Magic Has No Borders
⭐⭐⭐⭐/4
🌶️/4

Magic Has No Borders is an anthology of 14 different short stories all written by Asian authors. The tales are all inspired by South Asian culture, lore, and history. The stories range from stories about gods to everyday life with just a touch of magic. Each story is fiction, with just a touch of real life inspiration.

Before this book, I think I've only ever read one anthology before. I'm not a huge short story fan, because I always want more. The same goes for this collection of stories. Some of them were just alright and I felt satisfied with what they offered. Others though, I would have loved to have more. More background, more content, further relationship building, etc. I really loved how this was so representative of Asian culture. There were quite a few things I had to look up, because I'm not as familiar with that culture, but I found that enjoyable in itself. I loved the authenticity of it, and I felt like I learned a lot while still enjoying a story. Some of the stories also had an author's note giving a little background to the story! If I had to pick my favorites, they'd be as follows:
1. What the Winds Stole by Sabaa Tahir
2. Dismantle the Sun by Sangu Mandanna
3. She Who Answers by Shreya Ila Anasuya
4. Infinite Drift by Olivia Chadha

This book is a great collection of South Asian stories, and I really recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Really lovely mix of fantasy short stories based in South Asian myth, folklore, and tradition. As with all collections of short stories, some are more entertaining or intriguing than others, but there aren't any real losers here -- just one's that might more easily capture some readers attention than others.

From goddesses to warriors to peasants they have every kind of story in this book those seeking redemption rebirth and so much more it is rare I read an anthology and the first story be my favorite but I love the one with Kayla and love her. Not to say I was disappointed by the rest I did find the second story to be a tad bit confusing but that could just be me. As far as the rest I have no special comments just know you won’t be disappointed when buying this book it is stories of magic and strong females. All the authors are from East Asia and they all seem to be quite talented. I have read books by Samira Ahmed before and loved it and so was super excited to read this one and I was not disappointed at all. As far as the Resco they were all new to me but would definitely be down with reading more from them in the future. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you to Samira Ahmed; Sona Charaipotra; Sabaa Tahir; Sayantani DasGupta; Tanaz Bhathena; Sangu Mandanna; Olivia Chadha; Naila Azad; Tracey Baptiste; Naz Kutub; Nikita Gill; Swati Teerdhala; Shreya Ila Anasuya; Tahir Abrar; Preeti Chhibber, HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen, and Netgalley for this free advanced reader copy of "Magic Has No Borders" for an honest review.

I've been on a kick in the last few years for diverse short stories, poetry, and essay collections, so that moment I saw the topic on this (not to mention the amazing author list!!) I had to jump at it. I was not disappointed in the slightest. While the two names that made this pop up on my list, Sabaa Tahir & Nikita Gil, rocked out of the water their pieces, I loved so very many of the other ones as well.

South Asian magic and mythology of kinds you know and will be brought into anew will be found in these pages, as well as lives and beliefs you know and don't. I absolutely recommend this for people of all ages, who are going to find themselves in these pages and also the wonder of the world they don't know, that they can still recognize the joys, griefs, longings and dreams of in themselves and the world around them.

Truly a fantastic collection of works by different South Asian authors. I think this is my favorite anthology that I've read so far. I requested it for Sabaa Tahir, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed stories from the other others as well.

Mood: South-Asian retellings and mythology with goddesses and mythical creatures (peri). Mood: Star-crossed lovers!

Honestly with a such a large collection of stories, you're likely to find something in your wheelhouse. This is the first time I've come across chudalis, and I really need to up my game when it comes to the mythology these stories draw from. For that reason my review focuses mostly on my enjoyment of the story, writing style, and over all collection of story.

I adored the prose over all, each story feeling like a new voice had sat down -- as it should-- so each story felt unique while being cohesive. To end with Hiba's ending, gave me chills. I adore these stories.

An entire anthology of magical South Asian tales? Yes please. Like any anthology, there were some stories I liked more than others (and some I didn’t really care for) but overall I thought this was a really strong lineup of voices that covered a range of South Asian authors. I loved seeing the different takes on the myths and cultures, but also just everyday life whether they took place in America or across Asia.

My favorite stories were:
Infinite Drift by Olivia Chadha
Mirch, Masala, and Magic by Nafiza Afad
What the Winds Stole by Sabaa Tahir

If you’re looking for a fun fantasy anthology, I would highly recommend this one!

