A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology by Dhonielle Clayton -> Starting November 28th, 2020

[Alaina]

From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children’s authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), Victoria Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic), Natalie C. Parker (Seafire), and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles).

In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.

AUTHORS INCLUDE: Samira Ahmed, Libba Bray, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Natalie C. Parker, Rebecca Roanhorse, Victoria Schwab, Tara Sim, Nic Stone, and a to-be-announced debut author/short-story contest winner

[☘Misericordia☘]

A maybe to-read? I think I'll wait and see how other readers like it.
A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology

[Kelly]

1. A universe of wishes by Tara Sim : (view spoiler)[I loved this one! Sage and Thorn were so sweet together. I loved the wishes Sage chose to make. It wasn't your typical wish and the ending was really nice. (hide spoiler)]

2. The silk blade by Natalie C Parker : (view spoiler)[Omg no!!! How can you end it like that? I need so much more! I am so sad that this story isn't longer. In so few pages I fell in love with both of them. Their connection was instant but I felt it and loved it. I found it really creative and could picture eveything that was happening. (hide spoiler)]

3. The scarlet woman by Libba Bray : this is a story set in her Gemma Doyle series, I'm choosing not to read this one since I only read the first book and didn't like it. I also read some reviews mentioning they were really confused about what was going on after not reading the series.

4. Cristal y Ceniza by Ana Marie McLemore : (view spoiler)[I really liked this one too. I loved the trans rep for the Prince and the way he decided to let them stay. The glass shoes reminded me of Cinderella (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

5. Liberia by Kwame Mbalia : (view spoiler)[ I didn't like this one. It didn't hook me like the others and I had a hard time focusing on the page. Almost wanted to skim. I guess this story was about loss but I didn't connect with it. (hide spoiler)]

6. A royal affair by V.E. Schwab : This is set in her Shades of Magic world (which I haven't read yet) (view spoiler)[ After reading this short story, I'm desperate to know what happened to Rhy and Alucard! It was so sad, it even made me cry. If someone knows, please tell me we learn the rest of their story in her trilogy? Something tells me they don't get a HEA :( (hide spoiler)]

7. The takeback tango by Rebecca Roanhorse : (view spoiler)[ This one was alright but I expected a bit more from this author. I loved her book Black Sun and was hoping for her short story to be my favorite out of all of them but it's not. I would have enjoyed a longer story featuring both of these characters though! (hide spoiler)]

8. Dream and dare by Nic Stone : (view spoiler)[I liked this one but I feel like I might have missed some of the meaning behind this short story. I hate how Dare was abused by the people/boys :(. (hide spoiler)]

9. Wish by Jenni Balch : (view spoiler)[I don't have strong feelings about this one. It mustn't be easy to live when anything could hurt you badly. (hide spoiler)]

10. The weight by Dhonielle Clayton : (view spoiler)[Interesting concept. It kind of hit me in the feels and I didn't expect it. I feel like the new love they mentioned for her might be a pregnancy maybe? Seeing him with a faded love felt so sad but so real. (hide spoiler)]

11. Unmoor by Mark Oshiro : (view spoiler)[This was about heartbreak. The pain, loss & process of moving on, I guess? Not sure what to say about this one other than he deserved better than Arturo, the cheater. (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

12. The coldest spot in the universe by Samira Ahmed : (view spoiler)[This one was about climate change and oh boy, I got depressed so quickly. It's one of the topics that stresses me / scares me the most in life. I had to stop reading for the night and finish it in the morning... (hide spoiler)]

13. The beginning of monsters by Tessa Gratton : (view spoiler)[Meh, I didn't like this one. Didn't connect with it. (hide spoiler)]

14. Longer than the threads of time by Zoraida Cordova : (view spoiler)[ A Rapunzel story where she got out of the tower, locking him in instead. I found a few little things funny which was nice since there weren't any fun stories in this anthology. However, the ending felt abrupt. I feel like it wasn't complete and would have liked to know the rest of the story... (hide spoiler)]

15. Habibi by Tochi Onyedbuchi : (view spoiler)[I didn't like the way it was written, it made it difficult for me to focus and understand it which sucks since this is the last story of this anthology :/ (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Wow, this was definitely worth the read! I requested this book by mistake on Netgalley because I didn't think I would like a short story anthology but I was wrong!! This was so good.

