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1.04k reviews for:
All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages
Saundra Mitchell
3.92 AVERAGE
1.04k reviews for:
All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages
Saundra Mitchell
3.92 AVERAGE
This was one of the better anthologies Ive read, and I still didn't really enjoy reading it, so I think I should just stop reading anthologies, since they're just not for me.
It was baffling that its supposedly based in real history, and yet it includes several stories with magic and magical creatures. I suppose we could go into whether magic is real, but it was still surprising. I was also surprised at how many more f/f stories there were compared to anything else, and I didn't like that they weren't evenly spaced, that the stories with the trans characters tended to be much more violent, that there weren't any stories with nonbinary characters or trans girls, and that there was only one story with an ace character and no aro characters. That's not really a criticism of any single story, but something I kept noticing while reading. You'd have hoped that the editor putting these stories together would've thought about that.
Also a bunch of them are from the 90s and I know that technically that is history by now, but uhhhh. Please don't make me feel old, Im only 29. Also please I'm begging you to set sth outside America and Europe. There's more out there, I promise. And finally, it's weird that some of the stories have author notes and some don't. Please be at least a little bit consistent
Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
I loved this one! Lovely sketched out romance, themes of identity and inheritance, and how much the rich suck. Also the previously mentioned surprise supernatural twist
The Sweet Trade by Natalie C. Parker
Eh it was fine, even if highly HIGHLY unrealistic. Spent the whole time reading running the logistics in my head. Yes two teenage girls with zero experience will definitely make it as pirates and definitely not come to a gruesome end. Okay
And They Don’t Kiss At the End by Nilah Magruder
Ace protag! Figuring out her aceness! This was lovely if a bit short
Burnt Umber by Mackenzi Lee
Im gonna be real honest with you. I saw the author and went "eugh, her". But I used to enjoy her writing and thought "okay its only like 20 pages, you can get through it". Well, I made it maybe about 4 pages in before I peaced out, bcs the writing and the protag were insufferable. Next
The Dresser & The Chambermaid by Robin Talley
I really liked this!! I would've enjoyed it more if it was a longer story, because the resolution was pretty rushed, but I still really liked it. I would read a full novel about this palace and the characters
New Year by Malinda Lo
It was very different but I liked it! Figuring out your future is always gonna be interesting to me
Molly’s Lips by Dahlia Adler
I admit I was a bit peeved at the start that this was happening at the memorial for a real historical figure (aka kurt cobain), but as the story progressed, I really loved it. Made me tear up
The Coven by Kate Scelsa
I had no idea what the hell was going on in this one
Every Shade of Red by Elliot Wake
HO BOY THIS ONE. Okay first, it doesn't have a happy ending. In fact, it has the worst possible ending of a trans boy getting kidnapped to be forcefully wed to an older man as a girl. So that wasn't great. Also not a fan of the one prominent woc being a bigoted shithead. The writing was really nice and I was really happy with the main couple and then the fucking ending dropped and. Why. This read like a prologue of a different, full novel. Is that what's happening here?? *does some research* NO IT'S NOT so what the hell?? augh
Willows by Scott Tracey
Again, no idea what the fuck was going on in here. I would've appreciated some author notes on this one
The Girl with the Blue Lantern by Tess Sharpe
I loved this one! One of my favourites. It was a lovely story with folklore and that's what I'm a fan of
The Secret Life of a Teenage Boy by Alex Sanchez
The writing was nice but.... the premise??? A kid wanting to run off with a 20yo to a different city after knowing him for 10 minutes??? And his family being okay with that??? Huh??????
