors include V.E. Schwab, Libba Bray, Samira Ahmed and Nic Stone. While the authors are diverse in their talents, they have all created worlds that they have then described in such detail that readers will be quickly absorbed into these new worlds.
Themes: Fantasy; Science Fiction; LGBTQIA+; Diversity; Magic; Own Voices.
With fifteen short stories in this anthology, 'A Universe of Wishes' contains just so many stories - something for everyone. From harvesting magic from the dead; prisoners in foreign countries communicating through letters in their cells; a daughter fighting for the right for her mothers to be together; a colony ship transporting a young crew and their valuable, natural cargo; even a reimagining of Rapunzel; to a genie in a lamp story. As a few of the authors included in this book have written popular YA series (Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab; Gemma Doyle by Libba Bray), the inclusion of stories that are pre-series or side stories will be a delight to those who have read the main series.
As these stories are diverse in terms of content, genre and authors, there are a variety of writing styles. Each story has a different pacing, though the majority are fast paced due to the length of the story. There are some stories written from the protagonist's point of view, while others move between characters. Some stories leave you wanting more, while others are the perfect length and conclusion. Authors include V.E. Schwab, Libba Bray, Samira Ahmed and Nic Stone. While the authors are diverse in their talents, they have all created worlds that they have then described in such detail that readers will be quickly absorbed into these new worlds.
Themes: Fantasy; Science Fiction; LGBTQIA+; Diversity; Magic; Own Voices.
mbisesi's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
bickie's review against another edition
4.0
A Universe of Wishes (Tara Sim) - An impoverished orphan digs up bodies and finally breaks into a mortuary to collect unused magic from corpses. We learn his backstory, and he makes a friend. Gruesome and hopeful. Male/male kissing. 7th+ Fantasy
The Silk Blade (Natalie C. Parker) - Imagine a society without gendered expectations. A royal "bloom" is ready to choose his balancing consort who, at least in this case, is required to battle other hopefuls through various trials. We follow a woman from a humble background to the finals where she competes with two others (another woman and a man), who appear to be from more connected and well-off places. A chance encounter on her way to the finals makes her question her commitment to winning the competition. Some short battle scenes. Some effort required to figure out what is going on - a lot more showing than telling. 7th+ Fantasy
The Scarlet Woman: A Gemma Doyle Story (Libba Bray) - This is not a short story; it reads like the first chapter of an engaging book. Set in 1897 New York, this piece introduces what appears to be another installment in Gemma Doyle's career as a member of the Order, a group of women who are able to journey into the afterlife. Men in the Rakshana brotherhood have been found murdered, with their hearts replaced with a feather and a paper with symbols and the words "Think upon your sins." Gemma is a strong feminist and resists a lot of man-splaining in one encounter. This book sounds good, but I wish this teaser chapter had not been included in a book of short stories. There is no complete arc. Could be the basis of an interesting lesson in what makes a complete story. 7th+ Fantasy
Cristal Y Ceniza (Anna-Marie McLemore) - Told in the 1st person. The unnamed narrator, a girl with two mothers, embarks on a Cinderella-esque journey to a neighboring kingdom to apply for asylum from la corrección, an oppressive law being enforced through their kingdom requiring families to be led by 1 male and 1 female. Families led by 2 males or 2 females will be broken apart and re-formed. The narrator's tía thinks the neighboring kingdom's ball celebrating the prince's coming of age (and coming out as a trans male) is the perfect opportunity. The narrator ends up being presented with a choice of a different way to save her family than what she had planned; what should she do? 5th+ Fantasy
Liberia (Kwame Mbalia) - Kweku Aboah is part of a crew of young adults aboard the spaceship Liberia, bound for Colony 031, New Africa. He is the resident gardener, having collected seeds and plants representing his heritage and connection with his ancestors and family, many of whom he had to leave behind on his way to New Africa. Explores what is important (heritage, connection) and what is sometimes not valued by "scientific" types focused on the future. Brilliant! (A few "a*s" and one "Jes** Chr***!" otherwise fine for late-year 5th and up. Sci-Fi
