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Foreshadow: A Serial YA Anthology of Short Stories
The purpose of FORESHADOW: A Serial YA Anthology is to offer a unique new online venue for young adult short stories, with a commitment to showcasing underrepresented voices, boosting emerging writers, and highlighting the beauty and power of YA fiction. Each month, for one full calendar year, we will publish a new issue featuring three stellar YA stories. Among these will be original work from acclaimed writers, plus brand-new voices you haven’t heard from before who have been specially selected by your favorite authors.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2019
440 people want to read
About the author
Malinda Lo
40 books4,925 followersHi Goodreads! I've only created this profile to claim my name here, and I don't check messages here or add friends. I invite you to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or visit my website at malindalo.com.
BIO: Malinda Lo is the bestselling author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, winner of the National Book Award, the Stonewall Book Award, and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, as well as Michael L. Printz and Walter Dean Myers honors. Her debut novel Ash, a Sapphic retelling of Cinderella, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the Lambda Literary Award. She can be found on social media @malindalo or at malindalo.com.
BIO: Malinda Lo is the bestselling author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, winner of the National Book Award, the Stonewall Book Award, and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, as well as Michael L. Printz and Walter Dean Myers honors. Her debut novel Ash, a Sapphic retelling of Cinderella, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award and the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the Lambda Literary Award. She can be found on social media @malindalo or at malindalo.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 14, 2025
Foreshadow: what a neat project! This is a collection of a whole bunch of high-quality YA short stories, spanning genres, from a diverse range of talented authors, including popular and up-and-coming ones. And it's available for free online (with the exception of one entry whose page seems to not have been maintained)! I'd recommend it, whether you want to try just a few stories that pique your interest or read the whole thing.
Here are the stories, in the order in which I read them.
Epistolary - Sacha Lamb - read 3/2/25 and 3/30/25
A unique (if slightly unsettling) premise, amusingly dramatic characters, and lots of love for Jewish and trans teens. Really enjoyed this one--it ended up being my favorite in the whole anthology!
Weight - Dhonielle Clayton - read 3/8/25
I'd read this one before in the anthology A Universe of Wishes. I think this time around, I appreciated the themes a little more, but still found the made-up-science of the heart procedure distractingly cheesy.
Hover - Samantha Mabry - read 3/8/25
Succeeds at creating a creepy atmosphere without relying on violence or cheap shocks. I wanted a little more explanation instead of the very open ending, but I am also not typically a horror/ghost-story reader, so it's possible I'm just not familiar with the expectations of the genre.
Solace - Nora Elghazzawi - read 3/9/25
Very sad and introspective, with a fair bit of abstraction. Well-done if you're in the right mood for that, pretty heavy if you aren't.
Red - Malinda Lo - read 3/10/25
Interesting mix of history and folklore. Ending felt a little abrupt, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Ours - Randy Ribay - read 3/10/25
We don't see many stories about teen pregnancy from the father's point of view, so that made for an interesting angle. Cool use of Filipino folklore within a modern-ish setting. I didn't feel super attached to any of the characters, but this is more of a plot-driven one anyway.
Glow - Joanna Truman - read 3/12/25
I appreciated the theme behind the story, and the prose was well done, but I felt confused about how literally I was supposed to interpret the "ending the world" concept and what that said about Naia.
Gifted - Stephanie Kuehn - read 3/12/25
I didn't like this one as much as I did the previous stories. The prose felt a little awkwardly constructed on the sentence level, and the story didn't stick the landing.
Ghosted - Lilliam Rivera - read 3/13/25
Not quite my preferred style (I like to be able to connect with the characters, and I think this story relies on us being at a bit of a remove from or even bothered by them), but I can see how for the right reader, this would be a satisfying one.
Fools - Gina Chen - read 3/13/25
Definitely some interesting ideas here, but I was having some difficulty following the worldbuilding. I think this concept would benefit from a longer format to allow more time to develop and explain the setting. Could make a cool novella, maybe?
Princess - Maya Prasad - read 3/15/25
Innovative fusion of mythology and sci-fi, but this AI plot from 2019 hasn't aged well. Now that "AI art" is an actual problem creative folks are dealing with, this story comes off as really creepy and pro-plagiarism in a way that it doesn't seem like it was originally intended to, oof.
Hurt - Brandy Colbert - read 3/15/25
The emotions drive the plot here, and unfortunately they didn't quite ring true for me. I ended up feeling more interested in Angelique's experiences working at the inn than in her relationship with Vince or either of their parents.
