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axel_p's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
My Ranking of the Short Stories
Bride-Heart by Marie Rutkoski
Katrine and Rowan's Exit Interview by Sarah Gailey
Who Will Save Me by Julian Winters
Undead Ghoul Meet-Cute by Kendare Blake
Bloody, Lovely by Casey McQuiston
A Thousand More by Chloe Gong
Once Upon a Time in Charleston by Melissa de la Cruz
Kiss the Boy by Adib Khorram
Banes and Blessings by Hafsah Faizal
If You Give an Asura a Cookie by Akshaya Raman
In the Eyes of Angels by Alexis Henderson
Piano Sonata No. 13 by Kalynn Bayron
Pierce My Soul by Kat Cho
My Demon Prince Charming by Sandhya Menon
La Bruja y la Sirena by Anne-Marie McLemore
Bride-Heart by Marie Rutkoski
Katrine and Rowan's Exit Interview by Sarah Gailey
Who Will Save Me by Julian Winters
Undead Ghoul Meet-Cute by Kendare Blake
Bloody, Lovely by Casey McQuiston
A Thousand More by Chloe Gong
Once Upon a Time in Charleston by Melissa de la Cruz
Kiss the Boy by Adib Khorram
Banes and Blessings by Hafsah Faizal
If You Give an Asura a Cookie by Akshaya Raman
In the Eyes of Angels by Alexis Henderson
Piano Sonata No. 13 by Kalynn Bayron
Pierce My Soul by Kat Cho
My Demon Prince Charming by Sandhya Menon
La Bruja y la Sirena by Anne-Marie McLemore
Content Warnings
Minor: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Slavery, War, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Stalking
pagebypaigebks's review
relaxing
medium-paced
3.0
Undead Ghoul Meet Cute by Kendare Blake (4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This was a great story to start off the anthology! It was super cute and the background story was well thought out. Kendare Blake does not disappoint when it comes to spooky stories!
A Thousand More by Chloe Gong (4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
I've never read a book before with reincarnated main characters but now I definitely need to! This trope is so cute and so was this story! I liked the dynamic between the main character and her love interest and their shared history was fun to learn about. The idea of a school project was a great way to incorporate this into the story!
Who Will Save Me by Julian Winters (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
I've been meaning to read more books about angels so I was excited to read this. Unfortunately this story needed more explanation of the magic system and world. Especially at the end, I felt like I didn't understand why certain things took place like they did.
In the Eyes of Angels by Alexis Henderson (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
This story had a good concept but left me confused. I would have liked more descriptions about the magic system of this world.
My Demon Prince Charming by Sandhya Menon (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
The idea of summoning a demon for your date to a party sounded like a fun idea. Unfortunately, this story was very cliched and had the insta love trope which I'm not a fan of. The ending also felt unrealistic and worked out a bit too nicely.
Katrine and Rowan's Exit Interview by Sarah Gailey (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
Another story where I wasn't 100% sure exactly what was going on. The island setting was interesting to read about and I was intrigued by the mystery of what was happening to the stranded sailors. However, I would have liked more explanation of what happened at the end.
Bride-Heart by Marie Rutkoski (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
This story started out strong but lost momentum by the end. It had me wanting to try a strawberry pretzel pie for a while after finishing 😂. I would have liked for some scenes to be more drawn out (like the end).
If You Give an Asura a Cookie by Akshaya Raman (3.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨)
I was excited to read a story about an asura because I haven't read much about them before! This story's romance was also cute but predictable. I appreciated the message of self love!
Kiss the Boy by Adib Khorram (3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Our mermaid story! At first I was worried this story would also feature insta love but it wasn't as much as I thought. I enjoyed reading about the merpeople culture and community. My favourite character in this story was the love interest's sister, she was adorable and so supportive of her brother!
Piano Sonata No. 13 by Kalynn Bayron (4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Another great story! I recommend this short story to everyone that just wants to read a book where the villain gets what they want. This one was definitely more on the creepy side and it had a moral dilemma aspect as well.
Once Upon a Time in Charleston by Melissa de la Cruz (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
I really enjoyed the set up and descriptive writing style of this story but felt that it ended too soon. There was a lot of potential and I would have liked to read more about the characters and the café.
Pierce My Soul by Kat Cho (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
The idea of a world that knows about vampires was interesting to read about. Unfortunately this story felt a bit cliched and there was miscommunication between the main characters that took away from the plot.
Banes and Blessings by Hafsah Faizal (3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The beginning of this story intrigued me right away. However, as time went on I couldn't understand why there was a romance between the main character and the love interest. I also felt the ending could have been more developed.
Bloody, Lovely by Casey McQuiston (4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This was another great story! It was very cute and I enjoyed the romance element, but what I also enjoyed was the character development! I had a lot of fun following the main character's journey towards self love. This story also had the most satisfying ending.
