Reviews

Magic & Mayhem: Fiction and Essays Celebrating LGBTQA Romance by Amanda Jean, Tracy Timmons-Gray, Dev Bentham, Austin Chant, E.J. Russell, Nicole Kimberling, Karelia Stetz-Waters, Samantha Derr, Megan Derr, Ginn Hale, Josh Lanyon, Alex Powell

crtsjffrsn's review

2.0

This is one of those cases where one tries to do too much within the same project. This anthology attempts to throw together short stories, essays, and letters, all of which initiated in different contexts and not as part of a cohesive project. The result is an anthology that seems to lack a common thread or purpose; it doesn't feel like there's a curated collection here. And I found myself surprised at the stories that were included because they didn't seem quite up to the expected caliber of their authors, but that might also be attributable to what I recall was a relatively short timing for the call for submissions.

I absolutely want to support GRNW, as it's a project I believe in, but I have to give an honest rating to this particular work. I hope the next project is conceived and developed in a more intentional, purposeful, and cohesive way...

avsfan08's review

3.0

I bought this primarily for a favourite author's story, but thought the premise sounded interesting. There was more diversity in the stories than I was expecting, but it was good to get out of my usual reading comfort zone. There was only one I didn't enjoy - Slack Tide. This was because I found the characters flat and the story boring. The others I liked or really enjoyed. Some authors were first time reads for me. I would have liked to have had a table of contents, because I'm not likely to read this through again. I would potentially re-read some of the stories, but not having a clickable table of contents doesn't make that easy. Poor formatting.

I was disappointed in the essays. I guess it was because I was expecting something with a little more depth. Some of them were interesting and heartfelt, but there were a couple that seemed to be there to fill in space.

alisonalisonalison's review

4.0

This is a great collection of stories and essays by both favourite authors and writers I was not familiar with. I quite enjoyed it.

elusiverica's review

4.0

I really loved all the Cyborg/Mage stories. It's fantastic how much variety you can get out of the same premise. (The Tattoo Artist/Soldier stories were less my cup of tea, but that's because I'm a big old fantasy/sci-fi nerd.) The essays were heartwarming.