Name: Because You Love to Hate Me
ISBN: 9781681193649

Ameriie

A collection of classic fairy tales and stories, from Medusa to Sherlock Holmes, retold from the villains' points of view by teams of authors and "BookTubers."

13 Tales of Villainy

Because You Love to Hate Me

Lacy W

The actual total amount of stars is 3.69. I added all the stars that could be obtained and divided it by 13 to get an average. 

I will be the first to admit: I don't like villains/anti heros. I can't understand the obsession with the Darkling (he's a creepy dude with manipulative tendencies), I'm iffy on my feelings on Lada (her violence was slightly off putting but I understand it) and Kaz was okay in small doses (Honestly, I got nothing). Basically, villains and anti heroes aren't for me. But I want to try and change that because there are so many stories with anti heroes out there and I want to be able to enjoy them. Hence why I picked up this book at my library. For the record, each short story will be given a brief review on my feelings and a star rating out of 5 (five) stars. I will also put in a little comment about the YouTuber commentary at the end. 

The Blood of Imuriv by Renee Ahdieh-3.5 stars
Not the strongest start. This was about a boy, Rhone, who feels he has no place in his home. His kingdom is run by women and he feels unloved and unwanted because he is male. And he is also so very angry because he is feels all those emotions. I enjoyed this but felt overwhelmed with the amount to info crammed into this thing. It was just kind of meh for me. While I understand Rhone's anger, the way he treated his sister was uncalled for. It was not her fault she was born a girl. Regardless of my feelings towards this story I still want to pick up more of Renee Ahdieh

Jack by Ameriie-4.5 stars
This was interesting retelling of Jack and the Giant Beanstalk and I enjoyed it immensely. I haven't read the original but in this one we are in the mind of the Princess Giant. I related to the Princess and liked her POV. I was totally rooting for everyone in this story. It had a twist at the end that I didn't see coming. Overall, this was very good. 

Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainani-4.5 stars
This story was told entirely through email and text messages. It was a modern mashup of King Arthur and Hades and Persephone. You all know I am here for Hades and Persephone so I really enjoyed that aspect. However, I just felt it wasn't villany enough. Gwen was just a teenage girl who did teenage things. Nothing villainous about that. But I suppose it could be, depending on how much you like teenagers. 

Shirley and Jim by Susan Dennard-4.5 stars
A genderbent Sherlock Holmes? Sign me the heck up! I was so engrossed with this story that I was quite surprised when it ended. I wanted more. My only complaint is my own fault. I didn't know who Moriarty was (in the original) or why he was so important to the Sherlock world. Guess that means I need to read the original. Good thing I have a collection! 

The Blessing of Little Wants by Sarah Enni-3.5 stars
I'm usually a huge fan of witches and the magical stuff but I wasn't a huge fan of this one. There was a lot I felt didn't get answers. Like why do they have limited magic? How do people gain their powers? Things like that. Plus, I just couldn't get behind Sigrid. Her reasoning for turning villainous wasn't too my liking. 

The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer-4 stars
I am slowly becoming obsessed with mermaids and I have no problem with this. This was an interesting take on the The Little Mermaid. There were parts that were from the original and I appreciated that. Nerit was a villain I could get behind. Because at the end of the day, she just wanted to be loved and accepted. And who doesn't want that? 

Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon-4.5 stars
Where has Cindy Pon been all my life? This was a fantastic story of Medusa. The added elements of Chinese lore and the discussion of rape culture was so great. It really gave a modern twist to the story. This easily could have been a full length novel and I would buy it in a heartbeat. 

Death Knell by Victoria Schwab-3 stars
I so badly wanted to love this one because I haven't read Victoria Schwab yet and people sing her praises constantly. So I was confident this would be a 5 (five) star read for me. But I just couldn't get into this one. It was written beautifully but other than that, I don't know. I can't really place why I didn't love this one because it was about Hades. Maybe it was because I thought it was about the Grim Reaper before I read the prompt, which totally skewed my thinking. Oh well. 

Marigold by Samantha Shannon-2 stars
Oh man, I did not like this one at all. For one, I know nothing about Erl Folk and it was written like I should have. The Erl Fold were written as villains but there was no redemption story to make me question if they were truly villains. I also really didn't like the main character. Bit of a hero complex. 

You, You, It's All About You by Adam Silvera-5 stars
Despite the weird title, I totally dug this one. Slate was cutthroat and ruthless. She was also a teenage crime lord that sold memory drugs. Who would have thought I would like something like that? Slate was a badass, don't get me wrong, but I thinks he still had a lot of empathy left in her, despite the horrible things she did and had people do. This is the definition of an antihero and I am sold!

Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith-2 stars
Okay, this wasn't a good story. Julian was incredibly annoying. I didn't feel bad for him or anything and his villainy tendencies was just him thinking bad thoughts about someone and then they died. How is that even remotely interesting? The only thing I liked about this story was the Iowa rep. The author captured what it's like to live in small town Iowa perfectly. 

Indigo and Shade by April Genevieve-2 stars
Another story I didn't like. Brahm was this god awful annoying ass character. At the end, I found out the prompt was a Beauty and the Beast retelling with Gaston but it still didn't change my opinion. Honestly, I would have rather had the whole story from Indigo because she was perfect. Brahm didn't deserve to know someone as perfect as her. 

Sera by Nicola Yoon-5 stars and my most favorite one!
What an absolutely perfect story. A gender flipped God of War? Hell yes! Fun fact: When I was really into myths (in high school), my favorite god was the God of War because my favorite planet was and still is Mars. I have no idea why but it was. Maybe it was because of the video game, God of War. Kratos is badass. Anyway, reading this story brought back a lot of good memories learning about the different gods. Its something I need to go and do again. I am seriously going to be needing a full length novel based on Sera please and thank you.

YouTuber commentary
So I did like that all these different YouTubers picked the prompts. Some of them were extremely creative. It's a fun and unique way to get the bookish community involved. That being said, some of the commentary was just...weird, for lack of better words. I would have much rather read why they chose the prompt they did. Which some of them did do but others did not. But overall, it was a nice addition to the book. I think next time something gets published like this, the prompts should be in front of the story. It would really help to know just what I am reading so I can think about it differently. Just my opinion though.

Amerie

Kirsten Simkiss

To be really honest, this book was just okay. The first few stories were pretty cringy to me, but it picked up after a few. The Blessings of Little Wants was the first one where I enjoyed reading the story. After that, it toggled back and forth for me whether I enjoyed it or not. I really do think Sarah Enni’s story was my favorite of the lot, though I think Marigold was probably the strongest villain protagonist - though I don’t really see that one as a villain so much.

But god, the booktuber bits were skull numbingly stupid. I feel these short stories could have stood on their own happily and I just didn’t enjoy them. They made me feel like I was being belittled as a reader in a lot of them.

All in all, if the perspectives of villains interests you, go for it. Some of these are good, some are bad, and as with all literature it’s up to you to determine what you like. I personally would recommend snagging this from the library first before buying it outright.

Nicole Dykeman

My average rating when adding up each story: 3.5

1. The Blood of Imuriv by Renee Ahdieh - 2 stars
This story, to me, was less about villainy and more about family drama. It also centered around a board game, which wasn’t very exciting. I also didn’t feel like the end was totally justified. I’m a firm believer that you have to earn your ending. 

2. Jack by Ameriie - 3 stars
This was actually a really awesome insight into the point of view of the giants in Jack and the Beanstalk. What I loved most about this was the surprise - a major plot twist that I didn’t see coming, just the way I like it. 

3. Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainani - 5 stars
I absolutely loved this story for some reason. Normally I’m really not a fan of stories told in text format, but it totally worked here because the story was so character-driven. The relationships all felt so real for me even though I only had small glimpses into the characters’ lives. 

4. Shirley and Jim by Susan Dennard - 4 stars
Oh this was everything. I love a good Sherlock retelling, and this was honestly great. Young, genderbent Holmes and her relationship with Moriarty were so well-developed and meaningful. I want a full-length book out of this one. 

5. The Blessing of Little Wants by Sarah Enni - 2 stars 
The premise of this was great, I just don’t think it made a good short story. In a longer novel where I had more time to get to know the characters and the world, I think the climax of this story would have been a lot more impactful. As is, it kinda fell short for me. 

6. The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer - 3 stars
This one was the biggest disappointment for me. I love Marissa Meyer but this was just a meh story all around. I liked it, but the conflict felt too easy. 

7. Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon - 3 stars
A really cool Medusa reimagining. I think I would have liked it a lot more if this story hadn’t gotten kind of old for me. I’ve had enough of Greek-inspired mythology at this point and I was hoping for a fresher take, but much of the story was the same as the original myth. 

8. Death Knell by Victoria Schwab - 5 stars
Victoria Schwab hasn’t let me down yet. I also want a full length book of this story. The point of view of Death just absolutely fascinates me, and it reminded me a bit of the Book Thief, which is my absolute favorite book of all time. I also like that she took a prompt about Greek mythology - Jesse mentioned Hades - and spun it on its head so that it wasn’t too close to the original story. It’s essentially what I would have hoped for in the previous story. 

9. Marigold by Samantha Shannon - 2 stars
It was good, but nothing special. I’ve tried a few fey retellings at this point and I think they’re just not for me. 