PG - Courtney Summers - read 3/15/25
Hmm, not sure how I feel about this one. I got the final message the story was going for, and it's one well worth exploring in YA fiction, but the reader sure has to wade through a lot of unpleasant scenes to get there. Which is the intention! But it started to feel a little like Summers was throwing in every edgy thing she could think of for shock value. But the thesis might not have been as sharp without them! I don't know!
Resilient - Mayra Cuevas - read 3/17/25
Engaging story with a plot that's especially distinctive. Felt a bit more like the start of a novel than a typical short story arc. I was a little confused about the characters' ages.
Synthesis - Wendy Xu
Couldn't read this one, which seems to be a comic, as its webpage hasn't been maintained! And I was unable to find it on the Internet Archive or anywhere else, either. Bummer! I like this artist's work and was looking forward to this story.
Paradise - Nina LaCour - read 3/17/25
One of the sadder, more emotion-driven stories. Apparently some of the characters appear in the author's more-recent novel for adults.
Break - Sophie Meridien - read 3/18/25
A much more lighthearted one compared to the last several entries. The structure is effective, allowing the author to fit a whole contemporary romance arc into a short story without it feeling rushed.
Alligator - Saundra Mitchell - read 3/19/25
Succeeds at resisting the ending and morals we'd expect. Effective use of dialect to create a distinctive voice while avoiding becoming confusing or over-the-top.
Risk - Rachel Hylton - read 3/21/25
Takes a creative approach to the "woman turns into marine animal" concept that turns up more often in fiction these days than one would expect. The use of first-person-plural perspective works. I was left suspecting that the author wasn't quite sure what she was trying to say with this story, but it was engaging nonetheless.
Affinity - Uma Krishnaswami - read 3/21/25
Takes a swerve partway through into potential (but not confirmed) magical realism territory, which if done lazily could easily have felt gimmicky or noncommittal, but actually worked well with the tone and plot of this piece.
Pact - Mark Oshiro - read 3/21/25
I kind of wished for an additional subplot or another character, because this one felt a little simple given the length? But the story makes its point effectively and is clearly very personal to the author.
Sweetmeats - Linda Cheng - read 3/26/25
I think the author had a strong concept for this one, but some of it got a bit lost in the mixture of fairy tale, magical realism, and contemporary issues. Also it gets pretty gory, and has a lot of comma splices, both of which bother me.
Remember - Claribel A. Ortega - read 3/26/25
Interesting (and tragic) twist ending, but the worldbuilding was a bit confusing.
Umbra - Anna-Marie McLemore - read 3/26/25
Definitely makes more sense if you're familiar with the folktale it's based on. But either way, McLemore's typical poetic, romantic writing style shines through.
Pan Dulce - Flor Salcedo - read 3/30/25
This is one that makes an interesting point, but also made me wonder if all the plot aspects were necessary and helpful in getting there, or if some were just taking up time. Also, there are some mild formatting/punctuation issues. One scene with throwing up.
Space - Amy Reed - read 3/30/25
Experimental format and concept that may or may not be properly a short story at all.
Flight - Tanya Aydelott - read 3/31/25
Some intriguing characters, but the plot suffered a little from being similar to a few others I'd already read in this collection--others that took a similar concept but carried it out a little more clearly.
Cardamom - Karuna Riazi - read 3/31/25
The central concept--student who is a neurodivergent POC struggles to be accepted at their insular magic school--reminded me of The Grimoire of Grave Fates (which this author did also contribute to!). Sometimes felt a bit heavy-handed, but satisfying overall.
Pineapple - Sara Farizan - read 4/3/25
Shows some interesting nuances of teen relationships that don't appear in fiction super often. Not sure if the inclusion of werewolves really added much.
Escape - Tanvi Berwah - read 4/3/25
A bit disorienting and not well-explained--I found it difficult to keep track of the characters, passage of time, or plot.
Mother - Rebecca Barrow - read 4/3/25
Very creepy and psychologically twisted! Not my preferred style but I can see how it would engage horror fans.
Elegy - Justine Larbalestier - read 4/3/25
Another creepy one, intentionally lacking a hopeful ending. I wonder about the reasoning behind putting the stories in this anthology in this order--it seems like it's getting progressively more sad and unsettling?
Monsters - Adriana Marachlian - read 4/3/25
Another one that ended up feeling less fresh than it could have, just because it's towards the end of this long anthology and many of the plot elements happen to already have turned up in the previous stories. I found myself confused by both the time-skip and some of the reveals.
Fault - Anna Borges - read 4/3/25
A contemporary story with lots of difficult emotions swirled together.
Scrap - Tehlor Kay Mejia - read 4/3/25
An exploration of loneliness that rings achingly true from within its speculative frame.
