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A review by spellboundliz
Meet Cute by Meredith Russo, Dhonielle Clayton, Julie Murphy, Nicola Yoon, Ibi Zoboi, Katie Cotugno, Jocelyn Davies, Kass Morgan, Katharine McGee, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Nina LaCour, Emery Lord, Sara Shepard
4.0
Average rating: 3.25/5
My rating: 3.5/5
I went into this anthology wanting to like it and expecting some up and downs from both the nature of the format and the reviews I had seen from some Goodreads friends. Overall, I was not disappointed. I could have done without the two stories I rated 2/5, but I'm glad I read all the others. Sometimes you just need a cute, self-contained little love story to get you through the day and to make you smile and this anthology provided. There were a few shining stars that I was really impressed with including Oomph, Print Shop, and The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love.
I was excited to find that there were four, yes FOUR, f/f romances represented in this anthology, and one trans character. This is particularly important because of the dearth of f/f and trans contemporary stories in YA. I was kinda disappointed that there was no m/m romance represented, though. I also wish there were more perspectives from male characters to even out the perspectives a bit. Perhaps a transgender boy? All of the authors are women and as great as that is, I think I would have liked to see at least male author present a romance for this anthology.
I also used this anthology as a sampler to read works by some authors who I've been meaning to check out and see if I like their writing styles. After reading this I plan to read other works by Ibi Zoboi, Katharine McGee, Dhonielle Clayton and Julie Murphy.
Here are my specific thoughts on each of the 14 stories:
(LGBT stories are denoted with a 🏳️🌈 emoji!)
Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno - 2.5/5
This first story was not what I was expecting... and maybe not in a good way. The use of second person was hard to grasp at first and I didn't really understand the choice to use it, but it wasn't as disorienting as I first thought. I also didn't connect to the characters all that much. This was an odd start to a pretty good anthology and I wish they had made a better choice in a first story.
Print Shop by Nina LaCour - 4.5/5 🏳️🌈
Wow wow wow. This made me want to grab the closest Nina LaCour book and devour it. I absolutely loved this story - from the aesthetics and the setting of the Print Shop, to the writing style and the characters. Nina built a little piece of the world I want to live in, in just a few short pages. This story is perfectly queer and just what I wanted from this anthology.
Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi - 3/5
This one really left me wanting more. I was so disappointed when I flipped to the next page and saw there wasn't anymore of it. Still, I thought this story did a good job of tackling issues regarding body image, poverty, college, etc, but I really wish we had met the other character before the 3rd to last page. Regardless, I am definitely going to check out America Street by Zoboi now!
Click by Katharine McGee - 4/5
This was a very cute story! It was nice and consice and felt wrapped up by the end. I enjoyed the premise of the not-so-far-away dating app and the not-too-distant-future setting. I might check out Katharine McGee’s other work after reading this.
The Intern by Sara Shepard - 3/5
This one was nice, but not much more than that. I liked the exploration of grief but I didn’t feel very compelled by the characters or the couple. It also felt a bit rushed at the end. I did like the settings and the element of the psychic and the idea of the record label, but they could have been explored a bit more. Overall, it was just okay.
Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo - 3.5/5 🏳️🌈
Initially I wasn’t sold on this story. I was hesitant to read a story that was partially from the POV of a transphobic person, even though I liked that the other main character was a trans girl and the transphobic character turned out to be a closeted lesbian. The story dealt with this transphobia, though, in a mostly positive way and despite not directly addressing certain micro-aggressions (like repeatedly calling the trans character “the transgender”, etc) I think the story did a good job touching on a significant issue for trans people. The f/f romance was cute and I really liked that the story was about characters being in a musical, but I felt that the musical theatre element was more intriguing in other stories in this anthology; it was just lacking for me. I also believe the character Nia is a WoC because she is said to look like the model Arisce Wanzer, and it’s nice to see a trans WoC represented.
The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton 4.5/5
I love the setting and world-building the author managed to create in just a few short pages. I also really liked the character of Viola and Sebastien was cute too! I like that we got to spend so much time with the characters even thought it was a short story. I also found the magical element of the story to be very compelling.