I liked a lot of them but my favorites were #2 The silk blade and #6 A royal affair... I'm shocked at how much I loved them ahah. Some of them I didn't love but discovering the others was really worth it. I'll have to pay more attention to anthologies from now on!

[Alaina]

Going to start this tomorrow after Blood Sworn

[Aly]

I need to read this! Maybe tomorrow. Kelly, the fact that you liked it really motivates me

[Kelly]

Some of the stories were really good. It was more of a 4 stars but it surprised me so I gave it 5 :)

[Aly]

Kelly wrote: "Some of the stories were really good. It was more of a 4 stars but it surprised me so I gave it 5 :)"

I usually don't like anthologies so I'm glad to hear this is so good

[Kelly]

well this was my first anthology so I might be biased ahah

[Alaina]

A Universe of Wishes: (view spoiler)[I mean, it was cute and I liked Sage and Thorn.. but dang, he used ALL the wishes. What if it didn't work and Thorn was thrown in jail? I'm just saying.. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

The Silk Blade: (view spoiler)[Not gonna lie was getting some Mulan vibes-ish and I was loving it all. Sad that it ended like that because I definitely wanted more. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

The Scarlet Woman: (view spoiler)[Since I've never read the series, or the first book like you Kelly, I'm just confused. Is Gemma like the witchy version of Sherlock Holmes? Also, I despise Felicity. Who knew I could dislike a character within the first few moments of meeting them.. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Cristal y Ceniza: (view spoiler)[I was TOTALLY getting Cinderella vibes! I also loved all the lgbtqia+ representation in it as well. Would've loved for this to be a full ass book too! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Liberia: (view spoiler)[So.. this is awkward.. the entire time they were mentioning a ship I kept thinking of a god damn boat. It was until they said 'land' that I was like.. OH SHIT THEY ARE FLYING?!? Where is my head at? lol (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

A Royal Affair: (view spoiler)[Well shit, it's been like 2 years(ish) since I've read the Shades of Magic Trilogy and after this short story.. I think I need to dive back into it 2021. Yep, totally going to do it. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

The Takeback Tango: (view spoiler)[They were kind of cute together but I don't think a lot happened in this little story.. I might have to try another book by this author. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Dream and Dare: (view spoiler)[I kind of wish I got a bit more background while reading this book. I liked getting to know Dream but we don't know much from Dare's point of view.. which I would've liked to get. (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Alaina wrote: "A Royal Affair: [spoilers removed]"

If you want to BR the Shades of Magic trilogy in 2021, I'm in! It's one of the series I really want to get to next year :)

[Kelly]

Alaina wrote: "The Takeback Tango: [spoilers removed]"

Yes please do that! The Black Sun is great ^^

[Alaina]

Kelly wrote: "Alaina wrote: "A Royal Affair: [spoilers removed]"

If you want to BR the Shades of Magic trilogy in 2021, I'm in! It's one of the series I really want to get to next year :)"

OMG YES! Let's do it! January??

[Alaina]

Kelly wrote: "Alaina wrote: "The Takeback Tango: [spoilers removed]"

Yes please do that! The Black Sun is great ^^"

I will add the book to my TBR.. if it isn't already there lol

[Alaina]

Wish: (view spoiler)[Aw, I'm happy she got see it, if only for a little bit. That was really cute. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

The Weight: (view spoiler)[Oh no, they are going to break up. Aren't they? Cruel ending man. I'm going with that vibe because he has the fading love in his heart.. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Unmoor: (view spoiler)[Wow. So he completely forgot him? Also why was Arturo getting his memories wiped? He was the ass in the "relationship". (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

The Coldest Spot in the Universe: (view spoiler)[Global Warming? #FakeNews according to our current president.. which is laughable. This story just made me all sorts of sad. It also kind of reminded me of the movie... 2012! Also, the burning of books felt like a stab to the heart.. but I totally get the whole trying to stay warm/alive by doing so. Still... my heart hurts. (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

January it is!

