Reviews

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

gilliganisland's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

jasannalise's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

3.5

loved the queer focus and cute romances!! quality was a bit varied for a short story collection and i felt like a few blended together. favs were burnt umber, molly’s lips and every shade of red.

wisteriamoon's review against another edition

5.0

This was really really good! I loved almost all of these stories, there was just such a cool variety of stories and I loved them! Such a talented group of writirs, and I also loved that it was all historical! This was just a very lovely, refreshing read.

erickabdz's review against another edition

4.0

Love takes many forms

What a wonderful collection. All Out is a compelling anthology that puts queer people into different eras, with a wide variety of contexts and stories to tell, all with the purpose of showing us that queer people have always been in the history. The only thing that was included in all the stories was hope —even when things get hard, all of the stories end up leaving you thinking that everything will be okay.

The collection begins with one of my favorite stories, Roja by [a:Anna-Marie McLemore|6434877|Anna-Marie McLemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1516319453p2/6434877.jpg]. Everybody that reads my reviews must know that I have longed for good Mexican representation, and Roja had it all and I can't wait to read more of McLemore. I also loved Every Shade of Red by [a:Elliot Wake|15254487|Elliot Wake|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1480863996p2/15254487.jpg], Burnt Umber by [a:Mackenzi Lee|7327341|Mackenzi Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1512266703p2/7327341.jpg], The Girl With the Blue Lantern by [a:Tess Sharpe|6580285|Tess Sharpe|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1372741792p2/6580285.jpg] and the three last stories of the anthology: Three Witches by [a:Tessa Gratton|3111338|Tessa Gratton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1328563756p2/3111338.jpg], The Inferno and the Butterfly by [a:Shaun David Hutchinson|3130410|Shaun David Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1387295428p2/3130410.jpg] and Healing Rosa by [a:Tehlor Kay Mejia|16305520|Tehlor Kay Mejia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517803467p2/16305520.jpg]. Healing Rosa also had a Mexican setting and I appreciated lots the good portrayal of our culture!

As I said, the stories featured a wide range of themes. Some of them included magic, and I couldn't help myself to like them the most. Even then, some of them like Three Witches dealt with harder, important topics that I'm glad were addressed with a positive light. Overall, I would have liked a little bit more of diversity —geographically, especially, but it is still a great anthology with lots of amazing stories and I couldn't appreciate more the effort and love put into this book!

elliereads97's review against another edition

4.0

this was by FAR my favorite anthology i've ever read!! although my ratings (below) vary across the board, my overall experience was one of pure joy that an anthology like this exists. i'm adding this to my imaginary list of "if only i had had this in my preteen years" books.

what i liked: SO many wonderful queer girls my heart is full; good mix of stories with fantasy/fabulist elements vs. realistic fiction stories; most of the stories are thoroughly researched and historically accurate

what i wish there was more of: diversity in sexuality -- more visibly bisexual characters, more trans* characters, more ace/aro characters; diversity in setting -- most of the stories take place in europe/america; diversity in race -- again with the eurocentricism

here are my detailed reviews of each story below!!

~ "Roja," by Anna-Marie McLemore / ★★★★★
beautiful, badass, lovingly-told fairy-tale about a mexican girl and a trans boy who are outlaws in love. i want more from these characters stat!!

~ "The Sweet Trade," by Natalie C. Parker / ★★☆☆☆
pretty forgettable, kinda boring, but points for lesbian pirates

~ "And They Don't Kiss at the End," Nilah Magruder / ★★★★★
UNDERRATED FAVE. made me cry on a train ride. wonderful ace rep and 70s roller rink aesthetic

~ "Burnt Umber," Mackenzi Lee / ★★★★★
expected nothing less from queen mackenzi. perfect, fluffy, hilarious, what else is new, mackenzi lee could write the phone book and i would both laugh AND cry,,,,

~ "The Dresser and the Chambermaid," Robin Talley / ★★☆☆☆
this was...fine. i found most of the side characters, as well as the ending (

Spoiler

really? king george?

), to be corny and unrealistic, but the normalization of queer ppl and relationships within servant communities was spot-on and refreshing

~ "New Year," Malinda Lo / ★★★★☆
y'all know i'm a malinda lo stan. i'm SO UNBELIEVABLY hype that this is an excerpt from an upcoming piece. rly cool details about chinese-american culture and gay/drag subculture of the 1950s. I N E E D M O R E

~ "Molly's Lips," Dahlia Adler / ★★★★☆
so cute!! so 90's!! girls kissing!! yay!!!

~ "The Coven," Kate Scelsa / ★★☆☆☆
weird as hell and also gertrude stein is there?

