Three Sides of a Heart: Stories About Love Triangles

by Natalie C. Parker (Editor), Renée Ahdieh, Rae Carson

You may think you know the love triangle, but you've never seen love triangles like these.

These top YA authors tackle the much-debated trope of the love triangle, and the result is sixteen fresh, diverse, and romantic stories you don’t want to miss.

This collection, edited by Natalie C. Parker, contains stories written by Renee Ahdieh, Rae Carson, Brandy Colbert, Katie Cotugno, Lamar Giles, Tessa Gratton, Bethany Hagan, Justina Ireland, Alaya Dawn Johnson, EK Johnston, Julie Murphy, Garth Nix, Natalie C. Parker, Veronica Roth, Sabaa Tahir, and Brenna Yovanoff.

A teen girl who offers kissing lessons. Zombies in the Civil War South. The girl next door, the boy who loves her, and the girl who loves them both. Vampires at a boarding school. Three teens fighting monsters in an abandoned video rental store. Literally the last three people on the planet.

What do all these stories have in common?

The love triangle.

Listening Length: 13 hours 6 minutes 56 seconds

Genres: Romance, Short Stories, Young Adult, Anthologies, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction

14 pages, Audiobook

First published December 19, 2017

Reviews

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Average Rating: 3.81 Stars, but I'm giving a five because there were so many stories here on my new faves list. This was a fantastic short story collection, and I have to admit I was really pleasantly surprised after seeing some mediocre reviews.

What stands out about this collection to me is the creativity. So much speculative fiction and so many weird ideas! There's a lot of weirdness hidden within this collection, and I have no doubt even some of my fave stories will be polarizing - I've already seen two one-star reviews for one of my fave stories, lol - but I think everyone will be able to come away with a few favorites out of all these weird and wonderful stories.

If you only want my recommendations for best stories in this collection, try the badass sapphic alternate history of Justina Ireland's Dread South, the speculative character-driven scifi of Natalie C. Parker's Cass, An, and Dra, the friendship-focused contemporary of Veronica Roth's Vim and Vigor, the weird and wonderful magical realism tone of Brenna Yovanoff's Vega, the fascinating characters and stunning setting depiction of Alaya Dawn Johnson's A Hundred Thousand Threads, and the saddest thing I have ever read, Bethany Hagen's Unus, Duo, Tres. You'll notice that's a full 6 of the 16 stories in this collection. I am SO. HAPPY.


# FULL STORY REVIEWS
Since I mostly wanted subversions out of this anthology, I'm going to put a 🇸🇱 to indicate love triangles that aren't three heterosexual individuals, and a ☀️ to indicate trope subversion or stories I felt did something totally new with the love triangle.

♔ Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno - ★★★☆☆ 🇸🇱
This is contemporary following a girl, her brother, and her brother's maybe-girlfriend. This was cute, first of all, and I like that part of this love triangle was simply a guy and a girl who everyone thinks are dating but aren't necessarily at all. Unfortunately, I think I misunderstood and believed they were dating for part of the reading. I also don't love that the burden is put on our protagonist to deal with her homophobic parents; how, exactly, is it teenage angst to not want to associate with a mother who can't shut up about your short hair? She's the parent. She can deal.

♔ Dread South by Justina Ireland - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️
I'M SCREAMING AT HOW GOOD THIS WAS. It's about a badass black zombie hunter girl in the post-civil war era and the white girl who falls for her. And LOTS of trope subversion. Every racist trope, especially the "you're the one good black person" trope, just died a very painful death. Writing style rocked, concept is of course badass - civil. war. zombie. hunters. - and honestly, I'm just so here for gfs murdering racists. Good concept and great story.

♔ Omega Ship by Rae Carson - ★★☆☆☆ ☀️
This is about... a naked girl and two hot naked boys having to repopulate the earth. Which, trope subversion, yay? I think Carson was going for a subversive feminist little story, and there was one moment towards the end I liked, but... I think the concept was just too fucking messy for this to ever turn out well. It just got cringey. Also, I'm not saying including genetic research is always bad, but eugenics could really be critiqued?

♔ La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh - ★★★☆☆
This is about a girl in Buenos Aires and the boys she meets along the way. I think fans of good contemporary romance will enjoy this a lot, but it didn't do a ton for me. Liked the banter, but the whole sexy-tango-dancing thing is just not me. Also, very weak love triangle and nothing new was done with it.

♔ Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️
This is a novella in which our main character, Cass, can see the outcomes of their decisions before making them - until they end up torn between An, their best friend or maybe something more, and Dra, a hypnotizing person they’ve just met. And it is really, really, really compelling. I felt like I couldn't breathe towards the end. It's more of an urban fantasy story about choices than anything else; I'd argue the love triangle is somewhat immaterial, but it's a great way of conveying the story. (Honestly, the ideal ending to this one is them all getting together.)

♔ Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy - ★★★★☆ 🇸🇱
Bi girl falls in love with another girl while giving her and her boyfriend kissing lessons. Cute, cute, and cute. Nothing new with the love triangle, maybe, but I really enjoyed reading this.

♔ Triangle Solo by Garth Nix - ★☆☆☆☆
Listen, I'm sorry, but it is laughable how terribly this was written. The constant ellipses. The obvious reveals. Everything. God, it was just terrible.

♔ Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️
Oh my god, this was so beautiful? It takes a story about a love triangle and turns it into a story about genuine friendship. So much trope subversion.

♔ Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston - ★★★☆☆ 🇸🇱☀️
This follows three possibly all in love with each other characters, Alex, Tab, and CJ. Each of the three stories has three sections, one for each POV. Mostly, I just found this a bit confusing: the gimmick is cool, but I didn't catch on quickly enough and honestly found it a little too weird. Definitely not a typical love triangle, though - I really liked that none of the characters were gendered.

♔ Hurdles by Brandy Colbert - ★★★☆☆
...huh. This follows a girl caught between her normal boyfriend and normal life, and a boy she deeply loves. Which is something slightly new, I guess, but even this I've seen done before. I have... so many mixed feelings. I liked all the characters and the idea, but I had too many issues to really get fully immersed. First off, our main character here read really similar to Suzette from Little and Lion AND the main character of Colbert's Summer Days anthology story. And I suppose I just... found it kind of boring. The non-ending doesn't help; it would've worked if I'd connected with everything more, but since I felt so apathetic towards the story, it did nothing.

♔ The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantakerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles - ★★★★☆ 🇸🇱☀️
...holy crap. Um, I'm not going to say anything about this, but I think you should read this to the end.

♔ Waiting by Sabaa Tahir - ★★★★☆
This was a pleasant surprise! It's contemporary about a girl caught between two great guys, each with their own issues and good parts. It's not anything new, but I think I enjoyed this mostly because I genuinely liked both dudes. Another one where the ideal ending would've been them all getting together.

♔ Vega by Brenna Yovanoff - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️
It's a love triangle between a girl, a boy, and a city. And I'm pretty sure half its readership is going to end it like "huh?" but it's still worth reading because HOLY CRAP I LOVED IT. Brenna Yovanoff just knows how to get to the heart of the human soul, and this short story is no exception. Her writing is just... holy shit, I adore it. I loved the picture I had in my head of Las Vegas while reading; Yovanoff just excels at creating mood quickly, and making you care for stories.

♔ A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️
This was really really lovely. It's a story about a futuristic Mexico and rebellion. I don't know exactly what I liked most about this, but I think it was probably the writing - just stunning - and the characters, who I cared about so much by the end I was near tears. The story, while occasionally confusing and not necessarily full of huge plot twists, had me rapt with its odd tone and intriguing worldbuilding. Can't recommend enough - in fact, I'd love to read a full length novel.

♔ Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton - ★★★★☆ 🇸🇱☀️
This was quite odd; it's a high fantasy story about an antihero, and there's also some high fantasy polyamory going on? I felt that the actual story and worldbuilding was too confusing to truly adore, but I found the writing quite engaging. Maybe worth a reread.

♔ Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️
Poly vampires and a whole lot of antiheroes. That was... the most painful thing I've read in my life. I cannot even begin to convey how painful this was. I reject this story and I very much reject this ending. I'm blocking all of you. Fuck. No one asked, Bethany Hagen. No one.

VERDICT: A collection of weird and fantastic speculative fiction stories that left me totally enthralled. This story collection was so much more than I expected and I can't recommend this enough.

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[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I did enjoy this, but this collection uses the term “love triangle” very loosely, in my opinion. Some of the stories could have probably benefited from a stricter use of the word. It was so very diverse in race, sexuality, settings, social structures, and more, and I really appreciated it. I honestly felt like the majority of these stories had a queer aspect to them and that brings so much joy to me. A few of the stories even beautifully showcases budding polyamorous relationships, which is almost unheard of in YA! But like all anthologies, this was a mixed bag, yet overall, I really did enjoy reading this anthology for the most part. I also feel like there is a big enough variety that most people will come out with at least a couple five star stories out of the sixteen.

And I stuck to my Fantasy roots, because my personal favorite in the whole collection was Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton, who was a completely new to me author before this anthology! Their story was a high fantasy short that beautifully features an open-minded start of a polyamorous relationship, set in an amazingly unique world, that also features a kingdom that heavily believes in their religion at all costs. This was smart, this was sexy, this was emotional, and this was honestly perfect for me and my tastes. Please, give me more from this world in a full-length version. But I also want to state that Julie Murphy’s Lessons for Beginners was a very close second (and so worth everyone’s time to read)!

But moving on, I'm going to break down each short story with my thoughts, opinions, and individual star rating!

➽ Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno - ★★★★
This was such a good opening story, oh my word! This is a queer short story, set at Christmas/New Years’ time, and stars a girl that has just recently came out to her family. She is struggling with how they perceive her, even though they are really lovely and accepting, and she is struggling to stop feeling so lonely with her unrequited crush, who also happens to be her brother’s best friend. This felt so authentic, and real, and was able to evoke a lot of emotions from me. I loved this completely, and the only reason I gave this four stars was because I never really felt a love triangle! But this was still so amazing.

➽ Dread South by Justina Ireland - ★★★★★
Okay, this was an extra good read for me, because I just read and loved Dread Nation last month! Well, this short story is part of that world, where an alternate history is taking place after the American Civil War! The blacks and Native children in this world have to go to combat schools to eventually protect the whites from the zombies that now walk among us. And our main character, Louisa, is gifted a girl to protect her, by the boy she thinks she is destined to marry. Louisa, slowfully and painfully, starts to realize her privilege, and then starts thinking about what she really wants from life. Oh, and in case you couldn’t tell, this is also a queer story! And that ending was honestly perfection.

➽ Omega Ship by Rae Carson - ★★
This was a… very unexpected love triangle for this collection. Basically, an asteroid was going to destroy Earth in nine months time, so a space ship was launched with a bunch of kids so that that they could repopulate a new habitable planet. Well, this story is about how only three of those kids made it out alive and were able to get to the escape pod to land on the new planet. The three survivors are one girl and two boys, and the girl now feels the weight of the world on her shoulders (literally), because she is going to have to repopulate the human race with only her womb. And she has to pick what boy she wants to repopulate with first. This story just… felt not good? Like, it was trying to take a feminist angle on everything, and how the girl should be in control of her body, but it just felt like three hot teens were hanging out and excited to have sex with each other. But if this turns into a full length, NA, polyamorous story… sign me up for that.

➽ La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh - ★
I really didn’t enjoy this one. It’s about a girl who just graduated high school and traveled to Argentina alone, to stay in a hostel for one night before her brother meets her. She is still grieving from her dad’s death, and she makes a few book references, and she… likes to salsa dance (all of these just feel so forced and random. But the main character, despite traveling alone and going to a nightclub with people she just met at a hostel, also felt so rude all the time to me. And, I’m still desperately confused as to who was the other point of the love triangle. The dancer? I honestly didn’t like anything about this, I’m sorry.

➽ Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker - ★★★
Cass is obsessed with the different paths in life a person can take. She is constantly thinking and analyzing what her choice(s) will lead to, since she can kind of predict and/or see what is going to steam from the choice(s). But the one thing Cass is always certain will be a constantly in her life is An, that is, until she meets Dra. This was a bit weird, and it felt really disjointed while reading, I also didn’t care for Cass not being completely open with her feelings and actions. And the ending really left a lot to be desired. But I loved seeing a genderfluid love triangle point, and everyone used they/them pronouns! But now, after I talked about this with Destiny, I’m questioning if this was just a huge metaphor for Cass’ self-identity because, CassAnDra…. And now my mind is blown, and I’m just unsure how to interpret this! But maybe that’s the beauty of it.

➽ Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy - ★★★★★
Our main character is an expert kisser, and gives kissing lessons to other kids from her school. She has a website, and sets up everything online, so her identity remains anonymous until the teaching begins. Ruby only has one real friend, Paul, and everyone is always really surprised to find out that she is the “Kisser Fixer”. And then one day a childhood friend of hers and her boyfriend require her services. This was perfect. Heartwarming, emotional, everything, and had such good representation (queer, body, and race). I loved this so much. This is actually the first thing I’ve ever read from Julie Murphy, and now I want anything and everything by her.

