I really enjoyed this unique anthology that highlights many traditionally marginalised characters. There are so many different styles of story here, with plenty of choice from multiple genres. I'd only heard of a couple of these authors, so there is plenty more reading for me to do following on - I especially liked Libba Bray's story and will certainly be checking out the Gemma Doyle trilogy after reading a sample here.

Diverse books are so important - I see myself in lots of books, across many genres, so take for granted how powerful that can be for those who rarely see people like them in fiction. More of this please!

Anthologies are always going to be hit and miss. Sometimes you get one where every story makes you feel giddy. More often, however, there’s a mixture of stuff you love, maybe some stuff you dislike. There’s more hits than misses in A Universe of Wishes, though it’s such a variety of stories, the misses are going to be down to personal taste and maybe previous knowledge of some of the authors. The anthology covers a wide range of experiences in a SFF context, and shows a huge amount of talent in the genre.

I won’t go through them all, but I’ll touch on some of my personal highlights.

Tara Sim kicks off the anthology with “A Universe of Wishes”, and I was completely hooked. Thorn gathers wishes from the dead, and befriends the boy from the morgue. The way magic is written here and the developing relationship between the two is beautiful. The second story “The Silk Blade” features a bisexual warrior competing for the heart of the Bloom prince. I loved this world, and found myself really wishing I could spend more time here. “Cristal y Cerisa” is an imaginative take on Cinderella, with a trans prince and a girl looking for help. The fairy tale aspect was weaved in so well.

Being a fan of the Shades of Magic series, it was fun revisiting Red London in “A Royal Affair”; this shows Alucard’s and Rhy’s romance before the series, though we do get to see Lila here, too. “The Weight” was an intriguing story, very “where is this going”? A young couple get their hearts weighed to prove they love each other – great sci-fi setting with an undercurrent of horror behind the procedure.

“Longer Than the Threads of Time” is another fairy tale inspired story, a retelling of Rapunzel, with the tower in Central Park. A young brujo is drawn to the tower, in a world where New York is full of fantasy creatures.

Okay, so considering I just mentioned six of the fifteen, it’s maybe not narrowed down that much. But the thing about this anthology is it has fifteen really good stories, and the difference in favourites and not-favourites (it’s a narrow gap!) is going to be impacted more by personal preference than skill. I hadn’t come across many of these authors, and I look forward to diving into more of their works.

I definitely think if you like Young Adult SFF, this is an excellent addition to your bookshelves. It’s a collection of really strong, imaginative voices who have put together a solid anthology with stories that will whisk you away to new worlds. What more could you ask for?

Thank you to Titan Books for providing me a copy of this book via NetGalley.

I love to see diverse collections and it's a bonus when they're this enjoyable! A good collection of stories with plenty of interesting variations on myths and interesting themes doing on

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

This is such a brilliant anthology; the stories are absolutely fantastic and have such a unique take. The cover is also gorgeous!!

A Universe of Wishes is an anthology filled with incredible tales filled with diversity and promise.

We Need Diverse Books have given us fifteen stories from some incredible authors such as Tara Sim, Kwame Mbalia and Nic Stone, both standalones and ones featuring characters from popular series such as the world of Shades of Magic from Victoria Schwab. I loved each and everyone of them, whether it be seeing old faces again, or being introduced to new ones who I would love to see again in a full-length novels - I want to know more about these wonderfully vivid characters.

I'm so glad books like this are starting to appear in bookstores, they're not only needed but wanted as our world slowly acknowledges that it is diverse and representation is needed across the board. I can't wait to see what else We Need Diverse Books will give us next.

This was a great book that was diverse and full of entertaining short stories. They were full of believable and realistic characters along with beautiful prose. The stories themselves were engaging. Overall, this was a great anthology and I loved it.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-arc.

