Me on Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

Title: Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft
Authors: Tess Sharpe, Jessica Spotswood, Brandy Colbert, Zoraida C­órdova, Andrea Cremer, Kate Hart, Emery Lord, Elizabeth May, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Lindsay Smith, Nova Ren Suma, Robin Talley, Shveta Thakrar, & Brenna Yovanoff
Edited by: Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe
Release Date: August 28, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Are you a good witch or a bad witch? Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth. History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations. Bold. Powerful. Rebellious. A bruja's traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch's healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane. From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women's rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored.

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft is full of magic and wonder, of strengths and weaknesses, of love and fear and despair and power. It's a collection of stories highlighting young women and their abilities, be they accepted or hidden, honoured or feared, as they live their lives freely or in secret.

Sometimes it's a little hard to review anthologies because in an anthology there are usually two or three stories I really like, two or three that I don't, and the rest are okay. In this anthology I, at the very least, liked all of them. It's so much fun, reading all the different stories about everyone's different versions or adaptations of young women being witches or practicing some kind of witchcraft. Whether it was an inate power or something from a Goddess or passed down through families. Whether it was set in the past or in the present. Stories full of complicated politics, star-crossed lovers, moments between sisters, and young women rising up against the men that fear them. Stories about star signs, fear, faith, and fate. There are a few I love more than the others, the ones by Tess Sharpe, Zoraida Córdova, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Emery Lord, but all the stories are magical and powerful. They all speak to the power of young women, whether it be magic or determination or an indestructible combination of the two. It was such a joy to read this anthology and I hope there will be more like it in the future.

(I received an e-galley of this title from Harlequin Teen through NetGalley.)

Me on A Tyranny of Petticoats

Title: A Tyranny of Petticoats
Editor: Jessica Spotswood
Authors: J. Anderson Coats, Andrea Cremer, Y. S. Lee, Katherine Longshore, Marie Lu, Kekla Magoon, Marissa Meyer, Saundra Mitchell, Beth Revis, Caroline Richmond, Lindsay Smith, Jessica Spotswood, Robin Talley, Leslye Walton, Elizabeth Wein
Release Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Candlewick

Criss-cross America — on dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains — from pirate ships off the coast of the Carolinas to the peace, love, and protests of 1960's Chicago. Join fifteen of today's most talented writers of young adult literature on a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They're making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals. And they all have a story to tell.

A Tyranny of Petticoats is a collection of strong young girls, of girls acting on their thoughts and beliefs, helping others, saving others, rescuing themselves. Stories of, at the point in time in which they take place, regular girls trying to find their places in an often harsh and limiting world.

It's a rare anthology where I find something to like about every story. I think it's because in their own way, each main character is a smart young woman. These stories are all about girls taking chances, making hard choices, saying yes when people tell them to say no, saying no when people tell them to say yes, to shut up and look pretty. When they should just listen to what their fathers say, what strange men say, what society says. These are stories about girls who struggle, girls who fight back, girls who aren't afraid to scream and cry and shout.

What's smart about this book is how more than half of the stories have main characters who aren't white, who are African-American, Mexican, Inuit, or Chinese. America wasn't just built by white people, by rich people. It's those forgotten young people, those runaway slaves, those hard-working farmers, crafters, and hunters that also made America. History is, has been, will be, white-washed. These are the stories that should be discussed, that shouldn't be tossed aside just because of the colour of the narrator's skin.

The idea of this anthology is genius. It highlights the stories of girls often forgotten or ignored by history, the spaces they navigated or were kept from, the secrets they kept in order to keep themselves hidden or alive. The struggles they had to prove their worth. I certainly think that this anthology came about at the right time, considering the recent resurgence of feminism and the ongoing struggle for women in the United States. Collections of stories like these validate the thoughts and feelings of young girls and women. It shows that they can be contrary, they can be rough, they can hide, they can run. They can be pirates and monsters. Definitely a must-read.

