Welcome Home is unfortunately not for me. I had tried this book and set it down in hopes of one day coming back to it, but now it is time to mark as DNF. I'm sure other readers will enjoy!

A wonderful collection of short stories that explore the many varied experiences when it comes to adoption. There were a lot of authors in the collection that I was familiar with but also a lot of new-to-me authors as well so I really liked that element. If you're looking for a great short story collection with a compelling and heart-warming focus, I highly recommend this one.

Welcome Home was a heartwarming collection of adoption stories that explore the meaning family, love, and home. I liked that it incorporated a variety of genres; the speculative stories were definitely among my favorites in the collection. The contributors were diverse and I appreciated that the stories included ones about transracial adoption the particular experiences that involves. The stories portrayed a variety of families and family structures and complex feelings about adopted and birth families and the relationships adoptees have with each. What they all had in common was a deep sense of love.

Thank you for providing a copy of this book for review however I was unable to open the file for this document unfortunately! Apologies.

I have mixed feelings about anthologies. Anthologies are a great way to be introduced to new authors. However, in every anthology there are always few stories that just aren't really my jam. I do love adoption stories so I thought I would give this one a shot.

I loved almost all the stories in 'Welcome Home'. A lot of the stories ended on a cliff hanger. I'm not sure if this is an intentional theme or if the authors meant to leave us waiting for follow-up stories. Either way this left me wanting more from most of the authors.

This is a great anthology for anyone who has been touched by adoption.
1.Carlos and the Fifteen-Year-Old Heart-Definitely unique but a little too silly for me (2 1/2 Stars)
2.Strong Enough-Super Hero story (3 Stars)
3.The Sign-Cute LGBT (4 Stars)
4.Up by a Million-One of my favorites about a mother in prison (5 Stars)
5.Mama's Eyes-Seemed like a TV movie script and a little over the top (2 Stars)
6.A Kingdom Bright and Burning-Really nice story fantasy/reality story (4 1/2 Stars)
7.The Inexplicable Weight of Mountains-Simple story about finding birth parents (3 Stars)
8.Webbed-Magical and Sweet (4 1/2 Stars)
9.Life:Starring Tallulah Grey-Ok story about a movie star teenager (2 1/2 Stars)
10.Salvation-A look at the underbelly of adoption (3 1/2 Stars)
11.Twenty-Seven Days-A Look at Friendship and Adoption (4 Stars)
12.Ink Drips Black-A fable type story (2 1/2 Stars)
13.Upon the Horizon's Verge-Wonderful Story-Magical and lovely and one of my favorites-I plan to read more from this author (5 Stars)
14.Lullaby-My least favorite story-a sci-fi that only touches on adoption (1 1/2 Stars)
15.Census Man-Love this one-historical fiction-also one of my favorites (5 Stars)
16.Invited-Also,loved this one-a look at different POV of adoption (5 Stars)
17.Empty Lens-Nice story about an girl with an blog but not very memorable (3 Stars)
18.A Lesson in Biology-Ok predictable story about making a family tree (3 Stars)
19.Tunneling Through-A LGBT point of view (3 1/2 Stars)
20.These Broken Stars-Usually not a big fantasy person but this one is simple and lovely and I loved it (5 Stars)
21.The Snow Covered Sidewalk-Cute story about relating to other people (4 Stars)
22.Deeply-Fantascy and not really my thing but I loved the ducky (2 1/2 Stars)
23.Meant to be Broken-Great story. Looks at how adoption affects a range of people. (4 1/2 Stars)
24.Moving the Body-Totally different and unexpected and disturbing (4 Stars)
25.In Pieces-Also a sci-fi and very Star Trekish (2 1/2 Stars)
26.Peace of Paper-A look at adult adoption (4 1/2 Stars)
27.Happy Beginnings-A look at a teenage adoptee issues effecting others (2 1/2 Stars)
28.The Take Back-A look at the emotions surrounding adoptions (4 1/2 Stars)
29.Jar of Broken Wings-Cute story about the magic of childhood (3 Stars)This review was originally posted on The Book return...

This book should come with a stack of tissues. In fact, I think I will make sure to gift it with a box of Kleenex to everyone I know. I loved it so much!

Stories like these always make me cry. They make me feel empathy is not a long thing since gone. It offers a multitude of perspectives to adoption, a concept this d*mned world has considered not enough part of a family but the real meaning is to really fully belong.

This book is so good and so important, I will warn you know you will need tissues, I don't want to say to much about these stories as they are short and I don't want to spoil them but all you need to know is you should read it now!!

My favourite stories were

The Take Back
Peace of Paper
Ink Drips Black

I have been interested in adoption for as long as I can remember. I have never wanted to have children through pregnancy, and always new I wanted to adopt one day. I'm so excited that a collection like this exists!

This book was so heartwarming and wonderful that as soon as I read it, I went out and bought a copy! I loved every part of this book, each story, they all had so much personality and were so enjoyable!