I love that there is a short story collection where the heroes are queer or POC. I really enjoyed some of the stories, and also was a bit meh about other. But, I'm in my late twenties and not the target audience. Would have loved a book like this in my teens 😊

YA Fantasy and Science Fiction in the last few decades is going through as many fascinating changes as it’s adult counterparts. Stories don’t all need to be about white male perfect heroes. Now we see a much greater range of authors reflecting their own worlds at last and increasingly not having a white lead character, now having queer or even disabled lead is becoming normal as it always should be. Fiction needs to ensure that everyone is welcome and reminding us how varied our own world is. Showcasing this powerfully in A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology edited by Dhonielle Clayton

Among the many stories I enjoyed were: -

A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim – A young man is going to an undertakers taking magic from the bodies of the dead. He is discovered by the son of the owners. He asks for safety in exchange for giving wishes. Despite the grim premise this does have a sweet blooming romance between the two leads but also captures a sense of grief and a fantastic idea for magic and what we use it for. Loved the world that this tale creates

The Silk Blade by Natalie C Parker – Three warriors compete for becoming a royal consort. This is a tale of action, sweeping fight scenes and yet also an attraction between two of the warriors who know they also need to focus on becoming powerful royalty. Parker’s narration through our warrior paints this whole world and inner turmoil beautiful. It’s a tale of passion that really captures you.

Cristal Y Ceniza by Anne-Marie McLemore – this was one of my favourites taking the tale of cinderalla and missing it with ideas of gender identity and equality. A woman goes to the palace to plead to royalty to aid against a world that condemns same sex partnerships. In the process she attracts the attention of the attention of the royal prince who is trans. A brilliant tale about love and acceptance – doing the right thing is always the best course of action. Loved this one’s approach

Liberia by Kwame Mbalia – another of my favourites covers a starship on a mission to start a new colony. Kweku is the botanist in charge of the new plant supplies and gets into constant conflict with the young ship’s Captain over his devotion to the plants but then disaster strikes and Kweku has to act against the odds. As well as offering a tense space adventure this tale explores family ties and the bonds of history in a really unique and refreshing way.

A Royal Affair by V.E. Schwab – this tale is set within the wider Shades of Magic series ad this explores the early romance between the characters Rhy Maresh and Alucard Emery. Lovely to return to this world and gives backstory without giving the future plot away yet also does make you want to find out what happened next. A tale of lust, love, and loss which I loved the high speed through the relationship while also we got answering a few questions too.

The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse – is a rather brilliant heist tale set in a future piece of space where our ace thief Vi sets to liberate some indigenous items from a museum for the wealthy. Offering great character narration; action and a poignant point about respecting other cultures this is a whole lot of fun and I hope one day I hear more of this character!

Wish by Jenni Balch – a genie arrives in the future near Venus and discovers a girl very keen to find out how this all works. It has a disabled lead character but does not go into magic cure territory but instead looks at accessibility. I really liked this approach and the characters and setting all come together really well.

Unmoor by Mark Oshiro – this sad story explores the end of relationships with Felix using a witch to remove all memories of his boyfriend Arturo. The tale gives us the highs and lows of the relationship and does this idea ff Felix’s makes sense. The ending is suitably ambivalent but the emotional hurt Felix carries is really well written

Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi – this tale is of two prisoners writing pen letters to each other. A young black man in a US state prison experiencing solitary confinement and a Palestinian man who is on hunger strike. I loved the distinct voices used for the letters and more importantly the way these two bond over common experiences thousands of miles apart giving each a reason to carry on. A tale of hope in dark places really works to wrap up this great collection.

A Universe of Wishes is a brilliant showcase of what YA delivers. Easily dismissing the silly arguments that it is only about love triangles nor contains complex storylines. A varied and wonderful collection that should offer something to anyone and also hopefully help some more readers se themselves in this amazing genre. Highly recommended!

A Universe of Wishes is a collection of diverse YA fantasy stories.

A Universe of Wishes was a bit of hit and miss for me. Some stories were amazing and intriguing, where others just made very little sense to me. Stories that fell in the latter category were usually stories that were part of an already existing universe by the author, which unfortunately often made them very hard to get through without the necessary backstory.

I did definitely find some new authors I want to read more from, that managed to bedazzle me with only a few pages of story.

I really wanted to love this more, because of how diverse it is and how much we need diverse fantasy. But it just didn’t manage to really blow my mind like I had hoped.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection - I was a fan of a few of the authors going in, but this allowed me to discover new ones who I shall absolutely be reading more of. I loved how the ideas of dreams and wishes and memories were incorporated into all the stories, and it's a testament to how talented this group is that each story felt completely and wonderfully different.