La Bruja y La Sirena by Anna-Marie McLemore (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
Unfortunately, the writing style of this story made it hard to follow. I was confused while reading but was able to piece together what happened at the end.
My favourite short stories of this collection would have to be Undead Ghoul Meet Cute by Kendare Blake, A Thousand More by Chloe Gong, Bloody Lovely by Casey McQuiston, and Piano Sonata No .13 by Kalynn Bayron. Undead Ghoul Meet Cute, Bloody Lovely and A Thousand More were very cute and had fun supernatural/spooky elements. Both stories were fun to read and left me wishing they were full length books. Piano Sonata No. 13 was more on the creepy side but I really enjoyed it! I recommend it for people who love stories where the villain wins.
All in all there were some stories I found confusing or wished there was more development, but others I had a lot of fun reading. Overall I gave the anthology 3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️.
This was a great story to start off the anthology! It was super cute and the background story was well thought out. Kendare Blake does not disappoint when it comes to spooky stories!
A Thousand More by Chloe Gong (4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
I've never read a book before with reincarnated main characters but now I definitely need to! This trope is so cute and so was this story! I liked the dynamic between the main character and her love interest and their shared history was fun to learn about. The idea of a school project was a great way to incorporate this into the story!
Who Will Save Me by Julian Winters (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
I've been meaning to read more books about angels so I was excited to read this. Unfortunately this story needed more explanation of the magic system and world. Especially at the end, I felt like I didn't understand why certain things took place like they did.
In the Eyes of Angels by Alexis Henderson (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
This story had a good concept but left me confused. I would have liked more descriptions about the magic system of this world.
My Demon Prince Charming by Sandhya Menon (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
The idea of summoning a demon for your date to a party sounded like a fun idea. Unfortunately, this story was very cliched and had the insta love trope which I'm not a fan of. The ending also felt unrealistic and worked out a bit too nicely.
Katrine and Rowan's Exit Interview by Sarah Gailey (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
Another story where I wasn't 100% sure exactly what was going on. The island setting was interesting to read about and I was intrigued by the mystery of what was happening to the stranded sailors. However, I would have liked more explanation of what happened at the end.
Bride-Heart by Marie Rutkoski (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
This story started out strong but lost momentum by the end. It had me wanting to try a strawberry pretzel pie for a while after finishing 😂. I would have liked for some scenes to be more drawn out (like the end).
If You Give an Asura a Cookie by Akshaya Raman (3.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨)
I was excited to read a story about an asura because I haven't read much about them before! This story's romance was also cute but predictable. I appreciated the message of self love!
Kiss the Boy by Adib Khorram (3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Our mermaid story! At first I was worried this story would also feature insta love but it wasn't as much as I thought. I enjoyed reading about the merpeople culture and community. My favourite character in this story was the love interest's sister, she was adorable and so supportive of her brother!
Piano Sonata No. 13 by Kalynn Bayron (4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Another great story! I recommend this short story to everyone that just wants to read a book where the villain gets what they want. This one was definitely more on the creepy side and it had a moral dilemma aspect as well.
Once Upon a Time in Charleston by Melissa de la Cruz (2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨)
I really enjoyed the set up and descriptive writing style of this story but felt that it ended too soon. There was a lot of potential and I would have liked to read more about the characters and the café.
Pierce My Soul by Kat Cho (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
The idea of a world that knows about vampires was interesting to read about. Unfortunately this story felt a bit cliched and there was miscommunication between the main characters that took away from the plot.
Banes and Blessings by Hafsah Faizal (3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The beginning of this story intrigued me right away. However, as time went on I couldn't understand why there was a romance between the main character and the love interest. I also felt the ending could have been more developed.
Bloody, Lovely by Casey McQuiston (4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This was another great story! It was very cute and I enjoyed the romance element, but what I also enjoyed was the character development! I had a lot of fun following the main character's journey towards self love. This story also had the most satisfying ending.
La Bruja y La Sirena by Anna-Marie McLemore (2/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️)
Unfortunately, the writing style of this story made it hard to follow. I was confused while reading but was able to piece together what happened at the end.
My favourite short stories of this collection would have to be Undead Ghoul Meet Cute by Kendare Blake, A Thousand More by Chloe Gong, Bloody Lovely by Casey McQuiston, and Piano Sonata No .13 by Kalynn Bayron. Undead Ghoul Meet Cute, Bloody Lovely and A Thousand More were very cute and had fun supernatural/spooky elements. Both stories were fun to read and left me wishing they were full length books. Piano Sonata No. 13 was more on the creepy side but I really enjoyed it! I recommend it for people who love stories where the villain wins.
All in all there were some stories I found confusing or wished there was more development, but others I had a lot of fun reading. Overall I gave the anthology 3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Animal death, Gore, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer and Alcoholism
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