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Love Hurts

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Have you ever fallen for someone the rest of the world thought you shouldn't have? Malorie Blackman brings together the very best young adult authors writing today in a stunningly romantic collection of love against the odds.

Featuring stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak. This is a collection for anyone who has ever loved and lost - and loved again...

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2015

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3615 people want to read

About the author

Malorie Blackman

156 books4,522 followers
An award-winning children's author, Malorie Blackman was honoured with an OBE in 2008. Her work has been adapted for TV and stage.

More information available at:
Myspace
British Council: Contemporary Authors
British Council: Encompass Culture
Channel 4 Learning: Book Box

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
589 reviews1,058 followers
May 14, 2015
See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads

Mini review:

Doesn't this have such a lovely cover? It reminds me of those heart shaped lollies that I used to be addicted to.

So let me break it to you now: this book actually consists of lots of excerpts from already published books. I KNOW. Imagine my face when I found out. 



Anyway, I still enjoyed this book nonetheless. It's an anthology made up of lots and lots of love stories and extracts. If I had to sell this book with one word it would be: DIVERSITY!But seriously guys, this book is insanely diverse. There's all kinds of love here, some are sad, some are happy, some are amusing, some have LGBTQ themes etc. You get the point. This anthology had it all. If you enjoyed My True Love Gave to Me, then I certainly recommend you give this one a go because it was a lot of fun to read through.
Profile Image for Nicola.
229 reviews21 followers
January 23, 2015
Love Hurts is an anthology of excerpts and short stories from popular YA authors covering the theme of “love against the odds”.

I don’t really enjoy reading excerpts. It’s like going into a bookshop, picking up a book and reading a sample from a random page. Do people really do that? I don’t like to spoil it for myself. What I would have preferred, and really enjoyed, is the opening chapter(s) from these books to give me a taste of what they are like. I have been known to do that in book shops. Reading the excerpts just felt a bit odd, like walking into a private conversation that you shouldn’t really be hearing. Ultimately I just don’t like spoilers before I read a book.

Thankfully this book is not all about excerpts! We also have some individual stories making an appearance. Some of these have been published before and some are new. It is nice to be reunited with Malorie Blackman. I haven’t read any of her work since reading (and thoroughly enjoying) the Noughts & Crosses series as a kid. Her story, of a blind girl and a boy who treats her as more than just the blind girl, was really cute. I would have loved to explore their relationship further. The other individual stories are full of diversity which is nice to see in a YA collection. Tumbling by Susie Day is full of humour and anyone who likes BBC Sherlock and/or Tumblr should enjoy the fandom aspects. Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill was my favourite of the stories. It tells the story of a boy who makes the change to become a girl and the difficulty of acceptance from both her parents and friends. I thought it was beautifully written. It was really nice to see such a range of issues and sexualities explored throughout these stories.

If reading excerpts doesn’t bother you, then I think this is an excellent collection of YA novels and authors for someone who is new to reading YA or is just looking for something new in the genre to read. I looked up the books in this collection and have found some gems that I intend to read in full. For that, I’m really glad I read this. I would also recommend this to anyone who likes romance and for the individual stories alone as there is some great writing here.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley.
Profile Image for Megan  (thebookishtwins).
627 reviews186 followers
February 12, 2016
I received this free from the publishers via NetGalley

This was sadly disappointing.

Malorie Blackman and many great YA writers come together to write a collection of romance stories about love against the odds. Stories my authors such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak and Patrick Ness.

When I saw Love Hurts on NetGalley I was so excited and requested it immediately. However, when I started reading I realised that a lot of the stories were extracts from previous books, and I'm not really sure which ones were original. I had already read some of the stories in this, as they were extracts from books that were already published. While there was a large amount that I hadn't read in Love Hurts, overall, I was disappointed.

I had a problem with the extracts and pacing most of it. Due to some being extracts of books already published it was sometimes very confusing. I think this was because most of them seemed like they were starting in the middle of something. It felt like I was missing something, and I was just dropped into the middle of a conversation and I struggled to pick up who the characters were and what was happening, like why they were arguing. This also made everything seemed very rushed and insta-love, with little character and relationship development. In some of the stories there was little chemistry between the characters and I just found it really hard to connect with some of the characters, or the story in general.

One positive about the whole of Love Hurts was that there was a lot of diversity which is always a plus in a book.

I will probably write some little reviews about each story, but at the moment my schedule is a little busy that I have barely any time to read.

Overall, I would probably recommend for fans of romance.
Profile Image for Olivia-Savannah.
1,155 reviews572 followers
May 19, 2015
This review can originally be found on Olivia's Catastrophe: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/20...

When I saw that the short stories were chosen by Malorie Blackman, one of my favourite authors, I knew I had to try this anthology. However, I thought it would be filled with original stories. The majority of these were excerpts of longer novels, which was a bit disappointing. People could jolly well go and read the actual book instead of reading a collection of excerpts. Anyway, I worked my way through it and there were 23 stories – far too many for me to cover all in one review. So I have pulled out my top ten to discuss. So, in no particular order:

Humming Through my Fingers by Malorie Blackman: I have read this original short story of hers somewhere before, probably in one of her own collections. And it still touched me just as much here. I think the title was brilliant, for one. It was about a girl who is blind and the way that she sees life. It was an eye opener to me, and it still intrigues me how someone who is not blind could write about blindness so well.

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle: This one had some lovely descriptions in it, and I loved how the main character speculated about life. A sweet story and I have added it to my TBR because I would like to see more.

If I Stay by Gayle Foreman: I know, I still haven’t read this one but I will! I have heard so much about it and this author, and I ended up enjoying what I read. I loved how tied in music was to the story, especially as I am a music lover myself. Loved the style, romance mentioned and also the characters. Can’t wait!

Trouble by Non Pratt: I am SO going to read this now, and I am glad I stumbled upon it now. It’s a story about teen pregnancy where someone agrees to pretend to be the father in a way of making a small redemption for Hannah, the teenager who is pregnant. I can’t wait to see where this goes. TBR!

You Against Me by Jenny Downham: I think this has been on my TBR for a while and I am intrigued now. I loved the set-up of the betrayal and how both of them were using each other.

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman: YES I LOVE THIS SERIES. When I saw the excerpt included I got so excited you wouldn’t believe it. Every time I think about the first book my heart breaks a little. You need to read these books if you haven’t. It puts a different spin on the discrimination idea where the blacks (crosses) are the ones above the whites (noughts). There is also a forbidden love in there.

Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill: Interesting… this one was about gender change. I have never read about that before and I would like to try this one to simply see what it is about. It is not a published book yet, but when it is, you know what will happen ^.^

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak: After loving the Book Thief this is definitely one for the TBR. I loved the style it was written in and approve of the main character a lot. His thinking rhythm is pretty similar to mind in some cases, picking out random things others might not notice. Beautiful descriptions.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma: Hm, this book is about a brother and sister who fall in love. I have never read a book like this or with this theme (except y’know, The Mortal Instruments but I am not going to count that) so I want to read the whole book and see how it is handled there.

We Were Liars by Emily Lockhart: Well, I have already read and loved this book. The romance isn’t as strongly featured in this one, but it is more so the idea of friendship. And the ending will blow you away, so just read it already.
Profile Image for Connie.
1,606 reviews25 followers
January 28, 2015
Source: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley, thanks to both!

Title: Love Hurts
Author: Malorie Blackman and multiple others
Genre: YA, contemporary, romance
Overall Rating: 3.25 Stars

This book is a collection of a short stories that are all focused around one thing: Love. Love that's diverse and love that ranges over a sea of different circumstances. I was immediately drawn toward this book when I seen a couple of very well known author's names being mentioned, e.g. Malorie Blackman, Lauren Kate (who I adore) and Gayle Foreman, whom I also have a soft spot for. So it's safe to say that I was pretty excited when I got told I was approved to read this.

HOWEVER:

I didn't know that a lot of these short stories were excerpts from other, popular YA books. Below is my more focused review of each story.

Story one: Humming Through My Fingers by Malorie Blackman

I give this one all the stars, it was cute, light but with a deeper tone to it, it was about how you can experience the world with more than your eyes and how you see things without actually seeing them. I loved this one, it stuck with me as I read the rest of the book and to be honest, I held the others to the standard that this one set. I would love to follow Amber's story more, before and after she met Ethan. Please, Ms. Blackman, please show us more of these two!

Story Two: An excerpt from More Than This

I've always wanted to read this book, it's been on my "To Read" pile for a very long time. And after reading this excerpt, I might actually pick it up pretty soon, after I finish my endless series pile too. My only issue with this excerpt would be that I knew little to nothing about these characters by the end of the excerpt, leaving me a little miffed. But overall, about 4 stars.

Story Three: An excerpt from The Infinite Moment of Us

Hmm...This had the premise to be interesting, it really really did. But I just couldn't connect to the characters so I ended up leaving this story with a feeling of disappointment, a three star excerpt. Maybe the whole book would be better...

Story Four: An excerpt from If I Stay

YES. ALL THE YES. ALL THE STARS AND ALL THE AWARDS. This is my all time favourite book, despite a lot of people being critical of it. I love Gayle Foreman's style of writing and this excerpt just threw me back into why I loved this story so much.

Story Five: Tumbling by Susie Day

As a fangirl, I was immediately in love with this. I admit it, I have and use tumblr everyday, I love Sherlock, I cry and basically I related to a lot in this story. Except for y'know, the love life. This was cute, kind of heavy but cute, it seemed to be happening very fast but I liked it. My final rating would be 4 stars.

Story Six: An excerpt from Trouble

4 stars! I want to read this book, this excerpt made me want to read this sort of 16 & Pregnant (15 but whatever) story and I want to see how everything turns out in the end. I want to see her ups and downs of pregnancy, I want to see how her and the pretend daddy get along, how their lives will change.

Story Seven: An excerpt from Rani and Sukh

This was very Romeo and Juliet, probably the one Shakespeare play I truly don't like, unless it's the Leo DiCaprio version, that's the exception. So I was sort of put off by this, but as Christopher Booker says, there's only 7 kinds of plot so I was bound to bump into it again, wasn't I?

Story Eight: An excerpt from You Against Me

I used to want to read this book, the cover had me drawn in but after reading this excerpt, I'm not so sure. It left me kind of uncomfortable with the lack of context and knowledge to these characters. Why wouldn't Tom be able to have fun again? Why was she so shocked about his last name? I didn't want to wait until the end of the excerpt to find this out. I don't want to wait until the end of things to find out why they're doing what they're doing.

Story Nine: An excerpt from 13 Little Blue Envelopes

I didn't get it...And maybe that's because I read it too quickly or the excerpt just didn't make sense but...I didn't get it,

Story Ten: An excerpt from Junk

She's 14. FOURTEEN. At 14 I discovered Supernatural, she's just...Well, experienced beyond her years, experienced beyond mine...I just feel like I'd need to know more of this story before I can really make a judgment but maybe three stars on a nice day.

Story Eleven: An excerpt from Noughts & Crosses

I never wanted to read this book, it never spoke to me, but this excerpt may have just changed that. I always thought that this story was grim and dark but this excerpt kind of changed my mind. I'm still thinking about it. But 4 stars.

Story Twelve: Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill

This was about the struggle that a trans person faces, and honestly, I've never read about it. But I enjoyed it, it opened my eyes to a wider perspective and I liked the ending. It showed that not everyone is bitter and rejecting towards the unknown. It shows that people can come around and I liked the ending. I liked the sort of happy ending. It was nice.

Story Thirteen: An excerpt from Heroic

There was too much not known in this excerpt for me to enjoy it. I couldn't really follow what was going on and that's sad because it could've been very interesting.

Story Fourteen: Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat by David Levithan

I loved How They Met and Other Stories, and I knew that I had read this before. I just knew I had, and after some research I found out. And the fact that Levithan, who is one of my favourite authors, didn't have a new story in this really saddened me. I was really looking forward too it, but I gave it what I gave it last time: 3 Stars.

Story Fifteen: An excerpt from I Am the Messenger

I loved the Book Thief so I thought that maybe I'd pick up another of his books at some point and this excerpt just reinforced that idea, it was brilliant and I want to read more. More!

Story Sixteen: An excerpt from Grasshopper Jungle

Yes. That's all I have to say. Added to my To Read!

Story Seventeen: An excerpt from Echo Boy

My notes for this story simply reads cute but I don't remember it, so it's lasting memory wasn't impacting so that decreases my rating down to a three.

Story Eighteen: An excerpt from Forbidden

Yeah...No...I didn't like this. THEY'RE BROTHER AND SISTER. NO. Incest stories have always creeped me out slightly and this excerpt was no exception, I completely was just put off by the plot. The writing was good but the plot was a no go.

Story Nineteen: An excerpt from Fallen in Love

Another let down.

Another excerpt from one of my favourite authors.

No original stories.

Sad Connie.

Story Twenty: An excerpt from Midwinterblood

Another book that I would have to read to understand fully, by this stage, I began to get a little fed up.

Story Twenty One: The Liar's Girl by Catherine Johnston

I didn't like the perspective...I couldn't follow it very well...A two story feeling.