Walking After Midnight by Kody Keplinger
I loooooooved this one! Again, Id love to read a full book about these two
The End of the World As We Know It by Sara Farizan
It was nice, but I can barely remember anything about it
Three Witches by Tessa Gratton
A story about a 1519 conversion therapy convent is not exactly my idea of a good time
The Inferno & the Butterfly by Shaun David Hutchinson
I actually really liked this one! Victorian magician stories are so great
Healing Rosa by Tehlor Kay Mejia
This was lovely! Dont have much to say about it but it was really lovely and fascinating
It was baffling that its supposedly based in real history, and yet it includes several stories with magic and magical creatures. I suppose we could go into whether magic is real, but it was still surprising. I was also surprised at how many more f/f stories there were compared to anything else, and I didn't like that they weren't evenly spaced, that the stories with the trans characters tended to be much more violent, that there weren't any stories with nonbinary characters or trans girls, and that there was only one story with an ace character and no aro characters. That's not really a criticism of any single story, but something I kept noticing while reading. You'd have hoped that the editor putting these stories together would've thought about that.
Also a bunch of them are from the 90s and I know that technically that is history by now, but uhhhh. Please don't make me feel old, Im only 29. Also please I'm begging you to set sth outside America and Europe. There's more out there, I promise. And finally, it's weird that some of the stories have author notes and some don't. Please be at least a little bit consistent
Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
I loved this one! Lovely sketched out romance, themes of identity and inheritance, and how much the rich suck. Also the previously mentioned surprise supernatural twist
The Sweet Trade by Natalie C. Parker
Eh it was fine, even if highly HIGHLY unrealistic. Spent the whole time reading running the logistics in my head. Yes two teenage girls with zero experience will definitely make it as pirates and definitely not come to a gruesome end. Okay
And They Don’t Kiss At the End by Nilah Magruder
Ace protag! Figuring out her aceness! This was lovely if a bit short
Burnt Umber by Mackenzi Lee
Im gonna be real honest with you. I saw the author and went "eugh, her". But I used to enjoy her writing and thought "okay its only like 20 pages, you can get through it". Well, I made it maybe about 4 pages in before I peaced out, bcs the writing and the protag were insufferable. Next
The Dresser & The Chambermaid by Robin Talley
I really liked this!! I would've enjoyed it more if it was a longer story, because the resolution was pretty rushed, but I still really liked it. I would read a full novel about this palace and the characters
New Year by Malinda Lo
It was very different but I liked it! Figuring out your future is always gonna be interesting to me
Molly’s Lips by Dahlia Adler
I admit I was a bit peeved at the start that this was happening at the memorial for a real historical figure (aka kurt cobain), but as the story progressed, I really loved it. Made me tear up
The Coven by Kate Scelsa
I had no idea what the hell was going on in this one
Every Shade of Red by Elliot Wake
HO BOY THIS ONE. Okay first, it doesn't have a happy ending. In fact, it has the worst possible ending of a trans boy getting kidnapped to be forcefully wed to an older man as a girl. So that wasn't great. Also not a fan of the one prominent woc being a bigoted shithead. The writing was really nice and I was really happy with the main couple and then the fucking ending dropped and. Why. This read like a prologue of a different, full novel. Is that what's happening here?? *does some research* NO IT'S NOT so what the hell?? augh
Willows by Scott Tracey
Again, no idea what the fuck was going on in here. I would've appreciated some author notes on this one
The Girl with the Blue Lantern by Tess Sharpe
I loved this one! One of my favourites. It was a lovely story with folklore and that's what I'm a fan of
The Secret Life of a Teenage Boy by Alex Sanchez
The writing was nice but.... the premise??? A kid wanting to run off with a 20yo to a different city after knowing him for 10 minutes??? And his family being okay with that??? Huh??????
Walking After Midnight by Kody Keplinger
I loooooooved this one! Again, Id love to read a full book about these two
The End of the World As We Know It by Sara Farizan
It was nice, but I can barely remember anything about it
Three Witches by Tessa Gratton
A story about a 1519 conversion therapy convent is not exactly my idea of a good time
The Inferno & the Butterfly by Shaun David Hutchinson
I actually really liked this one! Victorian magician stories are so great
Healing Rosa by Tehlor Kay Mejia
This was lovely! Dont have much to say about it but it was really lovely and fascinating
Some of the stories in this anthology were a bit too quick, simple, and teen-hormonal for my taste, but many of them were thoughtful. The Robin Hood story shook me.
