A review by melgonzalez
Welcome Home by Eric Smith, Mindy McGinnis, Courtney C. Stevens, Kate Watson, Sangu Mandanna, Randy Ribay, Helene Dunbar, Nic Stone, Natasha Sinel, S.M. Parker, Karen Akins, Jenny Kaczorowski, Julie Leung, Adi Alsaid, Matthew Quinn Martin, Tameka Mullins, Lauren Gibaldi, Stephanie Scott, Tristina Wright, Shannon Gibney, Dave Connis, Julie Eshbaugh, William Ritter, C.J. Redwine, Erica M. Chapman, Sammy Nickalls, Lauren Morrill, Libby Cudmore

4.0

"Love isn't created with genetics-it's made with time spent together, small moments you will always remember, hard times that make you stronger, and so much joy you can hardly believe it's real. (The Sign by Erica M. Chapman)"

I thought this was a lovely anthology with so many amazing short stories by a lot of authors I've never read anything from before. Obviously, like with a lot of these anthologies, there are stories that I liked more than others and that's why it's not a five stars. But the intricacies and the intersections that were presented throughout this book were so beautifully done and I was so happy I got the opportunity to read this. I adored that there were so many genres interwoven here between contemporary and historical fiction to sci-fi, fantasy and even some with magical realism elements. I thought all the ways of presenting different and diverse families were gorgeous. Race and sexuality were part of these characters identities as well and the stories and personalities were so different and you understand through these stories how many types of families you can find in the world.

I loved that this book showed that there is no one "correct way" to act when you're adopted and how you relate to your adoptive family and your birth/natural family is totally up to you. I feel like sometimes when we get stories about kids who are adopted, we get these super sad stories of them trying to find their birth parents and being super unhappy with their adoptive family. And yes, there were some stories like that in this book too but there were also happy stories, stories of people who were super content with their adoptive families, stories of people who wanted to make them happy and who wanted to be happy. Stories of people who created a bond through things much deeper than blood and genetics and who didn't fit the box that society wanted to put them in. As I said, it crossed so many intersections, there were so many kids struggling with and embracing their sexuality as part of the LGBTQ+ community, who wanted to understand their race in relation to their adoptive parents and in relation to their birth parents and so many more complex stories.

There were times throughout this book when I cried a lot because of how beautiful and intricate those stories were. There were times when I laughed with them and there were times I didn't feel anything with the stories. There were some that were absolute gems and that I want full books from like The Sign by Erica M. Chapman, A Kingdom Bright and Burning by Dave Connis and Jar of Broken Wishes by Tristina Wright. I'm sure there are many more but those are the ones at the top of my head and that left a mark in me. There were so many different narrative styles and characters to follow and it was a super lovely book and I recommend everyone to read it.