➽ Triangle Solo by Garth Nix - ★
This one just didn’t work for me, probably because it’s about two high school boys lusting over the beautiful new girl they knew in their youth. And even though this is sort of an SFF short, because they live and go to school on a planet that is not Earth, it still read like basic horny teenage boys. And I’m just not about that life. Especially when they are viewing something as lesser until they realize they can use it as a way to get the girl.

➽ Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth - ★★★★★
I really enjoyed this. This is about a girl picking between two boys to go to prom with, and then she realizes her value and how friends can love you just as well as any boy ever could. This was so pure, and I honestly just had fun reading it. Also, it’s about girls in a comic club that draw and love their fandom, while also grieving the loss of one of their members. This was just heartwarming, and easily one of the best stories in this collection. And give me all the stories about girls picking their friends who unconditionally love them!

➽ Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston - ★
I’m not sure what would possess this author to think that writing three separate stories, all told in 2nd person, all feeling and sounding like the same person, even though they are all completely different points of view, would be a good idea. But needless to say, this did not work for me in the slightest. The third story was the strongest, but I was too annoyed, irritated, and confused at that point to even care.

➽ Hurdles by Brandy Colbert - ★★★★
This story had so much good packed inside of this short little story. This story heavily talks about being the person your parents want you to be, while also trying to balance being the person you want to be. It talks about parents putting too much pressure on their kids, and maybe even trying to live vicariously through them. It talks about addiction, alcohol abuse specifically, and how we treat people once they come back from getting help. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this story meant a lot to me, and high school Melanie would have been able to connect with this story immediately. My only problem was the ending. I’m not saying that cliffhangers or open-ended endings are the worst thing ever, but I just wanted more. Like, write me this full-length novel, please, Brandy Colbert. I’m honestly begging you. This story was great, the characters were fully fleshed out (which is beyond impressive for a short story), and the writing was completely addicting. This was the first thing I’ve read by Brandy Colbert, but now I want to read everything. I really enjoyed this.

➽ The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantakerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles - ★★★★
Okay, I really enjoyed this one. Morally grey main protagonist, who is learning the life lesson that not everyone will love you the way you love them, while also being a story filled with monster hunting. Like, sign me the hell up for a full-length version of this. I’m legit only giving this four stars, because this could have been such a beautiful polyamorous relationship that would have given me everything I would have ever wanted.

➽ Waiting by Sabaa Tahir - ★
Okay, this is going to sound horrible and petty, but… she picked the wrong guy. Like, I’m all about how you can’t tell people who to love, but like, no. This story is a perfect example of what I do not like in a love triangle. And that’s why it never truly feels like a love triangle and the girl picks the dude she first laid eyes on first anyways, because… reasons Seriously, Fèlix deserved so much better.

➽ Vega by Brenna Yovanoff - ★★★
All the different names just being dropped at the start was really off-putting. But this short story does take place in Vegas, which is where I live, so I wanted to enjoy it, but it’s filled with the Vegas stereotypes of gambling, drug use, and addiction. I mean, I know that’s an important and very really discussion for many, but it’s a reality for many people in many cities, not just Vegas. I don’t know, maybe I’m being biased, but I just wish it didn’t feel so bad for me to read. I will say that this book feels very much like Vegas, and the author does a wonderful job teleporting you there. I also feel like this is a type of story that I really like though, and I think the love triangle between that stars a girl picking between a boy she has loved her whole life and a city is pretty genius. And it was a much different read than most in this collection, so I appreciated it.

➽ A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson - ★★
This was just really boring to me and I honestly felt like I had to force myself to finish it. Maybe it was because the format was told in messages, but I’m not even sure I can blame the disconnect on that. Basically, the only thing I enjoyed was a Mexico City set in the future. And I can see some people really enjoying the plot twist, but I thought it was really predictable.

➽ Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton - ★★★★★
I do think this was the high fantasy polyamorous short story that I was after while starting this anthology. Safiya is Moon Eater’s Mistress and her position is very important among her people. Her blessings mean the difference between everything, while her family also sits upon the throne. Unfortunately, Safiya is also unable to take a male lover named Enver, because she must be dedicated to their God. Yet, her best friend, Farah, has sworn her life to her. But Safiya and Farah both want Enver, and Safiya doesn’t want Farah to miss out because of her and the station that was placed on her. This was so freaking amazing. This was smart, this was sexy, this was emotional, and that first kiss, holy moly, that first kiss blew me away. I loved this. This was my favorite of the collection, and I’d love to have a full length story of these characters and this world.

➽ Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen - ★★★★★
Um, this is about undead vampires at a Catholic boarding school who are thinking about a polyamorous relationship. It’s diverse with race and sexuality, the characters were phenomenal, the writing was excellent, and it’s pretty much the only thing I wanted for Christmas this year. I don’t want to say too much, because this story is definitely best to go into blind, but that ending was so damn shocking, but perfect in and of itself. I really loved this one.

I gave Three Sides of a Heart 3 stars overall, because out of a possible 80 stars (5 stars possible for each of the 16 stories) this collection accumulated 51 stars (~63%).

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Buddy read with Alexis over at The Sloth Reader (my favorite BookTuber) & Destiny (my favorite blogger)! ❤

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

Wow, I did not expect to dislike this book because usually I am a huge fan of short story collections. I only truly liked, maybe 3 or 4 of the 16 stories and most of them were unmemorable.

This short story collection is supposed to be about love triangles but more than half of them didn't really even have a love triangle in it??

I am filming a solo video review for this and sharing my ratings for each, individual story.
So bummed I didn't enjoy this.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! I got an eARC from the publisher via Edelweiss, but what I read was a hardcover I bought at a later date.

Anthologies are always hard to review, but an anthology full of stories featuring love triangles? Lord help me, I can't pick out just a handful to spotlight! I can, however, result to my old way of reviewing anthologies: detailing a bit about each story, this time with the triangle types and their endgame pairings listed as well but without giving them ratings. I just don't feel like puzzling out individual story ratings this time when I'm so utterly certain of how I'd rate the book as a whole.

--

"Riddles in Mathematics" by Katie Cotugno: f/f/m, endgame f/f. Cute enough story, but it's just so unremarkable to me other than its f/f endgame pairing.

"Dread South" by Justina Ireland: m/f/f, endgame f/f (kinda). Black and other POC girls are trained to fight zombies and a racist white girl's suitor buys the girl her own guardian. A crush and some zombie attacks ensue. It's a very fun story set in the same universe as Ireland's novel Dread Nation and it's certainly strong enough to draw readers to the book. I say 'kinda"' re: the endgame because Louisa the white girl is crushing hard on Juliet the Black girl by story's end and Juliet wants nothing to do with Louisa.

"Omega Ship" by Rae Carson: m/f/m, endgame uncertain. A spaceship carrying human colonists goes down and only three people (two boys named Dirl and Jesse, one girl named Eva) survive the catastrophe. I just really dislike this story and it's difficult to detail why. Endgame is uncertain because Eva gets up to things with one particular guy and there's no knowing whether she'll do the same with the other, especially given what Eva does. Could go m/f or m/f/m, but I'm not counting anything as m/f/m without solid confirmation.

GIVE ME CONFIRMED POLYAMORY OR GIVE ME DEATH.

"La Revancha del Tango" by Renee Ahdieh: m/f/m, endgame m/f. Another unremarkable story starring a few college teens staying in a Buenos Aires hostel who then decide to go dancing. Would be my least favorite if not for another short story to come.

"Cass, An, and Dra" by Natalie C. Parker: f/f/genderfluid, no endgame. On occasion, Cass is told by this internal voice to choose Cass choose when she has two choices in a situation and she can then see both the potential futures. She's so determined to stay with her girlfriend An that she avoids any choice that would introduce her to Dra, a genderfluid person that Cass is attracted to, but there's no escaping Dra. They always turn up in one choice or another. A bit repetitive, but I like the concept and how it unfolds.

"Lessons for Beginners" by Julie Murphy: f/f/m, endgame f/f. Bisexual fat girl Ruby gives kissing lessons! Her newest clients: her childhood friend/crush Annie and Annie's awful boyfriend Theo. Even though Ruby and Annie face bigotry at the end, the story is super cute and I admire Ruby's business acumen. She's a brilliant natural talent at kissing but no one wants to date her because she's fat? Make some money teaching people how to use their tongues! Just a big ol' Southern delight.

"Triangle Solo" by Garth Nix: m/f/m, endgame m/f. A sci-fi tale of two boys living in a colony on Mars and the cute girl they knew who suddenly returns from living on Earth. Now the boys are in insta-lust. This is without a doubt the worst story in the anthology. Every single negative thing anyone has ever said about love triangles? They apply to this story. NEXT.

"Vim and Vigor" by Veronica Roth: m/f/m, no endgame. I'm surprised I liked this story considering I really dislike Veronica Roth? We've got a mild sci-fi touch to it and a girl torn on which guy she should go to prom with, but both are on the sidelines. The story is really about how fandom and four superheroines help three friends reconnect after the death of their fourth friend fractured their tight-knit group. Not gonna lie, I teared up. Roth nailed the emotions.

"Hurdles" by Brandy Colbert: m/f/m, endgame uncertain. I've yet to meet a Brandy Colbert story I didn't like and this delightfully dramatic tale might just be my favorite of hers! Mavis's dad is pushing her so hard to do well in track and reach the Olympics that she's tempted to run away from it all--but then her best friend's brother Bobby returns from rehab and he offers her the chance to do exactly that. Mavis's indecision between staying with her boyfriend Jacob and her dad versus running away with Bobby is vividly written and how it ends is your choice.

"The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman" by Lamar Giles: f/m/f, endgame m/f. This Buffy the Vampire Slayer-influenced tale is pretty clumsily written, but quality has nothing to do with it. There's just so much to the idea and world presented that a short story can't possibly fit it all comfortably! Someone give Giles the inspiration to expand this story and a book deal for it, I'll be first in line to buy that novel to experience more tropes being lampshaded and black kids fighting monsters.

"Waiting" by Sabaa Tahir: m/f/m, endgame m/f. Ani's crush Sam just went to jail for meth possession and her new co-worker Felix is nursing a big old crush on Ani. The story is comfortable without verging into unremarkable and I kinda adore that Ani's feelings for Sam were unaffected by his time behind bars, which is probably because Sam didn't actually have meth. His brother did and Sam happened to be a passenger in his brother's car when police found the meth. By the sheer misfortune of being there, he got charged too.

"Vega" by Brenna Yovanoff: m/f/the entire city of Las Vegas (YES, REALLY), no endgame. That's right, the girl is torn between the guy and the spirit of Las Vegas, personified as Vega. The guy is disenchanted with the city, but the girl loves it dearly and that keeps them apart. Other than that, I've got nothing to say about the story.

"A Hundred Thousand Threads" by Alaya Dawn Johnson: f/m/f, endgame m/f. MY FAVORITE, HANDS DOWN AND HEADS UP. The Estrato above a flooded Mexico City is run by the Torres family, the family commits human rights abuses like sexual slavery and murders left and right, and Aurora's boyfriend Jaime Torres de la Garza is about to leave her for the masked anti-Torres vigilante known as the Colibri, aka Coli. The writing and worldbuilding are brilliant, the voices of the narrators unforgettable. Just read it, people!

"Unus, Duo, Tres" by Bethany Hagen: starts out m/m, turns m/m/f for a moment, ends m/f. The most important thing is VAMPIRES!!! because I love vampires, but the whole story is two recently made vampire boys are at a boarding school in Savannah and a girl arrives that they both really like. This is the story that gets closest to giving us true polyamory because EACH POINT MAKES OUT WITH THE OTHER TWO POINTS OF THE TRIANGLE. That's all I wanted, y'all! I'm just not hot on the sacrifice of another black boy.

--

I did not read Tessa Gratton's and E.K. Johnston's stories. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID. (Seriously, don't be abusive to rape survivors and don't take a dump on book bloggers because you're mad ARCs get sold on eBay by people who are almost never bloggers.)

Also, WHY CAN'T I JUST HAVE CONFIRMED, HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER POLYAMORY?

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three Sides of a Heart is a collection of sixteen short stories about love triangles, of varying natures and sexualities. I honestly wouldn't have picked this anthology up if it wasn't for buddy reading it with Melanie , because I'm not typically a big fan of the trope, but some of these stories executed it wonderfully! I will say that this collection is a huge mixed bag of good and bad stories, and many of the tales aren't what I consider triangles at all, but we'll get there.

→ Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno - ★★★★★ ←
A young girl who has recently come out to her family has to face the struggle of being in love with her brother's best friend, who everyone thinks her brother is destined to marry someday. This was such a beautiful and sweet opener to the collection. It had a wonderful example of how parents deal with teens and big revelations: just because someone takes time to adjust to a change, doesn't mean they're unhappy with that change. I was rooting so hard for the MC the entire time, and was hooked to the very end.

→ Dread South by Justina Ireland - ★★★★★ ←
A young white woman living in the 1800s has to face down her racism and come to terms with the fact that her Attendant is not "less than" just for her skin color. I was LIVING for this story! I already loved Dread Nation (review here) by Justina Ireland, and I was ecstatic to read this story set in the same timeframe. I loved the fact that we were actually looking through the eyes of this racist young girl coming to terms with her own ignorance, and more than anything, I was so here for the self-confidence and cool indifference the love interest exuded throughout the entire story, right to the end. I don't think I will ever give anything Justina writes less than five stars.