10. You, You, It’s All About You by Adam Silvera - 4 stars
My first venture into Adam Silvera’s writing, and I immediately want more. I love that it was told in second person POV, and the concept of the different drugs and how our main villain uses them was just awesome. 

11. Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith - 4 stars 
This story felt really refreshing after reading a bunch of stories about villains with crazy magic powers and stuff. Julian is just an average guy who really hates Steve Kemple, and made me hate Steve Kemple. The “foreshadowing” bits were funny and the ending was totally deserved. 

12. Indigo and Shade by April Genevieve Tucholke - 4 stars 
This was a bit predictable but I really didn’t mind because I liked the characters. My favorite part was the climax which is spoilers so I won’t go into detail. Basically, I love that Brahm was strong enough to do what he had to do. 

13. Sera by Nicola Yoon - 5 stars 
This story is told from the POV of a mother of a villain, which was awesome. It was one of the most unique perspectives in the book, and the way it was told felt kinda like an episode of a crime TV show.

Lauren Tabor

3.5/5

I didn’t love this like I thought I would, which is a little disappointing. It was a bit different than I was expecting. I guess I wasn’t expecting re-tellings of classic villains, I was hoping for more original stories. Some of them were really well done though. For example, I really enjoyed The Sea Witch and Death Knell. I feel like these two were done extremely well. Mostly, this anthology was just ok for me, just a few of the stories really captured my attention and the others were just sort of blah. Again, I liked some of the blurbs from you tubers buy some of them felt unnecessary. 
I think it’s really great how authors and your bees were able to collaborate on something like this. It’s a really cool thing that they all did this and I think it’d be great to have a collaboration like this again!

Leave it to the heroes to save the world--villains just want to rule the world. In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains' points of view. These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like "Medusa," Sherlock Holmes, and "Jack and the Beanstalk" provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains' acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage--and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again! Featuring writing from . . . Authors: Renée Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola Yoon BookTubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zoë Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).

Emi Gilmore 

3.384/5 stars

Villains, the deliciously wicked. We love to hate them and they hate to be loved, if only because being hated frees them from having to be good.
I read this book solely because of Victoria Schwab, even postponing my weekly watch of one of the greatest shows, The Bachelorette, to read it, so if that's not showing you how dedicated I am to my favorite author, I don't know what will?

I think to celebrate this villain anthology, I have decided to include a GIF of my favorite "villain" aka angsty prince turned nicer angsty Fire Lord

 

This book was a hit or miss for me. Some of the stories I absolutely loved, most of them I had neutral or negative opinions of. A lot of the stories did not feel villainous at all, while others made me wanna sleep with one eye open. In the end, I decided just to find my average rating and rate from there. I think my favorite stories were Victoria Schwab's (of course), Andrew Smith's, and Andrew Silvera's, but the biggest surprise for me was Cindy Pon's. If you only read one short story from this, I would highly recommend the one Cindy Pon wrote. 

I think should discuss, real quick, is that a huge part of this book is the presence of Booktubers. I've seen some reviews address the controversy, and I feel like I should mention it as well. 

I'm not a writer, nor do I ever want to be a writer, but there are a lot of writers who struggle to just get their works picked up by an agent, and many of them never do, but these thirteen individuals who post reviews on the internet get to bypass the struggle of getting a piece of work published? I mean, I post reviews on the internet? Where's my name in a book? It does seem quite unfair. But, at the same time, many of those booktubers work hard to create quality content and put themselves out on the internet in a way I never could, so while they didn't necessarily work hard in publishing-a-book-wise, I believe they did work hard in other ways. 

I also don't believe it's right to tear down someone else's accomplishments just because you think they don't deserve it. 

However, I don't find the booktubers really added anything to the story other than the prompt they supplied. While some of the prompts were great for authors to work with, others not so much. And a bad prompt could really damage an author's story. Their small pieces of writing that followed the author's stories were almost a waste of paper. It was just them analyzing the story for me, telling me what to think about the plot or a character or their actions and I don't really appreciate that. I much rather analyze what happened myself, thank you very much, because everyone analyzes things differently. I ended skimming post of their content, as I didn't find it important. 

But let's just go into reviews of the short stories, shall we: 

The Blood of Imuriv
by Renee Ahdieh, prompt from Christine Riccio/PolandbananasBOOKS
4/5 stars 
I love Renee Ahdieh, so it's not a surprise to me that I loved her part in this book. However, I do think this story had the unfortunate luck of having to be a short story. There was so much history and politics that had to be condensed to just a few pages it took away from the overall understanding of the story. The plot was so interesting and the world so unique, I got myself invested and then it ended. I want an entire 400 page novel in my hands by yesterday, Renee, please and thank you. 

