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stenaros's review
4.0
Interwoven stories for the win! I love this new (to me, at least) trend in short stories. All stories relate to a high school battle of the bands contest. I like how some of the stories varied the angle of their focus away from the battle itself. We didn't hear from all the bands on the roster, and that worked for me.
terriaminute's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
4.0
I enjoyed like, 85% of this interlinked stories anthology. It flowed fairly well from one story to the next. I skimmed only two, which is high praise from me.
pawsomereads2's review
4.0
Individual story ratings:
Miss Somewhere by Brittany Cavallaro: 3⭐️
Cecilia (You’re Breaking My Heart) by Ashley Poston: 4⭐️
Sidelines by Sarah Nicole Smetana: 3.5⭐️
Battle of the Exes by Sarvenaz Taghavian: 3⭐️
Love is a Battlefield by Shaun David Hutchinson: 3⭐️
You Found Me by Ashley Woodfolk: 3.5⭐️
Adventures in Babysitting by Justin Courtney Pierre: 3⭐️
Peanut Butter Sandwiches by Jasmine Warga: 4.5⭐️
Reckless Love by Jay Coles: 3⭐️
The Ride by Jenn Marie Thorne: 3⭐️
Three Chords by Eric Smith: 4⭐️
Merch to Do About Nothing by Preeti Chhibber: 4.5⭐️
All these Friends and Lovers by Katie Cotugno: 5⭐️
A Small Light by Jenny Torres Sanchez: 4.5⭐️
Set the World on Fire by Lauren Gibaldi: 4.5⭐️
The Sisterhood of Light and Sound by Jeff Zentner: 4⭐️
General thoughts:
This anthology was such a fun collection of interwoven short stories for music lovers or anyone looking to enjoy the drama and romance of a night spent at a high school production.
I’ve never read a story collection like this one before! I loved that the stories were interconnected and they each pulled small elements from each other. It made for one whole cohesive story with so many different voices. I’d love to know what the writing process was like and how the authors pulled this off! Each story was good on its own but the way they all created a larger narrative together was so special.
Everything came really full circle in the end which was fitting for the theme and inclusion of feel-good stories with happy endings. I also really appreciated the diversity within the stories from race to gender identity to sexual orientation. This is always so important in literature, especially in a coming of age book like this one.
This was such a fun read and I hope to find more books and anthologies like this in the future!
Miss Somewhere by Brittany Cavallaro: 3⭐️
Cecilia (You’re Breaking My Heart) by Ashley Poston: 4⭐️
Sidelines by Sarah Nicole Smetana: 3.5⭐️
Battle of the Exes by Sarvenaz Taghavian: 3⭐️
Love is a Battlefield by Shaun David Hutchinson: 3⭐️
You Found Me by Ashley Woodfolk: 3.5⭐️
Adventures in Babysitting by Justin Courtney Pierre: 3⭐️
Peanut Butter Sandwiches by Jasmine Warga: 4.5⭐️
Reckless Love by Jay Coles: 3⭐️
The Ride by Jenn Marie Thorne: 3⭐️
Three Chords by Eric Smith: 4⭐️
Merch to Do About Nothing by Preeti Chhibber: 4.5⭐️
All these Friends and Lovers by Katie Cotugno: 5⭐️
A Small Light by Jenny Torres Sanchez: 4.5⭐️
Set the World on Fire by Lauren Gibaldi: 4.5⭐️
The Sisterhood of Light and Sound by Jeff Zentner: 4⭐️
General thoughts:
This anthology was such a fun collection of interwoven short stories for music lovers or anyone looking to enjoy the drama and romance of a night spent at a high school production.
I’ve never read a story collection like this one before! I loved that the stories were interconnected and they each pulled small elements from each other. It made for one whole cohesive story with so many different voices. I’d love to know what the writing process was like and how the authors pulled this off! Each story was good on its own but the way they all created a larger narrative together was so special.
Everything came really full circle in the end which was fitting for the theme and inclusion of feel-good stories with happy endings. I also really appreciated the diversity within the stories from race to gender identity to sexual orientation. This is always so important in literature, especially in a coming of age book like this one.
This was such a fun read and I hope to find more books and anthologies like this in the future!
clairelorraine's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
claudiastaggs's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
eruanna317's review
emotional
funny
relaxing
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
3.0
carmen_monique's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
zaineylaney's review
4.0
This anthology is unlike any I have read before. The stories are short, each describing a character or situation that all comes together in the end. It's cute, fun, and totally interconnected. If you listen to the audiobook, there is actually rock music in between the stories! I usually don't read Anthologies, but this one was so different. It reads like a one storyline book, so if you have never picked up an anthology before, give this one a try!
lisbethwhite's review
emotional
funny
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
3.5
jayishino's review
3.0
Battle of the Bands is an anthology of several stories that all revolve around a high school Battle of the Bands. Because these stories are all written by different authors, they're not all created equal. Most of them are good though. My favorite of the stories was "Reckless Love". I loved the bi-positive message in it. The worst of the stories was Adventures in Babysitting which is a dumb story about teenagers doing acid. Mostly this book is a bunch of teenage drama with musical undertones.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. The narrators, too many to list here, all did an amazing job at bringing the stories they narrated to life.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. The narrators, too many to list here, all did an amazing job at bringing the stories they narrated to life.