Story Twenty Two: The Unicorn by James Dawson

As a sailor, and someone who wants to eventually join the Royal Navy, I loved this. I loved the little romance, I love how brutally honest it was too. I loved that things don't always work. I loved that sometimes the unexpected happened and I loved the research into Naval life that the author must have done. I was thankful that it appeared fully accurate.

Story Twenty Three: An excerpt from Northern Lights

Boy. This book. I swear it's beginning to haunt me how much I hate it. I always have hated it. It's like a mental block for me and I really don't want to read this book. Ever. It's like a fear but maybe one day I'll face that because this excerpt shows that Mr. Pullman has a good style.

Story Twenty Four: An excerpt from We Were Liars

I've heard so much about this book but I didn't get a good vibe from it. Maybe it was because of my frustrations with this short story collection as a whole but I just feel like I wouldn't enjoy this book.

Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher!

Publication date:
29/01/15
Profile Image for Charley Cook.
162 reviews687 followers
August 11, 2017
I didn't actually know it was a compilation book of new short stories and existing books, had i have known this i probably wouldn't have picked it up. I skipped a lot of the excerpts of books because either I had read them before or they were books I wanted to read and didn't want to 'spoil' by partially starting them.
I loooooved Juno Dawsons story though, total highlight for me
Profile Image for Claire (Book Blog Bird).
1,089 reviews41 followers
March 15, 2015
I received a copy of Love Hurts in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Random House and Netgalley.

Love Hurts is a compilation of stories brought together by Malorie Blackman about love against the odds. Malorie Blackman

The book consists of a number of short stories and excerpts from novels dealing with love and its associated difficulties.

The majority of the short stories were great - really well written and absorbing. A couple weren't so interesting, but that's the great thing about anthologies: you always know there'll be something else along in a minute.

The only thing I didn't like about this book were the excerpts from novels. It was difficult to get into them as there's no context, and it felt a little bit like a showcase instead of an anthology.
28 reviews
June 14, 2019
This book was not the worst. I wasn’t expecting a lot of stories in one so I got a surprise when I realised that it was not just one story. It was a really nice idea and I liked the idea of multiple romance stories collected in one. However it could get quite annoying as once you would get into one story it would be switched to another completely different one by a different author. But overall I would recommend :)
Profile Image for Katie (Kitkatscanread).
797 reviews181 followers
January 11, 2015
Received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book. It is my true opinion only.

It's been a long time since I've given a book a rating less that 3 stars.

I was incredibly excited when I got this.
Unfortunately I was disappointed.

There I was thinking it was going to be a sort of Valentines version of My True Love Gave To Me, only to find that it mainly had extracts from books that are already released.

It does have about 7 short stories that are original. Like there is one from David Levithan.

I really enjoyed Malorie Blackman's opening story! it was so good! It just kinda dropped from there :/

What I did like was there is a lot of diversity in the stories; like LBGT and different skin colour.

Regretfully this book just wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean it won't be for you!
I've liked books people have hated and not liked books people have loved.
It's the way of life!
That's why I always say to give every book a try if it intrigues you. You may be surprised :)
Profile Image for Bhavik.
294 reviews
August 6, 2019
I've got to warn you: Most of the stories in this book are snippets from already published books: Markus Zusak, Gayle Forman and Patrick Ness all included. Saying that, however, all the original stories in this book were fantastic, the snippets really let the book down, some made no sense and I couldn't get through others.


Humming Through My Fingers - Malorie Blackman (original) 5/5

Wow. So clever. So lovely.
Synaesthesia is something I've been interested in for a very long time and it was so interesting to see this from a blind persons point of view. I really loved this story and feel like it could easily be fantastic whole book.

More Than This - Patrick Ness

I've already read this book and didn't exactly LOVE it so I decided to skip the snippet.

The Infinite Moment of Us - Lauren Myracle 4/5

The snippet was cute and lovely. I liked what I saw of the characters and the conversation they had was really lovely. I don't think I'll actually pick up this whole book because it doesn't really appeal to me but the snippet was nice.

If I Stay - Gayle Forman 5/5

I love this book and I really regret not writing a review for it either time I read it because I have so much praise for it.
The cleverly inserted flashbacks never feel forced or out of place, they add to the story so well while letting you fall in love with every single character. This book is profound, deep, funny and beautiful written and if you haven't read it yet, please, please do.

Tumbling - Susie Day (original) 5/5

So fun. I actually had no idea who Susie Day was until reading this story but actually really, really enjoyed this story. However, I do think you need at least a small grasp on what tumblr is about and how it works to read this story, otherwise you may be a little confused and maybe a bit weirded out.

Trouble - Non Pratt 4/5

Very interesting choice of a snippet. This book seems very real. It also seems like it's going in a place where that main character makes a lot of dumb decisions, but the idea is strong and the finishing line ("You could say I'm the father.") was a clever ending to leave the reader wanting to read on.

Rani and Sukh - Bali Rai 3/5

This snippet did what I feared and made me confused. Jumping into a book at a random place and understanding everything is difficult and I didn't understand exactly what was going on..

You Against Me - Jenny Downham 2/5

From this title I was expecting something a little more... sensual? But what I got was a little idiotic.
From what I understand the main character seeks out a boy, going from pub to pub, when we actually meet the guy, he's a manipulative creep.

13 Little Blue Envelopes - Maureen Johnson 4/5

Cute and original, reminiscent of something by Stephanie Perkins. I've been wanting to read an actual book by Maureen Johnson for a very long time and this pretty much proved that I need to do that sooner rather that later.

Junk - Melvin Burgess 2/5

Kinda hard to get into and a little confusing..
Noughts & Crosses - Malorie Blackman 5/5

Malorie Blackman is fantastic. If you live in the UK and are a teen (or at least, have been one at some point), you've probably read a book by Malorie Blackman. Her work is just so strikingly clever. Fantastic snippet.

Gentlewoman - Laura Dockrill (orignal) 5/5

Blown. Away. Diversity is something that is SO important in YA. It's one of the many reasons I love books like Legend, Eleanor and Park, and Aristotle and Daunte Discover.. so much. Real people are so different, so unique and that needs to be reflected in what we read (not just a white, straight, female main character).
The idea for this story was clever, the battle going on for our main character was difficult but incredibly important and I superbly enjoyed reading it.

Heroic - Phil Earle 3/5

In this snippet, a young boy is saddened to have to wait for his brother. The problem with this snippet wasn't that I disliked what I read, it was that the snippet was so short I don't think I got enough out of the story, but I definitely did like what I read so far.

