Dhonielle Clayton

From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children's authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), Victoria Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic), Justina Ireland (Dread Nation), Natalie C. Parker (Seafire), and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles). 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. AUTHORS INCLUDE: Samira Ahmed, Libba Bray, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Justina Ireland, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Natalie C. Parker, Rebecca Roanhorse, Victoria Schwab, Tara Sim, Nic Stone, and a to-be-announced debut author/short-story contest winner

A We Need Diverse Books Anthology

A Universe of Wishes

Lauren Sullivan

Content warnings: (view spoiler)[violence, child death, murder, cannibalism, homophobia, racism, child abuse, suicide (off-page) (hide spoiler)]

What an absolutely amazing anthology! This is a collection of fantasy and science fiction stories written by an inclusive group of authors and starring a diverse cast of characters. With everything from retold fairytales to apocalyptic landscapes, there’s a little bit of something for any young adult reader. While I’ve read some of the included authors before, most were new to me, and these stories were a great introduction to their work.

“Wonder, Thorn realized, was beautiful; it banished what was impossible and made room for belief.”

“A Universe of Wishes” – Tara Sim – ★★★★★

A boy harvesting wishes from the dead, caught by the boy who works at a funeral parlor, offers him three wishes in exchange. I loved the world building and the sweet development of the m/m relationship, plus the resolution on this one is just sheer perfection!

“The Silk Blade” – Natalie C. Parker – ★★★★

Willador, one of three warriors chosen to compete for the hand of the Bloom, heir to Everdale’s throne, has second thoughts after meeting Rabi, one of her fellow competitors. Lots of excitement and fun worldbuilding.

“At last! A proper adventure!”
“Two dead men and a missing Rakshana agent isn’t an ‘adventure,’ Fee. It’s trouble.”
“Trouble is always an adventure.”

“The Scarlet Woman” – Libba Bray – ???

I haven’t read the Gemma Doyle books, so I honestly had no idea what was going on. The worldbuilding seemed interesting, and I liked the byplay between Gemma and Fee, but I was so confused I don’t feel like I should rate this one. Not recommended if you’re not already familiar with the books.

“Cristal y Ceniza” – Anna-Marie McLemore -★★★★★

A gorgeous reimagining of Cinderella with a trans prince and the difference between tolerance and acceptance. I haven’t read this author before, but her books are going straight on to my TBR.

“Liberia” – Kwame Mbalia – ★★★★

What we leave behind is almost as important as what we take with us in this story about teens piloting an aging spaceship to a colony.

“A Royal Affair” – V.E. Schwab – ★★★

Another story where I haven’t read the series, but this one was much more understandable. It’s quite sad and dark, which *waves at 2020* isn’t really to my taste right now, but the worldbuilding was interesting.

“The Takeback Tango” – Rebecca Roanhorse – ★★★★

Loved this one! A teen thief plans a caper to steal back her planet’s artifacts, but there’s a complication. I’d love to read a set of stories about Vi and Val!

“Dream and Dare” – Nic Stone – ★★★

I liked the message behind this one – about girls who don’t fit into the traditional gender roles – but the writing didn’t work for me.

“Wish” – Jenni Balch – ★★★

An imaginative retelling of the genie myth, but this time in… spaaaaaace. Honestly, this one just fell a little flat for me.

“But she chose to believe the world would be better if everything had its place and every question had its answer, like pairs of matching socks. So she could prepare.”

“The Weight” – Dhonielle Clayton – ★★★★★

A young couple is preparing to undergo a medical procedure that will tell them who they love and how much they love them. Dhonielle Clayton writes stories that are amazing in their own right and then absolutely roiling with meaning under the surface.

“Unmoor” – Mark Oshiro – ★★★★★

The world building in this one was exquisite. A teenager employs a magic service to help ease his heartbreak. It sounds like a great idea, except, well, there are always trade-offs, aren’t there?

