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paperbackd's review against another edition
4.0
Fourteen British YA authors share their stories on the theme of home at Christmastime in this anthology to raise money for Crisis, the national homelessness charity.
On the whole, I’m not a fan of anthologies. I find that they’re usually a bit of a mixed bag of good, bad and unremarkable. There’s sometimes one or two gems that make the collection worth reading, but they’re peppered between stories that are a chore to get through. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that I genuinely enjoyed every story in I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Christmas might have been and gone, but only a few pages into this anthology, and I felt myself swept up in holiday nostalgia.
Non Pratt and Julie Mayhew’s stories were my standout favourites, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from both authors. Cat Clarke, Juno Dawson and Katy Cannon’s stories were also well worth reading. Marcus Sedgwick’s piece - an eerie mystery set on a space station - and Tom Becker’s - a spine-tingling horror story - were the most memorable, but while both were gorgeously written and technically in keeping with the theme, the stark difference between these two stories and the contemporary pieces written by the rest of the authors made them feel a little out of place.
Nevertheless, I’ll Be Home for Christmas is probably the strongest collection of short stories I’ve ever read, and it’s introduced me to several UKYA authors whose works have found their way to the top of my to-read list. I’m definitely looking forward to Stripes’ upcoming anthology of BAME authors, A Change Is Gonna Come.
Publisher: Stripes
Rating: 4 stars | ★★★★✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd Reviews
On the whole, I’m not a fan of anthologies. I find that they’re usually a bit of a mixed bag of good, bad and unremarkable. There’s sometimes one or two gems that make the collection worth reading, but they’re peppered between stories that are a chore to get through. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that I genuinely enjoyed every story in I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Christmas might have been and gone, but only a few pages into this anthology, and I felt myself swept up in holiday nostalgia.
Non Pratt and Julie Mayhew’s stories were my standout favourites, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from both authors. Cat Clarke, Juno Dawson and Katy Cannon’s stories were also well worth reading. Marcus Sedgwick’s piece - an eerie mystery set on a space station - and Tom Becker’s - a spine-tingling horror story - were the most memorable, but while both were gorgeously written and technically in keeping with the theme, the stark difference between these two stories and the contemporary pieces written by the rest of the authors made them feel a little out of place.
Nevertheless, I’ll Be Home for Christmas is probably the strongest collection of short stories I’ve ever read, and it’s introduced me to several UKYA authors whose works have found their way to the top of my to-read list. I’m definitely looking forward to Stripes’ upcoming anthology of BAME authors, A Change Is Gonna Come.
Publisher: Stripes
Rating: 4 stars | ★★★★✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd Reviews
soodleth's review against another edition
3.0
This book was enjoyable and had more of a variety of stories than I’d expected. I knew a few of the authors beforehand but others I’d only heard of.
There was quite a mixed bag and while there were some I enjoyed more than others I wouldn’t rate this book that highly. It was fine. Not bad and a nice festive read which is a bit darker than you’d expect at times, but probably not one is reread in its entirety again.
Tom Becker’s horror was amazing and I really enjoyed the dinner party story. The astronaut story was horrifying - I think for my sanity I shall avoid it. The refugee boy’s story was great and I enjoyed the one about the homeless girl who took the bus.
The book did make me stop and think about my own family and how we celebrate Christmas.
Note: I currently don’t have the book with me and can’t check titles or who wrote what so that’s why I’m so vague.
It was published in 2016 and £1 of each copy goes to Crisis.
There was quite a mixed bag and while there were some I enjoyed more than others I wouldn’t rate this book that highly. It was fine. Not bad and a nice festive read which is a bit darker than you’d expect at times, but probably not one is reread in its entirety again.
Tom Becker’s horror was amazing and I really enjoyed the dinner party story. The astronaut story was horrifying - I think for my sanity I shall avoid it. The refugee boy’s story was great and I enjoyed the one about the homeless girl who took the bus.
The book did make me stop and think about my own family and how we celebrate Christmas.
Note: I currently don’t have the book with me and can’t check titles or who wrote what so that’s why I’m so vague.
It was published in 2016 and £1 of each copy goes to Crisis.
ame1ia_fox's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
readingsar's review against another edition
4.0
Some of the stories I liked more than others but some (e.g. Cat Clarke's) I absolutely LOVED and this was the perfect seasonal read 😊
lotesofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
The bluebird, Julie Mayhew. Weird but cute. A tad confusing at the start as too whose perspective we were reading from.
