I enjoyed this book and genuinely felt that it succeeded in what it wanted to accomplish.

Despite not having a strong connection with the characters as I wanted, I felt the stories were strong enough to carry the entire novel for me. Although there is no denying how important the characters were in the trajectory of each story, they weren't enough for me to really care for them. However, in all honesty, I saw myself in them which was why I said that this book succeeded in what it wanted to accomplish.

I ran out of time on the app to read this one so I can’t review it. I would really love to read it in the future so I’m going to buy a copy when I can!

I need to stop trying to read anthologies it always takes me forever to get through them - but I finally got around to this one! I quite liked it, loved the mix of SFF YA and so much diversity was a really fun read. Some of my absolute favorites were: A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim, Liberia by Kwame Mbalia, and The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roadhouse. I quite liked the variety and there was a decent amount of sci fi/dystopian. I also noticed there was some variety in writing styles so I think most would find a story they enjoyed. I rated all either 3 or 4 stars, and overall a 4. I do tend to dislike when they include short stories from another book series as there are 2 in here, one from the Gemma Doyle series and the other from A Darker Shade of Magic. I have not read either, but even if I had I wish instead some independent short stories had been chosen. Overall recommend!!

1. A universe of wishes: 5 stars
A boy who collects wishes from the dead to achieve a certain goal.
The magic was unique and I really liked both Thorn and Seige
I honestly feel like picking up all Tara Sim’s books IMMEDIATELY

2. The silk blade 4 stars
A girl had to fight in some deadly tournaments to become a consort and save her family’s reputation.
Willador made me cheer for her from the first few lines. And I really loved the fighting scenes.
My only issue is that I needed more and some bits were kinda confusing (maybe it was me I don’t know). Definitely will read more of this author.

3. The scarlet woman (a Gemma Doyle story) 2 stars
I was really excited to read a libba bray short story to get a taste of her books, yet it was so disappointing to know that this was a novella related to her older series.. and the ending wasn’t satisfying either. The writing style and the setting really intrigued me though, so might actually pick up her books! <3

4. Cristal y Ceniza 5 stars
A cinderella retelling where the main character has to slip into the ball to convince the king and queen to hear what she has to say about her people. She of course meets the prince in the ball and it was the cutest thing EVER<3 my first time reading a book/story I will definitely check out their other books!

5. Liberia 5 stars
A group of teenagers are sent to space to try and find a place for them and their people to survive. It was a cool story definitely would’ve loved if it was longer (or even A WHOLE BOOK) but oh well lol.

6. A Royal Affair 55555555555 stars!!!!
Not going to lie and say this wasn’t the whole reason I read this book because it IS!!! It is a story about Alucard and Rhy from ADSOM (one of my favorite series) and it has Kell and Lila too but just a few lines. I would say if you haven’t read the series, you should skip this one.

7. The Takeback Tango 5 stars
A solo captain who lost everything she loves and cherishes so she decides to seal back what was her peoples’ from the enemy’s museum and that may lead her to an interesting ally.

8. Dream and Dare 5 stars
This story follows two girls (Dream and Dare). Dreams want to wear “girly” clothes and be “boyish” without being label with these two words. Princess Dare wants to wear whatever she wants and be whoever she wants to be without be labeled weird.

9. Wish 5 stars
The main character grants wishes, he goes through portals to do that and suddenly he realizes that he is not in Earth but a colony in Venus and the wisher wants a very special wish, so he’s determined to grant it.


10. The Weight 5 stars
Every heart tells a story. A story about a world where they take out the couples’ hearts (literally) to see if they have their partner’s name engraved on them. It was kinda disturbing but I really loved it!!

11. Unmoor 5 stars
What if the world you live in has the magic to erase all your painful memories? Aren’t you going to take that opportunity? Young Felix thought so as well and he broke my heart…

12. The Coldest Spot in the Universe 5 stars
This story shows what will happen when the climate changes get out of control and kills everyone on Earth. A girl in the 3000’s finds logs and diaries from a girl who lived on Earth at that time. This was toooo powerful I really teared up reading it.

13. The Beginning of Monsters 1 stars
The only thing I got from this is that a girl can change bodies (make them?) this was so confusing…. Yeah that’s it….