“The Coldest Spot in the Universe” – Samira Ahmed – ★★★

I was all-in on this lyrically sad intertwined tales of an alien civilization investigating Earth many years after global warming destroyed it, and a teenager living through those last days. Then there was a twist at the end – “synchronicity” – that was just too preachy for me.

“The Beginning of Monsters” – Tessa Gratton – ★★★★

Unbelievably imaginative. In a world where bodies can be magically re-architected – adding claws or changing genders – what does being “human” really mean?

“Longer Than the Threads of Time” – Zoraida Córdova – ★★★★

A Rapunzel retelling that stopped much too soon for me! Another author going to the top of my reading list!

“Even though they were rarely about Arabs, and rarely about young Arab boys like me, if I squinted, I could see in the contours of their heroes something of my shoulders and my hair and my hands and feet. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine myself as the main character. And I was a hero who did not destroy things but saved them.”

“Habibi” – Tochi Onybuchi – ★★★★★

Two imprisoned teen boys – one from Long Beach, California and one from Palestine – communicate through magical means. An absolute powerhouse ending to this anthology.

Overall, while some stories didn’t work for me, this was an excellent collection and I’ll definitely be picking up the rest of the We Need Diverse Books anthologies, as well as checking out many of the authors’ individual works. Highly recommended!

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.

A collection of fifteen fantasy stories written in partnership with the organization, We Need Diverse Books.

Jennifer

A Universe of Wishes is an eclectic collection of diverse fantasy short stories. Personally I loved how creative the settings of the short stories are - they're so magical and breaktaking to read about!! So reading this anthology felt pretty refreshing as I was immersing myself to a world unlike any other that I've previously read!

On the flipside, I think there's a slight discrepancy in terms of the quality of the short stories within the collection. While I loved Anna-Marie LcMemore and Mark Oshiro's storytelling in their respective short stories, I personally didn't find a few others as memorable. Though I also want to give a disclaimer that I was reading this anthology while suffering from a bit of book hangover & reading slump, so my experience was definitely affected by other books that I've read around that time.

Slight concerns aside, I liked A Universe of Wishes and I thought the stories are really interesting. It's a shame that I was reading this during a reading slump but I hope to revisit a few select shorts within this anthology in the future.

(3.5 stars out of 5)

cossette

find the full review & others on my blog 🤍 

I’ve often struggled with reading fantasy — not for a lack of imagination, but more so because it’s discouraging and disheartening to constantly read about books set in made up worlds with so little diversity. You can’t possibly tell me that authors can create an entire world, but can’t dedicate time to researching and developing characters of color, disabled characters, and/or queer characters? I’ve been trying to dip my toes back into fantasy this year, and so I couldn’t have been more excited to hear that We Need Diverse Books had an anthology coming out called A Universe of Wishes.

On the whole, I found A Universe of Wishes to be exactly what I was looking for, and something that I wish I’d gotten to read when I was younger. The foreword was so affirming, and I couldn’t put A Universe of Wishes down after that. 

I’m a sucker for retellings with a twist, and so I was instantly captivated by Anna-Marie Mclemore’s Cristal y Cerisa and Zoraida Cordova’s Longer Than the Threads of Time – the former being a Cinderella retelling, and the latter being a Rapunzel retelling. Both stories managed to surprise me with a twist to the fairytales that I know so well. I know I’ll be thinking about Cristal y Cerisa – which more so reminded me of Roger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella than any other version of the tale, and Longer Than the Threads of Time for quite some time. Some other standouts for me were Dhonielle Clayton’s The Weight, Natalie C. Parker’s The Silk Blade, and A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim. Without giving too much away, The Weight left me with many questions to reflect upon when it comes to love. The Silk Blade was a wonderfully written sapphic romance which included a competition, and A Universe of Wishes was surprisingly moving. 

On the other hand, there were a few shorts that were hard for me to get into. I think if they had been longer, with more chances for world-building and development, I would’ve enjoyed them more. Or maybe they just simply weren’t for me! There were also a few shorts that didn’t seem to fit under the theme of “wishes” as well, which left me a little confused. 