Sadly, this wasn't for me. I love the premise of the anthology. I think there is a lack of literature about adoption and featuring main characters who have been adopted and was so happy to see a whole anthology dedicated to those. However, for me, there were just too many stories. I got bored of this book about half way through and felt that many of the stories would have been better had they been given more chance to develop. In my opinion, this would have been a much more enjoyable anthology had there been less contributors with longer stories, giving more chance for the stories and characters to be developed.

Like all anthologies, this one was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some stories I loved, some I really didn't care for, and some I didn't have any strong feelings about one way or the other. The one thing that I thought all of them had in common (besides the overall adoption theme of the anthology) was that they were really short. In so many cases, I didn't think they were fully developed, or I found myself wondering if I could have liked them more if they'd been expanded for a few more pages. I think I would have enjoyed reading this more if I had read a story or maybe two at a time in between reading other novels. That way, they're more spaced out and I don't keep as many plotlines in my head at once.

WELCOME HOME was a book I enjoyed, but did not overly love, and this is a case of 'it's not you, it's me', because I have come to realize I am not a fan of anthologies. However, as anthologies go, this a superb one, featuring tales from both famous and new voices of YA, all centering around the topic of adoption. It made me laugh, and it made me cry, and I would most definitely recommend it.

WELCOME HOME is a collection of stories about adoption from a number of perspectives, from teens who are meeting their birth parents for the first time to ones choosing whether or not to have their own children up for adoption. There is a wide variety of authors from C.J. Redwine to Eric Smith (also the editor of the collection) to Sangu Mandanna.

Anthologies are some of the hardest books to review, particularly in this case. The voices, genres, and perspectives range across the board, bound by the common theme of adoption. There is certainly a gap in the field from varying adoption perspectives, and WELCOME HOME provides a great opportunity for readers to find themselves represented. While I think the different genres included (contemporary, fantasy, scifi, etc.) are fascinating, sometimes the switch in genre between stories is jarring.

My favorite stories are C.J. Redwine’s, which features a mother and newly adopted daughter bonding with both awkwardness and kindness; Julie Eshbaugh’s, which brings up visible genetic attributes (webbed feet), something that can be a constant reminder of biological parents; and Eric Smith’s story of weighing risk and consequences. Caela Carter’s also features a strong voice and intriguing snapshot.

Without a doubt, those who read WELCOME HOME will find themselves eager for more from many of the writers and more stories of adoption and the many nuances within blood and chosen families.

A mixed bag, but there are some goodies in it.

My favorite stories were Up by a Million by Caela Carter, Upon the Horizon’s Verge by Sangu Mandanna, Invited by Lauren Morrill, and The Take Back by Kate Watson. The reason these were my favorite, I think, is because I am adopted and so I related to them more. They had a very realistic feel to them which is why I connected with those stories. It is has never really bothered me that I am adopted but I have always wondered what my birth mother went through. Was it easy for her to give me up? Was it heartbreaking? I like what the author writes in Upon the Horizon’s Verge, “She does matter, I say. That’s why I want to give her up. She’s not my dream, but she is somebody else’s. She deserves to be there, with that somebody else. She deserves to be their dream.” I know I was my adopted parents dream. They tried for years to have children. In vitro was very new and expensive and there was no way they could have afforded it so they turned to adoption. It was their only chance of having a baby.

Other Thoughts

Of the 28 stories, I only enjoyed reading 4! I felt like most of these stories were rushed and not well written. There were even a couple times the story ended and I kept turning pages looking for more because it didn’t seem like the story had ended. Even though they are supposed to be short stories, there can still be some depth to the characters and have a thought out plot. Unfortunately, these stories did not have any of the above. I would have loved to read true adoption stories. Ironically, many of the authors have adopted children or family members that are adopted and talked about their experiences at the end of their story.

This book surprised me. I didn't think I was a fan of short story collections and I have no idea where that ludicrous idea came from. This was amazing. Not only did I love the variety of stories and authors but they were written in a way that made me crave the author's voice. The whole collection was beautiful. I might have a personal interest in the subject of adoption but I agree that this anthology should be widely read and spread throughout schools and libraries. It's so important and I'm so grateful to Eric for putting this together. A must read for sure.

This was one of those anthologies I have talked about before where a publishing house (this time it was an agent) gets a couple of high profile authors to contribute stories to a themed anthology and then they fill the rest of the book with unknown, some even previously unpublished, writers. Collections like this are usually less than 50% good, and that would be okay if the publisher only charged $1.99, or even better, 99¢ for the ebook because they are basically promotional samplers. This ebook is $8.60! That's robbery.

The biggest problem I had with this book, besides the duds, was that it was apparent many of the stories were not originally about adoption, and they were made anthology "worthy" by adding something about adoption, or foster care, or making the MC an adoptee and then juggling the story around to make it fit.

A couple of the stories weren't even about adoption at all. I really liked the one by William Ritter, the author of the Jackaby books, but it wasn't about adoption. There was also one that should never have been tweaked to represent adoption because of a negative element, and another that should not have been included because of the negative slant to it.

