The diversity in these stories is impressive, from girls facing internal and external religious challenges, to girls pretending to be something they’re not to make their way in a man’s world. These are tales of young women refusing to be a product of their time, yearning to be free of society’s mores. The authors refrain from a black and white picture, with a young Mormon girl questioning her religion, yet continuing to fight her community’s detractors. Secrets abound, as an orphaned girl lives life as a boy to take care of herself, and a young boy trades his secret of being a transgender with a Hispanic girl putting in tremendous effort to pass as white for Hollywood. One story had magical elements that didn’t seem to contribute to the plot, but as a whole, this book offers up a dozen girls as unintentional heroines who fought against patriarchy, misogyny, and other obstacles they intended to overcome.

I was fortunate to receive a digital copy of this wonderful book through NetGalley.

I posted my review to Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and B&N. It's scheduled to post on my blog May 21.

Short story anthologies can often be uneven, but I enjoyed most of the stories in this one. I loved the theme of “outsider girls” throughout historical America. I also appreciated the diversity of both fictional characters and authors; American historical fiction often centers around the white (and heterosexual) experience, so it was refreshing to read stories from #ownvoices authors.

My favorites were:
“Step Right Up” by Jessica Spotswood
“Glamour” by Anna-Marie McLemore
“Better For All the World” by Marieke Nijkamp
“When the Moonlight Isn’t Enough” by Dhonielle Clayton
“Land of the Free, Home of the Brave” by Stacey Lee (this was especially dear to me because it paid tribute to the Asian population who migrated to Hawaii for the back-breaking work on sugar cane plantations. My own great-grandparents were part of that migration, and it’s part of American history that isn’t well known).
“Take Me With U,” by Sara Farizan

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

After a fairly shaky first half, I adored the second half of this. All the characters are the best, basically.

★☆☆☆☆: 0
★★☆☆☆: 1
★★★☆☆: 2
★★★★☆: 5
★★★★★: 4

My average rating for this anthology was a surprisingly high... 4.0. Did you expect that? Because I totally did not. Halfway through this anthology, I was prepared to give it a big old three, and then i hit three five stars in a row and this happens.

Okay, so here’s my really big gripe with this anthology. It is marketed as being about radical girls, which at least some of the anthology editors have implied means more marginalized girls, and that is really untrue. There has still been no Native American MC in twenty-five stories that are about American history, which is honestly pretty disappointing. It also feels at times a little lacking in intersectionality—a bunch of the stories have MCs of Exactly One Marginalization and it feels vaguely weird. And in this whole book, none of the stories are sapphic; only four even have queer characters, two of whom are side characters and two of whom have it mentioned once. Not to be this person, but I’m gonna say it: this could have been gayer.

But I also love the focus on girl power, the diverse characters [there’s a lot of diversity in representation for girls of color], and a bunch of these stories were just really good . Let’s get started!

→ Daughter of the Book by Dahlia Adler ← ★★★☆☆
✔ 1838 Savannah, GA | Jewish MC
Can’t decide on a three or a four, but I think this one was overall quite solid. It’s a story of being a Jewish woman in an era where society rejects both, and wanting to fit into your strongest faith. I guess I just felt it was a bit tell-not-show and didn’t do much until the ending?

→ You're a Stranger Here by Mackenzi Lee ← ★★★★☆
✔ 1844 Nouvoo, Illinois | Mormon MC
Taking place just after Mormon prophet Joseph Smith is killed, this one focuses on the idea of persecution of faith and the different outlets we find, be they positive or negative. I just really liked how faith was talked about in this story. A very strong four.

→ The Magician by Erin Bowman ← ★★★★☆
✔ 1858 Colorado River, NM | nonbinary MC
A story of a trip up the river into Utah and Mormon territory [the placement directly after Mackenzi’s story fits perfectly.] Dressed as a boy, Ray is a . I thought the ending of this one was lovely, going in a direction I did not expect and also making it pretty clear that Ray actually would ID as nonbinary today.

→ Lady Firebrand by Megan Shepherd ← ★★★★☆
✔ 1863 Charleston, SC | disabled MC and black girl side
A solid story about a pro-union spy team of girls, one in a wheelchair and one her black maid. I support them and would die for them.

→ Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood ← ★★★☆☆ | sapphic MC
✔ 1905 Tulsa, Indian Territory | sapphic abuse survivor MC
This one was a lot of fun, but again, not amazing. It’s a very self-contained character piece without really having anything special, and I admit I didn’t really love the main character? I don’t tend to be attracted to wild child leads, I guess. But certainly not bad.

→ Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore ← ★★★★★
✔ 1923 Central Valley, CA | brown Mexican MC, disabled trans boy LI
I think McLemore just has very consistent quality writing and characters and very consistently plays with themes I LOVE. Here, it’s about the masks we put on to hide things we may not be ashamed of, but others will be, and how that affects us. The best one in the first half of the collection, honestly.

→ Better For All The World by Marieke Nijkamp ← ★★★★★
✔ 1927 Washington, DC | autistic MC
THERE WAS A STORY THAT WAS EXPLICITLY ANTI EUGENICS. Okay, so I got really passionate about this historical era this year because I did a paper on post-World-War-II eugenics. So this story and its discussion of the way society treated “different” people was so amazing. The main character, Carrie, is very clearly autistic and written so well and I basically adore her [an icon!!!!!] I hope she gets the lawyer job she deserves. Spoilery note: I kind of wished in the first half that the love interest had figured out that he was wrong, if only so the lead could get a happy relationship? But the way the story actually went was better on another level by validating the lead’s need for someone who actually treated her well, so I guess that wish was pretty irrational.

→ When the Moonlight Isn't Enough by Dhonielle Clayton ← ★★★★★
✔ 1943 Oak Bluffs, MA | black MC
Uh, wow, three fives in a row just as I was readying to write this collection off? Lead character Emma has been alive for 200 years and is just now deciding whether to break free. This story is primarily focused on the continuity between earlier black history and later black history. The other main concept explored here is the question of how black people can be patriotic in a culture that has offered them so little, and how they can find their own communities. It’s just an excellent story with very sound writing.

→ The Belle of the Ball by Sarvenaz Tash ← ★★★★☆
✔ 1952 Brooklyn, NY | Latino LI
Rosemary wants to write comedy, her friend Sandra wants to be the next Lucille Ball, and there’s a cute boy, Tomás, on her street. This was really sweet and felt very ‘50s — love the side friendship and the ending is perfect.

→ Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave by Stacey Lee ← ★★★★★
✔ 1955 Oakland, CA | biracial Chinese, Japanese, and Hawaiian MC
A story about Lana Lau dragging everyone to hell and back. Every line of this was the most savage thing I’d ever read and I love it. Also love the mentions of American imperialism in Hawaii and the taking-back of that narrative.

→ The Birth of Susi Go-Go by Meg Medina ← ★★☆☆☆
✔ 1972 Queens, NY | Cuban MC
This was… really disappointing? I don’t know. It’s really long and doesn’t really have an ending. I liked the bits about being an immigrant from Cuba, but they felt crammed into something quite long and rambly for a short story. And the lead had a very lacking voice.

→ Take Me with U by Sara Farizan ← ★★★★☆
✔ 1984 Boston, MA | Iranian MC, sapphic Japanese side char
Ooooh, this was amazing. A story of an Iranian immigrant in a girl band, and a story deeply entrenched in ‘80s vibes. As Sara Farizan says in her final note, the ‘80s was the decade that began to give us today — the cell phone, the computer, many of today’s global conflicts, the end of the Cold War, and above all, a feeling of change. The perfect ending for this collection and very very close to a five.

all in all: despite an underwhelming first half, this got really excellent and was a worthwhile read. I would definitely recommend Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave by Stacey Lee, When the Moonlight Isn't Enough by Dhonielle Clayton, Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore, and my absolute favorite, Better For All The World by Marieke Nijkamp. This was a great anthology and I’m happy to have read it!

My second DNF in a week. It might look like I’m unlucky in books right now, but don’t be deceived. I have been reading some really wonderful books lately and have reviews planned that I’m holding for closer to their release date. I’ve been getting a few approvals from TOR on Netgalley lately, and I’m hoping that they will make it a habit. I love them so much. I want them to be my boyfriend. 😍

Back to the business at hand. I love books by women, about women, with women, everything women. I LOVE them. So I was excited to get my hands on this anthology of short stories. At first I thought it was going to be historical fiction based on actual people, it turned out that this … was not that. It is short stories about women. An “anthology of revolution and resistance“. Resist?! To which I thought, hell yeah!

Unfortunately, I found the stories to be lackluster. They were not particularly inspiring. While most were well written they lacked a spark. I grew increasingly disinterested and eventually stopped reading. I think I expected a little more fire. However, I must be in the minority because this series of books is very popular! So don’t let my glum attitude lead you astray if you’re interested. I just won’t be along for the ride.

