A Universe of Wishes Book Review

Hi, there friends! Welcome to my A Universe of Wishes Book Review! I had an amazing time reading this anthology of diverse stories. Because this is an anthology I’ve decided to rate and review each story individually. So no CAWPILE for this one, but I do add up all of the ratings to get an overall rating in the end.

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Title: A Universe of Wishes

Author: Dhonielle Clayton (ed)

Rating: 4 Stars

Genre: Fantasy

Content Warnings: Death, some violence, mentions of sexual harassment/assault, cyberbullying.

Format: eARC

Publisher: Random House Children’s

Date Published: December 8th 2020

Goodreads Description: In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.

I received a review copy from Netgalley and PRH International. All opinions are my own.

Review

A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim

This was such a beautiful story with an amazing and unique premise. It manages to make you root for the characters in a few short pages. The message that everyone has magic in them is so beautiful. I would read a 500-page book about this concept.

5 Stars

The Silk Blade by Natalie C. Parker

I didn’t enjoy this one as much. While the worldbuilding was amazing, I didn’t connect with the characters at all. For a short story, the romance happened way too fast and I didn’t believe that Willador would throw away her duty like that.

3 Stars

The Scarlet Woman by Libba Bray

I don’t want to be one of those people, but this story is definitely missing some context. I assume it’s part of Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle series, or connected to it. Some key world-building elements are needed, and I was mostly just confused. Because this is not an original story (but one connected to an already published series) I will not give it a rating so that it doesn’t affect the rating of the overall book.

Cristal y Ceniza by Anna-Marie McLemore

A wonderful story that I would also read 500 pages of. My only gripe was with the writing. It was a bit disjointed in places, which pulled me out of the story. Other than that it was beautiful. The world-building was done very well and I loved the main character and the prince.

4 Stars

Liberia by Kwame Mbalia

I absolutely hated Harry. What kind of person in their right mind thinks food isn’t an important thing to take to a space colony? Kweku should have punched him. But other than a thoroughly unlikeable antagonist, I loved this short sci-fi story. It’s about space, our connection to home, and an amazing plant dad. I highly recommend it.

5 Stars

A Royal Affair by V.E. Schwab

Schwab’s writing is hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, ADSOM was a miss, so I didn’t particularly feel for these characters. As I have read ADSOM I will rate this one. I just felt disconnected from the characters and the story, and the ending was just confusing.

3 Stars

Take Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse

Yessir. Yup. Yes. 5 Stars

Think Indiana Jones in space. Where is my 500-page space opera Ms Roanhorse?

5 Stars

Dream and Dare by Nic Stone

We need more queer beauty and the beast retellings, stat. Well, this isn’t entirely a retelling, but the premise is a bit the same (minus the hostage situation). Either way, give me queer.

4 Stars

Wish by Jenni Balch

Such a sweet story that I desperately need more of. I love space and I love magic, put them together and I love this story.

5 Stars

The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton

The premise of this story is just amazing. I would love to have my heart weighed, I wonder what it would say. This one was definitely too short, and I would have loved to read more of it.

4 Stars

Unmoor by Mark Oshiro

This is a great premise, I just wish the world had been a little more fleshed out. The ending also seemed a little rushed, and I would have liked some more character building. All that to say, this one HURT.

4 Stars

The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed

An immensely tragic and scary story, but beautiful all at once.

5 Stars

The Beginning of Monsters by Tessa Gratton

I didn’t enjoy this story. The world was entirely too complicated (and strange) to be a short story and the characters voices seemed so stilted.

2 Stars

Longer than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Córdova

A modern twist on the Rapunzel story and I need more of it, please.

4 Stars

Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi

A beautiful and heart-wrenching story about how love can find us even in the most unusual places. A stark reminder of the privilege we have just to be born in a country at (relative) peace.

3 Stars

Overall rating = 56

Average rating = 4 Stars

There you go! I hope you enjoy my A Universe of Wishes Book Review!

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