Magic Has No Borders is a collection of South Asian tales celebrating diversity and myth edited by Sona Charaipotra and Samira Ahmed.

I really enjoyed the idea of this short story collection. I always love to explore cultures that I haven't learned about before and I think this book was a great way for many authors to share their histoy and culture with the reading community.

I loved how unique the stories felt because I hadn't heard the myths they were based on before! And even if I had I think each author brought something unique to the tales and I enjoyed the diversity!

If there was anything I wished for more of with this novel were for some of the stories to be longer! I think some of them could have done with more fleshing out and some of the worlds created I didn't want to leave! I guess I just have some new authors I need to check out though, because I haven't read the majority of these before.

All in all, I think Magic Has No Borders is a great collection of YA fantasy and science fiction tales centered around South Asian culture and I would definitely recommend to to those who want to explore new topics or who knows the tales well!

Thank you to HarperTeen and Netgalley for an eARC of this novel. All thoughts and opinions contained within this review are my own.

A charming collection of South Asian tales filled with love and gods and goddesses and magic and trouble and life and culture.

Like with most anthologies, I didn’t love everything about it, but I learned so much about mythology and how it intersects with everyday life that I also didn’t think there was a dud in the bunch. I think just about anyone who can appreciate the fantastic and mythical in life will like this book.

More like 4.5/5, but I rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to review.

A big thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

NEW SABAA TAHIR CONTENT? IN 2023? WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED!

Magic Has No Borders by a slew of famous authors, is a YA anthology of lush South Asian folklore folklore, legends, and epics reimagines stories of old for a modern audience. Featuring authors like Sabaa Tahir, Swati Teerdhala, and many others.

I just need more Sabaa Tahir in my life.

"Magic Has No Borders" is an anthology that will appeal to those looking for stories drawing from the cultures and myths of Southeast Asia.

Many of the stories dealt with breaking ongoing cycles and healing the past. These themes added a unity to the collection that I think helps the anthology work as a whole. I personally found that the more I read the more I enjoyed. I'm not sure how much is the fact that many of the works in the second half of the collection simply resonated more with me and how much was the enjoyment of seeing those themes told and retold with different characters through different voices.

I did feel that multiple stories in this collection would have been better served by a longer format. Some of them left me wanting more background, more space for the characters to develop their relationships, or simply a bit more time to flesh out the endings. I think that some of the stories assumed a deeper understanding of the cultures being depicted than many young adult Americans may bring to the tales. While I hope that this might spark a desire to read and learn more about the people of the area for some readers, I worry that it might instead just lead to confusion in others. For those who do have a deep familiarity with the area (or who already have an interest in developing such a familiarity) I think these tales will be a true treasure chest.

I have to point out three stories in particular that deeply resonated with me. I think that they show the range of the anthology--from sci-fi, to cozy fantasy, to epic fairy tale. I would be eager to read more by these authors, which is always something I want to leave a short story collection saying!

"Infinite Drift" uses time travel to show a powerful glimpse of the heartbreak of war. The fact that the main character is a time traveler allows the author to give the background necessary to understand the nuances of the story in a way that enriches the tale and allows the mystery to unfold without ever seeming like an info dump. I really appreciated how this piece dealt with the individual emotions of the characters against the background of larger story. Inspired by an actual battle from 1897, this piece reminds readers that battles claim people and their futures, not simply army units and territories.

"Mirch, Masala, and Magic" takes the everyday enchantment of food and family and shows just what happens when that magic becomes Magic. The family of a mistreated young wife teaches her in-laws a lesson that they won't soon forget through the power of cooking. One is left hoping that the young ex-husband will be able to apply what he has learned and grow into a better person while enjoying the well-earned revenge meted out against his cruel family. This is a humorous, cozy fantasy that I think will resonate with a wide audience. It certainly had me wanting to pull out a cookbook and go hunting for recipes online!

The anthology ends with the exquisite "What the Winds Stole." This is a beautifully written tale of justified rage, healing, and the sacrifices of friendship. A magical creature, a peri, has had much of her power and self stolen away by others. My heart ached for Hiba, whose literal form had been wrenched away and her spirit cursed. A human shows up and undertakes a years long quest to recover the things that had been taken from her. While in many fairy tales the focus would have been on the young "hero" and his daring adventures and sacrifices, it was touching to find a story where we spend the most time alongside the character who has been harmed.