This was a fantastic collection of historical fiction stories about girls rebelling against the status quo. Whether they're taking jobs, joining movements, or just defending themselves and their rights, all of the girls in these tales are symbols of strength, bravery, and the ability to triumph over adversity. My favorite story was Dhonielle Clayton's "when the Moon wasn't enough", but they were all quite good. A rarity for story collections, none of the stories were boring or unreadable. There's always a variety of interest levels in a collection, but this one was, on average, much better than some others I've read.

Daughter of the Book by Dahlia Adler - 3 stars.
This story is about a Jewish education. I really enjoyed our main character Rebekah Wolf, but didn't care for the love interest or the plot that much.

You're a Stranger Here by Mackenzi Lee - 3.5 stars.
This story focuses on the Mormon history. I enjoyed the writing style but wasn't fully invested in the plot.

The Magician by Erin Bowman - 5 stars.
I really enjoyed this story. Ray is an amazing character, and I was very invested in her story. I felt that the author hinted that Ray might be gender fluid, but it was never fully discussed. I'm very interested in reading more of her work.

Lady Firebrand by Megan Shepherd - 5 stars.
This was soooo good. The story is set in South Carolina and deals with racism. Our main characters consists of a white girl in a wheelchair and a free black girl. Both of them were amazing badass characters and I was super invested in their story. I'm very interested in picking up more from this author.

Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood - 4 stars.
This story is about a girl and her wish to join the circus. I enjoyed the descriptions of the circus, and the fact that the main character was a lesbian. Trigger warning for abuse.

Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore - 3.5 stars.
I really enjoyed the writing of this one. The concept was very interesting, I would love to see this story as a whole novel. The ending was a big let down for me, it felt a bit rushed. This story has a lot of diversity including a Mexican-American main character and a transgender side character with a disability.

Better For All the World by Marieke Nijkamp - 5 stars.
I loved everything about this. Our main character Carrie was amazing, the story was great, the writing was good and I feel like I learned something after reading this. It definitely made me think.

When the Moonlight Isn’t Enough by Dhonielle Clayton - 3 stars.
I liked the main character, but I felt disconnected to the story. I liked the concept, but I wish things were explained a bit more.

The Belle of the Ball by Sarvenaz Tash - 2 stars.
I finished this book a few days ago, and I struggled to remember what this story was about. There was a lot of references to Love Lucy, and I don't know what that is. I did like our main character, but I felt the story overall was forgettable.

Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave by Stacey Lee - 4.5 stars.
The main character in this story was amazing, I would have loved to be her friend. The writing was good and funny, I would love to read more from this author. I got to learn about the aftermath of Japanese internment and the history of Asian-Americans in Hawaii, which I really enjoyed.

The Birth of Susi Go-Go by Meg Medina - 2.5 stars.
This just wasn't for me. It dragged on a bit, and everything felt predictable.

Take Me With U by Sara Farizan - 3 stars.
I liked the Iranian aspect of this story, but the music part just wasn't for me. I think a lot of people will like this one, but to me it was just ok.

That brings my average rating to about 3.67, so I'm rounding it up to a 4.

I really enjoyed the first collection of short stories, but I found this one really hard to get engaged with. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood to read it, but I didn’t particularly enjoy any of the stories I read - I know it’s hard to fully develop a world and characters in such a short space of time, but I didn’t connect with the chaaracters / story

(originally posted on <a href="http://thewritinghufflepuff.wordpress.com">The Writing Hufflepuff</a>)

I HATE rating and reviewing anthologies - some of these stories were amazing and I would've loved to see them as an actual book, others not so much. So while some of these are solid four or even five star reads, I ended up rating it three stars. I'm happy that there's diversity not just among the stories and their protagonists, but also among the writers themselves, which means we also have some own-voices stories. All of the women featured in this book are incredibly empowering and inspiring. Even if the short story they appeared in didn't really capture me, they certainly did. I am disappointed that there were no f/f romances though, even though one of the protagonists liked girls.

Daughter of the Book by Dahlia Adler 3 stars // This one tells the story of Rebecca Gratz, a woman who really existed and was an advocate for Jewish women and economic equality. Daughter of the Book shows her as a young girl with a thirst for knowledge of her religion, culture and history. I really liked how determined Rebecca was and how it focuses on how important Jewish women were. I do feel like it was more of a set up though, but it did make me really interested in finding out more about her!

