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Three Sides of a Heart: Stories about Love Triangles by Rae Carson, Renée Ahdieh, Natalie C. Parker
seahorsemojinow's review against another edition
2.0
This was not pleasant for me to power my way through. I think if I had gone in with low expectations, I might have enjoyed some of these stories more. But as it is, I was looking for soothing polyamory representation, was promised exciting subversions of the love triangle trope, and almost none of these stories delivered either to me, unless you count women making a choice or gay people existing significant or exciting subversions. I don't!
The one thing across all the stories - even the two I enjoyed - that I realized was chafing me towards the end was the inevitability of it all. It was always deeply romanticized 'undeniable' attraction. All the characters can't help but love the people they love, and so the subversion becomes safe. I just would have enjoyed something different!
Overall, this was a surprisingly straight collection, which was disappointing. Also, I'm reminded of that tumblr post illustrating a love 'v' versus a love 'triangle' - if their isn't a third side, so that every point is connected to two others, then it isn't a triangle! & that held true for almost all of these stories.
The two stories I liked did avoid that misstep; they were the last two in the collection, as if rewarding me for listening to the book all the way through. My very favorite was second to last, about the Moon Eater's Mistress and the two who loved her. I thought the plot was engaging, and the writing really lovely. The final story was a pretty cheesy vampire plot, and that will get me every time. It also was the most I felt Represented in my gay experience.
Two stars because I obviously didn't hate it enough to stop reading. Each story was just so frustrating in how close it came to being what I wanted out of a deep dive into love triangles. But ending a story without finishing it is not, to me, an interesting subversion; it's the same sort of story but shorter. This kept me I think from fully enjoying the fresh and interesting narrative styles of some of the authors.
The one thing across all the stories - even the two I enjoyed - that I realized was chafing me towards the end was the inevitability of it all. It was always deeply romanticized 'undeniable' attraction. All the characters can't help but love the people they love, and so the subversion becomes safe. I just would have enjoyed something different!
Overall, this was a surprisingly straight collection, which was disappointing. Also, I'm reminded of that tumblr post illustrating a love 'v' versus a love 'triangle' - if their isn't a third side, so that every point is connected to two others, then it isn't a triangle! & that held true for almost all of these stories.
The two stories I liked did avoid that misstep; they were the last two in the collection, as if rewarding me for listening to the book all the way through. My very favorite was second to last, about the Moon Eater's Mistress and the two who loved her. I thought the plot was engaging, and the writing really lovely. The final story was a pretty cheesy vampire plot, and that will get me every time. It also was the most I felt Represented in my gay experience.
Two stars because I obviously didn't hate it enough to stop reading. Each story was just so frustrating in how close it came to being what I wanted out of a deep dive into love triangles. But ending a story without finishing it is not, to me, an interesting subversion; it's the same sort of story but shorter. This kept me I think from fully enjoying the fresh and interesting narrative styles of some of the authors.
ellieafterall's review against another edition
3.0
I think it's ironic that my rating for this book is 3 stars, just like 3 sides of a triangle, which is all this book is about. I was disappointed by so many in this - they fell flat, felt rushed, felt unbelievable in the worst way imaginable. However, I discovered some beautiful writers and that is enough, if only for now. Good things coming out of a mess doesn't meant it can't still be a good thing!!! anyway, let's get into the nitty-gritty details now :')
Key: ⭐️ = a star
🌟 = 0.5 stars
🌈 = the ell gee bee tees!
On the scale of how CRINGEY the love triangle is: 1 is not that bad, actually! and 10 is THE CRINGIEST.
Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 +🌈
Scale: 2
Whatever just happened here feels like a to-be-continued, a comma instead of a period. It feels like being suspended in the best part of a dream.