14. Longer Than the Threads of Time 4 stars
A rapunzel retelling. She’s stuck in a magical tower where a few people can see and hear her yet no ones to get to that cursed tower. A brujo decides to finally talk to her and maybe even save her. It was really cute<3 Definity going to check out the author’s other books.

15. Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi 5555555555555 stars!!!!!
This story DESTROYED ME!!!!! It spoke to my soul!! Messages are exchanged between a Palestinian guy and a black American guy. The way the letters were written and how they both suffered a lot yet tried to make it somehow better just destroyed me. I couldn’t stop sobbing while reading and after that too.

--

I listened to the audiobook and would definitely recommend because each story has either one or two narrators.

A YA short story collection featuring some of my fav authors like VE Schwab and Libba Bray, this is a collaboration with We Need Diverse Books. There are 15 unique stories and feature some OwnVoices authors too. And I cannot wait to get my hands on the physical copy of this book as well.

This collection of stories was beautiful! I enjoyed the diverse viewpoints and topics. I was able to read some stories by my favorite authors while also getting introduced to some authors who were new to me and I'd like to now further explore their works. As an lgbt ally and school Psychologist I would recommend this book to any teen looking for a book to help them feel less alone in the world.

I was extremely excited to read this book after discovering my own personal queen bee, Dhonielle Clayton, would be authoring and editing the anthology. Since the book is supposed to be about diversity which is explained perfectly in the forward, I expected many diversities. However, they were mostly racial and queer diversities. There were some true gems that I will be thinking about for a long time and also some that weren’t so great.

1. A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim
⭐️⭐️
Features: racial and queer diversity
Short description: a boy is collecting wishes to make a big wish
This one had an interesting premise which was difficult to understand in the beginning. I think this one may have been better as a longer novel or even a longer short story. The story felt a little rushed on the romance and the problems seemed to resolve a little too quickly.

2. The Silk Blade by Natalie C. Parker
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial, queer, and amputation diversity
Short description: arena contest to help elevate one’s class.
I really enjoyed this one. It was short and wrapped up nicely. I liked the glimpses into the world we received, especially the lipstick mentioning. And I really enjoyed the more casual diversity. This is one I think wouldbe really interesting as a full-length novel, but worked well as a short story too.

3. The Scarlet Woman by Libba Bray
DNF
I've read Libba Bray's other series, and I think since we really didn't have a synposis to go by, it made it difficult to get into. I felt confused from the beginning and had a hard time following.

4. Cristal y Ceniza by Anna-Marie McLemore
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial, queer, and transgender diversity
Short description: Cinderella retelling but with diversity
I really loved this one and the twist on such a well-known classic. It was fun to read and I loved how the author updated the story to fit into a more modern-day retelling. I enjoyed the characters and the writing style and descriptions as well.

5. Liberia by Kwame Mbalia
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial diversity and possible religious diversity
Short description: a group of teens piloting a ship to help save the world
This one was really interesting and I was impressed how easy it was to like it, since I normally have issues following a sci-fi space adventure-esque story. But I really enjoyed the unique culture diversity of this one, and how it felt like we were put in the middle of a story, but we somehow were able to understand everything just fine.

6. A Royal Affair by V. E. Schwab
⭐️⭐️
Features: queer and maybe racial diversity
Short description: continuation from Shades of Magic.
I've never read the series this follows and therefore found it to be not as impressive. It was cute, but I might have enjoyed it more if I had known the original story it came from.

7. The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial diversity
Short description: a heist!
This short story was so much fun, and I really enjoyed how easy it was to follow. I've had my eye on a book by this author and this story really made me feel more confident that I would love it.

8. Dream and Dare by Nic Stone
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Features: racial and queer diversity
Short description: Dream tries to discover how to defeat a monster
This was a cute and fun girl-power-like story. It may have been too young for me to really enjoy as an older adult, but still fun. I liked it, but since I've read so many other books by the author, I definitely expected more.

9. Wish by Jenni Balch
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial and possible disability diversity
Short description: a girl finds a lamp with a genie
Fun, but not as memorable.

