THOUGHTS

The high points of this anthology are really high. Excellent characters, familiar and startingly new in presentation, stand on backdrops that are strangely speculative and utterly familiar at the same time. These stories stay as true to their originals as speculative counterparts can, and I adore that! At the same time, as is usually the case with anthologies, not all of these stories are winners. Overall, an anthology that is kind of so-so.


PROS
True to Form: I am always quick to pick up anything that claims to be a "remix" of a classic tale, but recent publications have made me a bit wary. I like a remixed classic because it's just that--a remix of, well, a classic. If I'm a fan of the original, I like to see how authors play with that concept. A lot of recent books have let me down, because the "classic" elements are really missing. Not so here! While each and every one of these stories is wildly out-of-left-field, they still hold onto the key elements of the classic they're retelling. That's real skill on the part of all of these authors, because Pride & Prejudice in space shouldn't feel like an Austen classic. But here, it really and truly does. Here, all of these stories pay incredible homage to their roots while spinning something entirely new.

Mixed Linguistics: I love a book that lets bilingual characters speak how they naturally would--in a mixture of their familiar languages. This book isn't afraid to mix Spanish into the generally English narratives in a way that fits these characters, their backstories, and their cultures. It's natural, and it's excellent. We need more of this, because there are kids all over who will feel themselves reflected in these pages!

Space!: A lot of speculative anthologies might have a story or two that's sci-fi and the rest are fantasy. At least, that's the way it is in the YA publishing sphere. Publishers seem to be afraid of science fiction (though they shouldn't be, I would argue). This book, however, isn't afraid to dive into the great unknown of outer space! Deep space colonies, space travel, and more: science fiction is well represented in this very balanced collection of tales.


CONS
Not All Winners: As much as I loved some of these stories, I hated others. They all represented their classics well, but that doesn't mean I liked them! Some of these stories fell pretty flat for me, which is unfortunate. I wanted to love, love, love all of these tales, and I just didn't.

Truncated Ideas: Some of these stories felt cut short by the nature of their format. They felt like they could have been longer, and being confined to short story format made the characters seem underdeveloped and the plot arcs just beginning instead of well-concluded. It's a good thing that I wanted more, I think, out of these characters and ideas, but when all I got was the short story, I was left a little bit disappointed!

Odd Ducks: Pride & Prejudice, Hamlet, and more: this book really spins some well-worn ground anew. But not all of these stories are so well-worn. Retelling Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener, for instance, is an interesting choice when a lot of readers (especially at this level) won't have read it before! I have no real problem with the choice to retell lesser classics, of course, but readers who are in it for the Easter eggs might be disappointed that they don't know all of the tales being retold--might, in fact, not even be aware of their existence and the general scope of the classic tale.


Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/10

Fans of A Phoenix First Must Burn, edited by Patricia Caldwell, will appreciate this empowering speculative mix. Fans of All These Sunken Souls, edited by Circe Moskowitz, will adore the dark twists and turns of this anthology.

Loved this anthology and enjoyed the originality of the retellings. This book will engage a wide variety of YA readers and individual stories would make an excellent addition to any class curriculum.

*Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories is a beautiful rendition of Latinx culture, with tons of diversity and variety. All inspired by a ton of classics that now have a fresh and diverse twist. Each story is fully indicative of Latinx culture, which is vast and unique on its own, and every story brings a new perspective into it. Of the stories I already know I felt they did a great job of portraying them while being fresh, and of those I did not know, each story made me curious to go read the original.

Although each story holds their own to stand out in some way, the ones that are most memorable for me is, 'Thornfield: A Remix of Jane Eyre' by Monica Sanz, 'Isla Bella: A Remix of The Great Gatsby' by Ari Tison, and 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Away From Me: A Remix of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea' by Eric Smith. Thornfield is a standout for me in that it felt like a fully developed novel in such few pages. Each story has that element but this one is still so vivid in my mind and felt like a much longer journey. Isla Bella had such stunning, vivid prose. I felt as if I could see every image and the story has stayed with me. It was also incredible to get an Indigenous perspective into Latinx culture. Twenty Thousand Leagues Away From Me was by far the most emotional, really tugging at my heartstrings. It was both the most difficult to read and the most driven in feeling. The symbolism between the main character and the calf was phenomenal.

