mmelibertine's review against another edition
3.0
This is a lovely book, one that embraces its unclassifiable nature. I love it for that, for the musical, lyrical quality of so much of the prose, but it also makes some stories less accessible than others. That said, there are gems here, and I suspect everyone will find a different one that speaks to them. I highly recommend this collection!
bookdeviant's review against another edition
3.0
this...THIS is why i struggle so much to read anthologies. the concept drags me in. there are stories are are straight up MAGICAL and i want more of. and then there are others that I'm skipping past for one reason or another.
tregina's review against another edition
3.0
This anthology was like a necklace set with beautiful jewels that I just didn't take to the cut or setting of. That it wasn't for me doesn't take away from the fact that they're beautiful jewels! The necklace analogy work for me because there is also a distinct editorial hand to this, the thing that ties all of the jewels together into jewellery. Because they all went together so smoothly and well, that also meant that I didn't find something quite different enough from the rest to really capture my sensibilities. Still, a great idea and a lovely anthology!
battlepoet's review against another edition
4.0
A mixed bag of short stories on love and grief. I’ll have to double-check the table of contents to jog my memory on my favourite stories.
delaventura's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to love everything in this book but it just wasn't the case. I really fell in love with a couple of the stories but others left me incredibly confused what was going on and I just ended up skipping through.
candidceillie's review
5.0
This was absolutely beautiful. It filled my heart with joy.
Read my full review HERE!
Read my full review HERE!
mmelibertine's review
3.0
This is a lovely book, one that embraces its unclassifiable nature. I love it for that, for the musical, lyrical quality of so much of the prose, but it also makes some stories less accessible than others. That said, there are gems here, and I suspect everyone will find a different one that speaks to them. I highly recommend this collection!
utopiastateofmind's review
4.0
this is a truly wonderful anthology full of stories that push the very limits of our expectations of fantasy. it should be on your list of you love short fiction, fantasy, and evocative language.
disclaimer: I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review.
disclaimer: I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review.
inkdrunkmoth's review
4.0
This collection of stories were as the description calls it - magical. It was unique and left you feeling like you've never heard stories like it before. The stories come from a diverse cast of writers from around the world, giving you a diverse collection of stories and characters. One of my favourite stories had to do with an idea of genderfluidness, which I happen to be. This was the first story I ever read with a genderfluid set of characters and I honestly can't get enough of it. I'll probably end up holding that story close to me for that reason, and the fact it was so well written that it made me so happy for this progress.
As I've mentioned before, it's hard to really critique short stories, more so ones that are relatively short, only a page or two, which a few were. For the most part, these stories were done in a way that was prose or lyrical. Which is something I always love. However, there were a few that felt like simply words thrown together to creative something, but I couldn't seem to see the story in it. It's possible that when I read it, my brain was too tired to comprehend what they were about or it just went over my head, but I struggled to find stories in them, which was really disappointing in comparison to the overall beautifully done stories that were stories that were actually stories. There were also a few stories that weren't long enough in my opinion to actually make it a full story. I felt like the plot was just shortly brushed over and it didn't have the same impact as some of the others.
However, I HIGHLY recommend this book for people who want sci-fi/fantasy stories created by a diverse cast of writers that touch on their own cultures.
As I've mentioned before, it's hard to really critique short stories, more so ones that are relatively short, only a page or two, which a few were. For the most part, these stories were done in a way that was prose or lyrical. Which is something I always love. However, there were a few that felt like simply words thrown together to creative something, but I couldn't seem to see the story in it. It's possible that when I read it, my brain was too tired to comprehend what they were about or it just went over my head, but I struggled to find stories in them, which was really disappointing in comparison to the overall beautifully done stories that were stories that were actually stories. There were also a few stories that weren't long enough in my opinion to actually make it a full story. I felt like the plot was just shortly brushed over and it didn't have the same impact as some of the others.
However, I HIGHLY recommend this book for people who want sci-fi/fantasy stories created by a diverse cast of writers that touch on their own cultures.
tregina's review
3.0
This anthology was like a necklace set with beautiful jewels that I just didn't take to the cut or setting of. That it wasn't for me doesn't take away from the fact that they're beautiful jewels! The necklace analogy work for me because there is also a distinct editorial hand to this, the thing that ties all of the jewels together into jewellery. Because they all went together so smoothly and well, that also meant that I didn't find something quite different enough from the rest to really capture my sensibilities. Still, a great idea and a lovely anthology!