A Royal Affair (V.E.Schwab) - "Set in the world of Shades of Magic," A Royal Affair provides the backstory of an affair between Prince Rhy Maresh and nobleman Alucard Emery "long before the events of the series unfolded." Rhy and Alucard enjoy a passionate affair but neither of their older brothers approve. Both are violent, as is Alucard's father. When Alucard's brother sees traces of Rhy's golden magic on his face when he comes home late one night, his reaction sets off the events of the story. (Violence, no graphic sex) 8th+ Fantasy
The Takeback Tango (Rebecca Roanhorse) - Vi is a rogue spaceship operator in the vast space empire of the Imperium, which "razed [her] planet for its natural resources and enslaved the people to work in the mines and pipelines...those who had rebelled had simply been killed." The Imperium also "raided the sacred places of my people, taking the carvings and masks that had been our connection to our gods and our place in the galaxy and put them in their museums as a display of their dominance. There was never a thought of what those sacred items meant to us, the handful of survivors of their genocide. How their loss cut us off from both our past and our future." Vi, who makes her living as a "cat burglar" finds her next heist in the form of "stealing" and repatriating some of these sacred items. 5th+ Sci-Fi
Dream and Dare (Nic Stone) - Dream loves wearing beautiful frou-frou gowns and also loves exploring in the forest, bucking the expectations of her society. She's not interested in the male suitors her parents keep trying to marry her off to. Dream keeps thinking of the royal princess, Dare, who not only does her own thing but also wears trousers and flaunts her gender non-conformity. The story takes place 2.5 years after Dare disappeared into the woods, which, since that time (coincidentally) have been occupied by a dangerous monster. Nearly all the boys who enter the forest, hoping to rescue Dare both from the "foul beast" and her "'abnormal proclivities'" for which she has been ridiculed and abused most of her life since puberty, emerge shaken and scared if they emerge at all. 5th+ Fantasy
Wish (Jenni Balch) - A Grantor, Lane, is summoned from his LAMP to his most challenging Wisher yet: Ariadne, who lives in airspace above the planet Venus. 5th+ Sci-Fi
The Weight (Dhonielle Clayton) - Marcus and Grace, life-long best friends who are now high school lovers, visit the Heart Scale Center to find out whether they are each other's OTP. No sex or profanity but best for high schoolers based on subject-matter. Sci-Fi
Unmoor (Mark Oshiro) - Felix, disappointed in Arturo's wandering eye, seeks to have his memories be "unmoored" from places they were together. Will he go too far? ("g*dd*mn," "d*mn," "fat-a*s tip," "sh*t," "a*s," "what the h*ll") 8th+ Sci-Fi
The Coldest Spot in the Universe (Samira Ahmed) - Dual POV of two teen girls - 1 is Razia Sultana who lives near Chicago in 2031 at the end of the apocalypse caused by the climate crisis; the other is also named Razia, who comes via spaceship as an archaeologist and historian to the site hundreds of years into the future. 5th+ Sci-Fi
The Beginning of Monsters (Tessa Gratton) - Set in a crater city created by a falling god who now lives in the middle of it, with 5 small kings of various genders, who run parts of the city from their fortresses. Lady Insarra wants a new body that is mostly the same as her current one but which presents as male. Elir is the designer architect hired to create the new body. The society recognizes 4 forces (kind of like magic), 4 directions (east, west, north, south), and 4 genders. In addition to the small kingdoms, there are cults, the largest of which, the Cult of Hope, believes in infinite imagination, wondering why it's necessary to stop at 4 genders, for example. Where does the the line between engineered humans and monsters begin? A bit of effort is involved to figure out what is going on and to imagine the threads of forces used to create designs, security, etc. 7th+ Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Longer than the Threads of Time (Zoraida Códova) - Set in NYC, dual POV of Fabían, a brujo without strong magic but with the Sight, and Danaë, a Dominican bruja who looks 16-17 but is in fact more like 80 because she's been imprisoned in a magical tower above Belvedere Castle. Fabían, despite warnings against going near the tower, gives in to curiosity and empathy and visits Danaë. One descriptive scene of a first kiss. 5th+ Fantasy
