This collection is well written and a light hearted look at life in quarantine and how even isolated things can change, and sometimes for the better. I enjoyed reading these vignettes of people in different cities and in different circumstances. I feel like this whole collection would land better with me if the pandemic was over and its not and not likely to be anytime soon. Overall, the stories were cute and fun even couched in civil and political unrest and the politics of masking.

Together, Apart is a young adult romance anthology set during the current times of lockdowns due to Covid-19. In these stressful times of social distancing and lockdowns, this is a perfect read to get you through the days. I really liked every story as it gave a unique romance story from each other. There were so many relatable moments in the stories that made you laugh and realize that so many of us are feeling the effects of staying home.

I give Together, Apart 4 stars. I really thought each author brought a unique romance to the anthology. The characters were adorable and the stories were fun to read.

This was a weird read. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't call it good, either. First off, so many of these stories felt the same to me. Main character, fed up with quarantine, falls in insta-love with the boy or girl next door, cuteness and mush about coming together during These Times ensues. It was fine. The stories were fine. Maybe it's because I never sheltered in place, since I work at a nursing home. Maybe it's because while these characters were all eating junk food and taking Zoom classes and falling in love, I was watching resident after resident die of COVID. But this book just fell flat for me. Cute idea, decent writing. Not what I needed or, as it turns out, wanted right now.

This a very relevant and fun short story collection. I liked all the light love stories and the diversity of situations of each. At sometimes, I felt a little hit over the head with things like “oh we have to social distance” and “I hate the pandemic” that took me out of the stories for a bit. Overall though, I will definitely recommend.

I haven’t read many short story books, but this is by far the best I’ve read. I love all of these characters, and they al feel like parts of myself while going through these unprecedented times. There are so many sparks of happiness peaking out of the dark and despair of 2020 but reading all of these short stories give me hope and make my heart skip a beat again.

I specifically love the story of Kaz and Daxton by Bill Konigsberg and Bobby & Neal by Sajni Patel, and the others who I hadn’t read before and didn’t know what to expect. Happy to have discovered new voices!

LBGTQ+ & realistic fiction. This collection of short stories is adorable, well-written, and so timely. Short clips about beginning relationships during COVID -- so masked up, six-feet apart, and socially distanted young adults meet, talk, and .... well let's just say decide whether or not this relationship could work. I love this collection -- each one is just as good as the next. All of the authors do a great job ensuring the reader makes a connection with the characters and their stories.

These were all very cute stories that were easy to read and all had a happy ending. The only reason I couldn’t give it a 5 star because as we are still in the middle of the pandemic, I personally though maybe it was a bit too soon. I wanted to read about stuff other than the sucky stuff we are going through. This was just me though, the stories are all very good and well written so I would recommend this book to anyone, but for me I want an escape from reality not to read about it.

Together, Apart is a sweet collection of YA short stories about love in the time of COVID. It was so interesting to read such up-to-date stories about people going through the same COVID protocols that I am (while they are also finding love). All stories were sweet in very different ways, and there were plenty of happy endings. The perfect collection of stories to read in this stressful, scary time!

Together, Apart edited by Erin A. Craig was a delightful collection of YA short stories set in the time of COVID. It was a new and interesting experience to read a collection set in "real time," and I so appreciated these stories. I've read a few other books set in 2020 (obviously written before 2020 was a thing), and they obviously just don't work. It was an odd comfort to then read these stories that authentically considered how love happens right now. Each story was unique - in its plot, in its characters, and in the relationship that developed. These each showcased the challenges of relationships in the time of COVID, AND they showed how the characters found opportunity and connection in their situations. This was something different and light, and I needed that. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this recent release!