Oomph by Emery Lord - 5/5 🏳️🌈
Oomph is right! This story was pretty much perfect and exactly what I wanted from this collection. I really loved the f/f airport meet cute; it felt very natural and well-paced. As much as I’d like a full novel on this couple, I think I’ll survive just imagining their future together in NYC.
The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L Armentrout - 2/5
I had to speed-read this one because it was just not good. The premise was kinda cute but the execution was way off. I hated the writing and really disliked the characters. Just, no thanks.
The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies - 4.5/5
Hypothesis: Low probability of me liking this story because of the premise of falling in love at first sight on the subway. Results: I actually loved it. Analysis: The writing and the characters really sold the premise for me. I loved the structure of the story, and the main character, her drive, and her love for statistics. She was just as skeptical as I was about her meet cute, and that made it very believable. I was almost late for class because I was glued to this book and couldn't wait to see how it ended. Conclusion: Surprisingly wonderful!
Something Real by Julie Murphy - 4/5 🏳️🌈
This was so cute, it had me smiling like an idiot! The reality show/date with a celebrity premise could have gone really gone awry in the wrong hands, but it was handled very well and turned out to be a wonderful meet cute. The ending this was very satisfying and the f/f romance was precious and believable - it definitely felt like something real. 😉 I’ve been interested in reading Dumplin’ and Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy and after reading this I will be sure to check them out!
Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick 2/5
I’ve been trying to figure out what the opposite of a meet cute is; whatever it may be, that word would define this story. It’s unromantic, forced, awkward, stilted and overall just left me asking: why? I think the idea of the “Book of Lost Things” would be cool if approached differently, but this was lackluster at best.
The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon - 4/5
The world-building in this story was pretty incredible and had me totally captivated. The relationship that the main character is trying to get over resonated with me a lot (to be honest I was almost in tears at one point) so this story might have spoke to me more than it does to others. The budding romance felt a little weak though, but I was pretty impressed. A strong and emotional ending to this anthology!
Those are my thoughts on Meet Cute. Overall I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I got to try something new with this review format. I don't think I've read an anthology like this before, so I'm also glad I tried that too! If you like anthologies I think this is a great one to pick up, as long as you expect both highs and lows. The diversity was probably the most enjoyable aspect, as I tended to rate the f/f romances the highest, because, of course.
It would be remiss of me not to credit Cece (ProblemsofaBookNerd) with the idea for this review format. Check out her review here.
My rating: 3.5/5
I went into this anthology wanting to like it and expecting some up and downs from both the nature of the format and the reviews I had seen from some Goodreads friends. Overall, I was not disappointed. I could have done without the two stories I rated 2/5, but I'm glad I read all the others. Sometimes you just need a cute, self-contained little love story to get you through the day and to make you smile and this anthology provided. There were a few shining stars that I was really impressed with including Oomph, Print Shop, and The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love.
I was excited to find that there were four, yes FOUR, f/f romances represented in this anthology, and one trans character. This is particularly important because of the dearth of f/f and trans contemporary stories in YA. I was kinda disappointed that there was no m/m romance represented, though. I also wish there were more perspectives from male characters to even out the perspectives a bit. Perhaps a transgender boy? All of the authors are women and as great as that is, I think I would have liked to see at least male author present a romance for this anthology.
I also used this anthology as a sampler to read works by some authors who I've been meaning to check out and see if I like their writing styles. After reading this I plan to read other works by Ibi Zoboi, Katharine McGee, Dhonielle Clayton and Julie Murphy.
Here are my specific thoughts on each of the 14 stories:
(LGBT stories are denoted with a 🏳️🌈 emoji!)
Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno - 2.5/5
This first story was not what I was expecting... and maybe not in a good way. The use of second person was hard to grasp at first and I didn't really understand the choice to use it, but it wasn't as disorienting as I first thought. I also didn't connect to the characters all that much. This was an odd start to a pretty good anthology and I wish they had made a better choice in a first story.
Print Shop by Nina LaCour - 4.5/5 🏳️🌈
Wow wow wow. This made me want to grab the closest Nina LaCour book and devour it. I absolutely loved this story - from the aesthetics and the setting of the Print Shop, to the writing style and the characters. Nina built a little piece of the world I want to live in, in just a few short pages. This story is perfectly queer and just what I wanted from this anthology.
Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi - 3/5
This one really left me wanting more. I was so disappointed when I flipped to the next page and saw there wasn't anymore of it. Still, I thought this story did a good job of tackling issues regarding body image, poverty, college, etc, but I really wish we had met the other character before the 3rd to last page. Regardless, I am definitely going to check out America Street by Zoboi now!
Click by Katharine McGee - 4/5
This was a very cute story! It was nice and consice and felt wrapped up by the end. I enjoyed the premise of the not-so-far-away dating app and the not-too-distant-future setting. I might check out Katharine McGee’s other work after reading this.
The Intern by Sara Shepard - 3/5
This one was nice, but not much more than that. I liked the exploration of grief but I didn’t feel very compelled by the characters or the couple. It also felt a bit rushed at the end. I did like the settings and the element of the psychic and the idea of the record label, but they could have been explored a bit more. Overall, it was just okay.
Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo - 3.5/5 🏳️🌈
Initially I wasn’t sold on this story. I was hesitant to read a story that was partially from the POV of a transphobic person, even though I liked that the other main character was a trans girl and the transphobic character turned out to be a closeted lesbian. The story dealt with this transphobia, though, in a mostly positive way and despite not directly addressing certain micro-aggressions (like repeatedly calling the trans character “the transgender”, etc) I think the story did a good job touching on a significant issue for trans people. The f/f romance was cute and I really liked that the story was about characters being in a musical, but I felt that the musical theatre element was more intriguing in other stories in this anthology; it was just lacking for me. I also believe the character Nia is a WoC because she is said to look like the model Arisce Wanzer, and it’s nice to see a trans WoC represented.
The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton 4.5/5
I love the setting and world-building the author managed to create in just a few short pages. I also really liked the character of Viola and Sebastien was cute too! I like that we got to spend so much time with the characters even thought it was a short story. I also found the magical element of the story to be very compelling.
Oomph by Emery Lord - 5/5 🏳️🌈
Oomph is right! This story was pretty much perfect and exactly what I wanted from this collection. I really loved the f/f airport meet cute; it felt very natural and well-paced. As much as I’d like a full novel on this couple, I think I’ll survive just imagining their future together in NYC.
The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L Armentrout - 2/5
I had to speed-read this one because it was just not good. The premise was kinda cute but the execution was way off. I hated the writing and really disliked the characters. Just, no thanks.
The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies - 4.5/5
Hypothesis: Low probability of me liking this story because of the premise of falling in love at first sight on the subway. Results: I actually loved it. Analysis: The writing and the characters really sold the premise for me. I loved the structure of the story, and the main character, her drive, and her love for statistics. She was just as skeptical as I was about her meet cute, and that made it very believable. I was almost late for class because I was glued to this book and couldn't wait to see how it ended. Conclusion: Surprisingly wonderful!
Something Real by Julie Murphy - 4/5 🏳️🌈
This was so cute, it had me smiling like an idiot! The reality show/date with a celebrity premise could have gone really gone awry in the wrong hands, but it was handled very well and turned out to be a wonderful meet cute. The ending this was very satisfying and the f/f romance was precious and believable - it definitely felt like something real. 😉 I’ve been interested in reading Dumplin’ and Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy and after reading this I will be sure to check them out!
Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick 2/5
I’ve been trying to figure out what the opposite of a meet cute is; whatever it may be, that word would define this story. It’s unromantic, forced, awkward, stilted and overall just left me asking: why? I think the idea of the “Book of Lost Things” would be cool if approached differently, but this was lackluster at best.
The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon - 4/5
The world-building in this story was pretty incredible and had me totally captivated. The relationship that the main character is trying to get over resonated with me a lot (to be honest I was almost in tears at one point) so this story might have spoke to me more than it does to others. The budding romance felt a little weak though, but I was pretty impressed. A strong and emotional ending to this anthology!
Those are my thoughts on Meet Cute. Overall I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I got to try something new with this review format. I don't think I've read an anthology like this before, so I'm also glad I tried that too! If you like anthologies I think this is a great one to pick up, as long as you expect both highs and lows. The diversity was probably the most enjoyable aspect, as I tended to rate the f/f romances the highest, because, of course.
It would be remiss of me not to credit Cece (ProblemsofaBookNerd) with the idea for this review format. Check out her review here.