I have to finish by pointing out the beautiful cover of this book! The colors are just amazing and the details are so fun to dwell on and tie back to the stories inside. I was also excited that my advance copy had some interior art as well and I am curious to see what the final version will look like! I deeply love illustrated works and so I was delighted that some of the stories here had a picture to go with them.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I love that this anthology explored the richness of South Asian folklore. From different Hindu to a few Muslim traditions, I liked seeing how authors from distinct backgrounds told these stories, and demonstrated that being South Asian is not a monolithic identity with a single culture, in spite of sharing a geographic region. Some stories stand out more than others, and I admit I preferred reading the authors I was familiar with, but this is a solid collection to dip into for a dose of magic.

Thoughtful premise, but this fell fairly for me. I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this review copy

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I read a few of the short stories, but I’m not a fan of LGBTQ characters. What I read wasn’t explicit, but I already know I cannot recommend to is book due to the profanity. I didn’t finish all the stories.

Sci-fi and fantasy are two genres that, for the most part, throughout my life, have not worked for me. The sci-fi and fantasy lovers in my life know that I hold out hope and keep looking for exceptions to the rule. This forthcoming story collection, an anthology of “magical South Asian tales” by a star-studded array of South Asian authors who drew on the subcontinent’s rich narrative heritage for inspiration, seemed like a promising possible exception. I’m not sure that it quite got there for me—I don’t know how to describe it, but there is something about the normative narrative and writing styles in this genre that puts me off and is present here—but I’m glad I read this, and really enjoyed some of these stories! If you’re more into these genres, I absolutely recommend it.

This is going to sound like a snarky comment, and I promise I don’t mean it to be, but my favorite parts were the author’s notes. I loved how Ahmed framed the collection in the context of colonialism and the ways it has flattened “the subcontinent’s brilliant and beautiful diversity.” When the individual authors included brief notes on their inspirations, they were always well-written and captivating. In general, I enjoyed the stories that hewed more realist or closer to their inspiration the most. I particularly liked Nikita Gill’s “Chudail,” which surprisingly reimagines an element of the Mahabharata in a hill station, and Nafiza Azad’s “Mirch, Masala, and Magic,” which showcased folk magic by way of cooking in a Fijian Indian family.

I read this book slowly, one story every night like a bedtime story, which was a fun way to consume it. A lot of the art wasn’t finished in this eARC, but the final copy is sure to be a beautiful object with accompanying illustrations for each story. If you are any more of a sci-fi and fantasy person than I am, check this out! And I am going to keep trying on that front.

I don't know what I was expecting from this collection, but I don't think this was it. I was hopeful that rich culture would emerge from the multiple stories showing the depth and diversity of the area, not all be so tied to religious mythology. Nearly all the stories have queer story lines, have sexual assault and content, are Hindu centered, and Samira Ahmed doesn't even have a story in the collection she's co edited, I read the entire book, and tried to be open minded with all the reimaginings of Hindu gods and goddess, but I never really got comfortable with the liberties taken of what I presume are characters central to religious doctrine for practicing Hindus. Of the few Muslim leaning inclusions: one story had a jinn and a gay main character, but really the only stories that I genuinely enjoyed were the other two by Muslim authors: Mirch, Masala, and Magic by Nafiza Azad and What the Winds Stole by Sabaa Tahir, neither religious focused but culturally rich with magic and a peri. The Chudrail story was mediocre, but the rest did little to hold my attention with the instant gay romances and weak world building. The 14 stories over 352 pages is marketed as YA, but I don't know what purpose it would serve: it doesn't celebrate South Asian folklore to me, it doesn't provide insight to a vibrant culture, and the majority of the stories just aren't engaging and memorable.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. I really love some of these authors (Mandanna and Tahir) but their short stories were underwhelming. It wouldn't be fair to the collection if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

Magic Has No Borders is an incredible anthology of short stories inspired by South Asian folklore. The collection is made up of stories by South Asian authors. There is beautiful artwork present at the start of each chapter. Samira Ahmed and Sona Charaipotra did an amazing job editing this anthology. Highly recommended!

This is a delightful, diverse, and ethereal collection of short stories.

Although not every story was built the same, and some I really didn’t care for, others were amazing and quite captivating. I really enjoyed this overall, and I hope to see more anthologies published in the future. I’ve recently become a short story fiend!

Some of the stories in this collection I loved; they were like dark and twisted fairy tales I’d read each night. But others missed the mark for me entirely and didn’t hold my attention. I did like when the stories included author notes about the inspiration for the short story and seeing the artwork illustrations that were at the opening of each short story.