⁣Together, Apart is a collection of love stories set during lockdown. ⁣⁣⁣
I know there is some mixed reviews on this book. While I understand that some people think this book is in poor taste or just too soon, I think quite the opposite.⁣⁣⁣
We all need some happiness during this pandemic. This is a YA novel and teens might get some peace from reading this. This book does not make light of COVID-19 and it makes me sad that some people think that. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐀. 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠 𝟓/𝟓 ⁣⁣⁣
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I really enjoyed this short story. It really showed the struggles teens face during this pandemic. Im usually not a fan of Insta-love but I actually don’t mind it with YA books. I’m definitely gonna find more by this author ASAP. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐠 𝗪𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 𝟐/𝟓⁣⁣⁣
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I was hoping to love this one. Dogs are my favorite so I was excited for this story! But it was disappointing. I didn’t care for the characters so that made it very hard for me to enjoy it. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐣𝐧𝐢 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝟓/𝟓⁣⁣⁣
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I was very excited to read this one because The Trouble With Hating You is on my TBR. I was not disappointed! This story was so adorable! There’s something so adorable about communicating with handwritten signs. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞 𝟒/𝟓⁣⁣⁣
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This one was cute. I liked being able to see some sibling relationships during a pandemic. My only issue is this one felt too short. I didn’t learn enough about the characters to connect with the stories. Overall it was a cute little story. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐁𝐨𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝟒/𝟓⁣⁣⁣
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I actually really enjoyed this one. The characters were so adorable! My only problem is I want more! We didn’t get to learn enough about them or the awesome neighborhood they lived in. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝗪𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐞𝐧 𝟒/𝟓⁣⁣⁣
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I liked this one. I did wish there was more romance though. It was more of a friendship than love but it was still cute. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝗪𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬⁣⁣⁣
𝟒/𝟓 ⁣⁣⁣
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I almost gave up on this one. I wasn’t feeling the story at first. Also the characters were kind of annoying but I understand these are teens. It ended up getting much better and I really enjoyed it. It was adorable.⁣⁣⁣
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𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝗪𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭 ⁣⁣⁣
𝟓/𝟓 ⁣⁣⁣
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I loved this one. The banter between Allie and Mia was cute. I also loved that it dealt with someone not only going through a pandemic but also the consequences of coming out to religious parents. It was sad yet it made my heart happy. ⁣⁣⁣
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𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐡𝐧 𝟓/𝟓 ⁣⁣⁣
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Im still smiling a ton from this one. It was so cute! Absolutely loved this one. I’d say it was my favorite of all. I was rooting for them from the start. It was just such a great short story. I love her book “More Than Maybe” and if you haven’t read it yet please go buy it now! ⁣⁣⁣
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I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect because I’ve never read a book compiled of short stories. I really enjoyed these though! I highly recommend you go buy it now! ⁣⁣⁣
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Thank you netgalley and delacorte press for the copy of this book. ⁣

I think the concept of the anthology is really great, but it felt kinda traumatizing to read about the pandemic when I'm still suffering from it. Very much a case of "it's me, not the book."

Together, Apart is a very timely collection of short stories by various popular authors for the year 2020. This year has been unpredictable to say the least and this collection of stories revolves around our current way of life (quarantine, masks, social distancing, etc). I really enjoyed most of the stories, especially Erin Craigs'!

That cover is super cute and, honestly, who could say no to a bunch of pandemic meet-cutes? I hadn’t read most of these authors before, so I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked this anthology – and now I have a whole bunch of new authors’ backlists to check out!

“Love, Delivered” – Erin A. Craig – ★★★★

Millie and her parents have just moved to a new house in Michigan, one that’s so out in the boonies that it has no cell reception or any food delivery options beyond pizza. With her parents gone all day working at the local hospital, no way to get into town for groceries and nothing to do but unpack, Millie strikes up a friendship – and a mild flirtation – with the pizza delivery kid over basketball and books. It’s cute and I thought it showed Millie’s frustrations – moving during a pandemic, missing her friends, being home alone without her parents in a new place – well.

“The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade” – Bill Konigsberg – ★★★★

Kaz already has a hard time talking to people, so when his dog Griffin pees all over another another dog walker he just met… well, apparently he can just never go to that dog park again. But he keeps running into Daxton and his dog Squirrel on their daily walks, and suddenly they’re walking together every day. This was cute and absolutely hilarious at points, but also a lot heavier between Kaz’s social anxiety and their discussions of their parents’ casual homophobia/transphobia.

“One Day” – Sajni Patel – ★★★★★

All Bobby’s trying to do when she goes out on the balcony is escape her family and their claustrophobic apartment so her headache will go away. That’s her only explanation for why, when the boy in the building next to her won’t stop playing his guitar, she throws her sneaker at him. Now the boy’s serenading her sneaker and refusing to give it back… unless she gives him her number. This was just over-the-top rom-com hijinks adorable and uplifting.

“The Rules of Comedy” – Auriane Desombre – ★★★

Finding out her chem partner, who she’s been crushing over all year, is gay is the best thing that happened to Harper since the pandemic started. But how can her boring old self ever attract bubbly, hilarious Alyssa’s attention? Obviously the only solution is to convince her comedy major older sister to help her make a viral TikTok. This was cute, but for whatever reason (maybe because I’m old?) the whole viral TikTok/”I’m not funny enough!” thing didn’t work for me.