<blockquote>''What do I say when they want to know how you could leave them behind?''
''Tell them I'm Jewish first.''</blockquote>

You're a Stranger Here by Mackenzi Lee 3 stars // My expectations were really high for this one, as I absolutely loved The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. This one fell a bit short for me, as I felt like not much really happened. I still ended up giving it three stars because I love Lee's writing style and I really liked the message of it:

<blockquote>''Finding things that give you hope, and make you want to do good things for others. And if Joseph's words do that'' - she pats the Book of Commandments manuscript - ''then that seems fine to me. Seems like a thing that people could need.''</blockquote>

The Magician by Erin Bowman 4 stars // I didn't expect to love this one as much as I did! Ray has a reputation as an unbeatable poker player and calls herself a 'magician' rather than a cheat. Pretending to be a boy so she could earn more money, she agrees on going on an expedition, which of course could mean having her secret exposed. Besides Ray being a badass, her relationship with Mrs. Lowry, the woman who took her in and raised her, was my favourite aspect of this story. Despite this relationship, she is still desperate to find her biological family and find out more about who she is. While I wasn't blown away by Bowman's writing in Vengeance Road, I absolutely loved it in The Magician.

<blockquote>She was tired of pretending, and here along the river, she was a mystery even to herself. She was a boy and she was a girl. She was motherless and she was someone's child. She was a soul wanting to belong and a soul desperate to escape.</blockquote>

Lady Firebrand by Megan Shepherd 5 stars // Two girls, one of which black, the other in a wheelchair, being spies against the South during the Civil War, blowing things up and fighting against slavery as a masked hero? Yes please. I would love to read more about these badass girls and their beautiful relationship.

<blockquote>Pauline and she, they were more than coconspirators. They were more than Lord Firebrand. They'd be there for each other in hard times and in good times, no matter the danger, always trusting in each other's strong heart.</blockquote>

Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood 3 stars // Ruby wants nothing more than to escape her abusive uncle and become a part of the circus and their family. I would've loved to see more of her relationship with the people at the circus over the years, as that would've made the story a lot more heartwarming. Although her uncle treats her horribly and her mother turns a blind eye, Ruby does have a good relationship with her sister Pearl, which of course I loved because sisters!! While they loved each other, Pearl understood Ruby's dream and supported her in any way she could.

<blockquote>''You looked after me the whole time we were growing up. It's time for me to look after myself now.''</blockquote>

Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore 5 stars // This one too I need as a full book it was so beautifully written and magical and just dsjgh It made me super excited to read Wild Beauty wich I finally can now that I'm back home. Glamour follows Graciela who uses 'glamour' to make herself look white and works in Hollywood as Grace, and Sawyer, a disabled transgender boy. According to McLemore this story is her 'wish to give Graciela, a daughter of Mexican-American farmers, and Sawyer, a transgender boy living with a disability, the space that history would have tried to deny them.' And she definitely did. I just want more haha. The way it was written felt very real, and despite being a short story Graciela and Sawyer were very well-developed. Just,,, give me a full book please

<blockquote>She had told no one why she wanted to become Grace Moran: because the world left so little room for Graciela Morena</blockquote>

Better For All The World by Marieke Nijkamp 5 stars // Oh my goodness this one was so good. I need to read more by Marieke Nijkamp, something I've wanted to do for quite some time now, but especially after reading this. Short stories often feel underdeveloped to me, but this one was truly perfect as a short story. It's an own voices about an autistic girl, following the trial of Carrie Buck (who really existed), another autistic girl who's fighting in court for her bodily autonomy as the state wants to sterilize her. It's an incredibly powerful and important story.

<blockquote>''Carrie Buck is a girl like me. Despite everyone telling her that she didn't matter, she came here to fight for her choices. She has the inalienable right to do so. But instead of recognising that, we assign vallue to her, to each other, to ourselves. We tell her she isn't competend enough. She isn't fit enough. She isn't equal enough. Do you know what would be better for all the world? If instead of fighting to limit her rights - our constitutional rights, our fundamentally human rights - we fought to embrace them and strengthen them. If we limit equality, we can never be truly equal.''</blockquote>

When the Moonlight Isn't Enough by Dhonielle Clayton 2 stars // This one was just a bit eh for me. The main character and her parents drink moonlight in order to stay immortal, but this was never really touched upon. It just left me with a lot of questions and I was bored. Nothing really stayed with me and I didn't hightlight anything. It doesn't help that it's been a while since I read this either.