Jack
by Ameriie, prompt from Tina Burke/The Lushables 
1.25/5 stars
I've never heard of Ameriie before, even though her name is the biggest on this cover, but even from her chapter, I don't think I want to read anything else by her. Her writing and story, in my opinion, reminded me of a high schooler's creative writing project. Maybe it was the weird ass prompt she got, as I don't Jack and the Beanstalk can ever be cool, but she could have made it work. Instead, we got a protagonist I didn't care for and unnecessary pop culture references that didn't work. Easily my least favorite story in this entire book. Next, please. 

Gwen and Art and Lance
by Soman Chainani, prompt from Samantha Lane/Thoughts on Tomes
1.75/5 stars
This could have been such a cool af story, as the prompt was King Arthur meets Hades and Persephone, but instead, it was just high school drama sprinkled with more high school drama. It wasn't even villainous. It was literally just an egocentric girl pining over two guys who are too good for her. And the entire thing was told in text messages. Just no. I'll pass.

Shirley & Jim
by Susan Dennard, prompt from Sasha Alsberg/Abookutopia
1.5/5 stars
I have never read or seen Sherlock Homes. I know absolutely nothing about him except he's a detective and he's hooking up with some dude named Watson and they wanna go back to elementary school or something? I'm assuming Jim is some sort of villain but I don't even know. But anyways, I probably couldn't care less about this story.

The Blessing of Little Wants
by Sarah Enni, prompt from Sophia Lee/Thebookbasement
 2.5/5 stars 
Who is Sarah Enni? Why is she a featured author in this book? I looked at her Goodreads page, and all that is featured under her written books is this book right here. But, even if she's not as published of an author as others featured in this anthology, she actually wrote a story with more depth and plot then most of the other stories in this thing. While I wasn't too invested in everything that happened, after the mess of the past three stories I embraced this with open arms. Even if I didn't understand fully what was going on? That ending was confusing af and how did any of this have anything to do with villains???? The main character just travels to some island by boat and kills something that I'm (view spoiler)[ 99% sure is a figment of her imagination.  (hide spoiler)]

The Sea Witch
by Marissa Meyer, prompt from Zoe Herdt/ReadbyZoe
4.5/5 stars 
Finally, we are getting good here, but that's no surprise from Marissa Meyer, veteran author and seemingly amazing person. This is the kind of story I was expecting when I started this book. We had a plot! And motive! And intrigue! And love! And villainous actions. The entire plot of this short story was what if the Sea Witch from the Little Mermaid fell in love too, but killed her love interest. And it was so good. Sooo freaking good. At times I was a little concerned it was a little too similar to another Marissa Meyer book, 
  Heartless
, but I feel like eventually it branch off into its own story. I like to thank Marissa Meyer and Zoe Herdt for giving me hope that this anthology won't be all horrible. 

Beautiful Venom
by Cindy Pon, prompt from Benjamin Alderson/BenjaminofTomes 
5/5 stars
 Trigger warning: (not graphic) rape scene 
Ummmm I have never read anything by Cindy Pon before, but I am now quickly adding all her books to my TBR because I am just amazed at how much I loved her writing and her imagination. This was a villainous retelling about Medusa and it followed the origin myth very well, but it also explored rape culture and victim blaming and how utterly harmful they are.  Every f*cking person needs to go read this right now. 

Death Knell
by Victoria Schwab, prompt from Jesse George/JessetheReader
5/5 stars
I was starting to feel like this was never going to happen? This entire story is the only reason I wanted to read this book. You're the best Victoria. Keep doing you.
And this story is so Victoria? It is covered from page to page in her lyrical writing. So breathtakingly beautiful and meaningful. It's about how life is short and death is not outrun-able. I'm in love. I'm incredibly biased, as I'm a self-proclaimed #1 Victoria Schwab fan, but this is the best story so far. 

Marigold
by Samantha Shannon, prompt from Regan Perusse/PeruseProject
3.75/5 stars 
I liked this on. I'm not sure if I loved it, but I did like it. It was full of folklore and children getting kidnapped. I especially loved the twist at the end (view spoiler)[ that shows that not every girl is sitting around waiting for his knight in shining armor.  (hide spoiler)] However, I just wasn't fully engaged in every aspect of this one. 

You, You, It's All About You
by Adam Silvera, prompt from Catriona Feeney/LittleBookOwl
4.25/5 stars 
Adam Silvera seems like the coolest guy in all of existence. So is he taking applications for a new best friend? Because I have a resume that I'd love to send him. Anyways, he came through like he always does and presented us a solid piece of writing about a teenage drug lord. Not only was it funny at times, but the main character is probably the villain in this book that scared me the most. She's twisted. I don't ever want to cross her path. Also, it's written in second person. What I've read of second person in the past has never gone well and I always end up hating it, but Adam pulls it off effortlessly in this. You go Adam! Please hire me to be your friend. 