→ Omega Ship by Rae Carson - ★★☆☆☆ ←
A ship carrying teens to a new planet to start a new home for the human race is on a crash course, forcing three of its passengers to escape and to make a new life for themselves on their own - with only one young woman left to repopulate the planet. This was honestly such a bizarre story to me. I appreciated the feminist ideal behind the ending, and the thought that the girl wanted to take her life into her own hands, but the writing wasn't for me, and one of the guys was so cringe-y it was a little nauseating.

→ La Revancha Del Tango by Renee Ahdieh - ★☆☆☆☆ ←
A college-bound Indian girl from the southern states heads off to Argentina for a quick vacation, where she meets an obnoxious-but-cute British boy and tries her hand at authentic salsa dancing. There was so much going on in this story, and the worst of it was honestly the geek references. I'm a lifelong geek and gamer girl; I get it, you want to prove yourself. But it was so unbearable in the narrative, it felt incredibly fake, and the whole thing was just a disaster. On top of that, where was the love triangle? All I saw was this girl drooling over some rude British kid while lusting a little over some salsa dancer that probably didn't care to know she existed, seeing as they never even spoke! By far and large, the worst story in the collection was this one.

→ Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker - ★★★★☆ ←
A family curse: every time our narrator faces a decision, they see visions of what will happen if they take either path. Throughout the course of the story, their visions start to show a common thread: one path keeps them in a relationship with their familiar and lovely girlfriend, An, while the other path leads them to a love-at-first-sight encounter with a nonbinary stranger named Dra. The idea for this one was so unique, and I adored how totally queer it was. The idea of the insta-love that Cass would face upon meeting Dra was a little bothersome, though, so I knocked off a star for how much I disliked that general "theme". I found it really interesting that their names formed "Cassandra", though, and I kept wondering if the whole story was a metaphor for the narrator's struggles with their gender identity, rather than a literal tale of three people and romance.

→ Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy - ★★★★★ ←
When a highschool girl learns that she is naturally a great kisser, her best friend convinces her to become a kissing instructor. A wrench is thrown into her normal routine when she takes on her first couple for lessons, and develops unexpected feelings for the girlfriend. Oh. My. GOD. I loved this story so freaking much I can't even describe it. The narrator is a plus size gal and she is so sexy and fun and proud of herself, and I was so here for the idea of this girl accepting her sexuality with pride and letting herself be "out there" with her body. As a plus size girl, I almost never see myself represented in YA, period, but when I do, it's rarely in good lighting, so I was literally clapping throughout this story. I am here for queer fat girl rep, all day, every day. <3

→ Triangle Solo by Garth Nix - ★☆☆☆☆ ←
Two high school best friends are used to competing, but when the boys both fall for the same girl, things get a little messy. There's a sci-fi twist, but honestly, the writing was so laughably terrible in this story that I skimmed the ending and can't tell you much about it. I remember Garth Nix being a YA god when I was a kid, and now I can't tell if his writing hasn't held up over the years, or if he just bombed this particular story, because wow. It was such a bummer to be so disappointed by this one, since I saw his name on the contents page and honestly thought I would end up loving his entry.

→ Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth - ★★★☆☆ ←
When a highschooler reunites with her childhood comic book fangirl friends after working through the loss of one of their club members, she is ecstatic to find her place again - until she ruins it by abusing her former best friend's trust to utilize the other girl's father's scientific tools to make a decision between the two boys who have asked her to prom. I don't like Veronica Roth's writing much anyways, but I really tried to enjoy this one, and just... couldn't. I thought it was so ridiculously cringe-y that she used her best friend's father's stuff just to decide between the two boys - neither of whom had a built-up backstory worthy of me caring even the tiniest bit about who she chose - despite knowing that it would get her friend in major trouble if they were caught. She then blamed the whole thing on her anxiety and, as someone who suffers from major anxiety issues, it felt so bad to me, watching her brush off her harmful decisions on her mental illness! The only reason I gave this 3 stars was because I adored the ending, but overall, I thought this story was a disaster.

→ Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston - ★☆☆☆☆ ←
Multiple stories of three childhood friends, with each section switching perspectives, and each story fading into the next. The writing style behind this one was unique, for sure, and could work well for someone who's looking for something unusual in their reading routine, but man, it did not work for me at all! It took me an unfortunate amount of time to realize that the little mini-sections were switching narratives, because it's all second-person (as in, "you" are the narrator) and there's no indication at all given to let you know the perspectives are changing. Then, when I realized it wasn't one cohesive short story, but was several very short stories combined into one? Well, that was the moment I just sighed and accepted the fact that I was 1-starring this entry.

→ Hurdles by Brandy Colbert - ★★★★☆ ←
A young track star is forced to choose between two boys: one, her current boyfriend, is widely loved by her father, appreciates her affinity for running track, and encourages her to pursue huge, Olympic-sized dreams. The other is her best friend's brother, recovering alcoholic, who skips classes and wants her to run away from everything with him. This story wasn't perfect, but it offered this incredible and candid look into the pain that comes with choosing between what your heart wants, and what your mind needs. I only wish the opening had been more solid, but I won't spoil that for you.

→ The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles - ★★★★☆ ←
Imagine a world in which Alfred falls in love with Batman, while Batman leaves Alfred for Catwoman. Our narrator is "Alfred", the Historian, who's in charge of keeping things in order for the Garrison while he gallivants about, fighting monsters and sweeping the Cantankerous Catwoman off her feet. I was actually a little bored in the beginning of this one, and thought the writing could use a little more polishing, but by the end, I was hooked. I positively loved how morally grey the Historian was, and was delighted by the unusual circumstances that came with the end of the story.

→ Waiting by Sabaa Tahir - ★★☆☆☆ ←
A girl must choose between her best friend - currently doing a stint in prison after being caught with meth - and her new co-worker - the sweet basketball player who's head-over-heels in love with her, despite knowing she's emotionally unavailable. I wasn't in love with this story from the beginning, but I thought it had some potential, until it became evident that she wasn't getting over the bestie, despite the fact that he was treating her like complete garbage. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that I thought the bulk of this story set an incredibly unhealthy example for young readers learning how to navigate relationships.

→ Vega by Brenna Yovanoff - ★★★★☆ ←
A girl is in love with two things: her childhood best friend, and the city they live in. When he says he wants to leave, she's left to face a shockingly tough decision. I actually really enjoyed the idea of this one - it showed the side of a young woman who's mature enough to recognize that sometimes, we aren't actually choosing between the person we love and another person or thing, so much as we are choosing between the person we love and ourselves. My only problem with the story was that it portrayed such a stereotypical and negative view of Las Vegas, and I feel like that's a bit hurtful and tired for people who live in the city and have to face those assumptions and cliches everyday of their lives.

→ A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson - ★☆☆☆☆ ←
A girl writes letters to her cheating lover, but who he thinks he's choosing over her isn't quite who she seems to be, either. I thought this was nice enough writing, but the plot was so boring and predictable that I couldn't bring myself to give it a higher rating. Once it was confirmed (more or less) that I had, in fact, guessed the "twist" from the very first page, I skimmed the rest to see if it got any better, and sadly, it did not.

→ Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton - ★★★★★ ←
Being a leader comes at a price, and for this young woman, it's being forced to give her body to a god, rather than the girl she loves most in the world. This story was so beautiful and incredible. I adored the poly rep, and how flawless and real it felt. The love shown in the romances here were so pure and wholesome, and I just wanted to bask in them for a while. I would absolutely love to read a full-length story about these characters, and I'm certain that Tessa Gratton will be a TBR author for me after this entry.

→ Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen - ★★★★★ ←
Two vampires in love face an unexpected set of circumstances when one of them falls for the new girl, and learns she has a secret of her own, too. Oh my god, you guys. I won't spoil, but... this one wrecked me. I was literally a blubbering mess of tears by the end. It was so unexpected and beautiful and heartbreaking and perfect. I desperately need to read more by Bethany Hagen ASAP, because she made me feel things for these characters in a few short pages that many authors don't manage to do in 400.

→ FINAL THOUGHTS ←
Averaged out, I gave this collection 3.25 stars, which I feel perfectly comfortable with lowering to a 3-star rating overall. While there were a few major gems that I loved, most of the anthology was lackluster or downright bad. I honestly wish I could pluck out the stories I 5-starred (and 4-starred, even) and put them in their own bind-up and give it to all of you, but since I can't, I'm having a hard time deciding how strongly I should recommend it. I guess I'll just say YMMV, and if you do read it (or already have), let me know your thoughts!

Thank you to HarperCollins for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[O.R.]

Love triangles - I need to write YA because it sells the best but I have no idea how to keep anybody interested with my lame plot. Let me introduce two hottest guys in love with the worst type of girl imaginable. Poor girl has no idea which one to choose. No worries! In YA men don't mind being played around. Even if they're brothers.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Most people hate love triangles but I love them. I love the drama and messiness of a Good love triangle. Maybe I'm drawn to them because I've been in one. Back when I was young and messy enough to have been on a reality show(unfortunately I wasn't though I did think about auditioning for The Real World) I was in love with 2 men. One was my first serious boyfriend, he was sweet, funny and I'd known him since birth. The other was complete trash and just a terrible person but I just couldn't give him up. I should say that it was heartbreaking and stressful but truth be told....

It was fun as Hell!

I wanted them both and I didn't feel like I should have to choose. They both thought differently and fought to be my one true love.

How did the story end?

I got tired of the trash boyfriend cheating and I realized that my first boyfriend was really just my best friend.

So I didn't end up with either but I still talk to them both.

Now on the review.

Three Sides Of A Heart was like all short story collections, a mixed bag. Some were great and other made me wish I'd never learned to read.

The Good: Dread South was great but that maybe just because I loved Dread Nation.
Omega Ship was fun and I loved the ending.
Hurdles was probably my second favorite story.
The Historian etc was action packed and once again I loved the ending.
Waiting was my favorite because I've lived that story.


The Bad: A Hundred Thousand Threads made me wish I was illiterate.
Triangle Solo was so sexist that I wanted to vomit.
LA Revancha Del Tango was pointless and a waste a space.

Because love triangles are so controversial I won't recommend it.

2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist

[Lauren]

You think?!

[Acqua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Sides of a Heart is not the best anthology I've ever read, but it's surely one of the most interesting and surprising ones. These authors took an overused trope and made something new with it, and while not everyone succeeded, the anthology as a whole worked. I'm neutral about love triangles, but even if you don't like them, you won't necessarily hate this - Three Sides of a Heart is about unconventional triangles, the ones you don't see in full novels. Diverse triangles, polyamory, trope subversion.

The main reason this book surprised me was my own ratings. My experience with anthologies is that most of them have a few really good stories, a few bad ones, and many forgettable ones.
For the most part, Three Sides of a Heart was either brilliant or irredeemably bad.

Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno: ★★★★¾
This story is about a girl who has recently come out as a lesbian and has a crush on the same girl her brother likes. The writing was lovely, and I could feel the Christmas atmosphere even though Christmas was months ago. Every character was well-developed, even the side ones, and I found this really cute. I also liked how this showed a family that was neither completely supportive or unsupporitve - everything is just very awkward. It felt real.
I had never read anything by Katie Cotugno before but this was really good, so I may try to read a chapter/preview of one of her novels (probably Top Ten) and see how I feel about it.

Dread South by Justina Ireland: ★★★★½
This short story is set in the Dread Nation universe, and it follows a white girl who is falling in love with the black girl who defends her from the zombies - but she's engaged, and also, racism.
This feels like it could have been from The Radical Element (historical anthology about brave girls), and it would have been the f/f story that anthology really, really needed.
I really liked this, even though it should have been shorter; now I'm even more interested in Dread Nation.

Omega Ship by Rae Carson: ★¼
I had never read anything by Rae Carson before, and I want to read The Girl of Fire and Thorns, but I can't say this made me want to read it - I hated this.
It's about three naked people (why), two boys and a girl, the last people who can repopulate a planet. I understood the feminist message, but the casual eugenics and the secondhand embarrassment ruined everything.
You know, the plot-relevant syringe to sterilize people was there "in case the sociopath gene cropped up". There are so many things wrong with this and I don't even want to get into them but: no!
Also, can we talk about how humanity has all this futuristic space technology but has not figured out artificial wombs yet? Think about your premises before writing things like these, sci-fi authors.

La Revancha del Tango by Reneé Ahdieh: ★★★¼
This was cute. I loved the setting - you don't read stories that take place in Argentina that often - and I could feel how much the main character loved to dance. The love interests were kind of boring, though.
I have read The Wrath and the Dawn series by this author, which I liked but didn't feel strongly about; it was interesting to see how in this story Ahdieh handled a contemporary setting.

Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker: ★★★¾
Cass can see the outcome of every choice she makes, and then decide which path she wants to take. The writing was really good and the concept was interesting (a f/f/nb triangle!), but I didn't know much about the characters and the story ended too abruptly. There was a lot of potential for the character development but there was none - the story focused on the message, instead, and that's not what I wanted.
I had never read anything by this author before and I'm considering her new novel Seafire that will come out this year.

Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy: ★ DNF
This is about a girl who is teaching people how to be a good kisser, and it made me feel the same way Omega Ship did: why would I want to read about something this awkward? I DNFed the story because of the writing, which was even more awkward than the concept.

Annie is Korean-American. Dumb people who don't know better mistake her for Chinese or, even worse, "Oriental".

This is othering. Would you introduce a bi character with "John is bisexual and has a boyfriend. Some think he's gay because of that, or worse, unnatural"? I don't think so. I thought this was "how not to introduce a marginalized character 101", but here we are. I didn't like Ramona Blue by this author either, but this was worse.

Triangle Solo by Garth Nix: ★ DNF
The writing made me cringe. I have heard good things about Garth Nix and from what I've seen everyone hates this short story (I have yet to find someone who liked it!), so I think his writing is usually much better than this. I won't judge him based on three paragraphs, but this was... bad.

Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth: ★★★★¼
Veronica Roth really does like near-future sci-fi about simulations, fear, grief and related mental health topics. Vim and Vigor was one of the stories about love triangles that focused less on the love triangle, developing great friendships instead. I loved the "people who claim to love you shouldn't want you to be a different person" theme. Also, superheroes and fandom.
I never liked Roth's novels (Divergent is overrated and I'm not interested in Carve the Mark) but I've always liked her short fiction - I remember that Inertia was one of the best stories in Summer Days and Summer Nights.

Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston: ★★¼
The writing was good, but I didn't get the point. If only the author had decided to label the PoVs, I wouldn't have spent two thirds of the story confused. It's about three characters, Alex, Tab and CJ, who are not gendered, maybe in love with each other, and facing different choices in three different scenarios.
This confirmed what I thought of this author in That Inevitable Victorian Thing: has great ideas and executes them terribly, has weird priorities and wastes the space she has because of them (I mean, in TIVT she managed to write 100 pages of infodumps and end up with one of the most underdeveloped, problematic worldbuildings I've ever read anyway...). I'm not interested in any of her books anymore.

Hurdles by Brandy Colbert: ★★★★¼
I loved this, but the ending was unsatisfying. An open ending in this situation - which was interesting enough you could have written an entire novel with it - felt like a cop out. I really like Brandy Colbert's writing, but this had the same flaws I found in Pointe: she tried to address too many things in too little space and neglected some aspects because of that.
Anyway, this was about a black girl who is choosing between her perfect life with her perfect boyfriend and family (who make her feel trapped) and a boy she has always liked who wants to run away.

The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantakerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles: ★★¾
This was unexpected, but also boring and confusing. The only thing I liked about this was the ending; the now-then structure made me understand nothing until I was over halfway through.
This was an urban fantasy story about shapeshifting black teenagers and resurrection. I can't say more because spoilers and also because I was really confused.

Waiting by Sabaa Tahir: ★★★¾
A nice contemporary romance whose setting and characters weren't the usual ones but whose plot was really predictable. The atmosphere reminded me of Kiersten White's story in My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories. I liked the main character's voice and Saba Tahir's writing; both love interests were ok (but I didn't really understand why the main character liked Sam so much).
I liked this author's debut, but I didn't feel strongly about it; An Ember in the Ashes is one of the series I'm on the fence about.

Vega by Brenna Yovanoff: ★★★★★
This story is the reason I read Three Sides of a Heart in the first place: it's a love triangle between a girl, a boy and a city, and this concept reminded me of Cassandra Khaw's I Built This City For You , which is one of my favorite short stories of all times. The two stories aren't that similar, and Yovanoff's Vega isn't horror, but I can say it didn't disappoint. The writing was beautiful, the atmosphere perfect - it felt like a dream, almost - and this was one of my favorite stories in this collection.
I had never read anything by this author before and none of her past books interest me, but if she will write other books in the future, I'll consider them.

A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson: ★★★★½
This one grew on me. I loved the futuristic atmosphere and the plot (politics! revenge!); even the romance was interesting. I would have read a whole book of this, it was so... colorful, and I want more books set in Mexico. I did guess the plot twist and I didn't like the poetry that was included, but I liked the format - this is told through interviews - a lot.
I'm not interested in Johnson's novels at the moment, but I've heard many good things about her other short stories (her A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i won the Nebula award), so I will probably read them at some point.

Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton: ★★★★★
This was the biggest surprise in the collection, and possibly my favorite story. In just a few pages, Tessa Gratton developed a worldbuilding more complex and interesting than most fantasy novels, with a well-defined and refreshing aesthetic and even details on the character's religion. The characters were also well-developed, and it's a queer-, polyam-normative world.
This was about a ruthless princess in love with the girl who is her body double and a boy who saved her brother's life; it ends in polyamory. Beautiful descriptions, blood and love and poisons. I want to know more about this world and I would read a full novel of this - no, I want it and I would read a trilogy.
If this is what this author can do in a short story, I want to see what she'll be able to do in a novel, and now I can't wait for The Queens of Innis Lear.

Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen: ★★★★★
A story about polyamorous (m/m/f) vampires in a Catholic school. I guessed the ending the moment Esther's secret was revealed and I didn't even care because this was so good. The writing was perfect, the story developed three characters and their relationships perfectly in a very short amount of time, and it made me feel for them. This story was evil, do not recommend.
I had never heard of Bethany Hagen before and her Landry Park series (2014-era dystopian) does not seem like my thing, but I'll keep an eye out for her future books.

Edit: my average rating was 3.52, but I'm still thinking about this years later - this completely changed my views on the love triangle trope. As with every month that passes my opinion about anthologies is that they deserve to be rated as a whole, and the whole is more than a sum of its parts, I'm raising the rating to five.

[Sara ➽ Ink Is My Sword · Rating 3 out of 5]

✪✪✪
This was a big old MEH. Some stories did grab me though, some I wish they were full-length novels.

💛 Riddles in mathematics by Katie Katugno ✪✪✪
Started with gay vibes and I was there for it.

💛 La Revancha del Tango by Renée Adieh ✪✪✪
I loved it took place in South America, plus the writing was great.

💛 Lessons for beginners by Julie Murphy ✪✪✪✪
I had just finished Ramona Blue and everything this author writes I am loving. Seriously, the concept is weird, but I loved the uniqueness. Plus queerness.

💛 Waiting by Sabaa Tahir ✪✪✪✪✪
MY FAVORITE. I wanted this to be a full-length novel! This was a real love-triangle were both guys had me rooting for them.

💛 Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen ✪✪✪✪
Vampires and kind of a polyromantic relationship in a boarding school, yes! It was super hot as well.


💭Pre-reading thoughts:
I sometimes just love the angst love triangles bring me. Plus, anthologies are a good break between books.

[Rahma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average: 3.28 stars, but I still chose to round up to 4 stars because there were some gems in here.

Overall thoughts:
This anthology took me a while to get through, but I’m glad I eventually did. There were ups and downs, as is with any anthology, but I think it was a rewarding experience in the end. Most of the short stories by authors I haven’t read before served to add a few more books to my TBR, and I’m looking forward to checking these authors’ longer works.
Overall, a decent collection of very different stories, and I loved the weird ones the most.
Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: I read this anthology over the course of more than two months, so my level of enjoyment was greatly affected because my mood was almost totally different while reading any one story. I didn’t read the stories in order, either.


Individual ratings for each story:

1] Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno => 3.75 stars.
This one was okay. My first exposure to this author’s writing, and I am definitely interested to see what else she’s written!
Genre: Contemporary.

2] Dread South by Justina Ireland => 4.5 stars.
Still speechless by the ending...
I don’t know why I was so reluctant to read this, but I really enjoyed it!
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy.


3] Omega Ship by Rae Carson => 3 stars.
This was okay. It kept me interested until the end. But I feel a concept like this is difficult to explore in a short story, mainly because many things about how the omega ship came to be are confusing.
Genre: Post-apocalyptic.


4] La Revancha Del Tango by Renée Ahdieh => 1 star.
This one was so boring and pointless that I had to skim through the second half of it. Thoroughly disappointed.
Genre: Contemporary.


5] Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C Parker => 4 stars.
This was weird. Really kept my attention all along, but I hate open endings. Still a good story, and the author managed to transport me to the scene with her words.
Genre: Contemporary/Magical Realism.

6] Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy => 4.5 stars.
This could use more development, but it’s a short story, so I couldn’t ask for more. But I really enjoyed this one!
Genre: Contemporary.

7] Triangle Solo by Garth Nix => 1 star.
Simply put, all the characters, supposedly in high school, felt like extremely immature and silly ten-year-olds. The concept is not creative, sure, but the writing easily bears the brunt of how awful this story is.
Genre: Contemporary.

8] Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth => 2 stars.
Are you allowed to dnf a short story? Because I was so close to giving up on this one. It was utterly boring in my opinion, not much else to say honestly.
Genre: Contemporary/Futuristic.

9] Work In Progress by E.K. Johnston => 4.5 stars.
This story made no sense whatsoever, but I loved it?! It is essentially a collection of three stories, and it opens the room for a lot of interpretation; each person can interpret it in a completely different way: are the stories related? Or are they not? Are the three characters the same in the three stories?
But most importantly, it’s written in second person, which is quite rare to do right, and I think it was well-done here. I’m definitely going to check out the author’s other works!
Genre: Contemporary/Dystopian/Fantasy.

10] Hurdles by Brandy Colbert => 2.5 stars.
This was just ordinary. Very predictable, not much substance. Just “okay”.
Genre: Contemporary.

11] The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles => 4.75 stars.
This was... unexpected. I loved the twist at the end! My favourite so far! (Update: second favourite overall)
Genre: Fantasy.

12] Waiting by Sabaa Tahir => 3.5 stars.
Sabaa Tahir seems to be trying too hard to make her main character relatable, mentioning things like iTunes, LOTR, Pink Floyd, Harry Potter, etc. You’d think it’ll sound fake. You’d think it wouldn’t work, but somehow it does. The only disappointing thing about this story is the ending.
Overall, a welcome surprise from an author who has only ever published fantasy novels.
Genre: Contemporary.

13] Vega by Brenna Yovanoff => 3.75 stars.
I don’t know how she does it, but Brenna Yovanoff has a way with words. She writes such weird and different stories that I love. I haven’t read a full-length novel by her yet (I don’t know what I’m waiting for!) but I really enjoyed her short stories in another anthology (The Curiosities - co-written with Maggie Stiefvater and Tessa Gratton).
Overall, I did enjoy this story like I predicted.
Genre: Contemporary.

14] A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson => 1 star.
I couldn’t finish this one. 18 pages in I couldn’t take it anymore. It was so boring and confusing and I felt this heaviness in my chest while reading, because I was forcing myself.
Genre: I don’t even know, Contemporary? I could be wrong.

15] Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton => 5 bloody stars!!
I want more of this. Why isn’t there more?!
Loved this story. It’s the only one that managed to capture my attention all the way through.
Genre: Fantasy.

16] Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen => 3.5 stars.
This story started out boring, but it eventually redeemed itself. A suitable ending story to this anthology, I suppose.
Genre: Paranormal.

[Gillian]

my personal faves:

Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno
This was a contemp story with an equal helping of feels and fluff, with an f/m/f triangle and a newly out lesbian MC adjusting to her new reality out of the closet. Really cute and feelsy.

La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh:
Thank god for Renee restoring my faith in the world with this funny, bantery story about an American girl who is staying in a hostel in Buenos Aires and the cute boys she meets there. She angry flirts with one about things like tango and Tolkien and guysssss this is what I CAME HERE FOR. I wish this was a full book so we could get some more travel porn, but I totally loved this one.

Hurdles by Brandy Colbert
About a girl who is a hurdles star, under enormous pressure from her coach dad, who has a cute and supportive track star boyfriend, but has always had feelings for her bestie's brother, who just got back from rehab. The conflict in this book felt real, even if I KNOW I'm old because I kept saying SWEAR TO GOD, GIRL, IF YOU RUN OFF WITH THE TEENAGE ALCOHOLIC I AM CALLING YOUR PARENTS

The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantakerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles:
That was fucking BOSS. I don't want to say more than that because DAMN, other than this story is the one that truly used the short fiction form the best. It is and can only be a short story, and it's awesome. It's got this Buffy-ish set up, with supernatural demon-y things and the Scooby Gang that battles them, but...yeah. It's not fluffy, but it did make me say "WHOA" out loud so PROPS, MR. GILES, I TIP MY HAT

Waiting by Sabaa Tahir
I really liked this one, and thought it would be even better as a full novel! (Alas, my preferred ship did not sail lol). The setting, of a teeny tiny shitty California town, was unique and well done, and I really liked the MC's voice.

A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson
This is set in a futuristic Mexico City! Yay!

Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen
I really liked this one! Gave me my first real OT3 feelings. And it was about vampires, which should have annoyed me but ended up being wonderfully angsty. I was all about this one.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

This was an okay collection of short stories, although some of them I found really confusing. There were a couple of good ones in here though, with the best ones being ‘The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantakerous Catwoman’ by Lamar Giles, ‘Vim and Vigor’ by Veronica Roth, and ‘Unus, Duo, Tres’ by Bethany Hagen. I’ll do mini reviews for each below.