Definitely a great read for older teens and people learning to navigate relationships while also learning to navigate themselves.
Definitely a great read for older teens and people learning to navigate relationships while also learning to navigate themselves.
Hmmm. I was a bit disappointed with this book.
The stories were a bit too short and vague for me to really care about the characters in some of the stories. A lot of them were not historically accurate, which I know is a nitpick because it's not supposed to be... but whatever. Also, some of them were boring or confusing, Willows especially. I couldn't even finish that one, it was so confusing and boring. But, on the other hand, some of them were fantastic (Mackenzi Lee PLEASE make Burnt Umber into a full novel). Overall, most of them were just okay. It was just okay overall, and for most of them it was hard to pay attention and the moment I was getting into them they would end. Just... ugh, I don't know what I was expecting.
The stories were a bit too short and vague for me to really care about the characters in some of the stories. A lot of them were not historically accurate, which I know is a nitpick because it's not supposed to be... but whatever. Also, some of them were boring or confusing, Willows especially. I couldn't even finish that one, it was so confusing and boring. But, on the other hand, some of them were fantastic (Mackenzi Lee PLEASE make Burnt Umber into a full novel). Overall, most of them were just okay. It was just okay overall, and for most of them it was hard to pay attention and the moment I was getting into them they would end. Just... ugh, I don't know what I was expecting.
These were just very very cute! I loved the variety of genres & relationships, it feels like there's something for everyone. Personal favorites: Molly's Lips (very atmospheric and captures the 'part of something bigger' feeling, Roja, Healing Rosa, and The End of the World as We Know It (Sarah Farizan, and such a fun one). But it impresses me that every story in this anthology appeals to a different niche, you can really tell the difference between all the author's voices, and they're all very well done.
3.25 stars
I enjoyed this book so much! There were four stories that I really want full length novels from: Roja by McLemore, Every Shade of Red by Wake, The Girl with the Blue Latern by Sharpe, and The Inferno and The Butterfly by Hutchinson.
Also appreciated And They Don't Kiss in the End by Magruder for asexual spectrum representation.
Trigger Warnings: Loss of loved one, war, abuse, racism, homophobia, depression, mention of suicide, child neglect, mention of sex trafficking, and underage drinking
I enjoyed this book so much! There were four stories that I really want full length novels from: Roja by McLemore, Every Shade of Red by Wake, The Girl with the Blue Latern by Sharpe, and The Inferno and The Butterfly by Hutchinson.
Also appreciated And They Don't Kiss in the End by Magruder for asexual spectrum representation.
Trigger Warnings: Loss of loved one, war, abuse, racism, homophobia, depression, mention of suicide, child neglect, mention of sex trafficking, and underage drinking
This #ownvoices collection is spellbinding and emotional, I love them all!
I can't even begin to do this book justice in this review, as it's been so long since I read it. I will say that I feel like the anthology had quite a wide spread of different LGBTQ+ characters and their stories. It even had not just one asexual character, but TWO. Even then, I kind of want to put together an anthology of just ace characters and stories, because that umbrella is so diverse just on its own. Anyone want to join me?
I skipped around a bit because some of the stories were not interesting to me, or they took place in a setting that I don’t have interest in. I really enjoyed Every Shade of Red (a Robin Hood retelling), Roja and its Author’s note (a Little Red Riding Hood retelling), And They Don’t Kiss at the End, Burnt Umber, and New Year. I also appreciated the diversity of the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Lesbophobia
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Deadnaming, Religious bigotry
Romance over the course of a short story=insta love. The romances that were there before the story were fine, but the ones that developed over the story were really underdeveloped and not good at all.
Loved the concept of this anthology! I loved how each story jumped from varying time periods, and not in chronological order. Overall, I was hoping for more diversity within the queer content, specifically, but amazing concept & great short stories!