Some of the stories that particular stood out to me were: Liberia by Kwame Mbalia, A Royal Affair by V E Schwab, Longer Than The Threads of Time by Zoraida Córdova, Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi and Unmoor by Mark Oshiro. All of these I particularly loved, but to be honest this collection has something for everyone in. Although it is technically YA, I think this could sit well within the fantasy genre and would encourage anyone of any age to read it.

Another wonderfully diverse collection of fantasy stories from authors old and new. I had never read Tara Sim before, her story was one of my favourites from the collection. The other two stories that I really enjoyed came from V E Schwab, who returns to two characters from her Darker Shades of Magic books, and Zoraida Cordova, who story i in the same universe as her Brookly Brujas trilogy.

3.5 Stars (Overall)

An interesting collection of short stories filled with diversity and imagination. See below for short individual reviews:

Story 1: Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim: 4/5
An interesting story that had me hooked from the start. I really liked the premise and the characters.

Story 2: The Silk Blade by Natalie C. Parker: 3/5
I loved the ideas of this with a near gender switch where the prince is dressed up and has both women and men fighting for his hand as consort. However, I felt it was too short and I didn't like the ending.

Story 3: The Scarlet Woman by Libba Bray: 3.5/5
I enjoyed this but again it ended on a cliffhanger! I think it would have made a fantastic full book as there are so many interesting details and a storyline filled with witchcraft and intrigue. I thought the writing was good but the dialogue was a little over dramatic for my tastes.

Story 4: Cristal y Ceniza by Anna-Marie McLemore: 3.5/5
A lovely easy read, although it all seemed too easy for me. I like a little more conflict or something to achieve before a happy ending.

Story 5: Liberia by Kwame Mbalia: 2.5/5
This was more of a scifi story and although I love scifi, this story just didn't click for me.

Story 6: A Royal Affair by V E Schwab: 3/5
It was a nice little addition to the ADSOM series but I'm not sure it added that much.

Story 7: The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse: 4/5
I really enjoyed this one! It was fun and interesting and I loved the characters.

Story 8: Dream and Dare by Nic Stone: 2.5/5
It was a decent story but for me it wasn't very exciting or interesting.

Story 9: Wish by Jenni Balch: 4/5
I love anything linked to Arabian tales like Aladdin so I loved this story. It was really interesting that the "genie" was basically a human doing a job. I want more!

Story 10: The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton: 4/5
This was such an interesting concept! I loved it! The characters were immediately interesting and relatable as well. I would love a whole book about this! The only thing was the ending as I wanted to know what happened!!

Story 11: Unmoor by Mark Oshiro: 4/5
This story was really emotional and made me think a lot about what would happen if people could erase memories. Really imaginative short story!

Story 12: The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed: 3.5/5
Based on the end of our world due to climate change, this is an interesting one with two points of view.

Story 13: The Beginning of Monsters by Tessa Gratton: 3.5/5
This was a really interesting story with so much going on! I loved the idea of them building new bodies especially for those that didn't think their body suited their gender. A really interesting read.

Story 14: Longer Than The Threads of Time by Zoraida Córdova: 2.5/5
A retelling of Rapunzel in New York City. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing using things like "AF" and "weaksauce". Just not my kind of style. The story was okay but a little lacking which is a shame as I adpre this author's books!

Story 15: Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi: 3.5/5
A really emotional set of letters between a black man in jail in (I think) America and man in Gaza. Gripping and filled with emotion.

Please note that I was gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of short stories allows a full range of emotions and magic to move through you when reading. From a girl called Dream who wants to climb trees all day, to a boy desperate to not miss his past love, and a wish granter who finds himself in a futureistic setting, the stories weave through all manners of time and space, while keeping the very spirit of being human alive within the pages.

I haven’t read a short story collection for a while, and this was a genuinely enjoyable reminder of how brilliant they can be. It takes talent to write anything of course, but being able to write a short story that captures the imagination yet still manages to say everything it wants to before the word limit is reached is a skill I have never been able to master, so I am always in awe of people who are. In this book we have such a wonderful range of authors, all of whom are incredibly skilled, and it’s their individual skills that make this collection very much come alive.

