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A review by iam
Start Here by Danice Sison, Motzie Dapul, Ronald S. Lim, H. Bentham, Brigitte Bautista, Agay Llanera, Barbie Barbieto, Katt Briones, Yeyet Soriano, Ella Banta
4.0
3.5 stars
This was a super cute anthology with 10 queer stories by #romanceclass authors about first meetings.
The stories were fun and diverse, with a mostly lower heat level safe for one or two stories. There were m/m, f/f and one f/enby stories with one featuring a bit of m/f on the side. The settings and background stories were different, but most stories played in the Philippines.
While I enjoyed the anthology overall, the writing was sometimes confusing to me, and scene breaks could have been marked more clearly. I found it interesting that while each story was written by a different author, the writing was often similar, even if the styles (like POVs) and settings were different.
One "problem" I had with several of the stories was that they started our really great and then just turned south. This was partly because the writing style didn't click with me, partly because I just didn't like the decisions the characters made.
Content warnings for the entire anthology include: real-person shipping, ghosting, past bullying, fatphobia, deadnaming of a trans character, sex on-page, misogyny that is partly challenged.
My ratings, thoughts and a bit of information about the individual stories are below:
In the Moonlight by Agay Llanera: 4 stars
m/m; I liked this one a lot! Caleb and Ezra meet on vacation but part without exchanging contact data. Caleb fights to overcome his anxiety to fight the courage to meet with Ezra again.
Come Full Circle by Bobbi Moran: 3 stars
f/f; This one was interesting because it was told through the narrator adressing her partner in second person - as in an "I/me" narrator talking to a "you". It took some time to get used to it, but once I did I enjoyed it! The story is VERY heavy on the pining - I'm talking over a decade of pining here. They meet in high school but were never friends, and then met again and again over the years.
It could have been 4 stars, but I disliked the setting for the ending and some other executive choices.
Gorgeous by Motzie Dapul: 3.5 stars
f/enby; This was probably my favourite story! The main characters again met in highschool, where one of them hated the other, but when they meet again years later they don't recognize each other. I loved that the protagonist is fat and that the love interest is still questioning their gender. (They don't call themselves enby, but they are labelled that way in the blurb so that's what I took.)
I wanted to rate this one higher but again was unsettled by the choices of the characters towards the end.
Shipping Included by Danice Sison: 3.5 stars
m/m; This one was the only dual POV story and it was so much fun! It's about two guys in their thirties who both got dragged into the KPop fandom and eventually to a huge concert by younger family members, which is where they meet. Super cute, but some parts and the way they sometimes talked about the fandom stuff was weird.
Delubyo by Barbie Barbieto: 3 stars
f/f; This one was told from the POV of Pebbles, who doesn't do relationships for longer than a few months and who is getting ready to break up with her girlfriend - a breakup that is longer overdue after eight whole months! But even though she has it all planned out already.... things don't go according to plan.
Again, cute setup and idea, but I disliked the repeatedly mentioned idea that everyone absolutely HAS to find love in their life and that that is something everyone does.
The Other Story by H. Bentham: 3.5 stars
m/m; Once again, super fun premise! The narrator tells the story looking into the past, talking about how they usually tell people how they met, when actually they met in a sex club. This is the only story that has explicit sex on the page. It briefly discusses the insecurity the narrator faces repeatedly, which was a nice touch. It also features some extremely questionable describtiors of intimate body parts.
Blooms and Hues by Ella Banta: 3 stars
m/m; FLOWER SHOP SETTING!!!!!! At first I thought this would be my favourite story, but then the main characters barely ever talked to each other on page???? Which I thought was super weird. Plus the ending was extremely rushed :(
Another First by Yeyet Soriano: 3 stars
f/f with a side of m/f; With this one I had the opposite problem than with most of the other stories: I really disliked the beginning, but the ending was great! Here the protagonist is on a romantic getaway with her boyfriend.... except it's not romantic, because he keeps working. Instead she starts doing activities with another woman at the resort. For the most part this story was just miserable. The protagonist is clearly unhappy in her relationship and people keep telling her she is the only one at fault and should just accept the things her boyfriend does that she hates, even if it makes her unhappy. She was also so full of ugly jealousy, and the book acted like pitting women against women was the norm, which I hated.
Luckily the ending was great!
Luck From the Skies by Katt Briones: 3.5 stars
m/m; Another cute premise, except the setting lacked any elaborating so I was very confused for most of the time. From what I understood, it's about two models (?) who are on a reality show (?) and there is a typhoon and good food. Lots of pining!
Lemon Drop Fridays by Brigitte Bautista: 3 stars
f/f; This one has a best-friends-to-lovers storyline, with the protag being a bartender at the bar where her best friend picks up a different woman each friday week after week. It was semi-explicit. I'm not sure why, but this was the one story that didn't engage me at all. It wasn't bad, but would have been bored had it not been so short.