Miss Lucy - David Leviathan (original) 5/5

This story was good, until the end, when it was fantastic.
The breakup was a little predictable (but the collection is called Love Hurts) but I expected Lucy to find someone else, to have a nice happy ending but instead we get a beautiful headstrong woman.

"Some people find happily ever after in being a part of a couple and for them, I say, good for you, but that's no reason we should all have to do it.

A great ending to a wonderful short story.

"Let the boys and girls go on kissing in the dark, I want more"

I Am the Messenger- Markus Zusak 3/5

Maybe this snippet would have got to me more if I was reading the book and knew more about the characters but of what I read if felt slow and a little dreary.

Grasshopper Jungle - Andrew Smith 4/5

I heard a lot about this book when it first came out last year (both good and bad) but either this snippet was very well chosen or this book is just very suited for me because I very much enjoyed it. It was sweet and had the exact right amount of humour and wit. This snippet really makes me want to pick up Winger soon (hopefully).

Echo Boy - Matt Haig 3.5/5

A very intriguing snippet indeed, Echo's seem to be these manufactured robots input into society. Fast paced and more action than romance, I enjoyed this snippet and am interested in the idea Matt Haig has set up for this book.
Forbidden - Tabitha Suzuma 4/5

I wouldn't have understood anything at all about this story if I hadn't done a quick check on the synopsis on Goodreads but the story was great, it was very interesting and after the snippet I'm actually really interested in reading the whole book...

Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda - Lauren Kate

I decided not to read this story because I really disliked Fallen, maybe if Lauren Kate had written a different story I would have read it but I didn't want to read another fallen story..

Midwinterblood- Marcus Sedgwick 3/5

It was good, but very short so I didn't really get much out of this snippet.

The Liars Girl - Catherine Johnson (original) 3.5/5

I'd never actually heard of Catherine Johnson before I read this short story and it this story was written in second person. It was a new experience, but a bit hard to get to grips with. I did enjoy the story though.

The Unicorn - James Dawson Burns (original) 4/5

Really interesting point of view and plotline that drew me in straight away. Again, a diverse set of characters and a unique story. Very enjoyable.

The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman 3/5

This snippet was only about three pages long.. It was sweet, but still very short.

We Were Liars - E. Lockhart 4/5

Even though I gave We Were Liars 3 stars in my original review, this is one of the best descriptions from the book, the way E. Lockhart writes is lyrical in this part and I superbly enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Stephanie (Bookfever).
1,108 reviews200 followers
February 15, 2015
First of all, I'm a little disappointed that a lot of these short stories are just extracts from full books. So I didn't read them but I read all the original stories and reviewed them seperately and some of them were quite good.


Humming Through My Fingers by Malorie Blackman - 5/5

This story was a great start of this collection. Malorie Blackman is a totally new author to me and I must say that I'm impressed with this short story because I absolutely adored it. It featured Amber, a blind girl and Ethan who initially only started talking to her for a bet that he made with his friends. But little did he know that Amber would make him see the world differently just like she does. Honestly, this story was just super cute and I have nothing negative to say about it.

Tumbling by Susie Day - 4/5

This story was unique to say the least. It wasn't as good as the story by Malorie Blackman but I do try not to compare the stories too much. But anyway... I could relate to it a lot because I see myself as a fangirl too. I don't watch Sherlock but it's on my to-watch list, especially after this story. Susie Say is also a new author to me and I adored the way this story was written. I also loved that it was LGBT. I like varriety in short story collections like this. So yeah this story was great, sweet and tugged on a my heart a little.

Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill - 3/5

So I didn't love this story but I liked it for sure. At first I wasn't sure what was going on. There was a little mystery in the beginning when the main character is trying to tell her best friend something. It becomes clear soon that Dan is a transgender teenager and is changing to Danni. I really liked how her parents were very supporting of her, her mother the most and it gave me a different view because I never read a story about a transgender person yet. Also Laura Dockrill is yet a new author to me so I'll have to check out more of her titles.


Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat by David Levithan - 4/5

Gah! I love David Levithan stories so much! And this story was pretty great to me. I do know that this story is also featured in How They Met and Other Stories - a book that I own but have not yet read. I do kind of wish it would've been a new story but whatever. This story was actually the first one living up to the title of this book - Love Hurts. And other than that I loved how Lucy ended up feeling like she didn't have be involved with someone to be happy. Perfect!

Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda - 2/5

I'm sorry! I really really really am but ugh! I dislike Lucinda and Daniel so much. It all goes back to when I used to read the Fallen series. I do like the first Fallen book and I've yet to finish the last book but I'm not a fan of angel books and I'm not sure if this short story fits in this collection for some reason. The only thing I liked from this story was when Cam made an appearance. I love him in the Fallen series and I'm glad to know that he's still swoon-worthy. But anyway... I didn't like this story. Lauren Kate is a great writer and a super nice person but just... angels are not my thing.

The Liar's Girl by Catherine Johnson - 5/5

Catherine Johnson is (yet again) a new author for me and this story is written in the second person. I know a lot of people dislike second person narrative but I personally think it's a gorgeous and unique way to write. And just like the narrative this story was gorgeous. It was pretty sad when we get towards the end of it when everything gets clear but wow I'm pretty impressed by it. I just love how much diversity there is in this collection.

The Unicorn by James Dawson - 2/5

This story was okay but (and this is just my opnion) I felt it didn't fit in with teen fiction. I'm also not a big fan of the navy setting in the 50's it was in. The writing and characters weren't bad and I felt honestly sad at some moments + it felt very real but it was not my thing. I do think others might like this one more than I did.

Favorite story: Humming Through My Fingers by Malorie Blackman
Least favorite story: The Unicorn by James Dawson
Profile Image for Rachel (aka Ms4Tune).
385 reviews54 followers
December 9, 2014
description

My review can also be found HERE

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a long and sometimes arduous read. It was such a mixed bag of stories and like most anthologies there were some that I enjoyed and others that I really didn't. The overall theme, LOVE, worked well however I wish there had been more of the full short stories and less excerpts. Sometimes it was hard to jump from one author's writing style to another and so it took me a long time to read through all of it. But there was plenty of variety in the stories and I never thought two were so alike that I got confused, which can happen with some anthologies.

I loved that this anthology introduced me to a few new authors that I'd never heard of, such as Non Pratt and Lauren Myracle, (both of who's books I have now ordered) and some authors I had heard of but not yet read, that now I can't wait to read, such as David Levithan. Unfortunately there were some books that I don't really want to read now, that I previously thought I did... such as We Were Liars by E Lockhart and Junk by Melvin Burgess. So in a way that was a little disappointing but I'd rather have read those excerpts than struggle with the book.