‘Riddles in Mathematics’ by Katie Cotugno
- 3 stars –
This was a contemporary short story about a girl who had recently come out, and had unrequited feelings for her brother’s best friend/sort-of girlfriend. There wasn’t really much in the way of romance really though, as it was more about Ro’s unrequited feelings.

‘Dread South’ by Justina Ireland
- 2.5 Stars –
This was a steampunk/zombie story, about a racist white girl who developed feelings for a black zombie hunter who was paid to protect her. There wasn’t really much in the way of romance in this one either though, and I really didn’t like the racism.

‘Omega Ship’ by Rae Carson
- 2.5 stars –
This was a sci-fi story about a girl and two boys who find themselves the last surviving humans after their ship carrying the last of humanity crash lands on an alien planet. This would have been an okay story apart from the main character being extremely selfish, and I felt sorry for the two boys being stuck with her.

‘La Revancha del Tango’ by Renee Ahdieh
- 3 stars –
This was a contemporary story about an American girl who meets an irritating English boy in a hostel in Buenos Aires, and they go to a club where they dance. This was pretty poor for a love triangle though because I’m not really sure who the third wheel was in this story!

‘Cass, An, and Dra’ by Natalie C. Parker
- 3 stars –
This was a bit of a weird paranormal story about a person called Cass (whose gender we never find out), and their relationship with a girl called ‘An’. Cass can see the future, and keeps choosing the path which leads them to stay with An, until a third person ‘Dra’ keeps popping up, who makes Cass question their relationship with An. I found this to be quite a weird story though, and the ending was a bit of a non-end really.

‘Lessons for beginners’ by Julie Murphy
- 3 stars –
This was a contemporary story about an overweight girl who gives kissing lessons, who develops feelings for a female client who happens to be her childhood best friend. This story was slightly different in that the main character wasn’t at the centre of the love triangle.

‘Triangle Solo’ by Garth Nix
- 3 stars –
This was a sci-fi story set on Mars, in which two percussion players (who hate playing the triangle) compete over a girl. This was an okay story, but nothing special.

‘Vim and Vigor’ by Veronica Roth
- 3.5 stars –
This was a story about a girl who couldn’t decide which boy to go with to prom, but it was the backstory of her friendship with three other girls that seemed to take over this story, and I liked who she chose to go with in the end.

‘Work in Progress’ by E. K. Johnston
- 2 stars –
I honestly have no idea what this story was about. We got three points of view from 3 teens on board a spaceship that had been taken over by rebels. Then three points of view of the same 3 teens spending a summer by a lake. Then yet another three points of view of the same 3 teens in medieval times? And then it just ended? I’m confused.

‘Hurdles’ by Brandy Colbert
- 3.25 stars –
This was a story about a girl trying to choose between her boyfriend and home, and running away with her best friend’s older brother who she had a secret crush on. The ending was so annoying though as the story just seemed to stop without any resolution.

‘The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantakerous Catwoman’ by Lamar Giles
- 3.5 stars –
This was a fantasy story about a girl who moved to a town infested with monsters, and fell in love with the resident monster killer. Unfortunately, he started seeing another girl though, thus the love triangle. I loved the little twists in this story though.


‘Waiting’ by Sabaa Tahir
- 3.25 stars –
This was a contemporary story about a girl choosing between a boy who she kissed once before he went to jail, and the boy who was left behind to pick up the pieces. This one was pretty good, and it wasn’t clear who Ani was going to pick until right at the end.

‘Vega’ by Brenna Yovanoff
- 2.5 stars –
Didn’t like this one as I didn’t really get it. There was a girl, her male best friend, and his brother, but not really any romance to speak of.

‘A Hundred Thousand Threads’ by Alaya Dawn Johnson
- 2 stars –
Didn’t get this story at all. It was told through emails(?) or messages or something, and I just couldn’t follow what was going on at all.

‘Before She Was Bloody’ by Tessa Gratton
- 3 stars –
This was a high fantasy story about a girl who couldn’t have a man that she desired because of her position as the ‘Moon Eater’s Mistress’. This was an okay story, but also quite confusing.

‘Unus, Duo, Tres’ by Bethany Hagen
- 3.5 stars –
This was a vampire story, about two male vampires who are in a relationship, when one of them is attracted to a new girl at school. This was actually a pretty good story, although the ending was not happy unfortunately.

[Karima chermiti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Total rating: 3.3 stars

Love triangles has been and will always be such a divisive topic and controversial trope that we are quite familiar with because it is there in every other book whether we want it or not. Sometimes, it manages to surprise us and other times it is an utter and complete failure. So why not try this collection and see for yourself if you can still be impressed by a well written love triangle and if you’re certainly over it by now.

Riddles in Mathematics by KATIE COTUGNO : 4 stars

I just feel so lonely. I feel like everyone on earth is paired up with somebody but me.

This short story by Katie Cotugno is not about a love triangle as much as it is about a girl trying to figure out the change that occurred in the dynamics that exists between her and the people in her life after coming out as gay especially with her mother and her brother’s best friend, the girl she’s secretly in love with. I liked the way the author kept it simple without over the top drama and the useless angst. I find quite refreshing to read a story about a love triangle that’s mature and realistic.

Dread South by JUSTINA IRELAND : 5 stars

Dread south is such an eloquent story with a brilliant bland between historical fiction genre and the paranormal genre. The story takes place in Savannah in the year 1876 and it revolves around Louisa, a white girl that only dreams of securing a happy marriage to the handsome and boring Everett and the black girl, Juliet who was bought to protect her from the threat of the undead that are wrecking havoc on her home. At first, Louisa is like any other white girl who was raised to feel superior only because of her skin color and to put mildly, she does not care about the black people working the plantation because she thinks they’re not worth her time but all those believes and prejudices change when she starts to truly see Juliet as the great and strong woman she is and starts to acknowledge that what she actually wants is to be that way too.

Louisa watched her go, her desperation draining away. Juliet was right. Louisa didn’t deserve her. Not yet. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t change.

I liked this story so much. Despite being a short one, we have a very impressive character development and the romance is handled in a subtle yet beautiful way. This is precious. It also is very suspenseful and fast paced. I mean this story could be written as a standalone book and it will be powerful, adventurous and very enlightening. I really want more of these two characters because that ending was not enough for me. I want to know if they’re going to make it and how their relationship will move forward. But I guess I should be grateful that I have this story in the first place.

Omega Ship by RAE CARSON : 3 stars

A laugh bubbles from my throat before I can stop it, because if Dirk were here instead, it would make no difference. “I’m not choosing you,” I say. “I’m choosing me.”

I don’t know how I feel about this one. It was less enjoyable than the first two and I felt like I did not get a lot from it. Even though the idea behind the story was very promising and it could’ve been written in a more controversial way, the story was lacking something for me. I don’t know maybe because I did not feel like I got to know the three characters the way I should and suddenly the story ended and I was like “that’s it” but I really liked the fact that the female main character ended up choosing herself even though that the future of all humanity depends on the choice she’ll be making. From a personal point of view, I understand her decision and even though it felt selfish somehow, it was not really.

La Revancha del Tango by RENÉE AHDIEH : 3 stars

Who cares that we can’t understand each other? Love transcends language. Transcends culture.

I don’t know what to say about this one if I’m being honest. It is a fun a story about a snarky girl and a boy who won’t flinch even when he should. There’s sexy dancing, some snappy conversations and a very fascinating dynamic between the two main characters. By now, I’m starting to understand that these stories are not giving us the love triangles we’re all used to but they are trying to spice things up a little bit and this story is as spicy as it gets. I loved the fact that this book is a flirting tease because there’s a lot left to explore and I just get a glimpse of it and it was promising.

Cass, An, and Dra by NATALIE C. PARKER : 5 stars

Cass and An have been together since they can remember, first friends then best friends and now they are much more than that, inseparable, in love and sure that they will spend the rest of their lives together, they are certain they are where they’re supposed to be. And it would’ve been amazing if it wasn’t for Cass hidden ability to see the future that lurks behind every choice, like a future that does not include An but another person and another passionate crazy love that only happen once in a life time.

This story is everything I ever wanted and more. It is sensual, tantalizing and very deeply moving. Exploring the hard nature of making a decision that will define the rest of our lives, it is though provoking. I loved every single word of it and I really wanted the story not to end, to keep going, to give me more feelings and emotions.

I am frozen. The wind snaps around us, the waves sing beneath us, and I am terrified that my next move will be the wrong one. Behind me stands Dra—the person I’ve only ever known in my future, but who is promise and possibility and every tantalizing unknown—asking me to stay on the cliff, not to jump. In front of me is An—the person I’ve known nearly all my life, and who is the surest thing about it, the future I’ve always determined for myself, for my mind—holding out her hand, asking me to leap with her, because no matter where we go or what we do, we’ll be together.

To be truthful with you, I really felt like this story and the love triangle within it are just a metaphor to Cass and an identity crisis she’s going through. Because I really was not sure at first if Cass was a girl or a boy and then there’s the way she speaks of Dra and An. I felt like this is a story about identity and really knowing who we are as individuals.

Lessons for Beginners by JULIE MURPHY : 3.5 stars

It’s hard for me to say if I’m gay or straight or bi. I’ve never been in a real relationship, but I do know that I like kissing ’em both. Nobody’s made my chest hiccup like Annie tonight, though. And that realization is something I don’t know how to process. I don’t know what it means. Maybe it’s just our history together that confused everything.

This story kind of reminded me of the first one on this collection because there’s some similarities between them both and if by chance you read this collection and you love these two stories then I’ll suggest you go read Dress codes for small towns by Courtney C. Stevens. Anyway, this book revolves around Ruby, a girl who gives kissing lessons to those who lack any talent or finesse when it comes to Kissing but everything gets complicated when she starts teaching a couple, Annie, a girl who used to be her friends and the subject of her affections and Theo, her overbearing boyfriend. I think what I liked most about the story was the fact that they chose to put their selves and what’s between them first. I think it’s important to portray that in YA books.

Triangle Solo by GARTH NIX : 2 stars

Okay, this is one of my least favorite stories, me thinks. I don’t know what to say about it other that it was rather familiar and predictable. I did not connect with the characters and the love triangle is nonexistent. I’m not particularly fond of characters who spend all time wallowing in self pity or people who thinks highly of their selves. This story has these two types of characters. So that was a bummer. It was a little juvenile for my tastes but it was totally a failure either. I enjoyed the banter between the two friends Anwar and Connor and the dynamic between them was fun to read.

Vim and Vigor by VERONICA ROTH : 4 stars

And Edie realized: Evan only liked her when she was lonely. Chris only liked her when she was happy. But Kate . . . Kate just liked Edie.

Okay, this is a very surprising story for me as in I hated it till I loved it and then I loved it some more. At first, it felt like your typical love triangle who is boring and frustrating, that love triangle when a girl is struggling to choose between two guys not because of what she feels for them but because she’s actually hesitant to choose between two parts of herself. I hate those love triangles because I find it kind of depressing in a way and really stupid but the story progressed in a such enjoyable way and it seized to be about that and become a story about friendship, second chances and being with people who appreciate all of you, not only the pars and pieces that suits them.

Work In Progress by E. K. JOHNSTON : 1 stars

I skipped through this story by the end because I was confused right from the start. I don’t even know what the story is supposed to be about or who the characters are. It was like gibberish to me and frankly I did not care to put an effort. So yeah, this is the most disappointing one so far.

Hurdles by BRANDY COLBERT : 2 stars

Mavis, our female main character is a stupid and irrational young lady who’s in love with a boy but dating another. This story caused me a headache from the frequency of rolling my eyes. I did not get her obsession with Bobby and I don’t want to sound harsh but she’s so stupid and selfish and she can’t even think straight because she’s in love. Kill me now. What I hated about her is how much she was oblivious of the hurt she’ll be causing herself, her parents, Oliver ( her boyfriend) and Bobby, the subject of her one true love, especially him.

Bobby has recently left rehab because he was suffering from Alcohol addiction and it’s clear that he’s still shaky and he’s not really maintaining a solid grip on his life after his stay. I think what he needs is to ground himself more and surround himself with all the support he can get not skip school and run away from his family. I thought that Mavis will have the decency to try maybe help him in a more reasonable way but the idiot is thinking of running away with him. And what the hell she’s thinking she’ll be doing the rest of her life, taking random jobs here and there, ruining her life and future, leaving the people she loves behind and taking care of a person who’s not yet ready to take of himself let alone help her.

The only thing that kept me from giving this a one star rating was the ending. At least, I felt the possibility of her doing maybe the right thing but I would not hold my breath because she is STUPID.

The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by LAMAR GILES : 5 stars

“You said it would be you and me. You said nothing would come between us. You said you would love me forever.”
“I know I did.”
“So . . . ?”
“Things change.”
That they do.

The reason I gave this story 5 stars is how much different it was from the rest of the collection. It was unique and filled with tension. I liked how things took a turn to the deadly and I did not see that ending coming. This book explores how the relationships between three people will implode when one of them is not taking no as an answer and is not really beyond using all possible evil tricks to get what he/ she wants. I personally find this story a very interesting one because it’s not always about angst and choices when it comes to love triangle, sometimes it’s about obsession, control and revenge.

