Crows on Heartstrings: An Anthology of Doomed Love Stories

by Aubrey Meeks

Crows on Heartstrings is a collection of doomed love stories. 

International writers craft harrowing tales of families torn apart by entities unknown, lovers cursed by fairies, siblings fighting monsters, and more. No type of love is safe from these tragedies. Gay, straight, romantic, familial, friendly, no matter what your shape or color, Crows on Heartstrings has something for you and we are coming for you. The contributors to Crows on Heartstrings take an anti-discriminatory viewpoint and stretch it across genres. Fantasy, sci-fi, supernatural, period and contemporary pieces make up the content in Crows on Heartstrings' comics, poems, and short stories 

These aren't just romances, they're epic tales of doom.

Genres: Short Stories, Poetry, Anthologies

Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2016

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

when you're in kinda of a slump and a book makes you not want to put it down, you know it's a good one.

full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2016/1...

[Cecillie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful stories and illustrations! All the authors and artists did an amazing job and I'm so happy that I helped fund the book.

The only "negative" thing I have to say about the book is that it needed another round of proof reading. I found some mistakes while reading and it's such a shame since the book is so great. I feel that it's especially important to avoid the type of mistakes I found since it is an indie publication.

Nonetheless, it is still a great book that definitely deserves a read!

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the curator of the book, of course I have to say it is absolutely amazing. I curated the book around the theme of "Doomed Love" but these aren't just love stories. There are no ooey-gooey feelings here. Well, there are, but it doesn't make these stories any less doomed. These stories stretch across many genres and come from international writers. Each story is wildly different from the next while remaining cohesive by its unique interpretation of doomed love. I have to say, reading and editing this book, the stories captivated me every time. Every time, I forgot that these stories were doomed and outright cried over some of these endings.

There are poems, comics, and short stories, and each is illustrated by a different artist. We have something for everyone. So if you want to fall in love and have your heart broken, I highly recommend this collection!

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy to have backed this book through kickstarter! First off, I was impressed with the artwork, even though I ordered the black and white copy. Secondly, I should say my favorite stories were, A Winters Tale, Carnival Brier, The Which Witch comic, and Roses Grow For Mammot Men! From deadly plagues, to a crazy narrater who engages the reader, to an eyecatching colour scheme with a sweet and simple story, to a thrilling need for a decision but ends up in misunderstanding. I loved it, loved it loved it!

P. S. Personally, I think the strongest stories got the lowest rating somewhere here. People have different tastes, but other backers I know from the kickstarter agree with me that the better stories got no credit here. I just wanted to add this opinion because I feel that these hard working writers deserve a chance at a good first impression:D

[Kandice Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over all, very well collaborated. Though a few of the stories stick out for me.
Roses grow for Mammet Men by one Miss Aubrey Meeks, which I have to admit, having this stellar story as the first one was a good decision. Being a fan of the fantasy genre, it was well written, well put together and I saw every single word come to life. It's hard to get into a story like that.
Second, Carnival Brier by Miss J. F. Geroux. Immersive, well written and a sad tale about what happens when the object of your love, becomes the object of your obsession. A burlesque PERFORMER, who meets an untimely end. Creative, period correct and whimsical. I have reread this one a couple of times, all to my utter enjoyment.
Third, Heal Me by Dodtt. Love the design and artwork. The story was good, and illustrated a particular need. Loved it. This is my fault, but I wish I had gotten the full colour version.
To end this long review, I have to say this, there are people out there who lack imagination. Who do not or cannot see a job well done. I'm sorry that some have to critique each individual tale as a singular entity, and not as a whole. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I'd buy this book several dozen times over. As it stands, if there are any more literary works of art coming up in the future, keep going Miss Meeks, you and your writers and artists deserve the praise. *Applauds*

[Kathrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy and Aubrey Meeks herself sent me a hardcover edition that was even signed by her!
When I first heard about this anthology, I knew I needed to have it. Even though I didn't like all of the stories the same way, I enjoyed reading most of it and looking at those stunning illustrations. Those really make it a special collection of stories. But I have to say that the characters weren't as diverse as they could have been!
Roses Grow for Mammet Men: I didn't really like this. It didn't have an actual plot until about the last quarter and there were mistakes in it that disturbed the reading flow. I had troubles understanding the point of view of the first person narrator and I still don't get all of it. The characters weren't that likeable and I thought the relationship between Kvel and Mercurie seemed abusive, from both sides. Therfore I'm glad that it ended how it ended. And what's with all the Icelandic? Besides me there are about 300.000 people who understand that. Not a good start for an anthology and I really hope it will get better.
Skin Link: I liked most of the story, but it became a bit too technical and serious towards the end. I guess catfishing is still a thing in the future. Unfortunately it became somewhat homophobic towards the end and even though we don't know what's going to happen, I have to assume that's it.
A Bullet for Death's Rifle: This short story comes closest to what I expected from this anthology. It reminded my of the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo and Ascheherz by Nina Blazon. The flashbacks blended perfectly into the text and the writing style has something special. Although I suspected how it would end, I really liked it.
Carnival Brier: See, this is how a short story should be like. I loved the writing style, because it fit the story perfectly. A tragic end (yes, I know, that's the way of this anthology), but it makes sense. I hope to read more like this!
Which Witch?: I was so looking forward to this, because Panna N. is an amazing artist. I love the colours, the drawing style and how there aren't any words needed. But of course it was way too short!
Witch Child: That's a kind of witch I've never heard of before, but I liked it. There isn't much plot though and the end felt drawn out.
Angels Outrank Saints: At first I thought: What the hell am I reading? I mean, stories about the mafia can be pretty awesome, but these guys were just aweful. The story was quite slow until it came to its climax and I have to admit I really liked this twist.
A Winter's Tale: This one was boring and I can't really say why. Certainly it would have been better if it weren't clear from the beginning how it would end.
Elise: It reminded me of the movie "Midnight in Paris" (the one with Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams) and the short story is almost as lovely, but unfortunately more boring.
Raised in Captivity: Wow, that was... disturbing. Trigger warning for: kidnapping, rape, and plenty of different forms of physical and mental abuse. This story is very different from the rest, I'd put it into the crime genre or rather psycho thrillers. Never ever do I want to read anything like this again. It only makes me cringe.
The Ninth Daughter: In what way is that a lovestory? Maybe it's one of sisterly love, so I guess that's okay. I really enjoyed reading this mystery story and the writing style was very creative. All that jumping back and forth, without being confusing. Well done!
Eraser: I was already a fan of Audrey San Juan's art before, but this was too monotone and sometimes drawn too messy. And then suddenly it was over. Weird story.
The Hung Lovers: Hm. This poem didn't make me feel anything.
The Crow Princess: A fairy tale, first filled with stereo types of the genre (royals, a witch, a curse, true love's kiss etc.), but in the end it had a twist. I absolutely didn't like Alya, the spoiled brat, first, but she underwent some character developement.
Heal Me: Uhm. What was that? It started off pretty cool, I loved the idea, but the end... just very weird and confusing. I mean, what happened? And more importantly: why did it happen?
The Autumn Prince: I really enjoyed this one and I would have liked more of this. The end was neither happy nor completely unhappy and that makes it very realistic, even though it's fantasy. The perfect, heartwarming end for this anthology.

[Norelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was disapointing.
Idea behind this book is great(i'm tired of pink and fluffyyyyy love stories). Art is very beautiful. But stories.... There were 4 good ones. Others were mehhh or wtf...or something in between. Like scraps of...not very good ideas(like Eraser - what the hell was that???).I'm sorry...
I loved 4 stories. Specially The Crow princess and Witch Child. My favorites. But The Autumn Prince had nice writing style(and Em and Owl were funny :D) and A bullet for Death's Rifle.. i just liked that one :)
About others...hmm...there was Raised in captivity with very dark and real theme, but... i was so disapointed that story itself was so messy and almost wtf. But artwork for that story - that told more and gave more emotions than story.

Okay. Es šo tiešām gribēju izlasīt un biju excited. Bet nu vilšanās. 4 labi stāsti. No 3 varētu izvērst ko plašāku. Bet viens bija kā šobrīd populārie fairy tale retelling. Nu uz tā vibe. Un tur endings mani paķēra...parasti jau arī retelling man liekas ir ar happy end. Īpaši tagad, kad ir stilā pie katrām beigām, kas nav happy, brēkt par diskrimināciju un tādām lietām. nu šim bija beigas...ko es varēju iedomāties pilnīgi loģiskas. Citi gan jau happy happy sataisītu, jo nevar tak traģiski....bet šis...nu man likās, ka šitā tiešām beigtos pasaka, kurai veiktas tādas izmaiņas.
Māksliņa te bija tiešām laba un krājuma ideja, pamatos - ļoti patika. Tikai tie stāsti liela daļa...pat idejiski bija mehhh vai wtf... nemaz nerunājot par izpildījumu.

[Marina]

I'm so, so disappointed with this anthology. I got a free copy from Meeks because I helped a bit by hyping up the Kickstarter campaign. It held so much promise.

This book is very beautiful, the art, the design, etc made it incredibly pleasing to leaf through and set on the shelf. But the stories left a lot to be desired...

The most I can describe them as is sub-par. In fact, the first story was so bad, I asked myself 'is this a joke?' While I enjoyed reading them, I can only say that I really liked one of them. Otherwise... most of these read more like high school journal submissions than a professional anthology compilation. But maybe they're just not up to my taste, because I am very picky about writing styles.

Not to mention the fact that I found a grammatical error in the last story, as well as least five typographical errors in formatting. Why the last story, I don't know, but it was the only one I noticed them.

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept of an anthology of stories around the theme of doomed love is one that really appealed to me so I went into this book with fairly high expectations. I wasn't disappointed. The stories and the illustrations fitted together perfectly and, although some stories stood out to me more than others, I enjoyed every one of them. I especially loved the variety of forms and genres found in this book and how each take on the theme was so different from the others but all fantastic in their own ways. I would definitely love to read more books like this one in the future.

[Danesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff.

[Dali (23SleeplessHours) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, yet beautiful.
The art was stunning, but I can't really give 5 stars because some stories bored me or I did not like the way they were written.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story by story breakdown soon.