I LOVE Katie Cotugno's writing!! and oh my god, I'M SO HAPPY she wrote about gays. Please, please, write a full book of girls loving girls PLEASE @ katie cotugno i'm begging you i would love it so so much, i loved how adorable and connected i felt to the characters and how i just!!! ah!! adored it. my only problem was that it ended too soon i was like what do you mean the full book isn't this? :(
Dread South by Justina Ireland: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 +🌈
Scale: 1
HOLY SHIT. That's all I have to say. I'd been wondering since I've heard of Justina Ireland how her writing would feel like, and it feels like holy shit. I devoured this one (ha, puns) again, only complain is ending. Please, please give me the full-length of this. I love the themes explored, both that are discussed and that are underlaid and just UGH. More, please. Please.
Omega Ship by Rae Carson: ⭐️
Scale: 10,000,000
. I don't even want to talk about this one. It was so cringey and honestly just plain weird and so odd to read about. I don't even - no. I'm never going to think about this gross heterosexual mess again.
Le Revancha Del Tango by Renée Ahdieh: ⭐️
Scale: 10
I can't even put into words how much Ahdieh disappointed me with this one, so I'll just say this: a whole line of her story was just the word #perfection. That was it. It's just so badly written? There were these random exposition dumps, like one paragraph where she's like "oh yeah my dad is dead" and then she just goes on. This doesn't develop the character. It just tells us about it, like it's a character sheet or whatever. IT WAS SO CRINGEY! One of the guys she doesn't like has a beard and so she decides she doesn't like him...because he has a beard. Yes. You heard that right. nope! not today.
Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ +🌈
Scale: 1
"Just because we choose one future doesn't mean the other one is forgotten."
It's a short story, but it has long fingers that have curled over my shoulders and throat since the first time I heard it.
Just when I think I'm going to hate this whole anthology, this woman's beautiful writing comes up. This one also has an open ending, but I loved reading this so much that I went and gave it 5 stars anyway. And again: MORE of this, please.
Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌟+🌈
Scale: 5
I hate that I'm trying to convince her. I've never been the type to meet others any closer than the middle. But there's something about her that makes me want to meet her wherever she is.
Um, I'm really self-conscious so I don't really like reading about people watching our characters do something. I feel like I'M being watched. It's a weird feeling. sO yeah. the premise and everything was cute, just the guy was a douche and the ending reminded me a lot of the girls like girls music video by hayley kiyoko. cute!
Triangle Solo by Garth Nix: ⭐️
Scale: 9
This story and I didn't vibe at all. The humor, and now that I think about it, the characters went over my head. I was just not feeling the story at all, so obviously I didn't like it :(
Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ +🌈
Scale: 2
And it all came back in a rush, that breathless feeling when all the expectations and hopes and fears formed over years were balanced on a knife's edge. When you had loved something for so long and for so many reasons that all you wanted was for that love to expand inside you.
This was surprisingly cute. I'm not sure if I'm just reading subtext because we don't really know if Edie and Kate are into each other like for sure but it was cute and that's all i have to say.
Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston: ⭐️
Scale: ??
???? what was that?? what was happening??? what?? who?? why?? where - nevermind.
Hurdles by Brandy Colbert: ⭐️
Scale: 10,000 x 10
Girl likes two boys. One is sweet, respectful, adores her, is there when she calls in the middle of the night, parents approve of him. Other is an asshole, treats his little sister like shit because he's an alcoholic, asks her to run away with him, she says "he can't even take care of himself", wants her to leave everything behind. Who does she choose? *facepalm emoji*
The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles: ⭐️🌟
Scale: 5
This had potential, but was very confusing because we just don't get the fleshed-out story and the background. He tried to incorporate in between the romance stuff, but it just felt weird and out of place. Not my type of characters. Writing was decent, I loved the footnotes! The twist was cool. Sad that I didn't care enough about the characters to be truly shocked and betrayed etc.
Waiting by Sabaa Tahir: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Scale: 6
It's interesting to see writing from Sabaa that wasn't in a fantasy world. I was actually pleasantly surprised! The characters felt really underdeveloped, because most of this was letters and I felt like I had stumbled upon random letters and was reading them. It was like, I read it because it was there and that was all.