The Belle of the Ball by Sarvenaz Tash 3 stars  // This one was fun! The protagonist wants to be a comedy writer, which of course wasn't easy for a woman back then. It was a fun and interesting read, but it just didn't blow me away.

Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave by Stacey Lee 3 stars // I would've loved to have rated this higher, but it fell a bit short to me, as if not much happened. Lana wants to become the face of Miss Sugar Maiden, because 'maybe it was time for a nonwhite on the box. Sugar Maiden's product comes direct from Hawaii, born of the sweat of thousands of islanders - Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, and Filipinos - yet the girls on the boxes have always been as snowy as its contents.' The story also focuses on the discrimination her parents as half-Japanese and Chinese faced and another important aspect is Lana's love for her family, which keeps her going. It just left me with a 'that's it?' feeling, which is why I ended up rating it three stars, but I really loved Lana and her story.

The Birth of Susi Go-Go by Meg Medina 3 stars  // As mentioned before, it's been a while since I read this and well... I don't really remember this one? It wasn't badly written, but it wasn't very memorable either. Susana's grandparents are finally coming from Cuba to live with her and her parents, which she is very nervous about because she doesn't remember them. I wish the story would've focused more on that and that we had seen her grandparents more.

Take me With U by Sara Farizan 3.5 stars // This one was a lot of fun! Soheila has fled from the war in Iran to live with her uncle, aunt and little cousin, who is her only friend. Until she meets Mai that is. Mai introduces her to pop culture, especially music and eventually Soheila becomes a part of Mai's band. I really liked how Mai became a big sister to Soheila, Soheila discovering American pop culture and the band aspect. Plus of course how Soheila (and Mai!) hung out with her little cousin. He was adorable.

<blockquote>During that set, I was free to be whoever I wanted to be. Not Apollonia, not Amir's babysitter, not a self-conscious girl. I was bitchin' and so was my band.</blockquote>

All in all this is a fun, inspiring and empowering anthology that I definitely recommend.

The Radical Element, edited by Jessica Spotswood, is a short-story anthology about women living radically in their specific time period or setting. I’d been eagerly awaiting this anthology, especially after reading such a great one recently.
The main reason I requested this book was because of the addition of a story by Anna-Marie McLemore. However, I requested it with the intention of reading the full extent of it, since I'd read "All Out," another anthology with various authors I enjoyed reading about.
When I first started reading, I was turned off by the format of the file I was sent, which didn't allow me to use the table of contents and the chapters bled into each other. Which meant I was surprised to find that it was on a chronological order. I didn't mind it until I started reading the book.
The first story, "Daughter of the Book" by Dahlia Adler, was supposed to hook me, and I'm not saying it wasn't a good story: I found it fascinating. I thought the development of more women in positions to get education was really interesting to read. The fact that it was a Jewish girl trying to pave a way for herself wa
s radical, especially for the setting in 1838. However, it wasn't sufficient to tide me over.
This feeling bled into the next story, "You're a Stranger Here" by Mackenzi Lee. The story followed a Mormon girl working in a print shop in charge of transcribing one of Joseph Smith's last texts. I was disappointed by this story because it kept dragging on, and by the end it felt clunky in the way it felt mostly expositional rather than telling me more about the main character. It was even more so disappointing by the fact that I actually loved Lee's story in "All Out."
After that, I skipped to Anna-Marie McLemore's story, "Glamour." Set in 1923, in a place I was already familiar with thanks to "The Weight of Feathers," we followed a Mexican girl living in Los Angeles as an actress. Grace, or rather, Graciela Morena, possesses the power to glamour herself as someone different. Similar to how Latinx populations are forced to assimilate into White America, Grace finds herself using her powers for the same reason and to be able to become a movie star. The main character was compelling, the lore and magical realism of the piece was excellent as always. I'd say this story could serve as a jumping off point to analyze magical realism in contemporary media as well as within the canon of Anna-Marie's texts. It has the basics of of a classic McLemore story: Latina girl, a trans boy, magical realism, commentary of the exploitation of latinx bodies, and fantastic writing. I would've liked to read her story first, but I think the editor wouldn't want to follow the footsteps of "All Out," of course.
Those were the three stories I read, which I know it's not enough to call judgement upon the anthology, but I would've preferred a different way to organize the stories. I understand it was logical to put them in chronological order since they're supposed to be historical fiction, but I don't think it was the right call. Eventually, I'll get into the other stories, but these were the ones I was able to get into. I am, however, giving Anna-Marie McLemore a 5/5 for general existence and writing abilities.