Julian Breaks Every Rule
by Andrew Smith, prompt from Raeleen Lemay/Padfootandrongs07 
4.75/5 stars 
I didn't even realize Andrew Smith apart of this anthology until I got to his chapter and let me tell you, I was so freaking existed. 
  Winger
 is one of my favorite books of all time and I seriously don't talk about it enough, hence this not so subtle promotion of it. And his short story was everything I wanted it to be and more. It was soooo much an Andrew Smith novel. It's about a boy who can never do anything wrong and can wish almost everyone to death. Not only that, but its the funniest thing in this entire anthology. The only thing faulty about this is that it isn't a full legnth novel and that is such a shame. I never wanted it to end. I need more. 

Indigo and Shade
by April Genevieve Tucholke, prompt from Whitney Atkinson/WhittyNovels
1.75/5 stars 
Another author whom I'm just like, "Who?!?!" but she actually has books published which is cool. I thought this story might cool as well, as it was a beauty and the beast retelling, but I was beyond wrong. The plot was one I find to be quite overused, the narrator was uninteresting and annoying, and the ending was predictable. This one wasn't for me. 

Sera
by Nicola Yoon, prompt from Steph Sinclair and Kat Kennedy/Cuddlebuggery
3.5/5 stars 
I've always wanted to read a non-contemporary Nicola Yoon book and I think this might be the closest I get. Nicola Yoon is pure talents and I'm quite jealous. But while the writing is great, I don't know if I quite like this story. It's gender-flipped God of War, which is something I know nothing about. And I wish it stayed a lot more focused on the present than the past. But Nicola's writing though. It's gorgeous.

Aleena Korell

Favorite stories: 
Death Knell by Victoria Schwab and Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith. Both incredible, 5-star stories that make me want a whole book of short stories from each author. Also great stories with unique voices and unexpected twists were Jack by Ameriie and The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer.

Tiffany Robinson

I was happy to see a book full of villains since they are always more interesting then the heroes. While I didn't like every story in the book there were more that I did like. My favorite story was You, You, Its All about you.

Анастасия Розова

3.25/5

As antologies usually go, some stories were meh, but some were quite interesting and gripping. Took a while to read because of the different levels of my emotional involvement, but I am still glad I have this a chance. Some of the stories were amazing and I loved them.
Definitely recommend reading, maybe skip the stories you don't like, but try them all.

Becca Leigh

I love love LOVE anthologies! They allow us to experience the writings of many authors at once. This particular anthology was perfect for October, aka Spooky Season. It does a wonderful job of blurring the line between hero and villain. The comments written by the booktubers and bloggers delve into the psychology behind villains and evil. My favorite short story had to be “You, You, It’s All About You” by Adam Silvera. These stories are dark and twisted, and yet you still feel yourself rooting for the villains. 4.5 Stars!

Wendy M Holt

3.5 out of 5 stars. Wasn't as creepy/spooky as I had hoped but still enjoyed it.

This anthology. Hm. 

I struggled with a lot of stories in this anthology. But there were also some gems. 
Also, I should say that I pretty much did not read any of the booktube articles included in the book. They didn't interest me at all and just felt completely out of place imo.


The Blood of Imuriv by Renée Ahdieh 0/5
I have never liked Ahdieh's writing and this was no exception. I also just DID NOT GET THIS STORY.

Jack by Ameriie 1/5
At least this story made sense. But I wasn't interested in the story or the relationship. I did kinda like the ending though.

Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainan 1/5
This was mildly entertaining. Extremely mild. It was also super cliche and meh. 

Shirley & Jim by Susan Dennard 3/5
I liked the concept of this story. I don't think it was written in the most entertaining way. It still dragged a lot for a short story. 

The Blessings of Little Wants by Sarah Enni 2/5
I LOVED the world building in this story. And I thought I was liking it and then I got to the end and it just didn't work for me. Also took me a good 15 minutes to figure out what had really happened.

The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer 3.5/5
I don't know if it was the story choice or the writing, but this story felt very Disney-esque. Which is something I really enjoyed. I also really loved the retelling twist this story gave.

Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon 5/5
TW: rape scene

This story is honestly the only reason I would recommend this book. This is the best retelling of a villain I have ever come across. It is written so beautifully and portrays such a great story about the truth behind the veil. Amazing representation of a sexual assault victim. And I actually read and mildly enjoyed the booktube discussion for this story. 

Death Knell by Victoria Schwab 5/5
I have never read Schwab before (I know *shock horror*) and this story convinced me that I am truly missing out on so much. This story has so much freaking atmosphere. Absolutely loved the creep-factor.