Waiting by SABAA TAHIR : 2 stars

Then Sam is kissing me the way he kissed me months ago, the way I hope he will kiss me again and again. And I don’t think of Félix at all.

Sometimes we can’t help our self and we just want the main character to pick someone over the other and when she does not you can’t help but be disappointed by the whole ordeal. In this story, the girl is hesitant between her friend Sam and her other friend Felix. Now, she knows that she’s more into Sam than Felix but is not available right now because he’s in jail for a couple of months because of some mistake, so she kind of entertain the idea of Félix a little bit maybe giving him hope when she shouldn’t. All I’m saying is that Felix deserved so much better and the fact that she was so nonchalant about his feelings made me not like her that much.

Vega by BRENNA YOVANOFF : 4 stars

There’s a certain kind of magic to being a kid with someone. They always have this little private piece of you. They own your heart, even if you don’t remember giving it to them.

This one was sad, melancholic and filled with this heavy feeling of loss and regret. It is not much about love as it is about losing that love and drifting apart because you don’t want the same thing out of life. I loved this story maybe because the writing style was beautiful and the characters felt tragic for me or maybe because I’m always going to be a fan of those stories with real bitter ending and maybe a little hope at the end.

A Hundred Thousand Threads by ALAYA DAWN JOHNSON : 5 stars

You’ll never know all of anybody. But you can love what you know about them

I kind of like this one so much because it felt original and rich with a lot of layers and meanings. I don’t think I ever read a love triangle this way and I find it rather refreshing having a story that not only manages to keep it fascinating but also use it to push the story and its plot forward. And I strongly believe that this story could be more developed and turned into a standalone book that’s full of intrigue, romance and political maneuverings.

Before She Was Bloody by TESSA GRATTON : 4.5 stars

We cried, Farah and I, angry and mournful and even laughing at how we both wanted him and both wanted each other, and mostly just that we were so full of wanting we might die.

This is such a dense fantasy read that felt like a very long book while in truth it was not at all. I enjoyed it from start to finish and I liked the main character and how ambitious, strong and powerful she was. The story is very sensual too and sexy and the fantasy elements are so interesting that I kept wanting more and more. The world felt rich and lush and I was entranced in the atmosphere of the story. This is a solid story that kept me interested and hoping for more. The love triangle aspect is done differently too. We don’t have competition, angst or hesitation. All we have are three people who want to be together and they recognize that they need each other.

Unus, Duo, Tres by BETHANY HAGEN : 5 stars

The truth is, I know what Cas looks like when he’s falling in love. I saw it when he fell in love with me. And now I have to watch as he falls in love with someone else.

Going out with a bang I see because this is my absolute favorite story of them all. At first, I was hesitant because love triangles and vampires does not mix together with me based on my experiences with those twilight books but this one is an absolute delight that’s haunting, touching and profoundly beautiful. It was really a story about love, sacrifice and feeling deeply and freely without trepidation and drama. Bethany Hagen, I think I’ll be reading your other books and it won’t be long now because I adored your writing style. It was perfection.

[T S]

I do not know how I feel about this anthology, beacuse for me love triangle has always been a very frustrating subject. Ugh Ugh, It disturbs me, mostly due to the confusion it creates in my mind, and my indecisiveness when it comes to choosing makes me want yo pluck my hair out. I can safely say Sabaa Tahir's story was my favourite, because I was very confident about my choice, so Yayyyy! 5 stars to Tahir, and also 5 stars to Reneè beacuse her story was cute and basically lacked the essence of love triangle, but I didn't mind that. I felt happy reading her work, part of the reason is I didn't feel pressured and overwhelmed, 'cause the choosing part never came. It was light, fresh, entertaining, different, and something I would definitely go back to. Her style also makes me want to pick her fantasy books ♡♡♡
Other stories, uh, I better not talk about them.

[Stacee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Never in a million years did I think I would willingly read a book about love triangles, but this had too many awesome authors to skip.

My favorites were the stories from Sabaa Tahir and Bethany Hagen. Both felt properly fleshed out with excellent characters and fantastic endings. I could have easily read more of either, but was quite satisfied with the story as it was.

The rest of the stories were good, but nothing else stood out to me. Several felt rushed and underdeveloped.

Overall, a good collection of stories with several diverse characters and unique situations.

**Huge thanks to Harper Teen for providing the arc free of charge**

[The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review on The Candid Cover

Three Sides of a Heart is an anthology not to be missed. These sixteen short stories by some of my favourite authors each put a spin on the classic love triangle trope. There is definitely something for everyone, and it might even change your opinion on love triangles.

I love the concept of this anthology! The love triangle gets a lot of hate in YA, but honestly, I can appreciate one that is well-executed. Three Sides of a Heart takes this trope and twists it, giving the reader a whole new perspective. There is something from every genre with all kinds of pairings, and many of my favourite authors have contributed stories. Even if you loathe love triangles, I would still recommend this anthology, as there is so much to it that you are bound to find something you like.

My favourite of the stories was Sabaa Tahir’s Waiting. One of the love interests is in jail, which isn’t common in YA, and the story features letters between him and the main character, which I always love. The main character is strong and sassy, and there is actually a bit of humour, which I appreciated. Waiting is such an emotional story that is so well-written, and I would definitely read a full book with its plot.

I also really enjoyed Renée Ahdieh’s La Revancha del Tango. This story is set in Buenos Aires and is all about the tango. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about the tango before, so I found the originality to be refreshing. Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen intrigued me as well. I’m not really a fan of vampire stories, but the emotion and plot twists kept me captivated.

Three Sides of a Heart is an anthology focusing on love triangles. There are many excellent works in this book, but I especially enjoyed Sabaa Tahir’s contribution. There is so much diversity and so many different genres, so I would absolutely recommend this one.

[Danielle (Life of a Literary Nerd) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this might be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t really have a problem with love triangles. Knowing a book has a love triangle doesn’t immediately turn me off the book, so I came into this anthology excited to see how these authors executed this divisive trope, but I wasn’t necessarily looking for a complete reinvention or trope subversion. That said, some of the stories in Three Sides of a Heart bring a fresh new take to the love triangle that was a lot of fun to see.

Average rating: 3.77 Stars

Stories I was most excited for: Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno; Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy; Hurdles by Brandy Colbert; Waiting by Sabaa Tahir

Favorite Stories: La Revanacha del Tango by Renée Ahdieh; Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker; The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles; Waiting by Sabaa Tahir; Vega by Brenna Yovanoff; & Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen

That's 6 5-star reads!

Least Favorite Stories: Triangle Solo by Garth Nix; Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston; & A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno | 3.5 Stars
This story is all about the recently out Rowan, who loves designing costumes for the theatre department and her brother’s best friend Taylor. Made complicated by the fact that everyone thinks Steven and Taylor are dating. I like that the anthology starts out with an LGBT relationship, and we get to see a girl and a guy be platonic friends. I also thought Ro’s dad was supportive of her, which was nice, but her mom was not, and that kinda sucked. Overall this was a nice start, good characters but it felt pretty surface level to me.

Dread South by Justina Ireland | 4 Stars
This story made me really excited to read Dread Nation (this short story is set in the same universe). Dread South is all about a badass Zombie slaying black girl, Juliet, and the Southern Deb she is charged to protect. Juliet was an awesome character and I liked her a lot. Unfortunately. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Louisa or Everett, the other two legs of the triangle. I did like seeing Louisa and Juliet grow closer and training together, but I wasn’t really invested in the relationship.

Omega Ship by Rae Carson | 3 Stars
This was pretty weird scifi story where 3 (naked) teens are the sole survivors of their space ship, and must repopulate a new planet. This was honestly so outrageous and bizarre that it was supremely entertaining for me. I get the deeper commentary of the story, but what was happening was so ridiculous that the commentary kinda got lost and it made me laugh.

La Revancha del Tango by Renée Ahdieh | 5 Stars
My first 5 star read of the anthology, and I just really loved this story so much. The writing was immersive and beautiful. This is a story about a girl who is on a trip to Buenos Aires, where she meets a couple of cute boys at the hostile she’s staying at. But this really was a story about love of dancing and the freedom that the girl felt through the tango. There was also some nice banter.

Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker | 5 Stars
This was a story all about choices and the legacy and power in a choice. It’s a sort-of urban fantasy, where Cass has the ability to see the outcome of her choices, and she’s torn between her best friend/girlfriend An and Dra, someone she’s just met . This story is really all about exploring possibilities and experiences are more important that the what-ifs.

Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy | 3 Stars
Ruby is a kissing coach who falls for childhood friend Annie, when she gives her and her boyfriend kissing lessons. I actually really loved this to start out with, but then we got some cheating - which I always hate. It honestly brought the story down a bit for me.

Triangle Solo by Garth Nix | 2 Stars
Two best friends hate the triangle (the instrument) and both have a crush on a girl who recently moved back. This just felt really flat and was super obvious. There wasn’t really anything that grabbed me.

Vim & Vigor by Veronica Roth | 4 Stars
Friendship stories about superheroes and healing. The only reason this wasn’t 5 stars is because I didn’t really like Edie as much as I wanted too, but I’m always here for stories about girl friendship!

Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston | 2 Stars
This was just so confusing? It’s more like 3 mini-stories within this story, all about 3 friends who all love each other in some way. I actually liked the first mini story, but then it just ended and we switched to a different mini story, with a different character as the narrator. I would have liked this more if it was just one of the stories, developed more.

Hurdles by Brandy Colbert | 3 Stars
This is another one where I really liked the beginning, I thought Mavis, the main character torn between two boys, was nice and easy to connect to. But there was definitely some emotional cheating going on that I didn’t love, and the story overall was just pretty basic.

The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles | 5 Stars
I need this to be a full length novel asap. So many great characters and such an intricate and well thought out plot. I don’t want to say too much, because I feel like you should just go into this one, but it was incredible!

Waiting by Sabaa Tahir | 5 Stars
Before reading the last story, this was the one that hooked me emotionally. There isn’t really anything revolutionary or new about the story: Girl torn between a new friend who’s going to same college as her and her longtime crush and friend who’s recently gone to jail, but I just really loved it. I connected to the characters, and I cared about the relationships. It was so heartwarming and had a bunch of feel-good fuzzies!

Vega by Brenna Yovanoff | 5 Stars
Pure beauty and magic! This is about a girl torn between her love of Vegas, her home, and her best friend Alex. I loved seeing the spirit of Vegas personified, it was stunning. And really getting to see what’s right for you vs what’s right for the people you love explored. This was just beautifully captivating.

A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson | 2 Stars
This is another one where I was pretty confused. I really loved the world and the rebellion that was happening, but the characters were a miss for me and I immediately knew what the big twist was, so there wasn’t really any suspense for me.

Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton | 3.75 Stars
This was the first high fantasy story in the anthology, and while I really liked it, wow is it hard to establish a high fantasy world in such a short time. Because the pacing was so fast, some things felt a little rushed for me.

Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen | 5 Stars
I was so emotional after reading this, I actually teared up. This is a great gothic vampire story with lots of emotions and beautiful characters.

This was such a great collection of stories and most of them really worked for me. Like I said above, I’m not anti-love triangles so I had pretty high expectation going in, and Three Sides of a Heart is a beautiful and diverse collection that showcases many kinds of love and the beauty that exists in all of them.

I received a copy of the book from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Kira Simion · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I was expecting more broken hearts and such (like how love triangles aren't all great as three hearts can't all be happy?)

Favorite shorts in here:

La Revancha Del Tango by Renée Ahdieh

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 star!

As with all anthologies, there were stories I really liked, others that were just okay, and some that I strongly disliked. I do have to say that many stories in this anthology didn't read like a love triangle to me. I always believed a love triangle was when a person, be it our main character or their love interest, has to pick between two parties who each have an equal chance of being chosen. Many of the stories in this collection have our main character and their love interest, and a third party that only acts as a hinderance to the romance and is never a viable romantic option. That, to me, isn't really a love triangle.

That being said, the true love triangles in this collection were mostly very entertaining and I found that many of them played on the traditional love triangle trope. I also have to comment with how pleased I was that 6 of the stories in this collection featured queer characters and another one featured no pronouns so it was left open to interpretation. That makes just under half of the stories in this collection queer, which is more than in any non-queer specific anthology I've ever read.

My favorites: "Cas, An, and Dra" by Natalie C Parker; "Hurdles" by Brandy Colbert; "The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman" by Lamar Giles; "Before She Was Bloody" by Tessa Gratton; and "Unus, Duo, Tres" by Bethany Hagen.

Mini reviews:
Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno - 4 stars
I really liked the main character in this (who is queer by the way) and how she struggled a lot with the people around her after coming out. It felt incredibly genuine to me. Just not sure I'd consider this a love triangle?

Dread South by Justina Ireland - 3 stars
Again, I'm not sure I'd really call this one a love triangle. I enjoyed the writing but struggled to connect to the characters. I also found myself disappointed in both the zombies and the fighting of said zombies. I think the story was a tad too ambitious for the length and I feel that reading Ireland's novel, Dread Nation, might be required to fully enjoy this story.