Vega by Brenna Yovanoff: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
Scale: 2
The camera comes to rest on one small, knobby girl, so wild and electric she almost shines. The city is a promise. A fantastical landscape of winners, beauties, criminals. She will belong here forever.
I LOVED the writing in this, absolutely beautiful. Just didn't really care about the characters that much - the switch in POV took away more time with each one of them too. I really think I would love this if this was a full-length novel. I'm looking forward to checking this writer out!
A Hundred Thousand Nights by Alaya Dawn Johnson: ⭐️⭐️
Scale: 8
When I understood the story, I liked it. It was like tuning a radio, if that makes sense? You turn it once this way and that way and you get some transmissions sometimes, random messages and you listen to it, but none of it is connected and you're like ?? what? but sometimes one of them is actually decent and you're like, cool. So yeah it just felt all over the place.
Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton: ⭐️🌟
Scale: ??
This writing was so weird and not for me that this story went over my head. Here are some quotes:
He was no devotee of our goddess! How intriguing! I mean, what?
I let my smile curve wickedly as I reaced out to welcome my brother, whose narrow face broke into a grin that matched. i'm sorry what was that?? it's kinda like overembellishment. it's like she just used fancy words for the sake of it and just, like, nope.
Uno, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen: ⭐️⭐️🌟 +🌈
Scale: 4
i'm tired but basically this story was boring and it was okay i guess. reading about vampires was weird in 2018. but i finished it i guess?
tl;dr: i don't know if this anthology is worth it as a whole, but there are some good ones. like, exactly 3. because the world loves irony :)
Key: ⭐️ = a star
🌟 = 0.5 stars
🌈 = the ell gee bee tees!
On the scale of how CRINGEY the love triangle is: 1 is not that bad, actually! and 10 is THE CRINGIEST.
Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 +🌈
Scale: 2
Whatever just happened here feels like a to-be-continued, a comma instead of a period. It feels like being suspended in the best part of a dream.
I LOVE Katie Cotugno's writing!! and oh my god, I'M SO HAPPY she wrote about gays. Please, please, write a full book of girls loving girls PLEASE @ katie cotugno i'm begging you i would love it so so much, i loved how adorable and connected i felt to the characters and how i just!!! ah!! adored it. my only problem was that it ended too soon i was like what do you mean the full book isn't this? :(
Dread South by Justina Ireland: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 +🌈
Scale: 1
HOLY SHIT. That's all I have to say. I'd been wondering since I've heard of Justina Ireland how her writing would feel like, and it feels like holy shit. I devoured this one (ha, puns) again, only complain is ending. Please, please give me the full-length of this. I love the themes explored, both that are discussed and that are underlaid and just UGH. More, please. Please.
Omega Ship by Rae Carson: ⭐️
Scale: 10,000,000
. I don't even want to talk about this one. It was so cringey and honestly just plain weird and so odd to read about. I don't even - no. I'm never going to think about this gross heterosexual mess again.
Le Revancha Del Tango by Renée Ahdieh: ⭐️
Scale: 10
I can't even put into words how much Ahdieh disappointed me with this one, so I'll just say this: a whole line of her story was just the word #perfection. That was it. It's just so badly written? There were these random exposition dumps, like one paragraph where she's like "oh yeah my dad is dead" and then she just goes on. This doesn't develop the character. It just tells us about it, like it's a character sheet or whatever. IT WAS SO CRINGEY! One of the guys she doesn't like has a beard and so she decides she doesn't like him...because he has a beard. Yes. You heard that right. nope! not today.
Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ +🌈
Scale: 1
"Just because we choose one future doesn't mean the other one is forgotten."
It's a short story, but it has long fingers that have curled over my shoulders and throat since the first time I heard it.
Just when I think I'm going to hate this whole anthology, this woman's beautiful writing comes up. This one also has an open ending, but I loved reading this so much that I went and gave it 5 stars anyway. And again: MORE of this, please.
Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌟+🌈
Scale: 5
I hate that I'm trying to convince her. I've never been the type to meet others any closer than the middle. But there's something about her that makes me want to meet her wherever she is.
