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A review by shelbycreads
Color Outside the Lines: Stories about Love by Sangu Mandanna
3.0
3.375 Stars
I get that number because I rated every single one individually and that was my average. Please don't roast me for being so precise.
ARC provided via Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review
My first anthology... I have thoughts.
First off, I want to talk about how much I loved the theme of this anthology. This anthology follows POC in relationships and where as some stories dealt with the harder side of racial identities, some were purely imaginative and that was something I loved about this anthology. I also liked the diversity of plot lines and characters. Its easy with a love story anthology to have them all sound the same, but to my surprise, every single story in this anthology was unique and I couldn't even compare one to another due to their vast differences. I included all of my individual ratings of each story at the bottom of this review if you're interested to see my individual thoughts.
I'll start off talking about my least favorite of the anthology and that was Prom by Danielle Paige. In this story, I found it was far too short for me to connect to any part of the story or characters. The way it was written didn't allow me to and so I just felt disconnected and underwhelmed by this one.
My favorite story of this anthology was Five Times Shiva Met Harry by Sangu Mandanna. I LOVED THIS STORY! I may attribute that to me imagining Harry as Harry Styles but even putting that aside, though this story was shorter, I fell in love with these characters and their story. I want a whole book on these two please, thanks. I immediately texted one of my friends telling her all about this, that's how much I loved it.
Overall, for my first anthology, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to picking up more.
INDIVIDUAL RATINGS
Turn the Sky to Petals by Anna-Marie McLemore - 3 Stars
Prom by Danielle Paige - 1 Star
What We Love by Lauren Gibaldi - 2 Stars
Giving Up the Ghost by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas - 4 Stars
Your Life Matters by L.L. McKinney - 3 Stars
Starlight and Moondust by Lori M. Lee - 3 Stars
Five Times Shiva Met Harry by Sangu Mandanna - 5 Stars
The Agony of a Heart's Wish by Samira Ahmed - 4 Stars
The Coward's Guide to Falling in Love by Caroline Tung Richmond - 4 Stars
Death and the Maiden by Tara Sim - 4 Stars
Faithfull by Karuna Riazi - 3 Stars
Gilman Street by Michelle Ruiz Keil - 3 Stars
"The Boy Is" by Elsie Chapman - 4 Stars
Sandwiched in Between by Eric Smith - 4 Stars
Yuna and the Wall by Lydia Kang - 2 Stars
Something Gay and Magical by Adam Silvera - 5 Stars
I get that number because I rated every single one individually and that was my average. Please don't roast me for being so precise.
ARC provided via Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review
My first anthology... I have thoughts.
First off, I want to talk about how much I loved the theme of this anthology. This anthology follows POC in relationships and where as some stories dealt with the harder side of racial identities, some were purely imaginative and that was something I loved about this anthology. I also liked the diversity of plot lines and characters. Its easy with a love story anthology to have them all sound the same, but to my surprise, every single story in this anthology was unique and I couldn't even compare one to another due to their vast differences. I included all of my individual ratings of each story at the bottom of this review if you're interested to see my individual thoughts.
I'll start off talking about my least favorite of the anthology and that was Prom by Danielle Paige. In this story, I found it was far too short for me to connect to any part of the story or characters. The way it was written didn't allow me to and so I just felt disconnected and underwhelmed by this one.
My favorite story of this anthology was Five Times Shiva Met Harry by Sangu Mandanna. I LOVED THIS STORY! I may attribute that to me imagining Harry as Harry Styles but even putting that aside, though this story was shorter, I fell in love with these characters and their story. I want a whole book on these two please, thanks. I immediately texted one of my friends telling her all about this, that's how much I loved it.
Overall, for my first anthology, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to picking up more.
INDIVIDUAL RATINGS
Turn the Sky to Petals by Anna-Marie McLemore - 3 Stars
Prom by Danielle Paige - 1 Star
What We Love by Lauren Gibaldi - 2 Stars
Giving Up the Ghost by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas - 4 Stars
Your Life Matters by L.L. McKinney - 3 Stars
Starlight and Moondust by Lori M. Lee - 3 Stars
Five Times Shiva Met Harry by Sangu Mandanna - 5 Stars
The Agony of a Heart's Wish by Samira Ahmed - 4 Stars
The Coward's Guide to Falling in Love by Caroline Tung Richmond - 4 Stars
Death and the Maiden by Tara Sim - 4 Stars
Faithfull by Karuna Riazi - 3 Stars
Gilman Street by Michelle Ruiz Keil - 3 Stars
"The Boy Is" by Elsie Chapman - 4 Stars
Sandwiched in Between by Eric Smith - 4 Stars
Yuna and the Wall by Lydia Kang - 2 Stars
Something Gay and Magical by Adam Silvera - 5 Stars