10. The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Features: racial diversity
Short description: future society can determine past and present loves by weighing a heart
This is the story that I was most looking forward to it and therefore had the highest expectations for, and it did not let me down. This was kind of scary to read based on the subject matter, but still a very inventive idea, and I really enjoyed how easy it was to read and how easy it was to instantly understand the world and how nicely it wrapped up. This is another I would be interested in reading a full length novel about - maybe with these characters as side characters?

11. Unmoor by Mark Oshiro
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial and queer diversity
Short description: Like a black mirror episode with magic
THIS WAS VERY THRILLING. This is probably the most memorable one for me, because it truly felt like a Black Mirror episode, and it was also very sad and emotional. Everything about this story seemed to get scarier and sadder as it progressed.

12. The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial diversity
Short description: audio transcripts from 2030 and 3027
This was an interesting take on a short story. It's told through audio transcripts from almost-present day to many years in the future. I think the method of storytelling wasn't for me, but the concept and what happens in the transcripts, was interesting.

13. The Beginning of Monsters by Tessa Gratton
⭐️⭐️
Features: queer, and gender diversity
Short description: a society in which people can become part-chimera for a price
This was probably one of my least favorites. It felt very difficult to really understand what was happening and the world that was created in such a short amount of pages. I think this may have benefited from a longer story, but at the same time, I wasn't too interested in it as a short story.

14. Longer Than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Cordova
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial diversity
Short description: Rapunzel retelling with a twist and magic!
I LOVED this retelling. I love a good retelling with a twist, and this was no exception. I loved how Zoraida Cordova took a world she had already created and made it something that her readers could enjoy coming home to, but also made it easy enough for new readers to enjoy. Her story was crafted expertly, and I LOVED all of the twists and the ending. A perfect short story.

15. Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Features: racial and queer diversity
Short description: exchange of letter between two boys in different but similar situations
This one reminded me a little of Dear Martin or more like its sequel Dear Justyce. It set with two boys in prisons of some sort, writing letters to each other about their experiences from halfway across the world. It's told completely through letters, which was a nice touch to build a sort of romance/friendship and I really enjoyed how the author crafted the letters. Would have liked a little more from their stories.

This is a really great Sci-fi/Fantasy anthology! There is a lot of variety here in the types of stories which I really enjoyed. We get some romance, some magic, some spaceships and more! For a few of the stories you get a fun, short visit to familiar world if you have other works by the author. I love short stories for finding new authors so if you are on the look-out for new series to get into you should pick this up and try an author that you haven't read before! And the best part is there is so much great diverse representation in these stories, we need way more books like this!

I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I normally don't like sets of short stories. I decided that I'd read the stories from the authors I know. Then I can come back later and read more later. I am enjoying it so far.

This collection brought a lot of much needed diversity to the world of YA fantasy. The stand out story for me was the one from Nic Stone which I found very moving and exciting.

This was an absolutely lovely anthology, and we definitely need more books like this in publishing. The sheer depth and diversity of stories was refreshing, and I found myself enjoying every one. I can't wait for more books from this organization!

Personally I really enjoyed this YA anthology of diverse fantasy short stories. They ranges from giving a glimpse into an author’s broader work (i.e. Bray, Schwab series) or a different style of an author (i.e. sci-if for Mbalia). My personal favorite was by Mclemore. I don’t think I’ll be purchasing this for my middle school library simply because some of the stories (or those books they reference) skew high school.

This is fast pacing, entertaining, smart, dazzling, horrifying story that I’ve devoured at half day. I loved the characters, I enjoyed the references, I liked the eerie, depressing atmosphere! I’m giving my 4 taxidermy stars and I highly recommend this to the genre’s lovers!

This book has 15 short stories, all great, some ok, and some meh. I would suggest finding your favorite author in here and reading theirs.

A Universe of Wishes is an incredible collection of short stories that contain the representation I've been craving in fantasy for so long. Each story is fully contained in itself, and the amount of magic, mystery, and mayhem is perfectly balanced. The amount of people of color and queer people in this anthology had me tearing up-- I have never felt so personally represented in an anthology (though I know other anthologies have provided this level of representation for other people, which is wonderful).
I wholeheartedly recommend this anthology for anyone who likes fantasy, queer rep, and or POC rep. It's seriously incredible.

As with most anthologies some of them were great others fell flat. I found two new to me authors that I`m excited to read more of their works.

