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yayas_shelf's review
4.0
I backed this book on Kickstarter. I really liked how each author took a singular prompt and came up with such different, interesting stories. I enjoyed reading all but one of them. 6/7 ain't bad!
aurorabulgaris's review against another edition
5.0
WHAT a FIND!
Full disclosure, I was given an e-copy of this book by the publishers in an exchange of an honest review and am I the luckiest person to have that happen to me?
Normally, I wouldn't have picked an anthology - they've rarely been my cup of tea. Which is why I'm so thrilled this book found me instead of the other way round! Why? Because it's GREAT!
I LOVED EVERY PIECE IN IT!
The concept is really creative - a collective of authors get together and agree to write each a story under the same title. And that's the only rule. And that's what makes this collection super exciting to read.
I'll give you only one spoiler (it's not RLY a spoiler, don't worry) - all the stories have generally feel good mood to them, even if there are scary SCARY moments, monsters and people in them.
And for a bookworm like me, the fact that all stories inside are somewhat related to a book club and books (surely that's not a spoiler) was just music for my ears ♥️
It was impressive the variety of magical stories that went into that anthology! There's a bit of Potter-like magic, some off-to-be-the-wizard magic, a smidge of the-worst-witch magic... It's all in there!
Full disclosure, I was given an e-copy of this book by the publishers in an exchange of an honest review and am I the luckiest person to have that happen to me?
Normally, I wouldn't have picked an anthology - they've rarely been my cup of tea. Which is why I'm so thrilled this book found me instead of the other way round! Why? Because it's GREAT!
I LOVED EVERY PIECE IN IT!
The concept is really creative - a collective of authors get together and agree to write each a story under the same title. And that's the only rule. And that's what makes this collection super exciting to read.
I'll give you only one spoiler (it's not RLY a spoiler, don't worry) - all the stories have generally feel good mood to them, even if there are scary SCARY moments, monsters and people in them.
And for a bookworm like me, the fact that all stories inside are somewhat related to a book club and books (surely that's not a spoiler) was just music for my ears ♥️
It was impressive the variety of magical stories that went into that anthology! There's a bit of Potter-like magic, some off-to-be-the-wizard magic, a smidge of the-worst-witch magic... It's all in there!
badhoneybun's review
5.0
Kristina Horner's story is everything I could have hoped for my first taste of her writing. After waiting 10+ years for her to publish something.. *ahem* ...As I encroach my 30s I still love reading about high school girls and their crushes, especially when demon hunting is involved. I want to consume all of the YA Kristina creates, and one day hope to access the vaults of her NANOWRIMO writings.
Stephen Folkin's humor is spot on and Boys Book Clubs, and Other Bad Ideas is likely my favorite story in the book. I honestly don't know how he managed to cram so many characters and plot lines into such a short story but he did it (almost) seamlessly, sometimes I had a hard time deciphering which book club boy was who, which just made me wish this story was longer. BUT it somehow included two of my favorite genres I never thought would go together, high fantasy and sci-fi. I'm SO sad he has nothing else for me to read right now, and can't wait to read his contribution to The Mistletoe Paradox. I will be over here reading his Instagram captions in the meantime. Seriously, I can't put my finger on it, but I love Folkin's brain. Just the right amount of dry humor.
Jennifer Lee Swagert wrote a story like I've never read, I absolutely adored it. A VR game as a setting is primo and genius. I kept picturing Soup as Ren in Gun Gale Online. But can we talk about the character development acheived in this short story? Soup and Jimmy stole my heart in 39 pages. Also, I totally ship them. This story is the right amount of funny, heartfelt and delivered a familiar message "don't judge a book by its cover".
Katrina Hamilton's story was written in second person perspective, I have somehow never read a story in this form! It caught me off guard and I love it for that, I had to pay attention and think about what I was reading and who I am (you are). I think the love story was glossed over a bit and kind of just crammed in there because it was part of the prompt, but please don't let that deflect from how great the plot is. We love a crafty scheme.