While there were some stories that were continuations of other universes that I know very little of — namely Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle Trilogy and V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, I didn’t mind too much. The Gemma Doyle story was a little confusing for me, because I didn’t know anything about Gemma Doyle. Since the Shades of Magic story (which features Rhy/Alucard’s origin story) was set prior to the series, I didn’t have that same problem, and instead, found myself somewhat interested in picking up Shades of Magic. 

Most of the short stories in this anthology left me shocked or wanting more, and I found a lot of them incredibly powerful as well. I’m excited to look into the authors I’m not as familiar with as well!

Jelke Lenaerts

I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

This book has content warnings for homophobia, racism and domestic abuse.

 average rating: 2,6/5 stars 
I really liked the idea of this short story collection and I did really enjoy it. Honestly, I was shocked by my average rating. I think this is a great collection. There is a whole lot of diversity in it. I also haven't read anything yet from most of these authors and I this collection made me super excited about checking out those authors. I kind of had a problem with some of the stories because they just didn't feel like a full story and more like an introduction to something larger. There were also some stories that overall weren't my cup of tea but I think other people will really like. There were also two stories that I really liked. Both were by authors I hadn't read anything from before and now I can't wait to read something by them. This was my first real fiction anthology and it has made me really excited to check out more.

 A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim 
 2/5 stars 
This story just felt like a pitch for a larger book to me. I would read that book though. The whole magic system sounds very interesting and the characters sound like a lot fun to follow. However, this story leaves too much up to the imagination. The romance/friendship between the two main characters was just so lackluster. It just didn't work for me. Overall, I just want more from this story. If the author decides to make this in a full book I will be the first in line but as a short story it didn't work.
 The Silk Blade by Natalie C. Parker 
 5/5 stars 
Oh my god, I loved this. The writing in this story is so good. It completely pulled me and didn't let me go until the very end. I could feel everything the main character felt. The romance might have been complete insta-love but I was rooting for it and felt it. I'm not the biggest fan of action scenes but they were so well written in this story. Natalie C. Parker is definetly an author I need to look out for and read her novels because DAMN this story was so good and her writing is so beautiful.
 The Scarlet Woman: A Gemma Doyle Story by Libba Bray 
 3/5 stars 
Honestly, I think I might have loved this story if I had more knowledge of the Gemma Doyle story. This short story was very engaging and completely sucked me in. My biggest complaint is that it just ended when there was seemingly so much more to tell. It just made this story feel unfinished. I wasn't a fan of that. I have always had a small interest in the Gemma Doyle trilogy but this story made me super excited to read the trilogy.
 Cristal y Ceniza by Anna-Marie McLemore 
 4/5 stars 
Anna-Marie McLemore is an author I've been meaning to check out but have always been a bit intimidated by. So I was pretty excited to check out a short story by them. I think this story was a great twist on the original Cinderella story. It's one of the most interesting retellings I have read. The story also adresses a lot of important topics and did so in a way that would cause for long discussions in a book club. That's impressive for a short story, at least in my opinion. I really liked the characters. The only problem I really had with this story is that it's pretty romance forward and I wasn't completely on board with the romance. 
 Liberia by Kwame Mbalia 
 1/5 stars 
One stars for me either go to books I absolutely hated or books I didn't retain a single word from. This short story fell into the second category. For some reason I barely retained anything from the stories. I found this kind of sad because the small bits I did get from this story seemed interesting.
 A Royal Affair by V.E. Schwab 
 3/5 stars 
Okay, so this short story is a sort of prequel to the Darker Shades of Magic series. I haven't read that series and I think I would have enjoyed this story more if I had more background of the world and characters. However, I did still really enjoy this story. I really liked the romance and overall just felt for the main character. My main problem with this story was that the ending just lost me. A lot happened really quickly and therefore I couldn't really follow.