Throughout the pages, the idea of wishes and what it means to wish for something is a constant theme in different ways. It’s present in all the stories with unique appearance, and I find it so interesting how so many authors could have taken the theme and each come up with something so completely different.

We absolutely do need more diverse books, and anthologies like this are a great place to start if you’re wanting to branch out but feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. Equally because of the selection of authors we have, there are so many themes and genres covered too, so even just wanting to shake up your regular reading habit is a great reason to pick up this book. I can’t wait for more.

It's rare that I reach for a short story to read, let alone an anthology, but I'm so glad I did! This selection of stories is so well put together and beautiful. Out of all 15 stories, there was not one piece of fiction that I didn't enjoy reading.

Despite being short, I still felt fully immersed in each one. These stories are from many different perspectives giving the reader an insight into many different experiences. Not surprising when you consider the anthology is from We Need Diverse Books where the aim is to ensure every child is able to see themselves on the page - a beautiful mission.

There's a great balance between Sci-Fi and Fantasy, though I preferred the latter as that's my usual preference anyway. My favourite story was Unmoor by Mark Oshiro, which reminded me of a magical Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind! Beautiful. The VE Schwab story has made it clearer to me that I need to read A Darker Shade of Magic, STAT!

I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. Although this is targeted at a YA audience, I think all ages YA and above can take something away from this.

Five stars from me!
Would I reread? I'm already planning on it!

This is an anthology that provides a whole set of short stories looking into different cultures and experiences. I loved the stories and although short stories (which I don’t always like, but just because I always want more) some of these were so good I lost myself in them, my favourites were probably by Kwame Mbalia, VE Schwab and Zoraida Cordova. The variety is wonderful from locations close to home and as far away as you can get. The stories are fantastic and thought provoking. My only complaint is that I wanted more

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

A copy of A Universe of Wishes has been provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of short stories has been curated by Dhonielle Clayton and includes 15 stories by various authors. This is an anthology by We Need Diverse Books, which should already tell you that the stories inside provides an array of windows into different cultures and experiences that should open up discussions on why some of these elements are so rarely seen in fiction.

As a whole this collection is gorgeous. I loved the stories and although short stories are a very difficult art to pull off, some of the stories made me forget about my surroundings completely.

Some of my favourites include the ones by Anna-Marie McLemore, Kwame Mbalia, VE Schwab (to nobody's surprise), Nic Stone and Zoraida Cordova. The majority of the authors are completely new to me and I am looking forward to reading more of their work soon!

This collection, while being mainly Fantasy and Sci-fi based, is an important step in creating a more welcoming and open minded community of readers - which is what reading should be doing.

This is an anthology about diversity in SFF short stories. I didn't know all the authors going in which is the exciting part but I knew some and I got what I expected from them. The new-to-me authors were both hit and miss for me.

There are in total 15 short stories all featuring diverse characters from LGBT+ to race and faith.
Most of these stories have some elements of sci-fi in them but there are also fantasy stories and genre-bending stories.

Out of all 15 authors, I have read from 6 authors before. But none of my previously read authors was my favorite story.

My absolute favorite story in here was Unmoor by Mark Oshiro! I loved it so much! I would love to see it as a full-length novel. Also, I'm now definitely checking out more of this author asap!

So all in all, I enjoyed this anthology more than any other anthology I've read. I'm curious to check out more anthologies edited by Dhonielle Clayton and more from We Need Diverse Books.

The best thing about reading anthologies is finding authors you haven't read from before.

I requested this ARC because it feature some of my favorite authors and the fil rouge was diversity in all forms (sexual orientation, creed, health).
Being diabetic and suffering from an autoimmune disease I couldn't help feeling for the character in "Wish" as I know what it means having to face the consequences of an illness. It's a sweet story and it made me smile.
I also loved A Universe of Wishes, A Royal Affair and Habibi. They are great stories and the talents of the writers shine.
I was a bit disappointed by "The Scarlet Woman" as it seems a teaser and, even if I read the Gemma Doyle books, I was left wondering if this is the beginning of a new books or what it means.
I discovered some new to me authors and had the pleasure of reading some new works by authors I love.
It would be great to read books set in the universe of some some of these stories ,A Universe of Wishes for example.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan books the e-arc of A Universe of Wishes edited by Dhonielle Clayton.