Marigold by Samantha Shannon DNF
Just no. I stopped at the lines "Girls, it seemed, were just like magpies". Do we actually have to deal with this idea that females are defenseless against shiny things? Puhlease.

You, You, It's All About You by Adam Silvera 2.5/5
I didn't mind this story. Not completely riveting, but entertaining. 




And that was where I stopped reading. The book was due back to the library and honestly I had very little motivation to finish it. Apologies to the following stories: Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith, Indigo and Shade by April Genevieve Tucholke and Sera by Nicola Yoon. You may or may not have been good. Either way, you were let down by a lot of the stories before you.

Wren Hardwick

I just want to voice that I, and I only because this is my opinion alone, did not like the style of this book. I would have rather the authors and the booktubers write one-inclusive story together instead of the “responding” the booktubers did to the author’s story. It wasn’t for me, and that really shows in my ratings.

01.  The Blood of Impuriv ★☆☆☆☆
By: Renée Ahdieh
Featuring: Christine Riccio
About: an ambitious dark lord

I don’t feel as if anything actually happened in this story except for bickering between the two siblings. And, sadly, Renée Ahdieh’s writing doesn’t agree with me. I figured that out long before this so I am probably a little bias in this. She has such a following though, so I bet a lot of people enjoyed this a lot more than I did. 

02. Jack ★★★☆☆
By: Ameriie
Featuring: Tina Burke
About: the giant from “Jack and the Beanstalk”

This story was better than Ahdieh’s. It has an original spin on it with a historical figure-head as the antagonist, but other than that I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I love other retellings of Jack and the Beanstalk (not really books, but like Into the Woods the Broadway show is one. 

03. Gwen and Art and Lance ★★☆☆☆
By: Soman Chainani
Featuring: Samantha Lane
About: Lancelot

I just could not. The only reason this works with the Illuminae series is because it is a full-length book and there are diagrams and pictures and surveillance documentation. I wasn’t a fan of the format for a short story. 

04. Shirley & Jim ★★☆☆☆
By: Susan Dennard
Featuring: Sasha Alsberg
About: Moriarty

I wasn’t a fan of how the author went about rewiring Sherlock and Watson both. I feel there could have been a better way to do what she was trying to do; and with that being said, I also feel as if she was trying really hard to mend something that just doesn’t mold the way she wanted. 

05. The Blessing of Little Wants ★★★★☆
By: Sarah Enni
Featuring: Sophia Lee
About: a dark sorcerer seeking immortality

This was the shining light and what made me keep going with these short stories. Two witches on a quest to save magic. I mean, my goodness, can this get a series of its own? Because I finally felt feels in this little story and I am craving more.

06. The Sea Witch ★★★★★
By: Marissa Meyer
Featuring: Zoë Herdt
About: the sea witch

Now THIS WAS LEGIT. I already am head over heels for Marissa Meyers and that’s because she knows how to write a villain who is likeable but also someone you love to hate. I read this one three times when I the other’s failed. A mermaid, first off, is the best. A dark mermaid, secondly, is completely and utterly accurate. You understood where she was coming from and you cheered for her to conquer. But at the same time, you knew how she was going about getting what she needed and what she deserved was not the best way. My heart breaks for my little mermaid. 

07. Beautiful Venom ★★★★★
By: Cindy Pon
Featuring: Benjamin Alderson
About: Medusa

I want to start off saying that I have read one Pon book and I wasn’t that big of a fan of it. So, I went into this story with the lowest expectations you could possibly imagine. With that being said, holy crap did that just happen? That was utterly amazing and hit me pretty hard. Medusa is already one of my favorite mythology creatures and now I just want to find more retellings on her. Not only that but… I may give Pon books another shot.

08. Death Knell ★★★★★
By: Victoria Schwab
Featuring: Jesse George
About: Death

I went into this knowing that I would love it because Schwab knows the way into my black, still heart, and I wasn’t disappointed. This read more like a fable to me. This story will make your eyes go huge and shake your head because once you see what is going to happen, you can’t stop it no matter how much you wish to. Schwab is a phenomenal author at writing anything dark and she does not disappoint. This was my favorite story in this whole book and I may buy this book just for this. 

09. Marigold ★★★★☆
By: Samantha Shannon
Featuring: Regan Perusse
About: The Erl Queen

A Fae Queen who kidnaps little girls in the 19th century? I love the Fae culture, but sometimes I feel writers are making them too pretty and nice, but still call them animalistic. This story is actually more animalistic and it was everything I ever needed. 