Habibi (Tochi Onyebuchi) - Quincy, a teen from the LA area in solitary confinement, is surprised to see a letter written by Omar, a teen from Palestine in solitary confinement across the globe, floating in the toilet one day. They write letters back and forth describing their experiences of oppression and resistance. Quincy's letters include words such as ni**a, a*s, and sh*t. There are also descriptions of suicide, violence by occupying military, gang violence, and hunger strike/forced feeding. 8th+ Fantasy
The Silk Blade (Natalie C. Parker) - Imagine a society without gendered expectations. A royal "bloom" is ready to choose his balancing consort who, at least in this case, is required to battle other hopefuls through various trials. We follow a woman from a humble background to the finals where she competes with two others (another woman and a man), who appear to be from more connected and well-off places. A chance encounter on her way to the finals makes her question her commitment to winning the competition. Some short battle scenes. Some effort required to figure out what is going on - a lot more showing than telling. 7th+ Fantasy
The Scarlet Woman: A Gemma Doyle Story (Libba Bray) - This is not a short story; it reads like the first chapter of an engaging book. Set in 1897 New York, this piece introduces what appears to be another installment in Gemma Doyle's career as a member of the Order, a group of women who are able to journey into the afterlife. Men in the Rakshana brotherhood have been found murdered, with their hearts replaced with a feather and a paper with symbols and the words "Think upon your sins." Gemma is a strong feminist and resists a lot of man-splaining in one encounter. This book sounds good, but I wish this teaser chapter had not been included in a book of short stories. There is no complete arc. Could be the basis of an interesting lesson in what makes a complete story. 7th+ Fantasy
Cristal Y Ceniza (Anna-Marie McLemore) - Told in the 1st person. The unnamed narrator, a girl with two mothers, embarks on a Cinderella-esque journey to a neighboring kingdom to apply for asylum from la corrección, an oppressive law being enforced through their kingdom requiring families to be led by 1 male and 1 female. Families led by 2 males or 2 females will be broken apart and re-formed. The narrator's tía thinks the neighboring kingdom's ball celebrating the prince's coming of age (and coming out as a trans male) is the perfect opportunity. The narrator ends up being presented with a choice of a different way to save her family than what she had planned; what should she do? 5th+ Fantasy
Liberia (Kwame Mbalia) - Kweku Aboah is part of a crew of young adults aboard the spaceship Liberia, bound for Colony 031, New Africa. He is the resident gardener, having collected seeds and plants representing his heritage and connection with his ancestors and family, many of whom he had to leave behind on his way to New Africa. Explores what is important (heritage, connection) and what is sometimes not valued by "scientific" types focused on the future. Brilliant! (A few "a*s" and one "Jes** Chr***!" otherwise fine for late-year 5th and up. Sci-Fi
A Royal Affair (V.E.Schwab) - "Set in the world of Shades of Magic," A Royal Affair provides the backstory of an affair between Prince Rhy Maresh and nobleman Alucard Emery "long before the events of the series unfolded." Rhy and Alucard enjoy a passionate affair but neither of their older brothers approve. Both are violent, as is Alucard's father. When Alucard's brother sees traces of Rhy's golden magic on his face when he comes home late one night, his reaction sets off the events of the story. (Violence, no graphic sex) 8th+ Fantasy
The Takeback Tango (Rebecca Roanhorse) - Vi is a rogue spaceship operator in the vast space empire of the Imperium, which "razed [her] planet for its natural resources and enslaved the people to work in the mines and pipelines...those who had rebelled had simply been killed." The Imperium also "raided the sacred places of my people, taking the carvings and masks that had been our connection to our gods and our place in the galaxy and put them in their museums as a display of their dominance. There was never a thought of what those sacred items meant to us, the handful of survivors of their genocide. How their loss cut us off from both our past and our future." Vi, who makes her living as a "cat burglar" finds her next heist in the form of "stealing" and repatriating some of these sacred items. 5th+ Sci-Fi
