A review by literyture
Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder, by Saundra Mitchell
4.0
One of the things I appreciated the most about "All Out", the first in this 'series' of anthologies, was the variety in the stories. The same was true here - while all of the stories stuck to the basic theme of the collection, there was a wide variety of relationships and identities, a notable range of future time periods, and varying degrees of believable 'reality' vs. more fantasy-leaning sci-fi, and many stories in-between. Some were set in worlds that were not at all far into the future and very similar to our own, or so far ahead that the tech was unimaginable, or not on Earth at all. This kept the collection from getting repetitive or bland, and there were enough standout writing styles from the authors to keep that part of the experience interesting, too. The characters and worlds were diverse and, while there are hard scenarios and questions raised, the collection is still what I sometimes call 'true YA', meaning that while reading it, I could imagine just how much my teenage self would have enjoyed it, either more or just differently than my adult self, which of course makes sense. I think Saundra Mitchell and the authors know their target audience, which is always a good trait to have.
That being said, I would put a gentle warning for those planning on diving into this collection, especially young readers. I'll admit that I made some assumptions going into this - with it being an entirely queer-themed *future* collection, I expected more...optimism, for lack of a better word. While not every story fell into this category, it felt as if there were an almost shocking amount of tales with central themes of homophobia, transphobia, et cetera, as either the main driving conflict or a character-defining experience for the teen protagonists. It was kind of a downer, honestly, to read about how in 100 years or so, in a fictional world, there are still teens risking their lives for transitional medical care, or being disowned by their parents in an apocalyptic scenario over their identity. I was hoping for more of an escapist collection, and while there's nothing wrong with themes of resilience or projected realism, it got to be a lot to read about back-to-back at times, so I'd just advise being aware of this going into the book, if it's a topic any readers are particularly sensitive to.
That being said, I would put a gentle warning for those planning on diving into this collection, especially young readers. I'll admit that I made some assumptions going into this - with it being an entirely queer-themed *future* collection, I expected more...optimism, for lack of a better word. While not every story fell into this category, it felt as if there were an almost shocking amount of tales with central themes of homophobia, transphobia, et cetera, as either the main driving conflict or a character-defining experience for the teen protagonists. It was kind of a downer, honestly, to read about how in 100 years or so, in a fictional world, there are still teens risking their lives for transitional medical care, or being disowned by their parents in an apocalyptic scenario over their identity. I was hoping for more of an escapist collection, and while there's nothing wrong with themes of resilience or projected realism, it got to be a lot to read about back-to-back at times, so I'd just advise being aware of this going into the book, if it's a topic any readers are particularly sensitive to.