In the end this was an ok anthology but I personally would have liked to see a few more new works from these amazing authors rather than excerpts from work that we already know.

If you want to see my thoughts on each individual story you can find them in these Updates I posted while reading...

Update 1
Update 2
Update 3
Update 4


This book will be published on the 29th of January 2015



Profile Image for Lucy Powrie.
Author 4 books5,477 followers
February 23, 2015
Recently I’ve loved reading anthologies, such as My True Love Gave To Me, edited by Stephanie Perkins, so when I came across Love Hurts I knew I wanted to read it.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Here are just a few reasons why:

The majority of the book was made up of extracts from already existing books, and not new short stories.

I had read lots of the books already so there was no need to read the extracts for many of them, and I also had no interest in reading the extracts of the other books. So, really, I found the majority of the book seemed pretty useless to me.

The short stories didn’t stand out.

There was nothing about the short stories that made me want to read them. I couldn’t connect with them at all, and I was left feeling frustrated by the end. They felt so forced and there was no way to connect with them with only a few pages for it to reach its potential.

However, I do think Love Hurts will appeal to readers who are new to contemporary YA and want to explore the genre further. I’m also a big fan of many of the authors’ books, so my review does not mean any harm to them. It just wasn’t my thing, and so I was left feeling dissatisfied with it.
Profile Image for Kirsty .
3,785 reviews342 followers
January 26, 2015
I must admit I am a bit disappointed by this because I thought it was all new original material but the majority of this book is extracts from existing novels most of which I had already read. Granted most of the extracts came from books I loved and therefore I can't knock the quality of them but that wasn't what I was expected when I first heard about this book.

The original pieces of work within this book are all strong pieces and poignant pieces of writing in their own right and I enjoyed them all. I loved how diverse they were and how they all made me think.

All in all I can't say I'm not disappointed by this book because it wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be when I first heard about it and got incredibly excited by it but if you've not read the titles it includes it'd be a nice introduction to them to give you a feel of what to read next.
Profile Image for Michelle.
1,254 reviews186 followers
January 2, 2015
I began reading this expecting a lot of new stories from some of my favourite authors, but was quickly dissapointed to find that this had more extracts from other books than original stories. The extracts are from some books I have read, but mostly books I haven't, where some are sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

The original stories I did like, and thought they really stood out, but for most of the extracts I did not read them for two reasons. The ones that I have waiting to be read it made no sense to me to just read a chapter or two from a random place in a book and not really get the whole story. For the ones I don't own I did not see the point in reading an extract from a book I wouldn't read.

Overall I did enjoy the original stories, but was disappointed in the rest of the book.
Profile Image for diana.
922 reviews120 followers
August 26, 2017
Just look at that gorgeous cover! Doesn't it scream "read me now 'cause I'm a sweet and romantic book you'd fall in love with"?

I really enjoyed this collection. Granted I was disappointed when I learned that this book contains only extracts from already published books but I think it's a good way to discover new authors. And the book had so much diversity that there's going to be a story for everyone.

E-arc provided by NetGalley to read and review.
Profile Image for Ellis.
442 reviews228 followers
Read
August 11, 2016
Not entirely what I expected (most stories are scenes from already existing books and then some truly fantastic originals to round out this rather heartbreaking anthology) but still pretty good and thematically cohesive. Also, painful. And legitimately the most diverse book I've read all year.

Rating and review to come.
Profile Image for livenca.
120 reviews
February 21, 2022
Damn there was more lgbtq in there than I expected lmao.(But I loved most them ngl). Anyway, in my opinion, I wish I had read all the books first and then read this book, because it does not make sense when you just read the juiciest chapter in a book and have no clue about what is going on.

dunno if I'm supposed to recommend this or not but some people might prefer to read this book first so that when they read the actual book of the chapter-this sounds so confusing lmao-then they might think back on their first impressions of the book and laugh out loud at their misunderstandings lmao)

On the good side, I now have a whole to-read list of romance novels ahaha
Profile Image for Michelle (Fluttering Butterflies).
881 reviews298 followers
January 12, 2015
Loved the diversity! Full review soon.

Love Hurts is a collection of extracts and short stories concerning all types of different love and is edited by the marvellous Malorie Blackman. I was very excited to hear about this collection a few months ago and I quickly downloaded my copy of the book from Netgalley.

I originally thought this book would contain all original short stories from this amazing array of teen authors, however, there are only 5 new stories in Love Hurts and the rest of the book is filled with two other short stories that have appeared in other collections and also extracts from other YA books already in print.

Besides the introduction from Malorie Blackman, which I was always going to read, my original plan for reading this book (once I realised about the format of the book and the extracts) was to skip over all the extracts and just read the new material. However, once I started reading this book, it made me feel all fuzzy and happy and hopeful that I couldn't pass up reading the extracts, even if I'd already previously read the books. I won't mention all of the extracts specifically, but it was nice to return to some old favourite stories (like the extracts for Noughts and Crosses, Northern Lights and I Am the Messenger) and new favourites (like the extracts from Trouble, Midwinterblood, Forbidden and Heroic) and to also discover some authors and stories that I haven't yet read but now want to (specifically the extracts from Grasshopper Jungle but I also must get a move on and read More Than This already and also more David Levithan).

There were also two short stories that have appeared previously in other collections: Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat by David Levithan, which appears in How They Met and Other Stories and Endless Love: the Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda by Lauren Kate, which appeared in Fallen In Love. I had already read the Lauren Kate story and really enjoyed it, but I hadn't read the David Levithan before now. I thought Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat was a really fun and interesting story about a girl's consuming relationship with another girl and the realisations that she comes to when things don't quite work out.

But while I found myself utterly surprised by how much I enjoyed the extracts it is really the original short stories that really stood out while I was reading this collection. Because of the diversity. There are characters in these short stories (and extracts) who are gay or bisexual, transgender, there are people of colour and some characters that are differently-abled or have chronic illness. At least one of the extracts mentions the Sikh religion (I believe?) and all I want to do is stand here and applaud this level of diversity within this book.

I'm only going to mention my absolute highlights but know that I really enjoyed The Unicorn by James Dawson about the forbidden relationship between two men in the Navy during the Korean War and also The Liar's Girl by Catherine Johnson about another forbidden relationship from London in 1829 between two people from very different backgrounds.

Humming Through My Fingers by Malorie Blackman is the first story in this collection and it is about two people having a conversation at a sports day and tentatively agreeing to a first date. It's quite cute with some awkward and mortifying moments that I couldn't help but smile at these two. But things aren't quite what they seem and motivations are questioned. I loved that surprise.

Then there's Tumbling by Susie Day which made me smile endlessly. I love that the majority of this short story is about one girl obsessing over her first meeting with her crush. Worrying, second-guessing herself. I can completely relate. And a lot of this story is about two fangirls who come together which just makes me happy. Because while I have not watched one single episode of Sherlock after reading this short story, I really wanted to. This story was so sweet and cute and I nearly cried at the end.

But it was Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill that made me cry actual tears. Good ones, though. Gentlewoman starts with two old friends not having a serious conversation. Not speaking the words that need to be said because those words are already probably known. I loved this story so much. I found it amazing how much was said in so few words. And it is the ending, in which there was so much acceptance that made me shed tears. It's not perfect because that's the world we live in, but acceptance from those that matter to us is what's important and I love that that was found in this story for these characters.

The thing that sticks out the most from reading Love Hurts is that love it out there for everyone and that love is one of those things that can be both really amazing and also really painful. And this book shows it all to us from awkward first meeting to first kiss to all-consuming relationships to real heart break. And everyone deserves love - soldiers, siblings, girl and robot, friends, strangers, online acquaintances and these romantic pairings can come in all sizes and shapes. I really enjoyed this collection and I hope you pick it up too!
Profile Image for Dianne.
320 reviews148 followers
March 7, 2015
*Also posted at Oops! I Read A Book Again

Thank you to RHCP UK and NetGalley for the review copy! Having received one did not affect my views of the novel.

Fresh from the high of My True Love Gave to Me, I was so in the mood for short story anthologies. I never knew I needed them until MTLGTM. So I immediately got to reading Love Hurts and I also dropped it just as fast. It's just that, it was a mighty disappointment to discover that this is not a short story collection as expected. There are a few short stories in it but it was mostly composed of excerpts (or extracts as the Brits call it) from other books on love. Yes, cue exasperation.

But then, when I got over the conspiracy of screwing my expectations, I found Love Hurts good enough to pass my time. It gave me samples of books I've been wanting to read for a while (AND INDEED, I WANNA READ THEM) and it was also nice to read something I've read before, just to know which part of those books ended up being featured. But really, I would have rated this book 2 stars but I LOVE most of the original short stories. In fact, that one-star upgrade is all because of Susie Day's Tumbling. But first, let me talk about everything else before I full-on spazz.

These books/stories I've read previously: Gayle Forman's If I Stay, David Levithan's Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat, Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick, and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. When I ended up re-reading a huge extract from If I Stay, I realized that I wasn't really mesmerized by Gayle's writing in here... I realized that the reason I rated If I Stay high (4 stars) is because of ALL THE FEELS but it was definitely not because of the romance. However, it's so much about family as well so good thing. I suddenly understood Miss Lucy better but I'm still not the greatest fan of it. Lastly, MIDWINTERBLOOD AND WE WERE LIARS, CAN WE MARRY THESE TWO BOOKS BECAUSE GOODNESS I LOVE THEM YOU HAVE TO READ THEM.

Onward we go!

The excerpts I really liked and thus, I'll check out these books: More Than This by Patrick Ness, Trouble by Non Pratt, I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, and Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. These books are already on my TBR so Love Hurts didn't exactly made me want to read them but it just confirmed that I HAVE to read them.

The other excerpts, while unique and interesting, didn't really grab my attention as much. Now, let's go to my favorite part, the short stories!!!

Humming through My Fingers by Malorie Blackman (3/5): This story was cute enough but it sounded preachy/cheesy to me? *hides*

Tumbling by Susie Day (5/5): Oh gods, my disappointment over Love Hurts was so completely undone by this short story. IT IS SO GOOD. I LOVE IT. Basically, two teenagers who've bonded over Tumblr and Sherlock and these teens speak Tumblr-ese and HELP ME I LOVE THEM. It just PERFECTLY encapsulates people on Tumblr in my opinion that I just full-on spazzed to Susie when I read this. But more than that, it also delves into the self-esteem issues teens usually face and how easier everything is online. Just, SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS ONE.

Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill (4/5): Every person should read this one. It's about a boy, Daniel, who feels and thinks that she's actually a girl, Dani. It was so touching and heartbreaking and moving how much her parents supported her in her transition and while her community is certainly a bit idealistic in here, it was so lovely. Just, so timely and I think in a short amount of time, Laura Dockrill was able to deliver Dani's story well.

Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda by Lauren Kate (2/5): I've never read any of Lauren Kate's books and after this, I don't think I'll ever read them. Just, meh all around for me.

The Liar's Girl by Catherine Johnson (4/5): This one is amazing. I didn't realize it earlier on but by the end of the story, I just felt so complete yet so incomplete. I wanted more -- WHAT HAPPENED AFTER -- but it was such a good story that I just let my feelings wash over me. The second person POV was cool and it worked for the story, to keep the narrator unknown and detached. But see, that's it. The narrator hopes to be detached to this story she tells but she certainly isn't because EMOTIONS, MAN, EMOTIONS.

The Unicorn by James Dawson (4/5): James Dawson, MY HEART WHAT DID YOU DO? My chest felt constricted by the end but so happy during the good times. The old-man perspective looking back on his days on the Unicorn WWII ship where he loved a fellow Navy? MY FEELS.

Anyway, overall, I wouldn't recommend buying this book because seriously, I think it would be a waste of money. But, if you can get a chance to read the short stories in it, PLEASE DO. Borrow it from your library or maybe, hopefully soon, the authors will post their short stories in their websites or something. I certainly hope so!
Profile Image for Sophie.
1,648 reviews3 followers
February 9, 2015
A collection of stories about love of all kinds from YAs top authors – sounds perfect, right? It missed the mark for me.

At nearly 600 pages, Love Hurts should be cram-packed full of wonder, but in the entire book there are only six original short stories; the rest is extracts! I’m personally not a huge fan of extracts and most of the ones in this collection are from books I’ve either read or already know I’m not that fussed by, but the variety in them is wonderful. Full diversity in character, author, theme, style and protagonist is displayed and I think that Love Hurts is more for a YA newbie than a seasoned reader. I can imagine someone new to YA picking this up, reading the extracts and stories and then devouring each novel and author in the book in turn. But as I only read the short stories, here’s what I thought:

HUMMING THROUGH MY FINGERS, MALORIE BLACKMAN
I enjoyed this one, but I didn’t love it. It was sweet, original and eye-opening (Amber is blind and has synaesthesia) but I’m still waiting to fall in love with Malorie Blackman’s writing – my brain must be wired differently to ever other fan of YA!

TUMBLING, SUSIE DAY
This story is a fangirl’s dream story. Sherlock, fandom, falling in love with a like-minded soul over the internet and meeting them living up to every expectation. Tumbling is a really sweet story with a POC heroine and LGBT relationship that will resonate with every internet dweller out there.