 The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse 
 2/5 stars 
This story just felt a little bit too short for my taste. It felt more like an introduction to something larger than a stand-alone story. It was kind of like a prequel, I guess. What I'm trying to say is that there was no real meat to the story. I did really like the characters though and the friendship that started to blossom between them. I also really liked the discussion of taking back stolen artifacts. Honestly, I would read a full book of this.
 Dream and Dare by Nic Stone 
 2/5 stars 
Nic Stone is probably the writer I'm most familiar with in this collection, yet I didn't like this story. I thought the writing was overly simplistic, which caused for too much repetition. It was a bit mindnumbing to read. The story was also super predictable and didn't keep me engaged enough to not care about its predictability. I do think this story could lead to a great discussion about gender identity and gender expression though. So hooray for that!
 Wish by Jenni Balch 
 2/5 stars 
This is yet another story that felt like an introduction to something bigger for me. I was very confused about the magic system and I think a full book could have solved that. I did really appreciate the combination of a sci-fi world with genie magic though. I want more of that. That's pretty awesome.
 The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton 
 4/5 stars 
God, I loved the premise of this one and was completely pulled into it. I mean the whole taking out of hearts thing is a bit gross, but overall it's still a cool concept. It also raises a lot of questions to think about if this is real. The only reason why this isn't a full five stars though is that it ended so abruptly. I wanted just a couple more pages more of it. I could have really benefited from that. 
 Unmoor by Mark Oshiro 
 3/5 stars 
The idea for this book was fantastic. I just didn't like the execution of it. The whole premise reminded me a bit of More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, except it's very different. It's just that both deal with being able to erase your memories. I also think this was an interesting way to tell a story of a relationship (kinda). The ending was also just a bit weird. I'm still not fully sure what happened there.
 The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed 
 1/5 stars 
Yeah, this was another story I didn't retain a single word from. To prove that, I didn't realise this was taking place in two seperate time lines until the very ending. It's made very obvious that it's taking place in two timelines but because for some reason I didn't retain anything I didn't realize that. Anyway, it's a shame because I love Samira Ahmed's books.
 The Beginning of Monsters by Tessa Gratton 
 2/5 stars 
This was so boring. I'm sorry. I was just really bored while reading this story and had a hard time finding something interesting in this story. I mean, the world was kind of interesting but we got so little of that. Therefore it just confused me more. There's a lot of potential here. The story just didn't work out for me.
 Longer Than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Córdova 
 3/5 stars 
This story was a pretty interesting retelling of Rapunzel. I mean I don't know a lot of Rapunzel retellings so any is interesting to me (at least compared to fairytales that are retold often). Still, I liked what this story did with that tale. There was also a nice twist at the end. I really liked our two characters. I just wasn't there on their romance. Considering that was big part in mainly the ending I was a bit dissapointed by the fact I didn't get on board with it.
 Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi 
 2/5 stars 
This is another that just bored me. There was just something about the writing that didn't click with me and my brain found it hard to engage in. I also didn't see much of a point to the story (don't shoot me). There are some topics raised that are interesting but I feel like it didn't go in depth enough for it to justify the lack of a point for this story.

From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children's authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), V. E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic), Natalie C. Parker (Seafire), and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles). 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. AUTHORS INCLUDE: Samira Ahmed, Jenni Balch, Libba Bray, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Natalie C. Parker, Rebecca Roanhorse, V. E. Schwab, Tara Sim, Nic Stone

Kath Lau

A Universe of Wishes is a YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Anthology featuring 15 diverse stories. I was so thankful that I enjoyed the majority of the stories in this collection. Scfi-Fi is not really my go-to genre so I think that says a lot.