Omega Ship by Rae Carson- 2.5 stars
I liked the first half when it was all super science fiction and crashing spaceships. But unfortunately I feel like what was supposed to be a feminist message got lost in the grander idea that these are the last three humans alive. Instead of forcing a love triangle, I wished we could have focused more on the survival aspect.

La Revancha Del Tango by Renée Ahdieh- 1 stars
Oooooh boy another privileged main character who thinks everyone around her is uncultured and stupid. Also a snobby girl who decides to go to another country and complain about it being dirty. Literally the main character was the worst, this was not a love triangle, and I found the writing a little lack luster for Ahdieh.

Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C Parker- 5 stars
I really, really liked this one. Just a hint of the supernatural and a main character torn between her girlfriend/best friend and the genderfluid person they haven't technically met yet. I really liked how this was told, with Cass seeing both futures of choices for her to make.

Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy - 3 stars
This was just okay for me. I can't say I felt any chemistry between the MC and the love interest and I found the plot fairly awkward.

Triangle Solo by Garth Nix-1 star
That was not good. The writing was bad, the characters were underdeveloped, the setting/world was confusing and uneccesary to be honest. I'd say a rule of thumb is to tell people at the beginning of the story that it doesn't take place on Earth instead of throwing it into the middle, in what is a tremendously confusing decision.

Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth- 4 stars
I loved the fandom aspect of this story and how it focused on friendship and the bonds that people, girls, can share. But I found the "love triangle" aspect unwanted. I wished this could have just been a story about friendship, instead of forcing the love triangle into it.

Work In Progress by E.K. Johnston - 2 stars
That was so confusing. Writing those stories in 2nd person is a decision that will continue to baffle me. There are three stories with three parts all following three people, but they're all told in 2nd person and without enough difference in voice to be able to tell who is talking, ever. It was so confusing and poorly done. The only reason I'm not giving this a lower rating is because the third mini story was at least understandable.

Hurdles by Brandy Colbert- 4.5 stars
I just love how Brandy Colbert's writing somehow always manages to make me feel something. I connect to her characters even when we have nothing in common. I also just love how her characters act/feel like people. They're not perfect, but they're trying.

The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles - 5 stars
I LOVED THIS. You guys know I love that superhero content and I loved the story, the characters, the twist. I'd really like to read this as a full novel, please

Waiting by Sabaa Tahir- 3 stars
There was nothing about this story I really loved but also nothing that I hated. Pretty average for me.

Vega by Brenna Yovanoff- 3 stars
I appreciate the feelings and themes that Yovanoff were going for here but I felt like they got lost in the writing. There were a few times the descriptions left me confused, so many feelings being tossed around that I wasn't sure which were the ones to grab onto. Having previously read and not enjoyed a novel by this author, I think there might be a disconnect between us.

A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson- 2 stars
This wasn't very interesting to me. The story was slow and the format was confusing because it wasn't always stated who was speaking. I also found the plot twist predictable. I did, however, like the setting but I don't think it's complexity fit a short story.

Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton- 5 stars
I loved this. I found the world unique, intriguing, and evocative. I liked the love triangle a bunch and how it played into the religious and cultural setting of the story. I liked the antihero main character as well as both love interests. I also liked how the author chose to end the story. I'd like a full length novel, please.

Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen - 5 stars
This was the polyamorous vampire romance that I never knew I needed. It was sexy, emotionally charged, and heavy with all the dark nuances that I like in vampire fiction. I personally liked the main character and how much the love interests contrasted him.

Overall I definitely think this collection is worth it for the stronger stories. Just don't expect to get you traditional love triangle in some of these stories.

[Shannon Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Look, I know that people often dislike love triangles, but I really don't hate them, as long as they're done well. Obviously since that is literally the point of all of these stories, I felt like it was handled well in almost every case. But I figure if you're anti-triangle, you're probably not even considering reading this anyway? So let's just move along.

I figured I'd list all the stories, and giving a little star rating to each with a few... thoughts. But like, very few because it's a lot of stories? Also, another fun fact: Val @ The Innocent Smiley and I had basically opposite thoughts on nearly every single story. So you should read her review too if you're on the fence? Great. Let's do this.


Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno: 
The great contemporary I've come to love from Katie Cotugno (also comes with her signature incomplete ending, the only thing I didn't like).
Dread South by Justina Ireland: 
This was amazing! I am even more excited to read Dread Nation after this glimpse into the world!
Omega Ship by Rae Carson: 
Someone needs to contact Rae and ask her to please make this a series. It was weird, but I adored it. I mean, a space love triangle whilst trying to save the human race? Of course I'd like it.
La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh: 
I thought it was cute, albeit a bit short. Still good stuff.
Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker: 
The premise is quite intriguing. I'd love a whole book about it!

Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy: 
It was cute, but a spoilery thing made me a bit salty.
Triangle Solo by Garth Nix: 
My notes for this literally say "ehhhh?"
Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth: 
I think I wanted more of a concrete outcome because that is how I roll. But still cute.
Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston: 
That was the most confusing thing I have ever read. No idea. None.
Hurdles by Brandy Colbert: 
Cute, but seemed a bit... rushed, even for high school love standards?
The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles: 
"That was fucked up and I loved it."-- My actual notes

Waiting by Sabaa Tahir: 
I really enjoy all the diversity in this anthology! Also, it IS okay to choose NO ONE, someone should tell our girl this.
Vega by Brenna Yovanoff: 
Liked it, even if i didn't relate to them. Also, found myself loving the author's writing and needing all her books immediately.
A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson: 
Nice twist. I enjoyed.
Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton: 
This was unique and interesting, I wish it was longer to understand the world better (and yes, I do understand they're short stories, shh). 

Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen 
This one gave me a case of the sads, but in a good way.

Bottom Line: These were very clearly more hit than miss for me! Overall, a very solid selection. I think it's really diverse, and has so many stories from so many genres that everyone will be able to find a story they love!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars


While many readers hate love triangles I absolutely love them.

Here are the stories contained in this anthology:

1.Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno.
2.Dread South by Justina Ireland.
3.Omega Ship by Rae Carson.
4.La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh.
5.Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker.
6.Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy.
7.Triangle Solo by Garth Nix.
8.Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth.
9.Work in Progress by E. K. Johnston.
10.Hurdles by Brandy Colbert.
11.The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles.
12.Waiting by Sabaa Tahir.
13.Vega by Brenna Yovanoff.
14.A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson.
15.Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton.
16.Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen.

I definitely like a good love triangle. But I think that writing one in a 30 page short story is definitely a daunting task. These are all Young Adult stories. But some of them were definitely more successful than others. There were some that were just okay for me. But a few them were really good.

I was very surprised that many of these stories had same sex couplings. I expected a couple. But there were definitely a lot more than that. Also, some of the stories did not even seem like love triangles to me at all. I was a bit disappointed by that.

1.Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno.
This story was just okay for me. This story is about a 16 year old named Ro who likes her brother's best friend (who is a girl).

2.Dread South by Justina Ireland.
This one was a historical, paranormal story. This is a story about Louisa, her suitor, and a black girl named Juliet who trained to kill the undead. This story was just okay.

3.Omega Ship by Rae Carson.
This is a science fiction story about a girl who finds out that she is the last human woman (with two guys). I thought that this story was funny, original and interesting.

4.La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh.
This story is about Maya and it takes place in Buenos Aires. Maya goes to Argentina after her graduation. She salsa dances with two boys. This story was just okay to me. It was super short.

5.Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker.
This story was a bit confusing. It was about Cass and clairoyance.

6.Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy.
I really liked this story. It was about Ruby an overweight girl who was the Kisser Fixer. She gave kissing lessons. I found this story to be extremely original. I absolutely loved that Ruby gave kissing lessons. She likes a girl in this story.

7.Triangle Solo by Garth Nix.
This was another one of my favorites. This story is science fiction and takes place on another planet. It features two boys who play instruments. They absolutely refuse to play the triangle. One of their childhood friends (girl) returns to their class. I thought that this story was really good. And I really felt strongly about two of the people in the love triangle.

8.Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth.
This story was about Edie. She had to decide which boy to go to prom with. I couldn't exactly tell if this story was set in the future because there was a device called the Elucidation Protocol that could help people choose between two decisions. This story also featured comics and fanfiction. This was a really good story.

9.Work in Progress by E. K. Johnston.
Unfortunately I could not understand this story. The story is told in 3 parts. One part is on earth, one part is historical and one part is from outer space. But I really have no idea what this was about.

10.Hurdles by Brandy Colbert.
I really liked this story. It was a contemporary romance about track star Mavis. She has a boyfriend, Jacob. But she has always really liked her best friend's brother, Bobby. I really liked that this story had a clear love triangle. And there were reasons why she might choose both guys. The story was interesting. But I was a bit disappointed that the ending wasn't expanded. I wanted to know what happened next.

11.The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles.
This was a paranormal story about a girl named Tatiana. She likes Jermaine. But so does Niya. The story is told in "then" and "now". The story was creepy. The end was interesting. This wasn't my favorite story, but it was good.

12.Waiting by Sabaa Tahir.
I enjoyed this story. It was about a girl named Ani (Poe) who was heading off to Stanford. She lives in a small town and works at her dad's store. There are two boys vying for her affection: basketball star Felix and jailbird Sam.

13.Vega by Brenna Yovanoff.
This story is about Elle and her friend Alex (guy) and his brother, Milo. I am not even really sure what this story was about. They all liked to party, drink and do drugs. And to me this story did not fit with this very YA anthology.

14.A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson.
Unfortunately I had a very hard time following this story. It was set in the future. And featured Jaime (guy), Coli (girl), and Aurora (girl). Someone was making a documentary. To me this story was overly confusing and complicated.

15.Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton.
This story was fantasy and it was much sexier than any of the other stories in this anthology. This story was about Safiya za Idris Sahiza. She was the Moon Eater's Mistress. Her body double was Farah. They liked each other and they also liked Enver (her brother's friend). I liked this story. But it was very different from the other stories.

16.Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen.
This one was about two vampires (guys) and a girl that one of them likes. This was an interesting story with an interesting ending.

Overall, this anthology is quite tame in terms of mature content. There is no physical intimacy and barely even any kissing (except for Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton, which was racier and Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen, which has some male vampire kissing). My favorite stories were: Omega Ship by Rae Carson, Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy, Triangle Solo by Garth Nix, Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth, Hurdles by Brandy Colbert, Waiting by Sabaa Tahir., and Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton




Thanks to edelweiss and HarperTeen for allowing me to read this book.

[mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Review: I know the topic of love triangles is a little controversial: some people love it, others despise it with a burning passion. I actually am indifferent towards them; they’re usually annoying, but I haven’t really found myself wishing for love triangles to be banished.

This anthology surpassed my expectations. I was really excited to receive an ARC, because a couple of my all-time favorite authors contributed short stories (Renee Ahdieh, Sabaa Tahir), and they did not disappoint. I was also introduced to some new authors I hadn’t heard of before, but will soon be checking their work out because I loved the short stories they wrote.

To quickly summarize, I love almost all of the short stories in this anthology, but my top three would have to be Unus, Duo, Tres ; Triangle Solo ; Dread South.

Riddles in Mathematics: 3 / 5
This was enjoyable, and a great start to the anthology. I was definitely surprised towards the end of the story.

Dread South: 4.5 / 5
I loved loved loved this story, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The whole story was so unique and really captures your attention from the beginning. I enjoyed reading about the main character, and I genuinely wish this was longer. And the ENDING 😥

Omega Ship: 4 / 5
This was another one of those stories that captures your attention from the start, and keeps you engaged throughout. I was a little confused as to what the main female character did to herself (once you read it, this will make sense), but other than that, it was very enjoyable.

La Revancha Del Tango: 4 / 5
I may be slightly biased because Renee is one of my favorite authors, and she featured an Indian female main character, but this story, once again, was really good. I, along with the main character (Maya), was annoyed at the love interest (Blake) at first, but he eventually won both me and Maya over in the end.

Cass, An, and Dra: 3 / 5
Very unique. This was another one of those stories where you couldn’t tell what the ending was going to be.

Lessons for Beginners: 3 / 5
This was heartbreaking, and I was surprised at how the plot developed. Another plot twist that you don’t see coming.

Triangle Solo: 4.5 / 5
At the end of this story, I developed a slight crush on Connor. It was really adorable how the two of them had a friendly rivalry for winning the affection’s of a mutual crush, and the ending made me laugh quite a bit.

Vim and Vigor: 2 / 5
This was alright, but it didn’t really leave an impression on me when I finished reading it.

Work in Progress: 2 / 5
This was another short story that didn’t leave an impression on me. That being said, it was a unique (how many times will I use that word today) read.

Hurdles: 3 / 5
I got really invested into the main character, though I opposed her “main” love interest. I loved where it ended off, because it’s a cliff hanger and really makes you think about what she would have done.

The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman: 4 / 5
Sigh. Such a great story, and there’s a plot twist at the end that really caught me off guard in a good way. This was highly enjoyable.

Waiting: 4.5 / 5
I love Sabaa Tahir’s books, and I love her for having a South Indian female as the main character. I was torn between the two love interests, and couldn’t predict who she’d pick. I remember flipping the last page of this story and going “That’s it?!” because I wished this was longer.

