Bye Bye, Piper Berry (Julie Murphy): Featuring a fake relationship between two friends. The girl is trying to make her ex-boyfriend jealous, but the boy she is fake dating is also her ex's best friend. Shenanigans ensue, including scenes with a squirrel costume, and soon real feelings are shining through. This one also featured the next door neighbour trope and was so stinking cute. A great beginning to the anthology. Anyone Else But You (Leah Johnson): Two high school students become locked in a store together while trying to buy items for their Senior Send-off. The one girl cannot stand the other girl, who is always late and seems like she takes nothing seriously. But, could there maybe be more to the story? This story was well framed, with each section corresponding to the amount of time locked in the store and what comes after. The two both have to confront assumptions they have had about the other. I really loved their chemistry and honesty with one another. The Idiom Algorithm (Abigail Hing Wen): This was about a middle class boy dating a very rich girl who really seemed to genuinely care very little about him, and the girl rooming with his family that cared a lot. It was cute at times, but I felt this one was a bit too long and too much of the narrative was spent on the boy pining for this rich young woman and not enough time on the relationship forming between him and the young woman who was living with his family. I really wanted more of those two together, as those were my favourite moments in the story. Auld Acquaintance (Caleb Roehrig): Best friends to lovers trope is a favourite of mine (just behind enemies to lovers). This story was extra sweet, if a little predictable. I liked the idea of a senior class spending the night together in their gym, seemed to build camaraderie. Both boys are on the hunt for the perfect New Year's kiss, but of course you roll your eyes because come on boys you are perfect for one another. I loved how the MC kept getting in his own way, but also how open and honest they finally were with one another. Shooting Stars (Marissa Meyer): This one bed story was super charming. It involved a class trip on a train, and a scene with ants and a tent that had me laughing. The whole story was funny and the two characters just felt like cute dorks in love, but oblivious to the others feelings. The chemistry between them just leapt of the page. Keagan's Heaven on Earth (Sarah Winnifred Searle): Right off the bat I loved that there was a format switch up in the middle of this anthology. It kept the pace progressing and added depth. This graphic novel was sweet and the drawings delightful. It felt like peeking in on the perfect way to tell someone you care for them. Specifically, this was about a non-binary individual who found out that someone had a crush on them, and went about trying to figure out who and why. But, it is also about them gaining confidence and making true friends. Zora in the Spotlight (Elise Bryant): This completely flipped the grand gesture trope, in that the male MC accidentally mistook the female MC for the person he meant to show the grand gesture to. In the end, it screwed up her evening, hurt her foot, but ended with them having a genuine conversation and finding out they had a lot in common. It was nice to see that grand gestures are not always the right move, but sometimes something actually amazing can come out of the experience (even if it was the opposite of how you thought it might go). In the Blink of an Eye (Elizabeth Eulberg): Not quite the trapped in a confined space trope you would think. This one involved friendship instead of romance and I actually found it so refreshing. This was more about growth and adaptation, about seeing things from another perspective, about letting go of past hurts and trying to rebuild. It also takes place in London, so it sets a perfect scene for magic. Liberty (Anna-Marie McLemore): A short story about a cheerleader who does a makeover to gain a spot on the cheer team, but this makeover hides her culture, it fits her in to the perfect "white" cheerleader mold. This story highlights how a makeover usually hides the real you, and it is not worth it in the long run. Would you not rather be loved for who you really are, for your personality, your body, your laugh, you? The MC made herself fit into a box that was slowly destroying her, and it was not until she met another cheerleader, whose social she used to follow for beauty tips for her skin tone, that she was able to finally embrace herself. The sections were split by cheerleading moves, which was ingenious. The Surprise Match (Sandhya Menon): Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match. Just don't make it my best friend who says he is in love with some other girl in our class. And now that my matchmaking app matched me with him, why am I starting to see I have romantic feelings for him? This one was super adorkable. I mean, it mentioned Heath Ledger singing in Ten Things I Hate About You and so I was immediately sold. But, better yet, it reminded me of one of my favourite 80s rom com movies Some Kind of Wonderful. So you know it was the perfect way to end this anthology.
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