Shay Lynam...this might be a runner up for my second fave because I felt EMOTIONS reading this, the TEEN LUST. Just ugh. Also, alternate dimensions, dragons doling out riddles and the ending had me shook-eth. More please.
Sunny Everson...I'm going to be completely honest, I could not stop comparing this to Harry Potter and it absolutely ruined it for me. It felt like there were far too many world structure similarities with just the names changed. I DNF'd this one, I'd be interested in knowing if someone read this and really loved it. Maybe I'm missing something? For now I just had to put it down. I may come back to it again.
Maria Berejan, the premise on the back cover had me hooked right away. "Death's secretary trues to save her favorite human from dying." I love the lil footnotes, it gave the "breaking the fourth wall" illusion without being extremely direct about it. The details of the job descriptions were *chefs kiss*, and I was hooked on every page this story is a very clever theory for what happens when we die.
Stephen Folkin's humor is spot on and Boys Book Clubs, and Other Bad Ideas is likely my favorite story in the book. I honestly don't know how he managed to cram so many characters and plot lines into such a short story but he did it (almost) seamlessly, sometimes I had a hard time deciphering which book club boy was who, which just made me wish this story was longer. BUT it somehow included two of my favorite genres I never thought would go together, high fantasy and sci-fi. I'm SO sad he has nothing else for me to read right now, and can't wait to read his contribution to The Mistletoe Paradox. I will be over here reading his Instagram captions in the meantime. Seriously, I can't put my finger on it, but I love Folkin's brain. Just the right amount of dry humor.
Jennifer Lee Swagert wrote a story like I've never read, I absolutely adored it. A VR game as a setting is primo and genius. I kept picturing Soup as Ren in Gun Gale Online. But can we talk about the character development acheived in this short story? Soup and Jimmy stole my heart in 39 pages. Also, I totally ship them. This story is the right amount of funny, heartfelt and delivered a familiar message "don't judge a book by its cover".
Katrina Hamilton's story was written in second person perspective, I have somehow never read a story in this form! It caught me off guard and I love it for that, I had to pay attention and think about what I was reading and who I am (you are). I think the love story was glossed over a bit and kind of just crammed in there because it was part of the prompt, but please don't let that deflect from how great the plot is. We love a crafty scheme.
Shay Lynam...this might be a runner up for my second fave because I felt EMOTIONS reading this, the TEEN LUST. Just ugh. Also, alternate dimensions, dragons doling out riddles and the ending had me shook-eth. More please.
Sunny Everson...I'm going to be completely honest, I could not stop comparing this to Harry Potter and it absolutely ruined it for me. It felt like there were far too many world structure similarities with just the names changed. I DNF'd this one, I'd be interested in knowing if someone read this and really loved it. Maybe I'm missing something? For now I just had to put it down. I may come back to it again.
Maria Berejan, the premise on the back cover had me hooked right away. "Death's secretary trues to save her favorite human from dying." I love the lil footnotes, it gave the "breaking the fourth wall" illusion without being extremely direct about it. The details of the job descriptions were *chefs kiss*, and I was hooked on every page this story is a very clever theory for what happens when we die.
aurorabulgaris's review against another edition
5.0
WHAT a FIND!
Full disclosure, I was given an e-copy of this book by the publishers in an exchange of an honest review and am I the luckiest person to have that happen to me?
Normally, I wouldn't have picked an anthology - they've rarely been my cup of tea. Which is why I'm so thrilled this book found me instead of the other way round! Why? Because it's GREAT!
I LOVED EVERY PIECE IN IT!
The concept is really creative - a collective of authors get together and agree to write each a story under the same title. And that's the only rule. And that's what makes this collection super exciting to read.
I'll give you only one spoiler (it's not RLY a spoiler, don't worry) - all the stories have generally feel good mood to them, even if there are scary SCARY moments, monsters and people in them.