Routes and wings, Julie Mayhew. I didn't realise she was wrote the art of being normal, one of my favourite books! I love her writing style and really enjoyed this, perfect story to end on.
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7 stories I loved, 6 which were okay and 1 I didn't really enjoy. You can read how I viewed each book in my status update. What I liked in all of them though was how they all seemed to be set in the UK and tackled difficult social issues without it seeming like it was being forced.
Routes and wings, Julie Mayhew. I didn't realise she was wrote the art of being normal, one of my favourite books! I love her writing style and really enjoyed this, perfect story to end on.
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7 stories I loved, 6 which were okay and 1 I didn't really enjoy. You can read how I viewed each book in my status update. What I liked in all of them though was how they all seemed to be set in the UK and tackled difficult social issues without it seeming like it was being forced.
beefstew's review against another edition
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
claragrivel's review against another edition
2.0
Good book, some of the short stories were really good, but some were very odd. A bit hard to follow sometimes, and because its a bunch of short stories I lost motivation in the middle to finish it, its easier if you're already invested in the story/the people, but here you start over every 20 page or so.
I have been wanting to read it for a while, so I'm glad I did, but Im excited to go back to normal books in 2022 :)
I have been wanting to read it for a while, so I'm glad I did, but Im excited to go back to normal books in 2022 :)
samanthas_books's review against another edition
4.0
Overall rating: 3.75 stars
I really enjoyed some of these stories, whilst others were just OK. I felt that a lot of them didn't feel particularly Christmassy and some of them felt a bit similar to others. But overall, it was quite enjoyable and a nice collection of stories/poems.
Home and Away by Benjamin Zephaniah: 4/5 stars - this poem was lovely
Ghosts of Christmas Past by Non Pratt: 3/5 stars
If Only In My Dreams by Marcus Sedgwick: 3/5 stars - this one went over my head a bit - I'm not really sure what happened! I did read it pretty late at night, so it's probably just because of that!
Family You Choose by Cat Clarke: 4/5 stars
The Associates by Kevin Brooks: 2/5 stars
The Afterschool Club by Holly Bourne: 5/5 stars
Homo for Christmas by Juno Dawson: 4/5 stars
Amir and George by Sita Brahmachari: I couldn’t deal with the writing style, so I just skipped this one - soz
The Letter by Tracy Darnton: 4/5 stars
Claws by Tom Becker: skipped this one too because I’m a major wimp and I don’t do horror!
Christmas, Take Two by Katy Cannon: 5/5 stars - this is the first one that’s really given me the Christmassy feeling and it was pretty cute!
When Daddy Comes Home by Melvin Burgess: 3/5 stars - this was a weird one
The Bluebird by Julie Mayhew: 3/5 stars
Routes and Wings by Lisa Williamson: 5/5 stars
I really enjoyed some of these stories, whilst others were just OK. I felt that a lot of them didn't feel particularly Christmassy and some of them felt a bit similar to others. But overall, it was quite enjoyable and a nice collection of stories/poems.
Home and Away by Benjamin Zephaniah: 4/5 stars - this poem was lovely
Ghosts of Christmas Past by Non Pratt: 3/5 stars
If Only In My Dreams by Marcus Sedgwick: 3/5 stars - this one went over my head a bit - I'm not really sure what happened! I did read it pretty late at night, so it's probably just because of that!
Family You Choose by Cat Clarke: 4/5 stars
The Associates by Kevin Brooks: 2/5 stars
The Afterschool Club by Holly Bourne: 5/5 stars
Homo for Christmas by Juno Dawson: 4/5 stars
Amir and George by Sita Brahmachari: I couldn’t deal with the writing style, so I just skipped this one - soz
The Letter by Tracy Darnton: 4/5 stars
Claws by Tom Becker: skipped this one too because I’m a major wimp and I don’t do horror!
Christmas, Take Two by Katy Cannon: 5/5 stars - this is the first one that’s really given me the Christmassy feeling and it was pretty cute!
When Daddy Comes Home by Melvin Burgess: 3/5 stars - this was a weird one
The Bluebird by Julie Mayhew: 3/5 stars
Routes and Wings by Lisa Williamson: 5/5 stars