Belly - Desiree S. Evans - read 4/3/25
Pacing was a bit odd at times, but the sense of place and of a specific family/community is strong.
Wonderland - Aysha U. Farah - read 4/3/25
Definitely one of the "weirder"/more experimental entries--it creates intentional confusion for the reader--but I thought the author pulled it off and the story was an engaging one, thanks to the intriguingly complex characters and very believable exploration of queerness.
Confession - Tochi Onyebuchi - read 4/4/25
Well, this was not a very upbeat one to end on! The slightly unreliable narrator and monologue-esque style certainly created the presumably-intended unsettling, oppressive feeling. Likely to be an eye-opening one for U.S. readers.
Here are the stories, in the order in which I read them.
Epistolary - Sacha Lamb - read 3/2/25 and 3/30/25
A unique (if slightly unsettling) premise, amusingly dramatic characters, and lots of love for Jewish and trans teens. Really enjoyed this one--it ended up being my favorite in the whole anthology!
Weight - Dhonielle Clayton - read 3/8/25
I'd read this one before in the anthology A Universe of Wishes. I think this time around, I appreciated the themes a little more, but still found the made-up-science of the heart procedure distractingly cheesy.
Hover - Samantha Mabry - read 3/8/25
Succeeds at creating a creepy atmosphere without relying on violence or cheap shocks. I wanted a little more explanation instead of the very open ending, but I am also not typically a horror/ghost-story reader, so it's possible I'm just not familiar with the expectations of the genre.
Solace - Nora Elghazzawi - read 3/9/25
Very sad and introspective, with a fair bit of abstraction. Well-done if you're in the right mood for that, pretty heavy if you aren't.
Red - Malinda Lo - read 3/10/25
Interesting mix of history and folklore. Ending felt a little abrupt, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Ours - Randy Ribay - read 3/10/25
We don't see many stories about teen pregnancy from the father's point of view, so that made for an interesting angle. Cool use of Filipino folklore within a modern-ish setting. I didn't feel super attached to any of the characters, but this is more of a plot-driven one anyway.
Glow - Joanna Truman - read 3/12/25
I appreciated the theme behind the story, and the prose was well done, but I felt confused about how literally I was supposed to interpret the "ending the world" concept and what that said about Naia.
Gifted - Stephanie Kuehn - read 3/12/25
I didn't like this one as much as I did the previous stories. The prose felt a little awkwardly constructed on the sentence level, and the story didn't stick the landing.
Ghosted - Lilliam Rivera - read 3/13/25
Not quite my preferred style (I like to be able to connect with the characters, and I think this story relies on us being at a bit of a remove from or even bothered by them), but I can see how for the right reader, this would be a satisfying one.
Fools - Gina Chen - read 3/13/25
Definitely some interesting ideas here, but I was having some difficulty following the worldbuilding. I think this concept would benefit from a longer format to allow more time to develop and explain the setting. Could make a cool novella, maybe?
Princess - Maya Prasad - read 3/15/25
Innovative fusion of mythology and sci-fi, but this AI plot from 2019 hasn't aged well. Now that "AI art" is an actual problem creative folks are dealing with, this story comes off as really creepy and pro-plagiarism in a way that it doesn't seem like it was originally intended to, oof.
Hurt - Brandy Colbert - read 3/15/25
The emotions drive the plot here, and unfortunately they didn't quite ring true for me. I ended up feeling more interested in Angelique's experiences working at the inn than in her relationship with Vince or either of their parents.
PG - Courtney Summers - read 3/15/25
Hmm, not sure how I feel about this one. I got the final message the story was going for, and it's one well worth exploring in YA fiction, but the reader sure has to wade through a lot of unpleasant scenes to get there. Which is the intention! But it started to feel a little like Summers was throwing in every edgy thing she could think of for shock value. But the thesis might not have been as sharp without them! I don't know!
Resilient - Mayra Cuevas - read 3/17/25
Engaging story with a plot that's especially distinctive. Felt a bit more like the start of a novel than a typical short story arc. I was a little confused about the characters' ages.
Synthesis - Wendy Xu
Couldn't read this one, which seems to be a comic, as its webpage hasn't been maintained! And I was unable to find it on the Internet Archive or anywhere else, either. Bummer! I like this artist's work and was looking forward to this story.
Paradise - Nina LaCour - read 3/17/25
One of the sadder, more emotion-driven stories. Apparently some of the characters appear in the author's more-recent novel for adults.
Break - Sophie Meridien - read 3/18/25
A much more lighthearted one compared to the last several entries. The structure is effective, allowing the author to fit a whole contemporary romance arc into a short story without it feeling rushed.