Um, I'm really self-conscious so I don't really like reading about people watching our characters do something. I feel like I'M being watched. It's a weird feeling. sO yeah. the premise and everything was cute, just the guy was a douche and the ending reminded me a lot of the girls like girls music video by hayley kiyoko. cute!
Triangle Solo by Garth Nix: ⭐️
Scale: 9
This story and I didn't vibe at all. The humor, and now that I think about it, the characters went over my head. I was just not feeling the story at all, so obviously I didn't like it :(
Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ +🌈
Scale: 2
And it all came back in a rush, that breathless feeling when all the expectations and hopes and fears formed over years were balanced on a knife's edge. When you had loved something for so long and for so many reasons that all you wanted was for that love to expand inside you.
This was surprisingly cute. I'm not sure if I'm just reading subtext because we don't really know if Edie and Kate are into each other like for sure but it was cute and that's all i have to say.
Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston: ⭐️
Scale: ??
???? what was that?? what was happening??? what?? who?? why?? where - nevermind.
Hurdles by Brandy Colbert: ⭐️
Scale: 10,000 x 10
Girl likes two boys. One is sweet, respectful, adores her, is there when she calls in the middle of the night, parents approve of him. Other is an asshole, treats his little sister like shit because he's an alcoholic, asks her to run away with him, she says "he can't even take care of himself", wants her to leave everything behind. Who does she choose? *facepalm emoji*
The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles: ⭐️🌟
Scale: 5
This had potential, but was very confusing because we just don't get the fleshed-out story and the background. He tried to incorporate in between the romance stuff, but it just felt weird and out of place. Not my type of characters. Writing was decent, I loved the footnotes! The twist was cool. Sad that I didn't care enough about the characters to be truly shocked and betrayed etc.
Waiting by Sabaa Tahir: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Scale: 6
It's interesting to see writing from Sabaa that wasn't in a fantasy world. I was actually pleasantly surprised! The characters felt really underdeveloped, because most of this was letters and I felt like I had stumbled upon random letters and was reading them. It was like, I read it because it was there and that was all.
Vega by Brenna Yovanoff: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
Scale: 2
The camera comes to rest on one small, knobby girl, so wild and electric she almost shines. The city is a promise. A fantastical landscape of winners, beauties, criminals. She will belong here forever.
I LOVED the writing in this, absolutely beautiful. Just didn't really care about the characters that much - the switch in POV took away more time with each one of them too. I really think I would love this if this was a full-length novel. I'm looking forward to checking this writer out!
A Hundred Thousand Nights by Alaya Dawn Johnson: ⭐️⭐️
Scale: 8
When I understood the story, I liked it. It was like tuning a radio, if that makes sense? You turn it once this way and that way and you get some transmissions sometimes, random messages and you listen to it, but none of it is connected and you're like ?? what? but sometimes one of them is actually decent and you're like, cool. So yeah it just felt all over the place.
Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton: ⭐️🌟
Scale: ??
This writing was so weird and not for me that this story went over my head. Here are some quotes:
He was no devotee of our goddess! How intriguing! I mean, what?
I let my smile curve wickedly as I reaced out to welcome my brother, whose narrow face broke into a grin that matched. i'm sorry what was that?? it's kinda like overembellishment. it's like she just used fancy words for the sake of it and just, like, nope.
Uno, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen: ⭐️⭐️🌟 +🌈
Scale: 4
i'm tired but basically this story was boring and it was okay i guess. reading about vampires was weird in 2018. but i finished it i guess?
tl;dr: i don't know if this anthology is worth it as a whole, but there are some good ones. like, exactly 3. because the world loves irony :)
sandraselvas's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't particularly love this book but there were some interesting ones.
I will elaborate on each one BUT right now I just want to say: WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT, BETHANY HAGEN, WHO!?!?