(I borrowed an e-book copy of this title from the library.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (229)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
Edited by: April Genevieve Tucholke
Release Date: August 18, 2015
Publisher: Dial (Penguin imprint)

From Goodreads:

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lois Duncan, and Daphne Du Maurier comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best writers of YA thrillers and horror.

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’s April Genevieve Tucholke.

Each story draws from a classic tale or two—sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not—to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.

Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:

Stefan Bachmann
Leigh Bardugo
Kendare Blake
A. G. Howard
Jay Kristoff
Marie Lu
Jonathan Maberry
Danielle Paige
Carrie Ryan
Megan Shepherd
Nova Ren Suma
McCormick Templeman
April Genevieve Tucholke
Cat Winters

This sounds creepy and weird and I want to read it. I saw someone on Twitter talking about it over the weekend, it just made me want to read it even more. :)

Me on Girl Meets Boy

Title: Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story
Authors: Kelly Milner Halls, Chris Crutcher, Rebecca Fjelland Davis, Terry Davis, Terry Trueman, Rita Williams-Garcia, James Howe, Ellen Wittlinger, Joseph Bruchac, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Sara Ryan, Randy Powell
Editor: Kelly Milner Halls
Release Date: December 28, 2011
Publisher: Chronicle Books

This review might be a little different, but the book is a little different.

Girl Meets Boy is a collection of stories, the he said and she said sides of love and relationships. 12 YA authors joined together to form 6 pairs, a male author writing the boy's side and a female author writing the girl's side. Put together, this book gives the reader 6 unique takes on love, heartbreak, and relationships, proving that there really are two sides to every story.

What first drew me to this book was the concept. Getting to know both sides of the story provides so much character insight but also character flaw. The reader will never really know the actual truth, just two differing view points. It's like we get to talk to both sides of the same coin, learning some actual truth, but the entire situation can only be explained by the hand that flipped that coin. Still, it was interesting to see the opinions and ideas and reactions of each character. I think this worked more in some pairings than others, like Rita Williams-Garcia and Terry Trueman's, or James Howe and Ellen Wittlinger's. While all pairings were enjoyable, were honest and surprising about love and relationships, those two pairs in particular provided my favourite stories.

Because this book is a collection of short stories, I could talk about each pairing, but I feel that it would take something away from reading the book as a whole. I went in mostly blind, knowing only what I've told you here, and what I was given was more than I'd expected. The only complaint, if it could be called that, is that I want to know what happens after the stories end, but I suppose that often happens with collections like this, just glimpses of important events. Still, what could be more important to a teenage boy or girl than how they felt when falling in love?

(I received an advance copy from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Lips Touch: Three Times

Title: Lips Touch: Three Times
Author: Laini Taylor (illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo)
Release Date: October 1, 2009
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic imprint)

Darkly and sweetly magical, Laini Taylor has given us three eye-opening tales of the hopes and dreams and dangers of kissing, because what could be so wrong about kissing? It's kissing. We love watching it in movies and we flip straight to it in books, waiting for the one single perfect romantic moment where everything seems to click for an instant.

Twelve hours after finishing it, I was still thinking in terms of pinks and reds and gorgeous illustrations and lots of romance and kissing.

The worlds Laini Taylor creates in the three short stories are nothing short of lush and magical. Her writing style appears effortless, weaving around your mind, creeping in, soaking into your soul until you wish you were Kizzy, or Anamique, or Esmé.

For me, especially Esmé. My favourite of the three stories was "Hatchling." It wasn't just the kissing this time around, it was more of the questions on the soul, on what makes a soul. On the magic of life. On fear and fire. On the past and the future. On the human spirit.

And again, because it has to be said and because they mean as much as Laini's stories, I love the illustrations. So beautiful. As I read I would always go back to look at them. You're a genius, Jim Di Bartolo.

I'm not sure what else I can add without spoiling all the fun. Perhaps that these might not be your mother's fairy tales. A little creepy, a little different, but still packed with magic and myth and creatures from legends lost.

If you're looking to get completely swept away by magic and compelling characters and kissing (always with the kissing), throw yourself head first into Lips Touch. I'm not surprised at the National Book Award nomination. Not at all. ;)