Alligator - Saundra Mitchell - read 3/19/25
Succeeds at resisting the ending and morals we'd expect. Effective use of dialect to create a distinctive voice while avoiding becoming confusing or over-the-top.
Risk - Rachel Hylton - read 3/21/25
Takes a creative approach to the "woman turns into marine animal" concept that turns up more often in fiction these days than one would expect. The use of first-person-plural perspective works. I was left suspecting that the author wasn't quite sure what she was trying to say with this story, but it was engaging nonetheless.
Affinity - Uma Krishnaswami - read 3/21/25
Takes a swerve partway through into potential (but not confirmed) magical realism territory, which if done lazily could easily have felt gimmicky or noncommittal, but actually worked well with the tone and plot of this piece.
Pact - Mark Oshiro - read 3/21/25
I kind of wished for an additional subplot or another character, because this one felt a little simple given the length? But the story makes its point effectively and is clearly very personal to the author.
Sweetmeats - Linda Cheng - read 3/26/25
I think the author had a strong concept for this one, but some of it got a bit lost in the mixture of fairy tale, magical realism, and contemporary issues. Also it gets pretty gory, and has a lot of comma splices, both of which bother me.
Remember - Claribel A. Ortega - read 3/26/25
Interesting (and tragic) twist ending, but the worldbuilding was a bit confusing.
Umbra - Anna-Marie McLemore - read 3/26/25
Definitely makes more sense if you're familiar with the folktale it's based on. But either way, McLemore's typical poetic, romantic writing style shines through.
Pan Dulce - Flor Salcedo - read 3/30/25
This is one that makes an interesting point, but also made me wonder if all the plot aspects were necessary and helpful in getting there, or if some were just taking up time. Also, there are some mild formatting/punctuation issues. One scene with throwing up.
Space - Amy Reed - read 3/30/25
Experimental format and concept that may or may not be properly a short story at all.
Flight - Tanya Aydelott - read 3/31/25
Some intriguing characters, but the plot suffered a little from being similar to a few others I'd already read in this collection--others that took a similar concept but carried it out a little more clearly.
Cardamom - Karuna Riazi - read 3/31/25
The central concept--student who is a neurodivergent POC struggles to be accepted at their insular magic school--reminded me of The Grimoire of Grave Fates (which this author did also contribute to!). Sometimes felt a bit heavy-handed, but satisfying overall.
Pineapple - Sara Farizan - read 4/3/25
Shows some interesting nuances of teen relationships that don't appear in fiction super often. Not sure if the inclusion of werewolves really added much.
Escape - Tanvi Berwah - read 4/3/25
A bit disorienting and not well-explained--I found it difficult to keep track of the characters, passage of time, or plot.
Mother - Rebecca Barrow - read 4/3/25
Very creepy and psychologically twisted! Not my preferred style but I can see how it would engage horror fans.
Elegy - Justine Larbalestier - read 4/3/25
Another creepy one, intentionally lacking a hopeful ending. I wonder about the reasoning behind putting the stories in this anthology in this order--it seems like it's getting progressively more sad and unsettling?
Monsters - Adriana Marachlian - read 4/3/25
Another one that ended up feeling less fresh than it could have, just because it's towards the end of this long anthology and many of the plot elements happen to already have turned up in the previous stories. I found myself confused by both the time-skip and some of the reveals.
Fault - Anna Borges - read 4/3/25
A contemporary story with lots of difficult emotions swirled together.
Scrap - Tehlor Kay Mejia - read 4/3/25
An exploration of loneliness that rings achingly true from within its speculative frame.
Belly - Desiree S. Evans - read 4/3/25
Pacing was a bit odd at times, but the sense of place and of a specific family/community is strong.
Wonderland - Aysha U. Farah - read 4/3/25
Definitely one of the "weirder"/more experimental entries--it creates intentional confusion for the reader--but I thought the author pulled it off and the story was an engaging one, thanks to the intriguingly complex characters and very believable exploration of queerness.
Confession - Tochi Onyebuchi - read 4/4/25
Well, this was not a very upbeat one to end on! The slightly unreliable narrator and monologue-esque style certainly created the presumably-intended unsettling, oppressive feeling. Likely to be an eye-opening one for U.S. readers.
June 20, 2019
The selection of stories is insanely good, especially the ones by the New Voices authors. If this isn't going be continued beyond Dec 2019, I'm going to be sad.
December 8, 2021
I didn't read all of it, but I read Pact for class, It was really good, and seriously made me feel.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews