A review by ceallaighsbooks
A Universe of Wishes by Tessa Gratton, Samira Ahmed, Jenni Balch, Dhonielle Clayton, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Nic Stone, Tara Sim, Kwame Mbalia, V.E. Schwab, Natalie C. Parker, Mark Oshiro, Zoraida Córdova, Rebecca Roanhorse, Libba Bray

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

“Also, foreigners who came to Gaza would bring books. And we would sometimes fight over them. They were portals to different worlds. And in them you could sometimes see yourself. Even though they were rarely about Arabs, and rarely about young Arab boys like me, if I squinted, I could see in the contours of their heroes something of my shoulders and my hair and my hands and feet. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine myself as the main character. And I was a hero who did not destroy things but saved them.” — from “Habibi”, by Tochi Onyebuchi

TITLE—A Universe of Wishes
AUTHOR—edited by Dhonielle Clayton
PUBLISHED—2020

GENRE—YA Fantasy / Sci Fi
SETTING—fantasy worlds; spaceships; the future; alternate contemporary worlds
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—lgbtqia+ themes, feminist themes, environmental themes, oppression, incarceration, human nature, love

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; Quincy (Tochi Onyebuchi’s “Habibi”); Dare & Dream (Nic Stone’s “Dream and Dare”); Sage (Tara Sim’s “A Universe of Wishes”).
PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; none of these stories were really about plot, which I thought was interesting? mostly about character development, worldbuilding, and philosophy—the only story whose plot kind of shook me was Zoraida Córdova’s Rapunzel retelling (“Longer Than the Threads of Time”)—there was a twist that made me sit up straight in my seat. Waiting for the full-length book for this one *for* *sure*.
BONUS ELEMENT/S—Samira Ahmed’s story, “The Coldest Spot in the Universe” was an archaeology story!! And it was philosophically *fantastic*.
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; especially “Habibi”, “The Coldest Spot in the Universe”, and “Liberia” (Kwame Mbalia).

This was such a great collection of stories—a very good mix with every story being completely different from each of the others in all respects. It also lives up to its description of “diverse” with trans rep, An/Ans pronoun rep, queer themes, BIPOC-centered stories, etc. Maybe would have liked to see a story featuring explicit Neurodivergent rep but I appreciate what was accomplished nevertheless. Short story anthologies are also such a great way to discover new authors!

To be honest I was going to give this book a 4.5 star rating until I read Tochi Onyebuchi’s “Habibi”, which is the last story in the collection, and that story alone bumped this anthology up to an easy five stars. 😂<3 I’ve already reread it seven times. 🙈  If you were only going to read three stories out of this collection I’d recommend that one, “Liberia”, and “The Coldest Spot in the Universe”. “Dream and Dare” by Nic Stone was also a personal favorite of mine because the writing, characters, and setting felt like an actual dream I’ve had and I was just obsessed with it.

“Please write me back.
Even if you aren’t real."
— from “Habibi”

I also thought the worldbuilding was particularly cool in Tessa Gratton’s “The Beginning of Monsters”—I didn’t quite follow the storyline of this one (it was gorgeously complex and my brain wasn’t following, will need to reread) but I definitely think that the author’s vision deserved many many more pages and I would 100% read a full novel/series based on this premise. It would make for an extremely interesting and unique high-fantasy series. The worldbuilding was also pretty cool in Natalie C. Parker’s “The Silk Blade”.

“We study the ancient ones to learn about ourselves. They are not a monoculture, not a song with a single note. They are a collection of stories, an endless symphony, a galaxy of stars.” — from Samira Ahmed’s “The Coldest Spot in the Universe”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW // physical abuse, domestic abuse, violence, blood, genocide, incarceration, torture, racism, police brutality, starvation, death, murder

Further Reading—
  • A Phoenix First Must Burn, ed. by Patricia Caldwell
  • How Long ’Til Black Future Month, by N. K. Jemisin
  • Riot Baby, by Tochi Onyebuchi
  • Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse
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