matchhead's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
slay i wish the world would end a little quicker
podanotherjessi's review
I enjoyed almost all of the stories I read in this collection, but anthologies take me a long time, and the library book was due. I'll likely come back to this at some point.
frog_appreciator's review
4.0
This is my first time reading a proper short story collection and I honestly feel really inspired to write now. A good mix of content/worlds/writing styles. I’m especially intrigued by the role playing game at the end I really want to try it out :) Queer survival is always a topic near to my heart
3frenchtoast's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Homophobia
insectoidreviews's review
5.0
This anthology is a balm for the uncertain and unusual times that we currently are in. I have been avoiding anything post apocalyptic because quite frankly, the current times are exactly what the genre touches upon. I backed Glitter + Ashes last year because I love queer speculative fiction anthology and as a teen I devoured so much post apocalyptic and dystopian YA books. I was hesitant to start the ARC since I had not been in a good place with my mental health when I had received it. However, when I did finally start it, I found the stories comforting and soothing. The first story in the anthology felt like home in a way since it just had the energies of one of my queer friends. I was also really intrigued by the inclusion of a ttrpg in the anthology since game writing is something that has been added to the SWFA and Hugo rosters.
What I absolutely loved about this anthology is that it encompasses such a wide range of queer experiences from Ball Culture to Jewish lesbians. The contributing authors each brought something special and unique from their experiences to the table in all their stories to assemble a vibrant picture of futures that could be. I remember when I started reading post-apocalyptic and dystopias in high school and everything was so bland and similar after a while. One of the things I also appreciate is just how trans this anthology is. There were several trans-centric stories and several trans contributing authors. I am nonbinary so I am always wanting to read stories about people like me and the anthology did that for me.
Furthermore content wise, I really appreciate the sheer range of concepts. There’s a vampire story in the anthology! There’s a story about alternate realities! There’s a story about mad max esque bikers! There’s drag queens! There is something for everyone in the anthology. Although, I do have to say my favorite story of the entire anthology was focused on religion, death, and the struggle of being queer in a religious community. It really struck a chord with me because of my experiences but also because of my studies in museum ethics surrounding human remains. I don’t want to give too much out, but it’s really good. Like most anthologies, there were a few entries that weren’t to my personal taste, everything was incredibly solid and well written.
The ttrpg, Dream Askew, was a really fun way to end the anthology. The choice of the last piece being the ttrpg was brilliant since it encourages the reader to go and tell their stories with friends, to take the hope and comfort from the anthology contents, and share it with friends. I struggle with ttrpg rules and handbooks often since they can be quite dense and math (I struggle with basic mathematics). However, I found Dream Askew to be quite accessible and it is also PBTA (powered by the apocalypse/apocalypse world) based game mechanics. PBTA is my favorite ttrpg system since the game play is focused primarily on character interaction and world development instead of fights and dungeon crawls.
I highly recommend this anthology for anyone looking for a stellar round up of short fiction featuring queer voices and themes. It is hopeful for a bright and warm future despite calamity and chaos. This is the post apocalyptic fiction that we deserve in a world on fire.
What I absolutely loved about this anthology is that it encompasses such a wide range of queer experiences from Ball Culture to Jewish lesbians. The contributing authors each brought something special and unique from their experiences to the table in all their stories to assemble a vibrant picture of futures that could be. I remember when I started reading post-apocalyptic and dystopias in high school and everything was so bland and similar after a while. One of the things I also appreciate is just how trans this anthology is. There were several trans-centric stories and several trans contributing authors. I am nonbinary so I am always wanting to read stories about people like me and the anthology did that for me.
Furthermore content wise, I really appreciate the sheer range of concepts. There’s a vampire story in the anthology! There’s a story about alternate realities! There’s a story about mad max esque bikers! There’s drag queens! There is something for everyone in the anthology. Although, I do have to say my favorite story of the entire anthology was focused on religion, death, and the struggle of being queer in a religious community. It really struck a chord with me because of my experiences but also because of my studies in museum ethics surrounding human remains. I don’t want to give too much out, but it’s really good. Like most anthologies, there were a few entries that weren’t to my personal taste, everything was incredibly solid and well written.
The ttrpg, Dream Askew, was a really fun way to end the anthology. The choice of the last piece being the ttrpg was brilliant since it encourages the reader to go and tell their stories with friends, to take the hope and comfort from the anthology contents, and share it with friends. I struggle with ttrpg rules and handbooks often since they can be quite dense and math (I struggle with basic mathematics). However, I found Dream Askew to be quite accessible and it is also PBTA (powered by the apocalypse/apocalypse world) based game mechanics. PBTA is my favorite ttrpg system since the game play is focused primarily on character interaction and world development instead of fights and dungeon crawls.
I highly recommend this anthology for anyone looking for a stellar round up of short fiction featuring queer voices and themes. It is hopeful for a bright and warm future despite calamity and chaos. This is the post apocalyptic fiction that we deserve in a world on fire.
perfektionaise's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
readmeup's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
ryttu3k's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
rivqa's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A lovely assortment of stories about queer people surviving various apocalypses. As is often the case, some stories were stronger than others. This may be partly because many of the stories were quite short, whereas I was hoping for something meatier. Still, there are some real gems in here.
taratearex's review
4.0
This was lovely, a great collection of stories - queer tales at the end of the world, but all with a moment of hope, rebuilding, love, connection, and care. "Just because it's a harsh world out there, doesn't mean we have to be harsh to ourselves, or each other". There's about 20ish stories, many are short and sweet. There's a ton of variety in the stories in what "end of the world" means, I loved taking a quick dive into a new world with each story and I loved that they all had an element of comfort to them. As the back cover says "What does hope look like when everything is lost?"
It's really a perfect book for this moment, I highly recommend it.
There's also two poems and an roleplaying game (I just skimmed the role playing game at the end).
It's really a perfect book for this moment, I highly recommend it.
There's also two poems and an roleplaying game (I just skimmed the role playing game at the end).