~ "Every Shade of Red," Elliot Wake / ★☆☆☆☆
so i...hated this one? i personally really disliked the writing style, and i know this is an own voices trans man story, but i found the plot "twist"/reveal of a character's trans* identity to be lazy at best.

~ "Willows," Scott Tracey / ★★★☆☆
another weird one that took a while to get into. the fantasy concept was a little too large for a short story to adequately take on, but it was unique and interesting nonetheless.

~ "The Girl with the Blue Lantern," Tess Sharpe / ★★★★★
another underrated fave omg??? simple and straightforward, but beautiful and had me crying for no reason other than it was beautiful. give me more lesbian naiad stories

~ "The Secret Life of a Teenage Boy," Alex Sanchez / ★★☆☆☆
the age difference between mc's made me uncomfy but go off

~ "Walking After Midnight," Kody Keplinger / ★★★★☆
~ "The End of the World As We Know It," Sara Farizan / ★★★★☆
both of these were really cute lesbian contemporaries and i'm gay as hell!!!!!!!

~ "Three Witches," Tessa Gratton / ★★★☆☆
kind of bizarre and the ending didn't make sense, but the romance was like....reeeeeeeallllllly hot? whew.

~ "The Inferno and the Butterfly," Shaun David Hutchinson / ★★★★★
gay magicians in victorian london. how the fuck did shaun david hutchinson find my diary what the fuck who let him --

~ "Healing Rosa," Tehlor Kay Mejia / ★★★★★
this anthology started and ended with heart-wrenching queer mexican love stories fuck me ALL the way up. give me brujería and lesbians and you know i'm already throwing my money

indigo_fox's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective

• 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

4.0

Overall, I enjoyed this anthology. It's always nice to see LGBTQ+ characters in stories. It's not something I was able to grow up with so I love being able to read them now. The writing was fantastic for a lot of these stories. I found myself getting lost in the world with quite a few of them, although there were some that I struggled to push through and others that were just meh.

I've rated the individual stories below. 

• Roja (3.5): I loved the magical realism aspect of this story. 
• The Sweet Trade (4): This one was very fun! I was easily pulled into the story! I love this writing style! 
• And They Don't Kiss at the End (4): This was a good one! I love the ace spec rep, it's always hard to find. 
• Burt Umber (4): I love Augustus. I loved the setting for this story too. I've been on an art kick since watching Blue Period XD
• The Dresser and the Chambermaid (3.25): Seemed kinda slow and not my favorite writing style.It did get me to smile a few times tho!
• New Year (3) Writing style didn't draw me in, I kept putting it down to give myself a break before pushing forward. 
• Molly's Lips (4) I might be biased on this one. 
• The Coven (3)
• Every Shade of Red (3.75) I always enjoy a Robin Hood story.
• Willows (2.5) This one was very wordy. It was kind of a drag to read but the ending was nice. 
• The Girl with the Blue Lantern (3.75) This one is giving fairytales. I really enjoyed it but fantasy is my favorite genre. 
• The Secret Life of a Teenage Boy (4.25) Loved this one, especially the end. 
• Walking After Midnight (4.25) I loved this story more than I thought I would when I started it. 
• The End of the World As We Know It (3.75) 
• Three Witches (3) I am confused...other than that it was a good read. 
• The Inferno & The Butterfly (4)
• Healing Rosa (4.5)

 

iloveadamparrish's review against another edition

4.0

actual rating: 4.5

there's something strangely cathartic about reading the untold stories of queer people throughout history. i don't normally enjoy short stories because i'm a very character-driven reader. this anthology, however, manages to balance character-based plots with more atmospheric and poetic musings.

the stories that stood out to me were:
1. roja by anna-marie mclemore
2. burnt umber by mackenzi lee
3. every shade of red by elliot wake
4. the girl with the blue lantern by tess sharpe
5. the inferno & the butterfly by shaun david hutchinson
6. healing rosa by tehlor kay mejia

i'm totally checking out everything ever written by the above authors. with the exception of tess sharpe, as of recent, i'd never read any of them prior to this anthology and am very thankful for this lovely introduction.

my only gripe with this book is that every story takes place in europe or america. that isn't inherently a bad thing, but more diverse settings could have been a step up in my opinion.

tl;dr: read it

readabouttheafterlife's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.5

femininomenon's review against another edition

4.0

4.5/5

Could've been a 5/5 but some of these didn't click with me. Still an amazing read, would definitely recommend.

lilac_moon125's review against another edition

4.0

yay there were so many good stories in this! probably the best anthology i've read tbh? however i did feel like there were a lot of queer identities missing and i don't know why the editor couldn't have included a wider variety of authors
also there were a few stories that probs could have done with some more editing they were a bit questionable in terms of plot and dialogue etc. anyway!
favourite stories:
- three witches
- healing rosa
- the coven
- every shade of red