And for a bookworm like me, the fact that all stories inside are somewhat related to a book club and books (surely that's not a spoiler) was just music for my ears ♥️
It was impressive the variety of magical stories that went into that anthology! There's a bit of Potter-like magic, some off-to-be-the-wizard magic, a smidge of the-worst-witch magic... It's all in there!
Full disclosure, I was given an e-copy of this book by the publishers in an exchange of an honest review and am I the luckiest person to have that happen to me?
Normally, I wouldn't have picked an anthology - they've rarely been my cup of tea. Which is why I'm so thrilled this book found me instead of the other way round! Why? Because it's GREAT!
I LOVED EVERY PIECE IN IT!
The concept is really creative - a collective of authors get together and agree to write each a story under the same title. And that's the only rule. And that's what makes this collection super exciting to read.
I'll give you only one spoiler (it's not RLY a spoiler, don't worry) - all the stories have generally feel good mood to them, even if there are scary SCARY moments, monsters and people in them.
And for a bookworm like me, the fact that all stories inside are somewhat related to a book club and books (surely that's not a spoiler) was just music for my ears ♥️
It was impressive the variety of magical stories that went into that anthology! There's a bit of Potter-like magic, some off-to-be-the-wizard magic, a smidge of the-worst-witch magic... It's all in there!
kiiiaarraa_'s review against another edition
4.0
For the first time reading an anthology, I must say, I am impressed!
This one in particular had 7 different stories from 7 different authors (who I haven't read from before) under one topic which consists of my favourite things lol. Obviously I have my favourites among all the stories and so I might just end up checking more of those authors.
Would I read something like this again? I mean sure, as long as it was inviting, thrilling and adventurous as thus one. There were many laughs and many relatable things in these short stories which shocked the hell out of me to be honest.
This one in particular had 7 different stories from 7 different authors (who I haven't read from before) under one topic which consists of my favourite things lol. Obviously I have my favourites among all the stories and so I might just end up checking more of those authors.
Would I read something like this again? I mean sure, as long as it was inviting, thrilling and adventurous as thus one. There were many laughs and many relatable things in these short stories which shocked the hell out of me to be honest.
cayle's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
In this statement, I express my opinion on an anthology I recently read. While I did enjoy a portion of the collection, I found that the majority of the works were unremarkable or just "meh" to me. Specifically, some of the stories had pacing issues that made it difficult for me to fully engage with the narrative. Some stories were too slow-paced for an anthology, while others were too fast, which detracted from my overall enjoyment of the collection.
Despite my mixed reaction to the anthology, I found it fascinating to see how each author interpreted the main theme and brought it to life in their own unique way. In particular, I found the second story by Folkins to be my favorite, as it was the one that most closely captured the essence of the anthology's theme.
In my opinion, this anthology would be well-suited for readers who are looking for an adventure, particularly those in a younger age range. While I did enjoy the entire collection, I still think that it's worth recommending to others who are interested in exploring different interpretations of a central theme.
Thank you to BookTasters and 84th Street Press for providing me with an e-book in exchange for an honest review
Despite my mixed reaction to the anthology, I found it fascinating to see how each author interpreted the main theme and brought it to life in their own unique way. In particular, I found the second story by Folkins to be my favorite, as it was the one that most closely captured the essence of the anthology's theme.
In my opinion, this anthology would be well-suited for readers who are looking for an adventure, particularly those in a younger age range. While I did enjoy the entire collection, I still think that it's worth recommending to others who are interested in exploring different interpretations of a central theme.
Thank you to BookTasters and 84th Street Press for providing me with an e-book in exchange for an honest review
orinposner's review
5.0
Overall, this book feels like a bunch of writers who love YA literature (and more specifically, YA fantasy) came to play: all the short stories in the anthology have the same title, which is fun and interesting already, but there’s something about putting “Book Club” in that title, thereby forcing all the stories to be, in some way, about books and/or clubs (=groups of friends), that makes for a delightful metaliterary anthology with the theme of friendship/connection somehow coursing through it.
