Reviews

I really liked this collection! The framing and the connective throughline of the stories was really effective for me. Having the spoiler of "the white guy dies first" offered a really neat preview of what's to come. It was also cool to see a collection of young adult work that addresses the horrors being a teenager has to offer on top of genre tropes that offer gnarly opportunities for empowerment.

ashaeli's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

thatweirdbookgirlie's review

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

It is so rare to find a short story collection where basically every story is a winner. And this one succeeded in that for me.
All Eyes on Me: A great start to the series. A circus comes to town, and this may be Helen's chance/inspiration to always become the person she's been deeply longing to be.

I don't love that the boyfriend just up and disappears (did he not actually die in the Hall of Mirrors?),

but other than that a solid story.
Hedge: This one is a short one. I don't want to give anything away but this one packs quite a great story into a short package.
Best Served Cold: I liked this one a lot. A different take on cannibalism, that it is the eating of human flesh that turns you to something different. The main character is taken, tortured and slowly eaten.

Defends themself and ends up eating the man who was eating them and turns into one of them.

The Protégé: I may be biased because I love magic but I loved this one and want to read the continuation of what happens after that ending in a full novel. Quick and compelling story.
Docile Girls: One of the best so far

(if you ignore the how could she possibly do this part of the killing)

. You'd never suspect the "docile" Asian girl.
Gray Grove: A brief tale of two girls who go in search of a ghost for their true crime podcast, to figure out what happened to a missing man. A demon haunted that swamp, who knows for how long.
Everything's Coming Up Roses: Written in the form of journal entries. We learn more about the main girl as we read more of her entries

and how she is mentally unstable and has been murdering and burying people in her garden.

Heaven: I'm not sure whether I liked this one or not. While the general concept is a bit intriguing, at the same time it didn't make a lot of sense.

(That you need to die to then be given this second chance at life in the new world covered in water.)

Maybe it's just due to the lack of details in the world building due to it being a short story.
Break through Our Skin: Not sure how to describe this one without giving anything away. But a great story about a Iranian trans person navigating the world of white academia.

Wasps: The lengths someone will go to to protect their family home. Such a good one, and another I don't want to give away by saying too much in my review.
Hell is Other Demons: A summoning of a demon goes wrong. This story was quick and to the point. Not bad, but also not one of the best in the collection.
The Road to Hell: And what a way to go out. A haunted house story told by the house doing the haunting. Loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions!

_thebookishbarista_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC of this book! Overall, I had a good time with this one. Maybe horror isn't for me, even in a short story form. I will say though, this book's concept was one of the best I've read, and I loved how the prologue and epilogue connected to each other. Below are my thoughts on each individual story:

- "All Eyes on Me" by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

2.5 stars. This was kind of an interesting story. I liked the circus aspect but some other parts felt a little unnecessary. It didn't stand out a ton. - "Hedge" by Kalynn Bayron

4.5 stars. So so good. It was creepy and horrifying in the best way. I like the brother relationship and the way that everything ended was so eerie.
- "The Golden Dragon" by Kendare Blake

3.5 stars. This one was really well written. I think it's hard to flesh out a character super well in a short story like this one, but Kendare Blake did a great job. The suspense of and thrilling aspect of it was good, even though I expected the reveal at the end.
- "Best Served Cold" by H. E. Edgmon

4 stars. I liked this story a lot. It was super creepy and I think the way it ended was pretty perfect for the story. - "The Protégé" by Lamar Giles

2 stars. This wasn't the best, but also wasn't too bad. I think it was truly creepy, but it was a little too weird for my liking. But I can totally see how people would enjoy this story.
- "Docile Girls" by Chloe Gong

5 stars. This has been the best short story form this anthology, for me, so far. It was thrilling and suspenseful, a little less horror focused in my opinion. But it had some creepy and scary stuff, but it also had commentary on stereotypes for Asian women. The stereotypes played a big part in the "horror" aspect, and that made it top-tier for me.
- "Gray Grove" by Alexis Henderson

4.5 stars. I loved this story. The influencer/podcast element was a great touch to the plot, and the creepy setting was great. I think I love the stories that mix the horror aspects with thriller aspects, because I'm not a huge fan of strictly horror stories. - "Everything's Coming up Roses" by Tiffany D. Jackson

4 stars. This story was really interesting. I loved how it was told through journal entries. Also, I think it was interesting to see the progression of the characters through the story. - "Heaven" by Adiba Jaigirdar

2 stars. I wasn't really a fan of this one. I think the concept just didn't grab my attention as much so I didn't like it. However, I will say that I tend to not like plots similar to this one, so it was expected.
- "Break Through our Skin" by Naseem Jamnia

1 star. I wasn't a huge fan of this one. It just didn't grab my attention like the other stories had.
- "Wasps" by Mark Oshiro

4 stars. I enjoyed this one. I think that the way the horror element was integrated was interesting, and it was honestly creepy throughout the whole story. The final reveal was good as well.
- "Hell is Other Demons" by Karen Strong

3.5 stars. I liked this one. It was interesting and held my attention the entire time, and the supernatural aspect was interesting.
- "The Road to Hell" by Terry J. Benton-Walker

3.5 stars. I liked the perspective from the old house, but it was also a little too weird towards the end for me. Overall, I think I'm just not a weird book girly and that's okay, but I see why others like them.

Avg rating: 3.08 stars

ebeubanks8's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

It is an anthology, so it is hard to judge as a whole. Different authors wrote different stories within the book, but they were all very spooky and scary and fast-paced.

drraytay's review

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

rsales2's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this if you:

1) Find new life appearing from what appears to be barren soil, the endless heat of summer, and the promise of the longest day of the year to be slightly creepy.

2) Wish to be haunted

3) Love NK Jemisin’s “How Long ‘Til Black Future Month?”

As with most short story anthologies, I loved some stories and didn’t care so much for others. Standouts were:

-“The Golden Dragon”
-“The Protégé”
-“Everything’s Coming Up Roses”
-“The Road to Hell”

“The Road To Hell” was particularly good. I’d recommend this book for a bite of horror when you tire of summer!

noreimerreason's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The authors in this collections SHINE. I was thoroughly engrossed and grossed out by every story. Terry J. Benton-Walker truly brought the best and the brightest of the young adult world to create the perfect horror anthology. Hopefully, after this collection more people will realize that the white guy really should die first.

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