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pucksandpaperbacks's review
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an e-copy of this book for review. All thoughts are my own.
CW: Sexism, Cancer, Death, Grief, Drowning, Panic Attack, Mention of drug use and marijuana, alcoholism, violence, mention of HP - quidditch, depictions of racism, police brutality, parental death, blood, self-harm, depersonalization.
I really enjoyed the prompt of games in this anthology! From sports, a Mafia party, and cheer camp, you get a lot of different and unique stories which is why I love YA contemporary anthologies. The book does provide trigger warnings for three out of the fifteen stories and that wasn't enough for me. I'm not sure why it was done that way. My only prediction is that the editor might have asked each author and they provided them? I just think if you're going to have trigger warnings, have them for every story because most of these were very heavy dealing with death, grief, and murder.
See my full thoughts in my vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BswciXOA348
Some of my favorite stories were: Hell Week, She Could Be A Farmer, One of the Good Ones, Mystery Hunt, The Girl With the Teeth, Word of Wonder, Weeping Angels, and Night Falls!
CW: Sexism, Cancer, Death, Grief, Drowning, Panic Attack, Mention of drug use and marijuana, alcoholism, violence, mention of HP - quidditch, depictions of racism, police brutality, parental death, blood, self-harm, depersonalization.
I really enjoyed the prompt of games in this anthology! From sports, a Mafia party, and cheer camp, you get a lot of different and unique stories which is why I love YA contemporary anthologies. The book does provide trigger warnings for three out of the fifteen stories and that wasn't enough for me. I'm not sure why it was done that way. My only prediction is that the editor might have asked each author and they provided them? I just think if you're going to have trigger warnings, have them for every story because most of these were very heavy dealing with death, grief, and murder.
See my full thoughts in my vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BswciXOA348
Some of my favorite stories were: Hell Week, She Could Be A Farmer, One of the Good Ones, Mystery Hunt, The Girl With the Teeth, Word of Wonder, Weeping Angels, and Night Falls!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, and Self harm
Moderate: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
Drowning, Biting, Depersonalization, Quidditch, and illusions to HPmelaniereadsbooks's review
lighthearted
fast-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
2.5
I'm so sadly disappointed by this book. When I read the description, I really thought I was going to love it so much. I'm all for diverse anthologies and I love sports fiction, games/puzzles/etc, so I thought this would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, I really didn't like most of it.
The majority of the stories in this were just meh...okay. Nothing outstanding.
There were a few pretty good ones. For instance, I really enjoyed Isaac Fitzsimmons story!
Then there was one that was chalk full of HP references, which I just feel like shouldn't be happening when a book was published in 2022.
The majority of the stories in this were just meh...okay. Nothing outstanding.
There were a few pretty good ones. For instance, I really enjoyed Isaac Fitzsimmons story!
Then there was one that was chalk full of HP references, which I just feel like shouldn't be happening when a book was published in 2022.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Racism, Grief, Police brutality, and Sexism
Harry Potter References
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