Dream and Dare (Nic Stone) - Dream loves wearing beautiful frou-frou gowns and also loves exploring in the forest, bucking the expectations of her society. She's not interested in the male suitors her parents keep trying to marry her off to. Dream keeps thinking of the royal princess, Dare, who not only does her own thing but also wears trousers and flaunts her gender non-conformity. The story takes place 2.5 years after Dare disappeared into the woods, which, since that time (coincidentally) have been occupied by a dangerous monster. Nearly all the boys who enter the forest, hoping to rescue Dare both from the "foul beast" and her "'abnormal proclivities'" for which she has been ridiculed and abused most of her life since puberty, emerge shaken and scared if they emerge at all. 5th+ Fantasy
Wish (Jenni Balch) - A Grantor, Lane, is summoned from his LAMP to his most challenging Wisher yet: Ariadne, who lives in airspace above the planet Venus. 5th+ Sci-Fi
The Weight (Dhonielle Clayton) - Marcus and Grace, life-long best friends who are now high school lovers, visit the Heart Scale Center to find out whether they are each other's OTP. No sex or profanity but best for high schoolers based on subject-matter. Sci-Fi
Unmoor (Mark Oshiro) - Felix, disappointed in Arturo's wandering eye, seeks to have his memories be "unmoored" from places they were together. Will he go too far? ("g*dd*mn," "d*mn," "fat-a*s tip," "sh*t," "a*s," "what the h*ll") 8th+ Sci-Fi
The Coldest Spot in the Universe (Samira Ahmed) - Dual POV of two teen girls - 1 is Razia Sultana who lives near Chicago in 2031 at the end of the apocalypse caused by the climate crisis; the other is also named Razia, who comes via spaceship as an archaeologist and historian to the site hundreds of years into the future. 5th+ Sci-Fi
The Beginning of Monsters (Tessa Gratton) - Set in a crater city created by a falling god who now lives in the middle of it, with 5 small kings of various genders, who run parts of the city from their fortresses. Lady Insarra wants a new body that is mostly the same as her current one but which presents as male. Elir is the designer architect hired to create the new body. The society recognizes 4 forces (kind of like magic), 4 directions (east, west, north, south), and 4 genders. In addition to the small kingdoms, there are cults, the largest of which, the Cult of Hope, believes in infinite imagination, wondering why it's necessary to stop at 4 genders, for example. Where does the the line between engineered humans and monsters begin? A bit of effort is involved to figure out what is going on and to imagine the threads of forces used to create designs, security, etc. 7th+ Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Longer than the Threads of Time (Zoraida Códova) - Set in NYC, dual POV of Fabían, a brujo without strong magic but with the Sight, and Danaë, a Dominican bruja who looks 16-17 but is in fact more like 80 because she's been imprisoned in a magical tower above Belvedere Castle. Fabían, despite warnings against going near the tower, gives in to curiosity and empathy and visits Danaë. One descriptive scene of a first kiss. 5th+ Fantasy
Habibi (Tochi Onyebuchi) - Quincy, a teen from the LA area in solitary confinement, is surprised to see a letter written by Omar, a teen from Palestine in solitary confinement across the globe, floating in the toilet one day. They write letters back and forth describing their experiences of oppression and resistance. Quincy's letters include words such as ni**a, a*s, and sh*t. There are also descriptions of suicide, violence by occupying military, gang violence, and hunger strike/forced feeding. 8th+ Fantasy
crochetchrisie's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely all the stories are worth a read.
Some felt more incomplete than others - The Scarlet Woman, A Royal Affair - maybe because they are a part of larger book series.
Some felt (mostly) complete even though they sort of ended abruptly - The Silk Blade, Longer Than the Threads of Time, The Weight, The Takeback Tango (def would read more in that world)
The rest felt like full stories from start to finish.
The big surprise for me was Habibi. It had the most emotional resonance for me. Riot Baby and others by this author have jumped up my to-read list.
Some felt more incomplete than others - The Scarlet Woman, A Royal Affair - maybe because they are a part of larger book series.
Some felt (mostly) complete even though they sort of ended abruptly - The Silk Blade, Longer Than the Threads of Time, The Weight, The Takeback Tango (def would read more in that world)
The rest felt like full stories from start to finish.
The big surprise for me was Habibi. It had the most emotional resonance for me. Riot Baby and others by this author have jumped up my to-read list.