A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim - A great story to start this anthology. This one is compelling and I really loved the m/m romance. 5 stars
The Silk Blade by Natalie C. Parker - I enjoyed the premise and worldbuilding in this one but the romance felt too fast for me. 3 stars
The Scarlet Woman by Libba Bray - This was interesting and quite confusing for me. I would probably have enjoyed it if I'm familiar with Bray's Gemma Doyle trilogy. 2 stars
Cristal y Ceniza by Anna-Marie McLemore - This is a Cinderella retelling. A peasant girl meeting the trans-Prince! I loved it! 5 stars
Liberia by Kwame Mbalia - The writing and Kweku's relationship with his grandmother were my favorite in this one! Also, there are so many plants in this one. 3 stars
A Royal Affair by V. E. Schwab - This tells the story of Alucard Emery (Shades of Magic series) before he becomes the captain of the Night Spire. This made me love him even more. 5 stars
The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse - A space captain on a heist. Her plan is to steal back the artifacts that were stolen from her people. I would love to read more from this story. 4 stars
Dream and Dare by Nic Stone - The story is about a girl named Dream and a monster (I think) named Dare. I didn't really connect with the characters and the story. 3 stars
Wish by Jenni Balch - A girl with an autoimmune disease finds a LAMP and a boy who meant to grant her wish. This was a hopeful story. - 3 stars
The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton - A couple who have their hearts removed from their bodies to weigh and see who they truly love. The concpet is really interesting in this one. It's unique and very intriguing. 4 stars
Unmoor by Mark Oshiro - A guy who wants to unmoor the memories he has with his ex-boyfriend he loved the most. This book is about memories and how they affect us. This one made me cry! 5 stars
The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed - A dystopian story focuses on climate change. I enjoyed the dual timelines. This is haunting and powerful. 4 stars
The Beginning of Monsters by Tessa Gratton - I had a hard time on this one. It's slow and I couldn't figure out what's happening. 2 stars
Longer than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Cordova - A Rapunzel retelling set in modern day New York. A girl locked up in a tower for years and a brujo who wants to save her. I was so naive and didn't see that ending coming. I would love to know how the story continues though. 5 stars
Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi - A story about a prisoner and a protester, both in prison, exchanging letters and eventually build a deep connection with each other. This was a heart-wrenching and very powerful story. 5 stars

Overall, this is an excellent collection of stories that are both entertaining and empowering. Definitely worth the read.

Disclaimer: Huge thanks to PRH International and NetGalley for my free e-arc. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.
Check out my other reviews here.

Samantha Bass

Heather Killeen

Rating: 5/5 

Format: E-book. I’d like to thank Dhonielle Clayton and Random House Children’s for a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review!

To sum up: 
This is a collection of stories, most with some fantasy or sci-fi element woven in, by a diverse set of authors featuring a just as diverse set of characters. Every author gives voice to elements of their culture, their myths, and their identities.

What I enjoyed: 
This was such a beautiful collection! I absolutely loved how different, beautiful and whimsical each story was. All different voices, different experiences, and different cultures illustrated, but with the thread of something fantastic woven through them all. This collection is a celebration of diverse voices. There are stories set in space, and stories set in long beach California (oh hi, that’s where I live!), but in every story is the beating heart of why we tell stories in the first place. Every story is a celebration of the wonder of seeing something new, or something old and loved told in a new way. Every story is a reminder that we need diverse books and diverse voices to better understand each other and to grow.

I could go through and say something about every story in this collection, but I’ll stick to my favorites for brevity. All the stories were great but a few shone out for me! Of course, I loved hearing from my faves V.E. Schwab (ADSOM story!) and Libba Bray (A Gemma Doyle story!), but I was also blown away by Anna-Marie McLemore (a fresh twist on Cinderella that I am still dying over), Mark Oshiro (a story about the burden of memories that left me heartbroken), and Tochi Onyebuchi (a story told in letters between two prisoners that made me see their worlds in a new way). 

Overall, I thought this was a beautiful collection of stories. I loved them all and anyone that enjoys speculative fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi is bound to enjoy these as well!

Roos Kuijper 

Manon van Heumen

I'm normally not a fan of anthologies, but I actually liked the majority of these short stories. There were, however, still a couple of stories that didn't capture my attention, and I ended up skipping a couple.

A Universe of Wishes A We Need Diverse Books Anthology

Reviews