Another thing was there were too many weak endings. My buddy reader mentioned this, too. I have a feeling many of those were chapters from full novels doctored up to read like a short story. Again, okay if the book is $1.99, not okay if it is almost $9.00.
∵
My favorite was Peace of Paper by Courtney C. Stevens because I loved the realistic Contemporary writing style and it was a solid short story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was about how important it is to have family discussion and support when you are making a big life decision. I also really liked Twenty-Seven Days by Jenny Kaczotowski. It was about foster care and my aunt fostered children when I was growing up.

Others I liked a lot…
Tunneling Through ~ Shannon Parker
These Broken Stars ~ C.J. Redwine
A Kingdom Bright and Burning ~ Dave Cronnis
Webbed ~ Julie Esbaugh

These two were liked by both of us...
Invited ~ Lauren Morill
Upon the Horizon’s Verge ~ Sangu Mandanna

*Eight good stories out of twenty-eight garnered this anthology two stars from me. My buddy reading partner was kinder with three stars even though she only really liked four of the stories.

Carlos and the Fifteen-Year-Old Heart by Adi Alsaid was eh. I think I got what he was going for, but it just didn't click well for me. (2 stars)

Strong Enough by Karen Atkins twisted the topic of adoption through a superhero storyline. So that was interesting, but I wish it'd been longer. I know it's an anthology and these are supposed to be short, but it really didn't feel like, well, enough. Also, if you took out the fact that the MC was adopted by non-supers, it would not be in this collection, so there's that. (3 stars)

The Sign by Erica M. Chapman had more focus on adoption and the complicated feelings that can come from wanting to make contact with your birth parents. I think she did well showing that, but it went in a direction I wasn't expecting, and I don't know how to feel about it. But I was pleasantly surprised with the story on a whole. (3.5 stars)


These stories just aren't doing much for me, so I'm gonna skip around to authors I love/know, or those I want to try, and talk about theirs afterward!

The Inexplicable Weight of Mountains by Helene Dunbar was one I wanted to read because I really liked her book, What Remains, but I just didn't feel anything for this story. It was about a boy who wasn't sure if he wanted answers to his questions regarding his birth parents/early life or not. Not much went on in it. (2.5 stars)

Webbed by Julie Esbaugh was interesting. I'm not sure I totally get the ending (I mean, I understood her letting go, but not the castle-under-the-water part, like was it real??? Or just made up??? Confused). I kind of wish it HAD been more fantastical, as I thought that was what the author was setting up for. So this disappointed me, but I did like it. (3 stars)

Life: Starring Tallulah Grey by Lauren Gibaldi was kind of eh. It was a lot of dialogue over introspection, more telling than showing. I did find it cool that Tally is a star on a vampire TV show, and unique in that her being a celebrity was a big aspect of how her birth mom coming back into her life is handled. And how very messy families and parents can be. But I just didn't really care for this one. (2.5 stars)

Census Man by Mindy McGinnis felt so different from the first few I read, because I think it was historically set? It was about a little girl in an orphanage who was waiting to be adopted, who hadn't had the best life but who still had hope that she'd find people who want her. I liked it; her writing is always enjoyable. And I thought it was neat that it was inspired by Mindy's grandmother's early life. (3 stars)

Invited by Lauren Morrill was very middle for me. I think this could have been better if it'd been longer, because I really wanted more from Corey's character. She gave up Ella for adoption, which is SO HUGE, but you don't really get to see the impact it's had on her. She talks about it a little bit with one of Ella's dads, but that's it. So it being a short story just didn't have that almost necessary aspect? It wasn't bad, though! (3 stars)

In Pieces by Eric Smith was SO. CONFUSING. I feel like I got dropped in the middle of an ongoing series. Like, the main character, Arcas, is going to meet his birth parents? In the future? He's teleporting to them? idk, the sci-fi aspect completely derailed the story for me, and there was too much of it for me to get a sense of who Arcas is and what he's feeling. This would have been better as a longer book. (2 stars)

Peace of Paper by Courtney C. Stevens was really good! I didn't have much doubt given the love I have for her novel, Faking Normal. She just GETS life and teens and I found this so refreshing. This went in a direction I was NOT expecting (and it almost lost me because I wasn't getting the point of the story for so long), but one that I thoroughly loved. And I loved the message that everyone is worthy. (4 stars)

Happy Beginning by Nic Stone was good too! Though a bit bittersweet, I really enjoyed it. It was about Nyara, but told through the POV of Jenna, like she's telling Ny all of this. And I liked that setup. I also really liked how the author tackled the complications of adoption (even when the adoptive parents are so kind and loving), especially with Ny who is black and Mr. and Mrs. J who are white, which makes it harder for her. This makes me even more excited for Nic's debut! (3.5 stars)

So, I read more of the stories than I thought I would. But I'm not interested in reading more, sadly. I think this type of anthology is needed, for sure. Adoption is very underrepresented (and misrepresented) in books. And some of these were REALLY good! But I think there are just too many authors here, and the stories are SO short, that there's not enough time to truly appreciate them all. I love the theme and how diverse the anthology is, but I'm sad that this just didn't work for me overall. :(


also I WOULD recommend this book, because I think the stories still matter, and that this anthology is important. :) (I didn't want my negative review to show up, so I left the star rating as is)