I don’t often read anthologies, simply because I much prefer to become immersed in deeper, longer story lines but this book intrigued me and I’m so glad that I read it.

Firstly, the diversity is top notch, it addresses creed, colour, disability and more.

Secondly the selection of authors is absolutely top notch - the variety and class of writing is outstanding.

Thirdly, the variety of stories is extensive, from locations close to home to unfamiliar worlds in the depth of space. The stories themselves are so rich, complex and thought provoking. The characters are rich and engaging and whether familiar or new, draw you in to their worlds and stories.

If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, I urge you to do so. This anthology has a universal appeal, written about and written for you, not for or about that perfect hero!

In 2014 I remember seeing the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag on Twitter and thinking, yes! We do need more diverse books! I think I took part in the discussion? There’s a question mark there because April 2014 was a busy time for me; I was coming to the end of year three of my English Literature degree, finishing assignments and thinking about exams. I also wasn’t as active as I am now on Twitter. Either way, what I do remember is that feeling of acceptance, understanding and community as other people cried out in agreement. I didn’t feel so alone at that moment. I love that what started as a conversation between two authors grew into a movement and then eventually a whole organisation that is hosting events worldwide and publishing books. Social media gets a lot of grief for the negativity that comes with it, but this really does show the power and positivity it can bring about too.

That’s why anthologies like this one are so important, and why the mission of We Need Diverse Books is so important. I became aware of my sexuality in college when I was 17, and honestly, if I hadn’t had LGBTQA+ friends to help me find my way I’m not sure where I would have been. There just wasn’t any bisexuality representation back then, and there still isn’t much today. That’s 18 years later! Something should have changed in that time, and through the work of organisations like We Need Diverse Books and individuals such as the authors participating in this anthology it is beginning to, but considering it’s been almost twenty years that’s ridiculously slow progress. According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center the amount of children’s books that “have a main character who identifies as LGBTQIAP+” is only 3.1%.

I didn’t formally identify as disabled until I was in my twenties, however, I was always a sickly child and as my hypermobility started to show I was beginning to injure myself frequently. There was never anyone like me in books either. There still isn’t. The same study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center in 2019 found that only “3.4% of books have a main character with a disability”. I can’t help but wonder how different my life would have been if there had been more disability representation in books (and all pop culture) of disability characters. Would I have known I was disabled?

This is an incredible anthology with all the stories being of top-notch quality. While there is one story that I feel didn’t really deserve to be here due to its lack of diverse content, the story itself was still enjoyable. Likewise, there was a wide range of genres, characters and well, pretty much everything. I feel that A Universe of Wishes has an excellent balance of diverse content too. I’ve seen other “diverse” anthologies that have included no disabled characters or have not included such a variety of cultures. I really appreciate that We Need Diverse Books made an effort to try to fit as much diversity as they could into one anthology. I hope that the young adults reading this get as much (and more) from it as I did as an adult.

The story that meant a lot to me personally was 'Wish' by Jenni Balch. As I got further into the anthology I found myself getting more and more concerned about the lack of disabled representation. Then at 52%, I got to ‘Wish’ by Jenni Balch and simultaneously cheered and cried as I read a story about a chronically ill character. I myself have seven chronic health conditions and this story made me think of things that I hadn’t even thought about, so I really hope it opens non-disabled people’s eyes to what it’s like to be disabled. In particular, Balch really brings to the forefront what it’s like to be born with a condition, to have it control your entire life from the day you were born. It’s always there in the background, limiting your choices.

I’m making this story sound really depressing, and I’m not going to lie; having a disability isn’t fun but this is an anthology about wishes and dreams, and while magic doesn’t exist in real life disabled people are strong and adaptable. We do achieve our wishes and dreams and I hope people take that away from this story too.

I go into a detailed breakdown and review of each story on my blog.