A review by emily_mh
A Universe of Wishes by Dhonielle Clayton

4.0

Overall, this was a pretty solid anthology with a lot of perfectly fine stories, a few complete disasters, and a few outstanding narratives. My least favourite was A Royal Affair. My favourite was The Coldest Spot in the Universe. I’ve reviewed each story individually below. 

A Universe of Wishes, Tara Sim: This world had such a cool magic system. I also grew super attached to Sage and Thorn even though it was only a short story. This was my first experience with Sim’s work, and I can’t wait to read more. 

The Silk Blade, Natalie C. Parker: This was too instalove for my liking. I had a hard time believing the MC would want to throw all her dreams away for someone she met half an hour ago, and has had less than a conversation with. It would have worked better if the two had already known each other, and the MC had already begun experiencing her conflicting feelings. 

The Scarlet Woman, Libba Bray: Let it be known that I hate when short stories that are part of a separate series are included in unrelated anthologies, and this is one of them. There is a lack of depth and context which is impossible to get past. I also didn’t understand how it qualified as diverse. On top of that, it just suddenly ended?? I thought I was missing part of my audiobook or something. Definitely one of my least favourites. 

Cristal Y Ceniza, Anna-Marie McLemore: I liked the Cinderella vibes. However, the worldbuilding was a little plain and I thought the narrative would have worked better in a longer format. 

Liberia, Kwame Mbalia: One of my favourites from this anthology. It worked so well in a short story format. The characters and their dynamics were well illustrated, and I could really feel the tension of the situation our MC was in. 

A Royal Affair, V.E. Schwab: Again, I don’t like short stories that are part of a separate series being included in unrelated anthologies. There is no context or depth, which means the story itself feels boring and insignificant. On top of this, I felt like both main characters could have fought harder for each other so I had a hard time feeling sorry for them. My least favourite from this anthology. 

The Takeback Tango, Rebecca Roanhorse: I loved the premise of a space heist to take back stolen culture from an imperial force. I really want to read a full length book that furthers this idea! As for this story, I felt that the pacing was a bit unbalanced, but otherwise it was thoroughly enjoyable. 

Dream and Dare, Nic Stone: I genuinely still don’t understand what this story was about. Maybe I missed something, but it felt like most of the narrative was actually just Dream reflecting on her memories, and there was no actual explanation of what happened to Dare and why. One of my least favourites for this reason. 

Wish, Jenni Balch: This was over before I realised it had begun. It was fine overall, nothing wrong with it but nothing particularly captivating either. 

The Weight, Dhonielle Clayton: This had a really interesting Black Mirror-style concept! Great execution as well. 

Unmoor, Mark Oshiro: This was another sort of Black Mirror-esque narrative, but with a fantasy twist. It was tragic and poetic and really made me think about the two-way nature of relationships. Definitely one of my favourites. 

The Coldest Spot in the Universe, Samira Ahmed: My favourite story from this anthology! It had an absolutely fascinating format. It made me so emotional and sentimental that I cried, but also left me feeling weirdly hopeful?? 

The Beginning of Monsters, Tessa Gratton: This is kind of reminiscent of Scott Westerfeld’s “Uglies.” However, I did not care about the characters, their attraction felt very superficial, and I had no idea what the plot was supposed to be. One of my least favourites for sure. 

Longer Than the Threads of Time, Zoraida Córdova: I simply cannot get behind an adult/minor relationship that is disguised as the immortal/mortal trope, especially when the narrative itself points out its true nature!! Totally eclipses the otherwise intriguing Rapunzel retelling. 

Habibi, Tonyi Onyebuchi: This was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. My heart was broken and made whole at the same time. A close overall favourite behind The Coldest Spot in the Universe! 
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