Reviews

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by Saundra Mitchell

hereistheend's review against another edition

4.0

Anthology of stories of queer teens throughout history and fairytales. I love the concept, and the writing is wonderful. It’s cool. I’ve never been into the instantaneous love or infatuation of fairytales though, so the nature of this book isn’t always my favorite. Such a cool book though.

kikide778's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.5

finalefile's review against another edition

3.0

I wish I liked this more. :/ I got bored near the end, didn't pick up the book for a while, and ended up just skimming the last few stories.

My favorite story was The Sweet Trade - teenage girls running off to be pirates together! I would read a whole book of that. And I loved the first sentence: "Clara Elizabeth Byrd had been married twice by the age of sixteen and she had decided she had no taste for it."

Asexual stories: And They Don't Kiss at the end had an ace character, but was not interesting to me. I liked Walking After Midnight - the main character there seemed to be ace or demi. And Every Shade of Red was pretty good - a queer Robin Hood retelling, where Friar Tuck seems to be ace!

imdunn's review against another edition

4.0

This book was everything that I needed right now. I haven't read many short stories, but this anthology was filled with great ones. It also helped me get back into some of my own writing. I'm not going to review all of the individual stories, but I would like to say that my favorites were The End of the World as We Know It, And They Don't Kiss at the End, Burnt Umber, Walking After Midnight, and Molly's Lips. I know; that's a lot, but they were all just so good.

astridmark's review against another edition

2.0

Kinda underwhelming. Some stories where fine, and I really liked a few, but overall it just wasn't for me.

ethana's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

3.0

autumnleeves's review against another edition

4.0

Such a strong short story compilation! Finding historical fiction featuring queer characters (and written by queer authors!) is tough to find, so I love that this exists and that it is so well put together. You also get some fantasy elements in a few of the stories. Read these!

There were no stories I completely disliked, though definitely stories I appreciated more than others.

My favorites included:
The Dresser & The Chambermaid by Robin Talley
The Inferno & The Butterfly by Shaun David Hutchinson
Every Shade of Red by Elliot Wake
Walking After Midnight by Kody Keplinger

I would have happily read entire novels of those stories.

slimbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.5

tetiana's review against another edition

3.0

A lovely anthology of queer historical YA fiction. Some stories are stronger than others, which is to be expected, but I found something to enjoy in every single one of them.