I will elaborate on each one BUT right now I just want to say: WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT, BETHANY HAGEN, WHO!?!?
paperbackd's review against another edition
4.0
The love triangle. it’s possibly caused more fandom drama, broken friendships and teenage heartache than any other trope in existence. I remember spending hours typing out lengthy essays passionately supporting my ‘Team’ back in 2008 when love triangle fandoms were all the rage. The internet seemed to collectively breathe a sigh of relief when the tide turned and love triangles dwindled out of popularity. When I first heard about Three Sides of a Heart, I was skeptical - why would anyone want to read an anthology centred around one of the most universally hated tropes?
Turns out, when done well, love triangles can be pretty fantastic. Reading Three Sides of a Heart, I quickly forgot all the reasons why people dislike triangles. What I liked most about this collection was that it showed off just how versatile the love triangle trope can be - some stories were romances, some were about dealing with unrequited love, some were about learning to love yourself, and one or two were even about navigating polyamorous relationships. Some were set in space, some in the past, some in our world, some in a fantasy world. Many were queer love stories. No one author used the love triangle in the same way, and each brought something new to the trope.
Like all anthologies, some stories in this collection shine a little brighter than the others; in particular I loved Katie Cotugno, Justina Ireland, Rae Carson and E.K. Johnston’s contributions. This collection has put a lot of authors on my radar, but I’m especially looking forward to reading more from these four.
Many thanks to HarperTeen for providing a copy of Three Sides of a Heart. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 4 stars | ★★★★✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd Reviews
Turns out, when done well, love triangles can be pretty fantastic. Reading Three Sides of a Heart, I quickly forgot all the reasons why people dislike triangles. What I liked most about this collection was that it showed off just how versatile the love triangle trope can be - some stories were romances, some were about dealing with unrequited love, some were about learning to love yourself, and one or two were even about navigating polyamorous relationships. Some were set in space, some in the past, some in our world, some in a fantasy world. Many were queer love stories. No one author used the love triangle in the same way, and each brought something new to the trope.
Like all anthologies, some stories in this collection shine a little brighter than the others; in particular I loved Katie Cotugno, Justina Ireland, Rae Carson and E.K. Johnston’s contributions. This collection has put a lot of authors on my radar, but I’m especially looking forward to reading more from these four.
Many thanks to HarperTeen for providing a copy of Three Sides of a Heart. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 4 stars | ★★★★✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd Reviews
booksandpops4000's review against another edition
3.0
I will admit this was just not my favorite collection. I read all the stories of authors that i knew but did not read the final four stories. I thought some of them were fun but it was so hard to become emotionally invested in these short stories. I love a good slow burn romance and all of these I had to be invested from page one and these stories did not give me time to fall in love with these characters or choose a side. I will def. be reading more full length novels by this authors soon.
elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
tibcanread's review against another edition
4.0
Let me get this out of the way right now. I HATE the love triangle trope. It's one of the worst tropes to me. It has actually gotten me to stop reading an otherwise really good book. I hate it.
That being said, I LOVED this book. I love so many of the stories, mostly Dread South by Justina Ireland, Omega Ship by Rae Carson, Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth, and The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles. Most of them were some sort of queer and that was great, but it was mostly F/F and I could have done with more M/M or even a ploy ending, but I can't really complain. The majority of the stories had a queer ending and that was absolutely not something I was expecting.
I listened to this one and I found that I glazed over every story the male reader read, but that didn't have anything to do with the story and everything to do with his voice.
Honestly, I didn't really hate any of the stories, just some were better than others. I would highly recommend this book, even to my fellow haters of the love triangle.
That being said, I LOVED this book. I love so many of the stories, mostly Dread South by Justina Ireland, Omega Ship by Rae Carson, Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth, and The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles. Most of them were some sort of queer and that was great, but it was mostly F/F and I could have done with more M/M or even a ploy ending, but I can't really complain. The majority of the stories had a queer ending and that was absolutely not something I was expecting.
I listened to this one and I found that I glazed over every story the male reader read, but that didn't have anything to do with the story and everything to do with his voice.
Honestly, I didn't really hate any of the stories, just some were better than others. I would highly recommend this book, even to my fellow haters of the love triangle.