Despite having my personal favorites, each story did have elements that I think other readers will love. For example, 'Shame and Social Media' was very unique in storytelling, and did a wonderful job in opening up this collection. 'La Cotorra y el Flamboyán' offered an unexpected ending that was both conclusive and open ended. 'Juna and the Fox Boy' took a beloved children's classic and managed to stray far from its roots while remaining close enough to the story that the comparisons are unmistakable. 'Evermore' includes poetry that feels on par with 'The Raven' and offered a beautiful flow to the story. And every story in between had wonderful lessons and representation, from queer characters to Afro-Latinx characters.

The only reason I did not give a full five stars was because a few of the stories felt a little tonally different from the core tone. By this I mean that each story fit in terms of representation, but some of these stories can get really dark with difficult topics and I felt there were a few that in comparison would be better suited for middle grade. Despite this, I do think some readers will appreciate this because it really breaks up the intensity and allows you to ebb and flow with the collection.

Overall, this is a stand out collection with really incredible authors who I am now eager to read more from!

3/5 Stars

TL;DR - An interesting anthology with a little bit of everything, from sci-fi to magical realism to some stories that border on horror. Ended up being more lukewarm for me than anything, but a few stories stood out.

Big thanks to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review!

***Trigger Warnings for: persecution by Christians, mentions of attempted rape, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and attempted suicide.***

‘Relit’ is an anthology of “remixed” short stories with Latinx characters taking center stage. From fairy tales to classics re-imagined with sci-fi and fantasy twists, this anthology will certainly surprise you.

So, anthologies are always a mixed bag, but this one ended up being pretty ‘meh’ for me. I really wish I’d liked it more - I LOVE retellings, especially when changing up the genre - but overall, this was just middle of the road for me at best.

As I read, I gave each individual story its own score out of five stars, and the aggregate ended up around 2.5, but I rounded up to 3 because I did really enjoy a few of the stories. The total count comes in at four 1-stars, four 2-stars, five 3-stars, and three 4-stars, with no stories that I felt earned 5 stars, for a total of 16. The 1-stars were hardcore 1s, poorly written to the point that I skimmed most of them, the 2-stars were average in craft but poor in execution, the 3-stars were solidly mid across the board, and the 4-stars were pretty good overall. Nothing really captured me and earned a 5-star, though, which is disappointing.

Genres are mainly sci-fi and fantasy, though I would say “magical realism” is a better term than fantasy in most cases. There are a few that skirt the line into horror, which I liked.

‘Thornfield’ by Monica Sanz is easily my favorite, and this is me officially begging the author to turn this into a full novel - I would devour that in a heartbeat, take all my money. I also really enjoyed ‘Prefiero No’ by Alexandra Villasante and ‘Isla Bella’ by Ari Tison.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, not my favorite anthology, though there were a few diamonds in the rough. Might be a nice way to spend a few minutes a day if you have some free time on your lunch break or riding the bus or something. Fine for one read-through, but I won’t be purchasing a physical copy.

This is the kind of collection that will make you want to read short stories more often. Every single one of these takes on a classic story was great. I may have found some authors to follow. Highly enjoyable all the way through, even if you are only passingly familiar with the original works. I honestly wish it were longer so I would have had more worlds to jump into.

This collection of short stories reimagines many classic tales that are told from a Latinx perspective and does so in a way that makes you wish these were the original stories. Every single story had well developed characters that went beyond their classic inspirations and the stories themselves were unique and so beautiful to read. I really enjoyed that there were focuses on many of the indigenous communities and their cultures, especially their relationship to their native lands. This is by far the best collection of classic stories reimagined I have ever read.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkyard Press for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

All my favorite Latine authors in one place! What’s not to love? Confession: I had to Spark Note some of the classics before I read the remix. It’s just been too long! The remixes are so much better!

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This was quite a mixed bag of a collection. The only consistent was the authors showcasing their latinx heritage. There was a wide range of genres from contemporary to science fiction, dystopian to gothic. It was fun to see such a spread of retellings, but some were more successful than others for me. My highlights were the stories from Zoraida Córdova, Laura Pohl, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, and Monica Sanz. For me they were the most successful as a short story, but not necessarily as a retelling because I haven't read all of the original stories that were remixed in this collection.

