This anthology. Hm.

I struggled with a lot of stories in this anthology. But there were also some gems.
Also, I should say that I pretty much did not read any of the booktube articles included in the book. They didn't interest me at all and just felt completely out of place imo.


The Blood of Imuriv by Renée Ahdieh 0/5
I have never liked Ahdieh's writing and this was no exception. I also just DID NOT GET THIS STORY.

Jack by Ameriie 1/5
At least this story made sense. But I wasn't interested in the story or the relationship. I did kinda like the ending though.

Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainan 1/5
This was mildly entertaining. Extremely mild. It was also super cliche and meh.

Shirley & Jim by Susan Dennard 3/5
I liked the concept of this story. I don't think it was written in the most entertaining way. It still dragged a lot for a short story.

The Blessings of Little Wants by Sarah Enni 2/5
I LOVED the world building in this story. And I thought I was liking it and then I got to the end and it just didn't work for me. Also took me a good 15 minutes to figure out what had really happened.

The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer 3.5/5
I don't know if it was the story choice or the writing, but this story felt very Disney-esque. Which is something I really enjoyed. I also really loved the retelling twist this story gave.

Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon 5/5
TW: rape scene

This story is honestly the only reason I would recommend this book. This is the best retelling of a villain I have ever come across. It is written so beautifully and portrays such a great story about the truth behind the veil. Amazing representation of a sexual assault victim. And I actually read and mildly enjoyed the booktube discussion for this story.

Death Knell by Victoria Schwab 5/5
I have never read Schwab before (I know *shock horror*) and this story convinced me that I am truly missing out on so much. This story has so much freaking atmosphere. Absolutely loved the creep-factor.

Marigold by Samantha Shannon DNF
Just no. I stopped at the lines "Girls, it seemed, were just like magpies". Do we actually have to deal with this idea that females are defenseless against shiny things? Puhlease.

You, You, It's All About You by Adam Silvera 2.5/5
I didn't mind this story. Not completely riveting, but entertaining.




And that was where I stopped reading. The book was due back to the library and honestly I had very little motivation to finish it. Apologies to the following stories: Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith, Indigo and Shade by April Genevieve Tucholke and Sera by Nicola Yoon. You may or may not have been good. Either way, you were let down by a lot of the stories before you.