Here’s a little of my thoughts on each story:
Kristina Horner’s fun and sweet story on demon huntresses in high-school brings to mind a younger version of Buffy, and I felt like it did relatively a lot of worldbuilding in very little space.
Stephen Folkins’ story – the only one whose title is very slightly different (it’s “Boys’ Book Clubs and Other Bad Ideas” instead of "Boys, Book Clubs," etc.) – was a really enjoyable metaliterary romp poking fun at YA fantasy.
Jennifer Lee Swagert’s story is a lovely tale of unlikely friendship and, like the previous story, it’s another dive into a fictional fandom (this time of a VR video game) with all its lore, slang, and norms; I LOVED it.
Katrina Hamilton’s story is the only one of the bunch that has zero fantasy elements – it’s purely a high-school story with silly high-school problems – but somehow the stakes here felt like the highest, and I became invested in this nerdy Mean Girls world. The story has a unique narration style, too, which worked for me and created a nice, quick pace.
Shay Lynam’s another high school story, though this time it’s a fancy Academy in a beautiful, old building, and then (of course) there’s a supernatural twist. Honestly, this one started out really slow for me, but it picked up, switched genres a bit, and it might be worth it for that ending…
Sunny Everson’s story is a Harry Potter parody – we’re at a Hogwarts-like wizard academy and there’s a Chosen One and a Dark Wizard and all that, but our protagonist is a self-described background student who’s starting a book club. I really, really loved this one. It’s also kinda gay, though, unfortunately, only very slightly so.
Maria Berejan’s is a delicious story of a demon working as a Death Day Coordinator at the Afterlife Library, and, well, things happen. This one is definitely one of my favorites. It feels like the most different story in the anthology, but it still goes back to the theme of books and their readers, and in a really interesting and beautiful way.
***
I supported this book on Kickstarter and got a physical copy when it came out (and seriously, what a beautiful cover!).
Here’s a little of my thoughts on each story:
Kristina Horner’s fun and sweet story on demon huntresses in high-school brings to mind a younger version of Buffy, and I felt like it did relatively a lot of worldbuilding in very little space.
Stephen Folkins’ story – the only one whose title is very slightly different (it’s “Boys’ Book Clubs and Other Bad Ideas” instead of "Boys, Book Clubs," etc.) – was a really enjoyable metaliterary romp poking fun at YA fantasy.
Jennifer Lee Swagert’s story is a lovely tale of unlikely friendship and, like the previous story, it’s another dive into a fictional fandom (this time of a VR video game) with all its lore, slang, and norms; I LOVED it.
Katrina Hamilton’s story is the only one of the bunch that has zero fantasy elements – it’s purely a high-school story with silly high-school problems – but somehow the stakes here felt like the highest, and I became invested in this nerdy Mean Girls world. The story has a unique narration style, too, which worked for me and created a nice, quick pace.
Shay Lynam’s another high school story, though this time it’s a fancy Academy in a beautiful, old building, and then (of course) there’s a supernatural twist. Honestly, this one started out really slow for me, but it picked up, switched genres a bit, and it might be worth it for that ending…
Sunny Everson’s story is a Harry Potter parody – we’re at a Hogwarts-like wizard academy and there’s a Chosen One and a Dark Wizard and all that, but our protagonist is a self-described background student who’s starting a book club. I really, really loved this one. It’s also kinda gay, though, unfortunately, only very slightly so.
Maria Berejan’s is a delicious story of a demon working as a Death Day Coordinator at the Afterlife Library, and, well, things happen. This one is definitely one of my favorites. It feels like the most different story in the anthology, but it still goes back to the theme of books and their readers, and in a really interesting and beautiful way.
***
I supported this book on Kickstarter and got a physical copy when it came out (and seriously, what a beautiful cover!).
misskrose's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5