I think that with such a range of stories there should be at least one that really hits the right note with each reader. I think that it is lovely that this collection highlights latinx authors and includes so many stories that have such great creativity going on in them. It's only three stars because like I said, it ranges from 5 stars to...2 DNFs. So, with such a wide range of ratings I can't really give it more than a 3. However, like most anthologies there is something that will appeal to most readers.

This was such a fun collection! Some stories were stronger than others. I actually thought the Pride and Prejudice remix was the best - it was set in outer space and dealt with class in an interesting, internet-y/social media way. I could see myself using some of the stories as great read alouds for First Chapter Friday. I don't think my students would always get the literary allusion - I'm not familiar with all of the original stories - but others might be more accessible for some interesting discussions. A fun anthology with some fav and new-to-me authors!

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Relit’s anthology was a breath of fresh air, full of imaginative plots and character-driven stories. It managed to take up the gantlet of subverting the readers’ previous expectations of the classic tales it used as inspiration with flying colors. It was immersive, showcasing rich Latin storytelling despite its short-story format.

Tales like Heart of the Sea by Zoraida Córdova—a twist on Frankenstein—really stood out. As I was reading, I found myself thinking that I knew where the story was going and then a page later being completely surprised by the direction of the plot—in a great way. I loved having my expectation turned on its head.

Overall, I gave this anthology a three-star rating because it was a mixed bag. This was influenced by how well-written the stories were overall. There were a handful of stories that stood out amongst the rest, causing others to feel lackluster in comparison. However, I loved that every writer created a twisty new tale that was unexpected and enjoyable in its own, individual way. I would recommend adding this to your TBR and perhaps you’ll discover a new author to enjoy.

A refreshing innovative way to read all of these stories that most of us, at some point, have known. There was spookery and glorious whimsical tales abound. This was a fantastic anthology to discover more of a culture.

Nicely done. I'm not particularly interested in the Latin culture, but thought I'd give this a try, and I'm glad I did. I liked most of these stories.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

This was fun and imaginative for an anthology. I normally am not the biggest fan of anthologies just because I know not all of the stories are gonna be my taste. This did fall into this, however the amount of stories I liked outweighed the amount of stories I did not like.

Relit is essential , imaginative storytelling from a range of voices I love. I appreciate this book as a reader and see great possibilities for its use as a classroom read. Highly recommended!

Sandra Proudman does a great job in bringing these remixes of classic stories. I enjoyed the Latinx elements of each story and could see the same spirit as the original. I never felt like this didn’t belong in the genre and each author wrote it perfectly.

Uplifting, magical, awesome. Three words to describe a book full of stories that made me feel connected to the writers and their cultures. My son is from Central America and I'm always looking for books I think he'd enjoy. I'm going to be buying a copy when available! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was such an amazing collection of stories by latinx authors. I enjoyed all the stories and learning about different cultures.

Very interesting remix on some classic tales. This volume had a remix of Frankenstein that I found flat out amazing!! There are some other classic stories as well. This is a book upon release I plan to share with family and friends. It’s a wonderful display how to connect classic tales to a new audience in a well thought out and written way. A lot of love was given to each story and it shows. Hades and Persephone was truly beautiful. Juna and the Fox boy a remix of ”Beauty and the Beast” was one I enjoyed. I was surprised by the level of description of a romantic moment in the book(maybe because of how I associate this story), but very enjoyable none the less.

Anthologies are almost always a mixed bag. But, this one is an amazingly solid collection! First of all, the remix of Persephone and Hades was outstanding, fresh and believable, and just…good. Jane Erye was similarly good, although Goldi and the Three Bodies had me laughing at its horror. The gravity of spectacled boobies and angry Ocean from Gatsby was unexpectedly interesting. Even though it isn’t my genre, I really enjoyed Frankenstein, too. For those familiar with these stories, precious allusions and creative Easter eggs abound. You know, this was just a hell of a lot of fun to read. Definitely recommend!