*4.5 Stars*

A Universe of Wishes was fantastic collection of 15 YA, LGBTQ, fantasy, sci-fi, own voice, and diverse stories that covered many themes and layers with mind-blowing different worlds that I enjoyed diving into.

Synopsis said it’s fourth collection. I haven’t read previous ones but after reading this anthology I would love to read those previous anthologies. Before I started this book, I expected stories would be short. I knew it’s 400 pages long but I was expecting more stories and I made a mistake in guessing I can read this collection in no time. I made almost 15 pages long notes in diary as I was reading 1 or 2 stories at a time and that’s why it took me around 10 day to finish this book but that made it perfect to read simultaneously with other books.

None of the stories felt short or too short. All authors described world and characters of their story impeccably. There was so much in each story and at the end of each one I wished it was full novel and didn’t just end there. Most of the stories were brilliant. Only few were hard to get into or I couldn’t understand the world but that might be just me.

Here is a bit of each story and what I rated them individually–

A Universe of Wishes – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – This was perfect opening story. It was about loss, grief, magic and wishes, belief, love and justice. I fell in love with Thorn and Sage’s story, their love, Thorn’s gift of collecting wishes and Sage’s three wishes. It was powerful and emotive and brought happy tears at the end.

The Silk Blade – ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 – Competition between warriors to consort Bloom (king) of Everdale? So good. I loved Willador and Rabi’s connection they found in just few hours of competition, description of characters world and competition. It was perfect until the end. It broke my heart and I wanted to know what main character decided at the end and what happened next.

The Scarlet Woman – ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 – It was fascinating story of 3 friends- Felicity, Ann, and Gemma, told from Gemma’s perspective. The world and their story were revealed slowly. I enjoyed knowing the afterlife realm and how these three were connected with it and mystery of Scarlet Woman was engaging. Again, same feeling, the end left me hanging wanting to know more, at least unravel the mystery of Scarlet woman, have some identity.

Cristal y Ceniza – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – It was amazing Cinderella retelling where main character lived in a village going under forced correction and seeking help from rulers of neighbouring kingdom. I don’t think main character’s name was revealed here. I loved MC’s dilemma and her feelings, descriptions of world, kingdom, prince, and elites attending celebration. I felt so good for MC for finding what her mothers had at the end.

Liberia – ★ ★ ★ ★ – It was set on colony ship about Kwevu Aboha trying to save what her ancestors, generations of farmers were working on so the colony won’t go through another starvation. I struggled getting into this. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until almost 50% of the story but once I reached the end, I could understand it better. It was heartfelt story.

A Royal Affair – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – Definitely best story in whole book. I can see now why fantasy lovers are in love with Schwab books. Set in the world of Shades of Magic, a tragic and sad love story of Prince Rhy Maresh and Alucard Emery. It started with Alucard returning to London after 3 years, telling his history with Prince, how his and prince’s affair started and what made him go away out on sea. I wish I could keep reading this. It was mesmerising and enchanting, loved every bit of this short story.

The Takeback Tango – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – It was lovely heist story took place in space. A story of Violet, her destroyed planet, her revenge heist against elite city planet that destroyed her home, and unexpected meeting with Val. It was all perfect.

Dream and Dare – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – Another favourite story. As title says it was story of Dream and Dare. It was Interesting to read Dream’s story, how she knew Dare- the princess- who went missing 2 yrs back and mystery of what happened to her and if Dream could find her or not. What I wasn’t expecting was a perspective of Monster in the woods and who it really was. It was about gender inequality, sexism, people’s judgement, cruelty and harassment against girls wearing pants or showing skin, and being different than what society approved.

Wish – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – Retelling of Jinn of Arabian Nights but here the Jinn was a 17 yr old boy, Lane. The idea of Lamp not a cramped space for Jinn but a portal was brilliant. I liked reading how Lane explained his world and how it’s different from stories of wisher, and his connection with Ariadne who summoned him for a wish. I liked the ultimate message of the story how it’s worth living the deepest desire, a wish, even for a second, even though consequences are dangerous.