“The New Boy Next Door” – Natasha Preston – ★★★

Two weeks into the lockdown, and Quinn is officially obsessed with the new boy next door, Archer. Problem is, she can’t seem to actually get him to talk to her – all he seems capable of doing is scowling. While I enjoy a good grumpy hero, something about this story just didn’t work for me. The neighborhood’s a little too perfect and I couldn’t buy how quickly Quinn and Archer connected.

“Love with a Side of Fortune” – Jennifer Yen – ★★★★

Michelle’s pandemic “break” has been spent working at her family’s restaurant. Between that and her mom’s fortune teller’s prediction that her next year will be not great, the last thing she expects is to see her crush, high school swim team star, Evan, picking up some broccoli beef. Before she knows it, Evan’s picking up food every night and they’re chatting like friends. But will the fortune teller’s prediction mean that any relationship between them is doomed before it starts? This one was so funny, and I loved how awkward Michelle was with Evan initially.

“The Green Thumb War” – Brittney Morris – ★★★★★

Billie’s therapist has suggested she start growing plants on their balcony to help her deal with the stress of living in an apartment during the pandemic. What doesn’t help her stress is when her cat leaps across the balcony to the next apartment over and injures the cute boy who lives there. While the meet-cute was the absolute most ridiculous of all of the stories, I loved how this one had both Billie and Sebastian’s POVs. Billie is so ice-cold while Sebastian is just absolutely adorable while trying to get her number, and I couldn’t even.

“Stuck with Her” – Rachael Lippincott – ★★★

Allie is regretting not getting on-campus housing for her sophomore year even more now that she’s stuck with her roommate Mia. She’s messy and loud, but at least now she can’t have her equally annoying friends over for parties every Saturday. Though she seems to be doing her best to make up for that by playing music at 3am every morning. I wanted to like this one – especially since it was the only one involving college students – but Mia was just too annoying for me.

“Masked” – Erin Hahn – ★★★★

Gray has developed quite the crush on Jude while chatting online with him about making masks for his uncle’s employees. After she finally meets him, the crush gets even worse, especially since he looks like her favorite contestant on a reality show. Maybe… too much like that contestant? OK, this one seriously strained my suspension of disbelief, but it was so adorable and well-written (and dual POV again!) that I honestly couldn’t care. I’ve read the author before and absolutely loved her writing style, so honestly, liking this one was no surprise for me. I loved the focus on music.

Overall, for the most part, the stories in this anthology really worked for me. I’m certainly far (far!) outside of the target age range, but the characters’ pandemic frustrations and hopes still spoke to me. Even better, I’ve found several new authors to look up!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The fact that there's ALREADY a batch of quarantine stories is insane. Content never stops. This was a lovely collection of romantic short stories from some up-and-coming YA authors during the strangeness of a worldwide pandemic. I love that each author can take aspects of their own quarantine experience and create these stories. Like with every anthology, you're never going to enjoy every story but these were all nice and sweet. My favorites were: "Love, Delivered" by Erin A. Craig and "Masked" by Erin Hahn. This is perfect if you want something sweet and fluffy in this time of sadness or if you're looking for a fast read to make your Goodreads year-end goal.

Love can happen anywhere, even in quarantine. Together, Apart is a collection of short stories that take place during the COVID pandemic written by several authors. Each story was adorable and had me smiling the whole time. All the characters' everyday life in quarantine was realistic and very relatable with the endless TikTok scrolling, baking, and the struggles of online school. This book overall was light-hearted and sweet.

I absolutely adored this collection of quarantine love stories! I smiled and truly enjoyed each individual story and thought that each was incredibly unique, fun, and relatable.

Together, Apart is a collection of short stories by several authors (Erin A. Craig, Bill Konigsberg, Sajni Patel, Auriane Desombre, Natasha Preston, Jennifer Yen, Brittney Morris, Rachel Lippincott, & Erin Hahn) surrounding the topic of finding love and connection during a pandemic. Yes, each individual short story takes place during the present time of the COVID-19 pandemic and I was all for it.

At first, it freaked me out to be reading stories where COVID-19 was a main factor. I mean, I know it's a real thing and will go down in history as one of the worst pandemics the world has ever seen, but when you use reading as an escape from the scary times, it's almost taunting to dive into a story with what you're trying to escape from. It ended up making me enjoy this collection more because I could easily relate to all of the struggles that our characters were facing during the pandemic, one of the biggest challenges being finding and maintaining social connections. It's hard being forced to stay at home and halt your daily life/routine, and being separated from your friends. I mean, there's precautions in place of course but it's still a risk and it's still scary.

