NOT ALL THE STORIES WERE CUTE. ~ Meet Cute, an anthology

TITLE: Meet Cute
AUTHOR: Multiple [anthology!]

RELEASED: January 2, 2018
PUBLISHER: HMH Books for Young Readers
FORMAT: Hardcover

GENRE: YA Contemporary, anthology
GOODREADS RATING: 3.60

TRIGGERS: /
REPS: /

SYNOPSIS
Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors.

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I’ve had this anthology for so long now.. It was time to actually pick it up and read it! This review is, of course, going to be a bit different since I can’t really divide the stories in “bad” and “good” ones. I’ll be talking about every story very briefly. Just my first thoughts right after finishing it and the rating I gave it!

Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno

~ New-to-me author!
~ Trigger: dead parents
~ I thougth it was kinda cute, but.. it was also weird and didn’t feel “right” to me. The story’s written in second person, which also was a weird one. I’m not used to it so.. automatically made it harder to enjoy reading.

Print Shop by Nina LaCour

~ Not a new author! I reviewed We Are Okay.
~ Rep: queer
~ I really, really liked this one. Especially the mention of supporting local businesses.. In this time I appreciate seeing those things even more than I would have in the past. But the story itself was also really cute! I wish there was an actual book for this one, if I’m being honest.

Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi

~ New-to-me author, but I do have Pride on my TBR!
~ Rep: plus-sized, POC
~ I didn’t really care for this one, although I loved the rep. The friendship-event was very.. bleh. And where was the romantic vibe?! Nowhere?!

Click by Katharine McGee

~ Not a new author! I read and reviewed American Royals.
~ Trigger: grief
~ I got pulled in immediately. Unreal for such a short story, if you ask me. I loved it, let alone the cuteness and the “opposites attract”-thing going on.

The Intern by Sara Shepard

~ New-to-me author, and not a thing on my TBR either!
~ Trigger: grief
~ I’m always a sucker for stories featuring music or band members so I enjoyed this one. Short and sweet, but I still felt like something was missing. I don’t have any urge to read more, or even want more.

Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo

~ New-to-me author, but my OH does own If I Was Your Girl, I think.
~ Rep: trans
~ I really don’t knoooow about this one. I feel like the situation in this story shows it should’ve gone slower so the characters had more time to come into their own. They all have going on too much to focus on love, in my opinion. But who am I, right?

The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton

~ New-to-me author who’s on my “don’t read”-list due to reasons
~ I did read it, but I honestly did not like it at all. It didn’t feel special, nor was there any cuteness to the story. I just felt.. nothing..? A real feat since I easily get feelings while reading, you know?

Oomph by Emery Lord

~ Not new; I read and reviewed The Start of Me and You!
~ Rep: queer
~ I really liked thisone! Definitely a meet cute and it had me wanting more of the story. I also enjoyed the writing – fun and fluent to read.

The Dictonary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout

~ I’m fairly certain I read books of her back before my blog?
~ Simply the fact that this story is mostly set at a library and concerns a book already had me hooked, but.. the cuteness? That was amazingly done. Absolutely loved it. Want more.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies

~ New-to-me author!
~ Okay. This was another very cute one and although I feel like this wrapped up nicely, I don’t need more than what I got. I might check out her other work though!

259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan

~ New-to-me author. I should totally read The 100 right?
~ I liked it and didn’t at the same time. It was.. good and not good at the same time too? And I also liked and disliked the ending. How.. confusing is this.. really..

Something Real by Julie Murphy

~ Not a new author! I read and reviewed Dumplin’!
~ Rep: queer
~ I.. liked the rep but I didn’t really like the story all that much. Which is a bummer since I did read Dumplin‘ and rated that one four cupcakes..

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick

~ New-to-me author! I hadn’t even heard of this author before..
~ I don’t know whether to find this story creepy or cute. Maybe both? [That’s literally what my notes say on this one. Nothing more.]

The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon

~ Not a new author! I read Everything, Everything.
~ Really liked the unique setting of this story. It’s a very different one than all the previous stories, which made it all the better. I honestly want to read more stories set in this world!

Well, if I did my calculations right.. That means this book gets a cupcake rating of 3.42, which is.. kind of ‘meh’, right? Oh well! I did enjoy having short stories to read since it’s easier to read them in between Jamie-stuff for a bit of a breather. So that’s a win!

Do you often read short stories or anthologies?
What’s the best one you’ve read so far?
Did you discover any new favorite authors because of them?
Do you buy anthologies if you know certain authors are part of it?