10. You, You, It’s All About You ★★★☆☆
By: Adam Silvera
Featuring: Catriona Feeney
About: a comic books-inspired teen crime lord

I wasn’t feeling this one all too well, and I believe it is because it was condensed into a short story and not a fully length novel. The whole idea is so intriguing and has a lot of hope with it, but I feel it needed to expand about 200 pages to be a five star rating. 

11. Julian Breaks Every Rule ★★☆☆☆
By: Andrew Smith
Featuring: Raeleen Lemay
About: a futuristic psychopath

This kind of goes along with what I said earlier: It needs to be longer to fully grasp the idea the author is trying to lay out. The main character wasn’t sure he was causing the “villainous thing” that keeps happening, which was nice because he wasn’t out-right evil, but then again, I wanted to expand on that more. 

12. Indigo and Shade ★★★★★
By: April Genevieve Tuckolke
Featuring: Whitney Atkinson
About: the unwanted suitor from “Beauty and the Beast”

Where did Tuckolke come from? I have never read any of her stuff and this was surprisingly one of the best stories in here for me? It was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, which I am all about, but it was so… different and drool worthy. Her writing was unique and… I’m going to go read this again… holy crap…

13. Sera  ★★☆☆☆
By:  Nicola Yoon
Featuring: Steph Sinclair/Kat Kennedy
About: the god of war
 
While her writing was beautiful, her story just didn’t hit home with me. I’m not sure if this is her normal genre (looking at her written books) so that might be a facture as well. But the idea was cool? Maybe if (and I’ve said this 500 times) she had a little more room to write, it would have made more feels in my stone-cold heart. 

---

I low-key wish I didn’t already know who wrote what and which booktubers influenced what because now I’ve already unconsciously pre-judged every story.

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | (3.5* stars) My review is also found here. 

Firstly, I have to say how exhausting it was to see some responses to the prompts in this collection being provided by the very admirable and very hard working Booktube community. I can see a lot of unfavorable comments to them, which is entirely unwarranted, and I just have to say: everyone who has been spending their time since Because You Love to Hate Me was announced, all the way to its recent publication, just slamming the mere presence of Booktubers in the collection, I am ashamed of you. There's no reason to be so tacky and mean spirited. Unless you are striving to have a book written about your rudeness. Perhaps the next topic should be about judgmental internet trolls--now that's an anthology I'd get behind just as easily. Can some-one make that happen? Pretty please?

As for the collection itself, I really enjoyed most of the stories from Because You Love to Hate Me. In all its delectable, villainy glory--from the wide range of unforgettable talent and the contributions brought forward by some of the most prominent book vloggers of the last decade, there was a little something for everyone. Certainly, there were some flaws--a few duds in terms of short stories--but for the most part, I had a little difficulty in putting the book down for even lunch. The way the stories each flowed and tangled themselves in your mind caused a massive (!!!!!) addiction on my part and I had a blast just reading it!


Now, to be honest with you, I've never been a huge fan of villains or romanticizing them. This is not a collection that twists and mends their flaws to excuse them. While they are flawed in many different ways, each of these villains are never described as anything but. What I like about villains most is the times when they are shamelessly dark and carved out of humanity perfectly. In the case of Because You Love to Hate Me, every single one of the stories features that--it's what makes the collection all the more worth our while.

I came into this collection with many uncertainties, but they were all washed away. Why? Because of the familiarity, the villains fleshed out in ways that were believable and chilling. It is, indeed, easy to hate them. I love to hate the bad-guys in this go around.

Because of the simple fact that Because You Love to Hate Me is a collection of short stories and I do not want to spoil it for the readers who haven't yet picked it up, I am just going to give a brief list of what I liked most about the collection. As there are some stories featured in the line-up that I don't love (but don't hate), I will just be leaving those out of the mix. My cup of tea isn't always everyone else's and I'm okay with that.