The weight – ★ ★ ★ ★ – I loved the concept of weighing heart against magical sarcophagus (that made me picture Anubis weighing soul) that told the story of heart, list of people s person loved, who person loved most, past lovers, heartbreak and even oldest and new love. It was kind of loyalty test in which you cannot hide what’s in your heart. It was cool and yet terrifying. I didn’t like main character.

Unmoor – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – This was story of heartbreak. Felix wanting to unmoor the memory of his lover from places he needed to revisit by help of mage. This showed how hard it is to get over young, first love. Unmooring memories was a bit extreme but enjoyed the concept and reading this story.

The Coldest Spot in The Universe – ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 – This was alternative third person narrative from MCs belonging from two different era- 2031 and 3027. This was sad and tragic story. It took me time to understand what was happening in 2031 while I could easily understand the present 3027 narration. But as I read more, things made sense. Names of MC were revealed much later in the book. I enjoyed the message of hope, dream, connection, and true concept of archaeology.

The beginning of Monsters – ★ ★ ★ 1/2 – Title was fitting but those ‘an, ans’ words, I might be wrong but I think, they were for he, him/his were distracting. I didn’t know what the world was about until much later. It was too slow and I wished to skim pages often.

Longer Than Thread of Time – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – This was sad and heartbreaking Rapunzel retelling. I felt for Danae, locked in enchanted tower for decades and then meeting Fabian, a Burjo, not powerful but had a sight and could see Danae in her tower. An attempt of interaction quickly turned into new feelings, love, and also a heartbreak. It was sad to read Danae’s story but I didn’t like what she did at the end even though it was realistic. It just broke my heart.

Habibi – ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 – Interesting closing story of two prisoners, one from California and other from Gaza, miles away from each other found a way to connect and interact through letters they received – through a channel/portal – from each other. Their stories were sad and heartfelt, about country at siege, police brutality, injustice, and ill-treatment of prisoners.

Overall, A Universe of Wishes was well written diverse collection that everyone can enjoy, can have different experience and different opinion and yet find a story to relate to.

This was an excellent collection of YA fantasy short stories by the We Need Diverse Books organization, featuring 15 of the YA world’s best authors. Filled with inclusive themes and characters, this would be a great addition to any library.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this title*

Witches? Wishes? Outerspace and transgender princes and man-eating monsters? Sign me up! Fifteen amazing YA authors have come together to create an anthology of fantasy short stories, which span from fairy tale to dark magic. Overall, this collection is very solid, with only a story or two that didn't strike my fancy. (Which isn't to say it won't strike someone else's.)

My favorite was <i>Cristal y Ceniza</i> by Anna-Marie Mclemore, in which a young woman travels to the neighboring kingdom to seek freedom for her two mothers, who are set to be split up and married to two men they probably don't even know. Then she meets the trans prince, and everything changes.

This was a delight from start to finish. My only complaint - I was left wanting more more more! Short stories are a blessing and a curse, to say the least. This book contains a hint of magic in every page.

From a Cinderella retelling and a tale of the recultivation of a post-apocalyptic Earth to a story of a boy stealing wishes from dead bodies, A Universe of Wishes is a charcuterie board of diverse science fiction and fantasy talent from the already famous to the underhyped.

Well-known authors like V. E. Schwab and Libba Bray are sure to draw devoted fans, especially as they resuscitate well-loved characters. But these big names leave new-to-them readers out of the loop by using past novels as a crutch, wowing their fans by bringing old characters into new stories while leaving newbies too much in the dark. The fact that two such stories made it into one collection is honestly just overkill, and one relies so heavily on the worldbuilding and character building of the past that it’s unreadable for those like me who don’t know the series. Instead, it’s the lesser-known writers that shine with moments of originality and brilliant prose.

As a whole, however, this anthology is honestly a weaker one, and the fantasy and science fiction that can be so hard to fit into short formats often feels rushed, incomplete, or just plain underdeveloped. Still, even with their flaws, each story brought something new and interesting to the table that will stick with me even if the rest of the story was forgettable. And although there were no new favorites of all time, stories like Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi and Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed were still able to wow me.

The opportunity to dip a toe into new authors was worth every page of A Universe of Wishes, especially to see Nic Stone go full queer fantasy goddess in her story Dream and Dare. And I’ve certainly taken notes on authors I want to try full-length works from.

I rated A Universe of Wishes 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.