GENTLEWOMAN, LAURA DOCKRILL
I love Laura Dockrill. She’s extremely talented with characters and humour and this story of a transgender teen working up the courage to come out to her best friend and everyone in school. It’s a soft, quiet story of strength and friendship and it really showed off Dockrill’s talents.

MISS LUCY HAD A STEAMBOAT, DAVID LEVITHAN
I’ve actually read this story before – it’s featured in Levithan’s collection How We Met and Other Stories and I liked it just as much the second time around. As always, Levithan delivers frank, honest and often brutal feelings with a hefty punch.

ENDLESS LOVE, LAUREN KATE
Honestly, I didn’t read this one. I got a page in and skipped ahead. It was linked to Luce and Daniel from her Fallen series.

THE LIAR’S GIRL, CATHERINE JOHNSON
This is the most surprising story in the collection, in my opinion. Set in 19th Century London, Catherien Johnson explores race, class, love, betrayal and revenge and delivers a shocking twist in only a few pages. I’m definitely interested in seeking out more from this author.

THE UNICORN, JAMES DAWSON
I loved this story. I was really glad to end the book on it. Told in retrospective, Reg looks back to the 60s and his time in the Navy where he fell in love with Frankie. It’s a sad story full of longing and impending heartbreak – forbidden relationships with serious consequences and a lost love that haunts him forever. Gorgeous. My favourite in the collection.

So if you have a budding YA fan in your midst, Love Hurts is for you.
Profile Image for Shelly.
556 reviews49 followers
June 15, 2016
I received this from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book. It is my true opinion only.

I feel I should warn everyone coming to this book expecting it to be a Valentine version of
My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
It is not that.

I think it has been publicized in a misleading way. I expected new stories from the best of YA/Contemporary authors. Instead this is a collection of snippets taken from said authors already bestselling published books. Chosen by Malorie Blackman to show modern star-crossed lovers. This was a little disappointing.

That being said, if publicized right, I think this book is an excellent way to be introduced to some of the best YA writers around and their best known work.
It is a showcase of their best work and will entice you to carry on reading, and purchase such books as. If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Trouble by Non Pratt and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak just to name a few.

I have read most of these books already, so I glanced at the passages Malorie picked out and then moved on. Some I had not read though and it was nice to get a taste of the books. There is a great deal of diversity in the book, from LGBT to Disability and Race. I was very pleased with this, it’s nice to see a genre really stretching its legs and dealing with different subjects.

There is some original material in it, by Malorie Blackman, Laura Dockrill, David Levithan, Lauren Kate and my particular favourite. Tumbling by Susie Day. An adorable, Sherlockian, Tumblr themed offering featuring FibroMyalgia.
All are very sweet though and what I expected from this book.
All in all, it’s a sweet book, opening you up to the world of YA and a great read for Valentine.
Profile Image for Jumana Abdallah.
91 reviews57 followers
February 7, 2015
This book was a great disappointment. I would have loved it if it was not excerpts of other books. The excerpts are AMAZING though, I loved them.

ORIGINAL POST: http://booksbyj.blogspot.com/2015/02/...

*2.75 Stars *

*I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*


I requested this book in hopes of it being a light contemporary that is a collection of short stories tied in together to form something beautiful in the end, and to my disappointment, it wasn't like that AT ALL.


This book is a collection of excerpts of previously published books like If I Stay, We Were Liars, More Than This et cetera.. I skipped most of the stories to avoid spoilers and the stories that I have read, I also skipped.

To be honest, this book did have its perks. It added a ton of books to my TBR (Not sure whether this is a pro or a con, because my TBR pile is overflowing.), it was also so very refreshing to read a book by so many authors. The writing style of some of these authors captivated me and it pushed me into putting their books higher on my TBR list, it was beautiful how a 30 page excerpt totally lured me into the story and I needed more of it, especially that I didn't know the characters and I didn't connect to them on any level.

In theory, I disliked the fact that I was thrown into a part of the novel and having to be oblivious to who the characters are, but I'm guessing that is was a method of pushing the reader into buying and reading the whole book.

Some of my favorite "excerpts" that I remember I liked were:

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
More Than This by Patrick Ness
If I Stay by Gayle Forman (I MUST read this book)
One of the things that I highly recommend is NOT reading anthologies back to back, it should be read over a long period of time. I also learned that anthologies is not my thing, but that's besides the point.


I have to mention that I ADMIRED the diversity in this one, there are LGBT, characters of color and different ethnicities.

I usually NEVER give books 2 stars, but this one really wasn't for me. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's not a good one, it just means that this isn't for me and maybe it is for YOU. I was simply just disappointed by it.

Have you read Love Hurts? I'm curious to know your thoughts, leave them in the comments down below! :)
Profile Image for Dani.
127 reviews40 followers
December 18, 2014
Read the full review and more like this at: Polkadot's Book Blog

3.5 Stars

I received this copy in return for an honest review through Publishers at NetGalley

Love Hurts is a collection of short stories that depict love in some sort of way, whether it is the beginning of love in a relationship to the ending of love. Every type is covered and shown in a unique and romantic way. I have to admit when I requested this book from NetGalley I didn't realise just how much of it was extracts from other books but it didn't effect how much I liked the book. In fact, if anything, it made me want to read the stories more, let alone encourage me to buy the original books, as I had just gotten a little sneak peek. So while there are many extracts within this collection don't let it hinder or take away the enjoyment from the other stories that are present. Because the other stories are also sweet and cute and deserve to be read.

Out of all the original stories I think my favourite would have to be Gentlewoman by Laura Dorkrill. Geez that story just buried itself straight into my heart because it was so amazingly sweet and loving and real. I loved it. Completely.

As I mentioned before I didn't realise just how many extracts there would be within the collection but like I said it didn't really lessen the enjoyment I got out the book. In all honesty it adds to the effect the book tries to portray in showing you the ideas and uniqueness that comes from romance stories and their idea of love.

Because they are a collection of short stories each individual story is fast paced and extremely engrossing. If you read it all at one time it does feel as though the pace gets stunted because you are jumping from one story to another but it is still an easy and enjoyable read. All in All, Love Hurts explores the many ways romance and love can be interpreted. To be honest I would of liked more original stories within the collection, as I found them really fresh and unique, because they were normally revolving around something that I had not read before. If you're a fan of romance I would definitely give this book a go, as it's diversity will reach so many readers.
Profile Image for Kath (kath_reads).
540 reviews170 followers
October 10, 2015
I was so excited when I saw this on NetGalley and got even more excited when they approved my request.