Vega: 2 / 5
The love triangle involves a girl, a guy, and…a city. Lol, 5/5 for uniqueness though. It didn’t really hold my attention for long. However, this wasn’t one of those stories you read about and quickly forget, there’s a lot going on here and it makes you step back and think, “Wow, that was a little intense…” when you finish reading it.

A Hundred Thousand Threads: 2 / 5
I didn’t quite like this as much as the others, but there’s a plot twist in there that was pretty cool.

Before She Was Bloody: 3 / 5
This was very unique, and it reminded me of something E.K. Johnston or Renee Ahdieh would write. The whole concept of the Moon Eater was a little confusing, but not so much that you’re lost in the story.

Unus, Duo, Tres: 5 / 5
Here is where my heart shattered, and I’ll probably never be able to put it back together again. This short story was by far my favorite. I nearly cried several times throughout, and it hurt my heart so much when Enoch thought he was a monster. I can’t even think about the ending without getting teary eyed again. The author really made me attached to Enoch in like, what, 30 pages? And I was feeling all kinds of emotions while reading this story. I really, reallllly wish this was longer, and deliberately read slowly to prolong the story.

Check out my full review here!

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mini Review: Not one of the better anthologies I've read. There were a ton of diverse stories, but a lot were sci-fi or fantasy, which is hard to do in short fiction. A lot of these felt rushed and underdeveloped. There were a few good ones - Brandy Colbert, Lamar Giles, Sabaa Tahir (she should write more contemporary!), and Bethany Hagen (probably my favorite - I'm always a sucker for vampire stories) - but overall, this wouldn't be high on my anthology recommendations.

Received an ARC from Edelweiss for fair review

[Jane (It'sJaneLindsey) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 star average rating. This left a lot to be desired...pun intended?

[Sahitya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology gets lots of points for its diversity- in settings, writing style, race and sexuality. But there are hardly a few stories here which would actually qualify as love triangles.
It starts on a good note with a couple of nice stories but falters a lot in the middle. But the last 2 by Tessa Gratton and Bethany Hagen just blew my mind and I was left crying. No better way to end the book.

Individual reviews are below:

-- Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno

This was a sweet start to the book. Rowena is trying to juggle a lot of things - dealing with her mom's (assumed) disappointment over her sexuality, hiding her longtime crush on her brother's best friend and just proving to everyone that she is still the same person despite coming out - all this was well depicted in so few pages. It also ends on a very hopeful note.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

-- Dread South by Justina Ireland

This story is told through the POV of a racist southern white woman in the 1800s who is suddenly confronted by situations that make her question her prejudices and see her black Attendant Juliet in a new light. I loved that Juliet was super confident in her ability to kill the undead, very cool and wise in difficult circumstances but also showed a quiet indifference towards the racist attitudes flung at her. The ending is very optimistic and I kinda wanted to know what happens next.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

-- Omega Ship by Rae Carson

A spaceship containing the last surviving humans goes crashing and the three people alive land on a new planet. Eva is the only girl and is aware of the massive implications of it. The way the two guys immediately started to make decisions affecting her without even letting her speak just hit too close to the real world for me, where men are often quick to decide things on behalf of women in the name of "duty". I really don't begrudge Eva the choice that she makes. But the story didn't really work for me because I didn't like any of the characters.

Rating: ⭐⭐

-- La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh

Maya is on a trip to Argentina after finishing high school where she meets a young British guy and they go salsa dancing. There is also the guy who she sees dancing a mesmerizing tango in the club. Frankly, I didn't understand the point of the story and it's so overdone with bookish references that I cringed a lot. I might be a total bookworm but I wouldn't compare every bearded guy with Gandalf or a creepy hallway to Grimmauld Place.

Rating: ⭐

-- Cass, An and Dra by Natalie C. Parker

Cass is descended from a family where they can see the possible futures. An is the future she has chosen for herself but she is startled when she is presented a future without her but with a new mysterious person Dra. I didn't really understand Cass's fascination with Dra because they are not someone she has met but just a possibility and it kind of made me question her feelings for An. But, the writing was very interesting and I think the genderfluid rep of Dra was done well. I especially loved that their names together form "Cassandra".

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

-- Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy

Ruby is a fat high school girl who is invisible at school but is secretly giving kissing lessons to anyone who wants to improve. So, she is shocked when one of her clients turn out to be a couple, one of whom is her once close childhood friend. She is in for more surprise when she finds herself attracted to Annie. I loved that Ruby is so comfortable with her body and doesn't really bother with labels for her sexuality. The writing is also very easy to read and the story was quite sweet until the end, where it took an unexpected turn.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

-- Triangle Solo by Garth Nix

Connor and Anwar are chilhood friends who go to school together, are percussionists and love competing with each other. When their once best friend Kallie returns from Earth, they both want to ask her out. There was nothing remarkable about this one.

Rating: ⭐

-- Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth

Edie is still feeling lost years after Amy's death. She has also lost touch with her friend Kate since then and has been in therapy. And currently very panicked about choosing between the two guys who asked her out for prom. When she asks Kate to give her access to Kate's dad's very important piece of scientific equipment to make her prom choice, without telling Kate the reason, knowing full well that Kate might be punished for it, I kinda lost it.

Rating: ⭐

-- Work in Progress by E. K. Johnston

This story had nothing working for me. The writing style was unique but hard to get into because it had multiple sections - each one being a story of it's own. And each section had three POVs - all narrated in second person - so I had to figure out on my own whose POV I was reading. It just got too difficult for me to comprehend the actual story.

Rating: ⭐

-- Hurdles by Brandy Colbert

This was probably the most conventional love triangle of the lot. Mavis is a high school track player on the path for her Olympics trials. She has a boyfriend who is a good, dependable guy but she is also in love with Bobby, her best friend's brother, who is just out of rehab. Who should she choose? I wasn't even convinced about Bobby's feelings and I wasn't happy that she wasn't even considering her supportive parents while making her choice. Not the story for me.

Rating: ⭐⭐

-- The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles

This story was very fascinating. It's like if Alfred was younger and in love with Batman who was in turn in love with Catwoman. Tatiana has always thought that she would be the one for Jermaine until Niya came into their lives. And she will do anything to get him back. I did not see the end coming.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

-- Waiting by Sabaa Tahir

Ani is hopelessly in love with her best friend Sam - who is currently in prison - but also has to deal with some growing feelings for Felix, the sweet basketball player who will be with her at college. Though I understood Ani's feelings and conflict, I coouldn't get over how indifferent Sam seemed. But the ending did give a hopeful feeling.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

-- Vega by Brenna Yovanoff

This story is about Elle, who has to choose between her childhood best friend and the city she loves. Both the characters had this rage that manifested out of their loneliness which they expressed through partying, booze and drugs. But when Alex has had enough, Elle has to decide if she wants to chase the light with him or drown herself in darkness. I liked the writing style but have mixed feelings about the story itself.

Rating: ⭐⭐

-- A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson

This story had a unique writing style, told in the form of letters, poems, interviews - most of them in second person. I saw the "twist" quite early in the story, which is quite rare for me and the plot went predictably from there. It was still an enjoyable read though and dealt with some moral dilemmas, which was interesting.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

-- Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton

I absolutely fell in love with the setting and the characters here. The princess has to dedicate herself to a god - preventing her from being with the woman she loves - but then they fall in love with a guy. When tragedy forces her to become the brutal, strong willed and determined leader that she was never meant to be, she finds strength in their beautiful polyamorous relationship. This was a delight to read and I would love to see this story expanded into a full length novel.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

-- Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen

Two vampires deeply in love with each other start falling for a new girl at school, who is struggling with a secret of her own. OMGGGG!!!! This was beautiful and heartbreaking and I was sobbing uncontrollably by the end of it. What a perfect finale to this anthology.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three Sides of a Heart is a recently released anthology based on a fav YA trope - The ❤️🔺. Come on, we all have read one (I just finished my reread of New Moon - TRIANGLE CITY).

What I loved about this anthology is the authors took the trope and played with it. This is not a 16 story rehashing of girl meets boy...meets another boy and DRAMA ENSUES. Oh no, this is a magnificent set of multi-faceted stories that prove the triangle is so much more than girl/boy/boy.

My favorite stories are Omega Ship by Rae Carson (explores how one girl owns the traditional love triangle), Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy (a girl who offers kissing lessons need I say more), Hurdles by Brandy Colbert (this one explores how the love triangle isn’t even always about romantic love), and Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen (this is the vampire love story we all needed but never got).

This anthology is special because it contains more diverse stories featuring sex positive characters than we’ve likely ever gotten altogether in YA. It features a diverse set of authors across genres. There’s almost nothing else out there like it (ahem, have you read Feral Youth? Because you should). Contemporary readers will find comfort here but so will readers of SFF, historical, and more.

Oh, and the audio is fab and narrated by multiple narrators.

[alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 ★

I know a lot of people despise love triangles, but I have some sort of fascination with them so I was incredibly excited to have a copy of this anthology in my hands. I enjoyed many of these stories; almost all of these stories have a variety of diverse characters - from characters of color, LGBTQ+ characters, fat characters - I was so pleased to see such a wide array of representation in these short stories.

I loved many of these stories, though I think that some shorts could have been done better as a full-length novel. I feel as if I couldn't read the whole anthology in one sitting; I had to take breaks because I would feel a bit sick of reading about love triangles, different just in the situations in which the characters are placed. However, if you take your time with these stories, I'm sure many of you will enjoy this anthology as much as I did.

Thank you to Harper for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Bonnie-Anne Carmichael (Love Triangles Are Fucking Stupid.)]

I want to burn this.

[Beck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fuck it. I don't feel like reading anymore books that I'm not enjoying. Here's what I have for what I read.

1. Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno. Easily a, if not THE, favorite of the bunch. This was really cute and I liked the inclusion of the inside-joke-riddles. This was more than just a romance though; it was more a story of the main character coming out and the aftermath that follows, especially her relationship with her mother. This is easily a story that could have been expanded into an entire book that I would have loved. I haven't read any Cotugno before but this story makes me want to read more of her work.

2. Dread South by Justina Ireland. Not really for me. I don't love zombie stories, and as this was clearly promo material for her upcoming full-length novel about zombies, I can already tell I won't be loving it. This did feature a really great zombie killing black girl love interest who I liked, though.

3. Omega Ship by Rae Carson. Okay so Gillian and Jessie had me VERY SCARED of this one and I think the negative hype made it so that this ended up not being offensive and terrible to me. BUT IT WAS STILL AWFUL OKAY. Not only was it incredibly heavy handed with the symbolism but it was also just... BAD. Everyone was naked and a LOT OF TIME was spent extrapolating on this nudity and like I get it, but this is a short story there is not a lot of time here. The heroine's choices were questionable and YIKES. Maybe if this was a longer novella that had time to explore the themes here, and if they were CLOTHED, this could have worked but as it stands it was just mind-boggling.

4. La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh. Probably one of the better ones in here but the writing was so boring to me, I just couldn't get into it. And it was LONG compared to the others.

5. Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker. Natalie C. Parker being the editor and a contributor to this is one of the main reasons I picked it up. I love Parker's writing and her books are some of my faves. This story is one that worked extremely well for me, though I can see how others would dislike it. There was so much packed into this tiny story. I loved the weird psychic/magic stuff going on in here AND I loved that one of the love interests was a genderfluid character who used they/them pronouns. There was just so much life lived in these few pages and I really, really loved it.

6. Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy. So much to love here as well! This is about a fat main character (!!!) who gives kissing lessons and falls for one of the girls she helps. It's really sweet and adorable and I ship the ship. However, there's some violent homophobia at the end that was really jarring and I didn't think fit with the theme and tone of the short story or this collection overall.

7. Triangle Solo by Garth Nix. Ugh this was terrible. I didn't understand the world-building at all, first of all. This was science fiction and that part of it fell really flat. Also the main character was awful. The love interest is a girl he knew when he was young and she just moved back to their PLANET. So she's been home for like a day and he's already thinking about his romantic competition and it's making him ACTUALLY MAD. Sorry, buddy, but 1) let the girl breathe for a fucking minute, 2) it's a lot to assume she'd even be into you, and 3) even if she was, YOU'RE TREATING HER LIKE PROPERTY. It was gross. I skipped the second half and read the last few sentences to see how it ended. There was a LOT of work on Nix's part to get the triangle pun to work and it just didn't pay off the way he wanted it to.

8. Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth. This was a really solid little story. It has similarities to Cass, An, and Dra in that it explores different possible outcomes based on one decision. I really loved the fandom aspect to this: two of the characters are fan-creators, the main character being an artist and her friend being a fanfic writer. I'm not 100% sure this story fit the theme for the anthology though. This was mostly a story about rebuilding friendship and I actually really, really loved that part. The love triangle was very much sidelined. Also, I loved that the MC had anxiety. I think I'd have liked this one as a full length novel.

9. Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston. This was written in second person, the kind of second person where you are the main character. It was so, so confusing. The writing was muddy and vague and I had no idea what was going on. There was no mention of another character for a long while and by then I gave up. I have no idea what this was trying to do but it went right over my head.