Ashkiryn’s Reviews > Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder – A Young Adult Sci Fi Anthology of LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction > Status Update

17/17 stories read. I give "Nobody Cares Who We Kiss At the End of the World" 4/5 stars (I liked it, but the lack of communication between the main characters was very frustrating to me, & much of the angst and drama felt avoidable and unnecessary; also wish we were given more answers about the community they found, what happened to cause all those disappearances, etc).

16/17 stories read. I give "Fractal Eyes" 3/5 stars (this one was just a bit too out there and vague for me to really get into, which is a shame bc there were some potentially interesting concepts; it was like reading an acid trip, and it just felt all over the place, with no understandable progression through the story).

15/17 stories read. I give "H O M E" 3/5 stars (this was kinda bland for me, it felt like the story kept skipping over all the interesting aspects of being stuck in a time loop, their escape attempts & developing relationship all happened offscreen, & then the time loop just ended abruptly, w/o feeling like the characters ever actually did anything, so the resolution feels unearned; world-building was also lacking).

14/17 stories read. I give "Concerto" 4/5 stars (it's interesting, but the dad really triggered me by embodying far too many of my own dad's worst traits, & the existential threats in the story are also all too resonant; the mention of Iran particularly jumpscared me, even tho this book was published before the current crisis. I suppose the takeaway is meant to be that love prevailed, but I'm just left depressed).

13/17 stories read. I give "Beauty Sleep" 5/5 stars (listen this story is made for me: lesbian retelling of specifically Disney's Sleeping Beauty? Lesbian Maleficent fighting the system that took her lover from her? Philippa extending compassion to her, w/ all 3 lesbians teaming up to right the wrongs of tyrannical men? Getting consent for the true love's kiss? Adding "make it black" to the dress color debate? LOVE).

12/17 stories read. I give "Crash Landing" 4/5 stars (the writing is very engaging, and overall it's a solid story, but I'm really not a fan of the ambiguity in the ending; being in the wheelhouse of "it was all maybe just a dream" is something that rarely works for me).

11/17 stories read. I give "Nick and Bodhi" 3/5 stars (this just barely got 3 stars; I feel very meh about this one, it's like too much is being thrown at you all at once, yet at the same time like nothing at all was achieved, but it's got some interesting ideas, & isn't bad enough for a 2 star to feel warranted, so a 3 star it is).

10/17 stories read. I give "Present: Tense" 4/5 stars (an interesting take on the idea of the Rapture happening & taking all the straight ppl away & leaving all the queer ppl behind, & how amidst the grief of losing some ppl, there's an almost bigger sense of relief in being freed from having to deal w/ bigotry; there's not enough time to fully flesh things out, but there's decent depth & it doesn't feel too rushed).

9/17 stories read. I give "The Undeniable Price of Everything" 3/5 stars (objectively nothing wrong w/ it, & decently intriguing, but I hate being left w/ absolutely no answers to anything that happened in this story, so this is a VERY begrudgingly given rating).

8/17 stories read. I give "The Department of Homegoing Affairs" 4.5/5 stars (very well done, I love that it felt like a complete story, w/ a satisfying level of world-building, resolution for the FMC, nice social justice elements, & I really appreciate the focus on family, w/ a great supportive gf in an established relationship; also really loved the self-confidence, "she knew she was beautiful & she should say it").