This book is a compilation of different types of romance stories with the theme "love against the odds". Some are original short stories written by Malorie Blakcman, David Levithan and James Dawson. Most are excerpts from pre-existing novels like If I Stay, Forbidden and I Am The Messenger.

Some of the readers might find this book disappointing because they have already read some of the excerpts included or they will think that this book includes spoiler, which is not. My only problem with the excerpts was I had a hard time understanding what was really going on and most of the time I got confused with the characters. It's like you open a book in a random page and you don't have any idea why the character is crying.

What I love with this collection is the stories are not only about girl-boy relationships. There are also characters who belong to the LGBT community, people with disability, from different social statuses and religions.

I can say that this book will still make an awesome read with the original short stories alone. But it's not bad because this also introduces us to some of the great authors and their works. One thing is for sure, this book will make your TBR list longer.
Some of my favorites from the original short stories are Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill which is about a boy who came out and changed himself into a girl with the help of modern medicine, The Unicorn by James Dawson is about the bittersweet story of a forbidden relationship between two Navy guys during the Korean War, and David Levithan's Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat which is a story about a girl who falls in love with the new girl in school and how she ends up with a realization when things didn't work for them.

All in all, I enjoyed reading Love Hurts. Ms. Blackman did a great job collecting unique, fresh, and interesting love stories for the readers to realize the real meaning of love.
Profile Image for Hazel.
549 reviews38 followers
January 22, 2015
This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Love Hurts is a young adult book containing several stories compiled together by the well-known Malorie Blackman. There are a few new short stories however most are extracts from pre-existing novels. The short stories are written by a variety of different authors such as Susie Day, Lauren Dockrill, Lauren Kate, Catherine Johnson and James Dawson. Many readers will be familiar with these authors as well as some of the books that the extracts are from, for example: More Than This, If I Stay, I Am The Messenger and Northern Lights.

The aim of this anthology is to explore what love means. Love is not a simple, straightforward concept. There is love lost and love found, bitter love and sweet love. Each story focuses on a different perspective. Some are about teenagers, some are about adults. Some are about homosexuality and others are not.

Love Hurts is an interesting concept and it is interesting to see different authors' understanding on the term "love". The biggest problem with this book however is due to most of the entries being snippets of other stories as it is often difficult to understand what was going on and who the characters were.

Another issue for me was I found some of the stories uninteresting and difficult to get into; and as they were short there was not a lot of time to appreciate the different concepts and styles of writing.

Although it would have been a challenge, it would have been better for all the stories to be brand new and unique. On he other hand, Malorie Blackman has done an excellent job at sourcing all the content.
Profile Image for Anna.
193 reviews26 followers
April 18, 2015
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC of this book.

‘Love Hurts’ is an anthology of mostly extracts from young adult novels with a few original short stories by YA authors all based loosely on the theme of love. Authors include Malorie Blackman, Patrick Ness and David Levithan.

I’m quite surprised that this book is being sold as a full price book. I would expect it to be given away as a free sampler or sold for a token price as it is basically just a shopfront for promoting existing YA novels. It’s aim is to get you to buy more books by these authors.

I’m not really into anthologies. I find I either love the story and I am frustrated that I can’t read the full book or I’m unengaged and want to skip to the next extract. There were also quite a few extracts from good books which I have already read such as ‘Noughts and Crosses’, ‘Trouble’ and ‘The Northern Lights’, which I skipped over.

There were two extracts that I genuinely enjoyed and which had the desired effect of making me intrigued enough to consider buying the full novel: ‘You Against Me’ by Jenny Downham about a love affair between the sister of an alleged rapist and the brother of his victim; and ‘Forbidden’ by Tabitha Suzuma about an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister. I thought these were unusual premises for books and the extracts seemed well written and piqued my interest.

I think if you are going to buy a YA book, you’d be better off picking one of the featured books and buying and reading that rather than spending money on this book, as I didn’t really get much out of it. However, the cover is beautiful.
Profile Image for Princess Jasmine Flies Away.
93 reviews
March 1, 2015
Right, this is a good book if you like other books being spoiled for you as the amount on extracts compared to little stories is huge but I enjoyed it.

My favourite parts being:
Humming through my fingers by Malorie Blackman
Tumbling by Susie Day (IT IS LESBIANS THROUGH TUMBLR AND ONE IS POORLY AND I DIE AND IT'S ALL SHERLOCK REFERENCES AND AHHH I DIEEEE!)
Miss Lucy had a steamboat by David Levithan
Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda by Lauren Kate
The Unicorn by James Dawson

Ones I forgot but when looking back enjoyed:
More Than This by Patrick Ness
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Echo Boy by Matt Haig

Ones that were messed up and I am seriously sickened by:
Junk by Melvin Burgess (SHE'S FOURTEEN AND THEY HAVE SEX! SERIOUSLY?! AND THE PEOPLE LOOKING AFTER THEM LET THEM!!!)
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma (INCEST, ARE YOU SERIOUS?! WHAT THE HELL?!)

So get this book not for the extracts but for the short stories, there are two that are seriously messed up and just because it says Love Hurts doesn't mean all the love stories are going to hurt you, in fact some enlighten you.

Profile Image for Rina.
458 reviews51 followers
January 13, 2016
Humming Through My Fingers | Malorie Blackman: 3.5☆

More Than This | Patrick Ness: 3.5☆ - Way too short but it makes me want to read more :)

The Infinite Moment Of Us | Lauren Myracle: 2.5☆

If I Stay | Gayle Foreman: 4☆

Tumbling | Susie Day: 5☆

Trouble | Non Pratt: 3.5☆

Rani And Sukh | Bali Rai: 1☆

You Against Me | Jenny Downham: 0.5☆

13 Little Blue Envelopes | Maureen Johnson: 2☆

Junk | Melvin Burgess: 0.5☆

Noughts & Crosses: 5☆ - Holy Patootie I NEED TO READ THIS ENTIRE SERIES RIGHT NOW

Gentlewoman | Laura Dockrill: 5☆ - So beautiful!

Heroic | Phil Earle: 3☆

Miss Lucy Had A Steamboat | David Levithan: 4☆

I Am The Messenger | Markus Zusak: 5☆

Grasshopper Jungle | Andrew Smith: 4☆

Echo Boy | Matt Haig: 3.5☆

Forbidden | Tabitha Suzuma: 4.5☆

Endless Love | Lauren Kate: 2.5☆

Midwinterblood | Marcus Sedgwick: 0.5☆

The Liar's Girl | Catherine Johnson: 4☆

The Unicorn | James Dawson: 3☆

Northern Lights | Philip Pullman: 0.5☆

We Were Liars | E. Lockhart: 4☆
Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews

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