This was a super cute anthology with 10 queer stories by #romanceclass authors about first meetings.
The stories were fun and diverse, with a mostly lower heat level safe for one or two stories. There were m/m, f/f and one f/enby stories with one featuring a bit of m/f on the side. The settings and background stories were different, but most stories played in the Philippines.
While I enjoyed the anthology overall, the writing was sometimes confusing to me, and scene breaks could have been marked more clearly. I found it interesting that while each story was written by a different author, the writing was often similar, even if the styles (like POVs) and settings were different.
One "problem" I had with several of the stories was that they started our really great and then just turned south. This was partly because the writing style didn't click with me, partly because I just didn't like the decisions the characters made.
Content warnings for the entire anthology include: real-person shipping, ghosting, past bullying, fatphobia, deadnaming of a trans character, sex on-page, misogyny that is partly challenged.
My ratings, thoughts and a bit of information about the individual stories are below:
In the Moonlight by Agay Llanera: 4 stars
m/m; I liked this one a lot! Caleb and Ezra meet on vacation but part without exchanging contact data. Caleb fights to overcome his anxiety to fight the courage to meet with Ezra again.
Come Full Circle by Bobbi Moran: 3 stars
f/f; This one was interesting because it was told through the narrator adressing her partner in second person - as in an "I/me" narrator talking to a "you". It took some time to get used to it, but once I did I enjoyed it! The story is VERY heavy on the pining - I'm talking over a decade of pining here. They meet in high school but were never friends, and then met again and again over the years.
It could have been 4 stars, but I disliked the setting for the ending and some other executive choices.
Spoiler
Idk, the whole public thing just felt super weird to me.Gorgeous by Motzie Dapul: 3.5 stars
f/enby; This was probably my favourite story! The main characters again met in highschool, where one of them hated the other, but when they meet again years later they don't recognize each other. I loved that the protagonist is fat and that the love interest is still questioning their gender. (They don't call themselves enby, but they are labelled that way in the blurb so that's what I took.)
I wanted to rate this one higher but again was unsettled by the choices of the characters towards the end.
Shipping Included by Danice Sison: 3.5 stars
m/m; This one was the only dual POV story and it was so much fun! It's about two guys in their thirties who both got dragged into the KPop fandom and eventually to a huge concert by younger family members, which is where they meet. Super cute, but some parts and the way they sometimes talked about the fandom stuff was weird.
Delubyo by Barbie Barbieto: 3 stars
f/f; This one was told from the POV of Pebbles, who doesn't do relationships for longer than a few months and who is getting ready to break up with her girlfriend - a breakup that is longer overdue after eight whole months! But even though she has it all planned out already.... things don't go according to plan.
Again, cute setup and idea, but I disliked the repeatedly mentioned idea that everyone absolutely HAS to find love in their life and that that is something everyone does.
The Other Story by H. Bentham: 3.5 stars
m/m; Once again, super fun premise! The narrator tells the story looking into the past, talking about how they usually tell people how they met, when actually they met in a sex club. This is the only story that has explicit sex on the page. It briefly discusses the insecurity the narrator faces repeatedly, which was a nice touch. It also features some extremely questionable describtiors of intimate body parts.
Spoiler
Pleasure pole???? pls no, just use cock or dick for fuck's sakeBlooms and Hues by Ella Banta: 3 stars
m/m; FLOWER SHOP SETTING!!!!!! At first I thought this would be my favourite story, but then the main characters barely ever talked to each other on page???? Which I thought was super weird. Plus the ending was extremely rushed :(
Another First by Yeyet Soriano: 3 stars
f/f with a side of m/f; With this one I had the opposite problem than with most of the other stories: I really disliked the beginning, but the ending was great! Here the protagonist is on a romantic getaway with her boyfriend.... except it's not romantic, because he keeps working. Instead she starts doing activities with another woman at the resort. For the most part this story was just miserable. The protagonist is clearly unhappy in her relationship and people keep telling her she is the only one at fault and should just accept the things her boyfriend does that she hates, even if it makes her unhappy. She was also so full of ugly jealousy, and the book acted like pitting women against women was the norm, which I hated.
Luckily the ending was great!
Luck From the Skies by Katt Briones: 3.5 stars
m/m; Another cute premise, except the setting lacked any elaborating so I was very confused for most of the time. From what I understood, it's about two models (?) who are on a reality show (?) and there is a typhoon and good food. Lots of pining!
Lemon Drop Fridays by Brigitte Bautista: 3 stars
f/f; This one has a best-friends-to-lovers storyline, with the protag being a bartender at the bar where her best friend picks up a different woman each friday week after week. It was semi-explicit. I'm not sure why, but this was the one story that didn't engage me at all. It wasn't bad, but would have been bored had it not been so short.