 -Susan Dennard's offering was my personal favourite. I suppose this is because (1) Sherlock is one of my favourite fiction characters and (2) Moriarty. I adore Moriarty in the sense that he is a fantastic villain. He is one of those rare villains that I'll say I truly love and hate all at once. I've loved many takes on his character and each of them offers something different to the table. In Shirley & Jim, I enjoyed seeing the tables turning on their relationship. Both are young, both are fond of each other. I adored the format--it all being a letter from Shirley to Jean (FEMALE Sherlock and John? Yes, please.) and thought it had all the makings of a fun retelling. I would totally love a full-fledged spin off novel of these two; seeing Shirley run after James and all the inevitable tension and game playing that would follow. The only thing missing was that Jean should have had a bigger presence in it beyond being on the receiving end of Shirley's letter. It was so fun! 
 -Death Kneel by Victoria Schwab was a fast favourite of mine, too. I always have heard such wonderful things about Schwab's writing and now that I've experienced it first hand--in so little words--I have to admit I'm in love and intrigued. I really found this short story to be full of so much... spark. I was going to say life, which works too, but what strikes me that most about Death Kneel is how unexpected it is. The prose is delicious, the plot is beyond dark and dreamy. I loved it. For me, this was the big one--the fastest read. There's just something about it I seemed to devour even faster than the others.
 -The Sea Witch. Marissa Meyer and I have a mixed history when it comes to her previous books. I find that she has a lot of hits and misses when it comes to my personal preference, which has nothing at all to do with her. The Sea Witch is perhaps one of my favourite stories she has penned and I couldn't get enough of it. I liked the uncertainty that came with it, the entire vibe that captured the essence of that thin line between villain and heroine. There was something about the way it had been drawn out that got under my skin and unsettled me in the best of ways. While the two short stories I listed before are my favourites as a whole, this one provided me with one of my favourite characters from the lineup. 
 -Cindy Pon is not an author I have read much by. But after reading the heart-thudding story that is Beautiful Venom, I already have this itching desire to pick up more by her. She is a true gift in terms of prose and I found her writing to be positively stunning. The story is centered around Medusa and I adore mythology, so naturally my pom-poms were out shaking when I realized this fact. In Beautiful Venom, we see and feel so much for our main character. There's a lot of nods to victim shaming in this one, providing not only an origin story but something that is easy to center into our lives and how society views certain things. I don't think it's possible to walk away from this story without feeling anything. 
 -Samantha Shannon knocked me down with her unexpected twist-and-turn plotline of Marigold. I wasn't sure what I was expecting by title alone but it was definitely not what I got in the tale. I appreciate that. The writing is wonderful, the level of fantasy in the Victorian age is delicious and I adored literally everything about this story. It was so fun and so very dark. There are no words to explain how enjoyable this one is.
 -You, You, You It's All About You by Adam Silvera was another one I adored because of its sheer darkness. I can't say I expected any of the story to turn out as it had and there was this deep sense of confusion that came with its conclusion. Not confusion for what had happened (this was portrayed quite clearly) but confusion as to what would happen next. There was something deeply unsettling in this story--in all the ways that a villain's tale should be--and it was one of two in this collection that I just yelled, "
  MORE!
" for because... OH-MY-GOD. Give me more. Please.
 -Lastly, the final story in the collection, Sera. Nicola Yoon is one of the best writers of our life-time. Hands down. I loved the feeling of unease that came with reading Sera. From any view, there was just something so curious and captivating about the story and the character. I loved that feeling of chills that came with the prose. It was... wow. Just, wow. The perfect story to wrap up the collection. Any other story would have been a great injustice compared to this one and I adore it. In fact, while I've been thinking about each of the villains and the stories since reading it, some more than others, my mind keeps circling in on Sera. 

Overall, I enjoyed Because You Love to Hate Me. Some stories more than others. Some just weren't my cup of tea. As a whole, the good outweighs the bad in this one and it's definitely worth a second glance if you are interested in, well, villains. Not only were the stories of an excellent quality, the little breaks and blurbs between every story from various book vloggers were a delight. I definitely had fun reading this!

And seriously, guys, stop being gross about the presence of vloggers. 

They're literature lovers, just like you. Some are aspiring writers, just like you. Shockingly, they all have feelings--you know, just like you. They are here to stay. You should grow up and respect them as they respect us. If anyone knows literature... it's the community. And they are a big part of it.

Leave it to the heroes to save the world--villains just want to rule the world. In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains' points of view. These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like "Medusa," Sherlock Holmes, and "Jack and the Beanstalk" provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains' acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage--and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!Featuring writing from . . .Authors: Ren�e Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola YoonBookTubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zo� Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).

Lisa Beasley

I found there was a good mix of stories in here, some really good and some just okay. I thought the book could have been laid out better with the prompt coming just before the story and the interview with the booktubers felt unnecessary. But it was an okay read. I especially liked the stories by VE Schwab and Samantha Shannon.

Shannon Leigh Williams

This anthology of short stories is my most anticipated release of 2017, and it fulfilled my extremely high expectations! Each story is so intricately woven in surprisingly creative ways, and the "villians" whose stories were explored were unusual and exciting. The pieces written by the collaborative BookTubers also made this book very special. As someone who is active in the BookTube community and knows who these people are, it was nice to gain some insight into their personalities as I read their contributions. I was touched and connected with them in all the right ways. I must say that it was a bit strange to read this like a novel, which I did, because it took some mental shifting in order to adjust to each new story. Still, I had a wonderful time reading this collection and I highly recommend it!

Because You Love to Hate Me 13 Tales of Villainy

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