There was so much variety in these short stories as well. I especially enjoyed the one where it followed two female roommates at college. I can't even imagine being a college student, living on campus, during a situation like this. I think of my own college experience and how different it would have been. I mean, all we did was hop from dorm room to dorm room to socialize and drink. What's college with not being able to do that?

There were several stories of male-to-male romance, female-to-female romance, and heterosexual romance. This gave the book some flair and made it interesting. It would have been boring to read just heterosexual romances during quarantine 9 different times. I honestly enjoyed EVERY single story and character. There wasn't a single story or character that I did not like, and let me tell you that is a rare occurrence!

Do I have a favorite one? Ugh. They're all my favorite! BUT I guess if I HAD to pick one that would be The New Boy Next Door by Natasha Preston, with MASKED by Erin Hahn being a close contender. I was a little nervous about reading Preston's story as she is known for her creepy & twisted thrillers but she delivered an adorable and fun romance. That woman is seriously so talented.

Overall, I highly recommend picking this one up! It's a quick read and a great pick me up if you are in a reading slump or need some light-hearted, cheesy, comedic romances to brighten up your day! Plus, you can laugh at the realistic dialogue involving COVID-19 and connect with the characters who are feeling just as anxious about the pandemic, feeling like it may never end, as you are!

Given the way COVID-19 has changed the world, it was inevitable certain books would talk about it (and in certain circles, they have for months now). And while everyone deserves the right to read or write what they want, I’m glad to see a YA anthology that demonstrates the possibilities of the types of romance that could happen, while also being aware of the severity of the situation at hand.

“Love, Delivered” by Erin A. Craig

4 stars

Pure cuteness. I love the idea of a meet-cute between the new girl and the pizza delivery guy, and this one is just adorable.

“The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade” by Bill Konigsberg

4 stars

Dogs have always been a conversation starter, and I love this reminder that things don’t have to be different and in that regard just because a major aspect of life and how we do things has changed.

“One Day” by Sajni Patel

5 stars

I love the quirky banter in this one! From fighting over a shoe to forming a connection over music?!

“The Rules of Comedy” by Auriane Desombre

4 stars

Another cute one about embracing old ways of communicating. Even in the digital age, it’s cool to see.

“The New Boy Next Door” by Natasha Preston

4 stars

Cute story about falling for the new neighbor

“Love with a Side of Fortune” by Jennifer Yen

4 stars

I liked the fortune aspect, as it really set it apart from the others. The romance was a bit underwhelming, however.

“The Green Thumb War” by Brittney Morris

2 stars

Dual first person is already hard to pull off in longer form works; it’s just plain jarring here. While I appreciate the subheadings alerting me to the POV change, I just didn’t need so much of it in a short story.

“Stuck with You” by Rachael Lippincott

4 stars

While I don’t love forced proximity, I loved the twist in this one, following roommates who don’t really get along having to spend time together in quarantine.

“Masked” by Erin Hahn

2 stars

This is another one that lost me with the multiple first person. It had a great concept, but I just couldn’t get invested in it.

***

While not all the stories are great, that is typical of all collections. I’m sure there’s something here for anyone who chooses to pick up this collection, demonstrating the possibility for love and hope, even in the midst of dark times.

R E V I E W🌟
Thank you to @netgalley & @delacortepress for this e-ARC of Together, Apart in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Pub Date: 10/20/2020

Together, Apart is a collection of short stories about finding love in quarantine! Y’all this was so cute. It was really a great idea for these YA authors to come together and write stories about young adults stuck in quarantine and trying to make the best of it.

The stories I really enjoyed were: “Love, Delivered”, “One Day”, “The New Boy Next Door”, “Stuck with Her”, and “Masked”. These stories were just quintessential YA and made me happy and giddy.

This is a great pick-me-up and it’s most likely going to be a great hit! I’m giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5 stars!

This was AMAZING! I loved every minute of it. I flew through this one in a day and I’m looking forward to re reading it in the future. READ THIS NOW.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this collection of YA romance short stories. As we begin to see romance in the time of quarantine stories being published, I am wary of how the topic will be addressed respectfully while still delivering a satisfying romance--this collection walks that line perfectly. This felt timely without being depressing, and provided an escape that still felt thoughtful and respectful of what we are collectively navigating. I loved the LGBTQIA+ representation and the racial diversity in this collection, too. I found myself invested in each story, wanting them to last much longer than they did. Once I finished the collection, I immediately wanted more--a sure sign of a fantastic read. This was just a fun, sweet, easy escape for an afternoon. I loved it.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advance reader's copy.