[Alaina]

Kelly wrote: "January it is!"

Yay! Do you want a particular date? Or is the 1st okay?

[Kelly]

The 1st is good. I'll probably try to read one book every 2 weeks or so

[Alaina]

Kelly wrote: "The 1st is good. I'll probably try to read one book every 2 weeks or so"

Sounds good to me!

[Alaina]

I'll make the thread after this dumb phone call.

[Aly]

Oh boy, I'll try to start this tonight.
Also joining for Shades of Magic!

[Alaina]

The Beginning of Monsters: (view spoiler)[I'm sorry.. but a sky-whale? Where can I see one of those? Other than that, it was an okay story.. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Aly wrote: "Oh boy, I'll try to start this tonight.
Also joining for Shades of Magic!"

Yesss! Also my dumb phone call went on forever. And ever. AND EVER. I'm finally free lol.

[Alaina]

Here is the thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Aly]

FREEEEEDOOOOM

[Alaina]

I know right.. just to walk into another damn phone call. WHY

[Alaina]

Longer Than the Threads of Time: (view spoiler)[What a twist on Rapunzel.. I liked it but I kind of wanted more to happen before it ended. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Habibi: (view spoiler)[An interesting way to end this book with letters between these two. It' just sucks that I wasn't that invested in them but I did get sad over some things that were mentioned. I will hope that they met one another. (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Alaina wrote: "Longer Than the Threads of Time: [spoilers removed]"

I think I saw somewhere that her short story was set in the world she already wrote about but I can't remember which book it is

[Alaina]

Kelly wrote: "Alaina wrote: "Longer Than the Threads of Time: [spoilers removed]"

I think I saw somewhere that her short story was set in the world she already wrote about but I can't remember which book it is"

Ooo that's intriguing.. I'll have to look later!

[Aly]

Kelly wrote: "1. A universe of wishes by Tara Sim : [spoilers removed]

2. The silk blade by Natalie C Parker : [spoilers removed]

3. The scarlet woman by Libba Bray : this is a story set in her Gemma Doyle ser..."

I agree, The Silk Blade should be a full story!

[Aly]

Alaina wrote: "A Universe of Wishes: [spoilers removed]"

Haha true!

[Aly]

Alaina wrote: "The Scarlet Woman: [spoilers removed]"

I haven't read Gemma Doyle either so I didn't get that one at all

[Aly]

Universe of Wishes: I liked this one! (view spoiler)[ I felt bad for Thorn and I'm glad he and Sage ended up together (hide spoiler)]

The Silk Blade: I love competitions and wish this one were longer!

The Scarlet Woman: I didn't like Felicity and have no knowledge of Gemma Doyle so eh

Cristal y Ceniza: (view spoiler)[ Definite Cinderella vibes and I would read a full book of this! (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Liberia: (view spoiler)[ I liked the plants being part of her whole family, but this wasn't my favorite (hide spoiler)]

Royal Affair: I only read the first Shades of Magic book and this makes me want to read the series! (view spoiler)[I felt so bad for the main guy and I want him to reunite with the prince! (hide spoiler)]

Take Back Tango: this was okay, it felt a bit rushed

Dream and Dare: (view spoiler)[ I got where this was going, but it needed more details and information (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

Kelly wrote: "12. The coldest spot in the universe by Samira Ahmed : [spoilers removed]

13. The beginning of monsters by Tessa Gratton : [spoilers removed]

14. Longer than the threads of time by Zoraida Cordov..."

Coldest Spot really got me too! It felt very real

[Aly]

Alaina wrote: "Unmoor: [spoilers removed]"

Yeah no kidding! Screw that guy

[Aly]

Alaina wrote: "The Beginning of Monsters: [spoilers removed]"

Not my favorite of the stories