I recently answered the PARKS AND REC book tag (and had THE MOST FUN doing so), wherein I featured this collection for Tom Haverford's A character who likes to dream big.

Here is what I wrote taken directly from the tag:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2250563316

The Radical Element, much like it’s predecessor A Tyranny of Petticoats, is an anthology of strong, female characters throughout America’s history. There is not a single story where the female characters are not front and centre of any and all action taking place, and that is a glorious thing. Tackling all facets of diversity - from religion, to skin colour, to sexual diversity - there is something that everyone can relate to on some level, and it highlights that though the times might have been different, women have thrived all throughout history (perhaps just not in the limelight).

There were some stories that absolutely delighted me, and others that were simply entertaining, but the high quality of the writing style of each story is undisputed. Anna-Marie McLemore, Mackenzie Lee and Dhonielle Clayton were familiar authors to me, but new-found favourites include Dahlia Adler and Erin Bowmen.

This is a great read - for both women and men - celebrating who we are and where we’ve come from.

While some of these were actually quite interesting, I found most to be boring or just over used tropes for empowered females. Near the end I just got really bored of what I was reading.

This is the second book in a series. The first being A Tyranny of Petticoats, which sadly I have not read yet. All of these books feature strong, fearless, diverse females making their own path. I really enjoyed that each story was around 100 pages making it easy to finish one story in a sitting. I also loved that each author included information about the historical time period that they were writing about, thus tying the story to historical events. Of all the stories, Lady Firebrand by Megan Shepherd was my favorite.

These are such lovely stories! They’re all about complex, interesting women in history and there’s so much representation. There are trans characters and disabled characters and women of color and much more. When most of these stories came to an end, I was left wanting more. I was surprised to find them over. They’re not really tied up in neat little bows, they mostly end with you feeling like you’re at the precipice of a greater story. Any one of these feel like they could be effectively made into a full-fledged novel, and it was hard for me to forget that they were short stories.

My rating for each story:

Daughter of the Book by Dahlia Adler ⭐⭐⭐
You’re a Stranger Here by Mackenzi Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Magician by Erin Bowman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lady Firebrand by Megan Shepherd ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Better For All the World by Marieke Nijkamp ⭐⭐⭐⭐
When the Moonlight Isn’t Enough by Dhonielle Clayton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Belle of the Ball by Sarvenaz Tash ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave by Stacey Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Birth of Susi Go-Go by Meg Medina ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Take Me With U by Sara Farizan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My average rating was 4.16 stars, rounded down to 4. I’m thinking I’ll have to go back and read Jessica Spotswood’s first edited collection of short stories, which I hadn’t gotten around to yet. I’d definitely recommend this to historical fiction readers, lovers of YA, and anyone excited to see diverse women in fiction.

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: I think that for the most part anthologies are just not for me.

Check out author's other books? YES
Recommend this book? If you like anthologies yes

Notes and Opinions: Well for me this one didnt work out so well. But for you that might not be the case so I say totally give it a try. If you like short stories or anthologies then totally check this one out becuase just because I didn't care for it doesn't mean you wont. I did like some of the stories that I looked at but over all it just didn't work for me.

Go Into This One Knowing: If you like anthologies then this is for you!

I thought i would love this book way more than i ended up doing. But on the other hand i honestly expected this anthology collection to be a bit more... science based? Maybe that is my mistake from taking the title to literally.

All 12 stories in this book are good. They are interesting, they show great parts of American history that should be mentioned more often, especially in the points of views that this book shows them in. But not one story was great for me. They all where okay, or good. But non of them stood out to me in the way that i can even now, seconds after finishing the book, say that one specific story was the best one for me.
And that is kind of sad, even if its one of my most common problems with reading anthologies or short story collections in general and one of the reasons i stopped reading them for years.

What i do have to say that i LOVED in this book are the authors notes after each story.
I loved getting a little snipped on why the author decided on that specific moment in time, on that character, on that little section of history. And honestly those are the "stories" that i can actually remember from this book.

So either those where better written, or i just found those background infos way more interesting than the actual stories.

take from that what you will.

Also i have to mentioned again that i am so disappointed that there is basically non science girl power in this book!
Which makes me a huge fallen on the frosting kind of disappointed cupcake!
The title screams to me that at least half of the stories in this book should be all about females going strong in chemistry, physics, engineering or anything else that is related to science! I can't remember if even one story had actual science elements in them. If they didn't it clearly wasn't very memorable to me personally.
Now for some that might be nit-picking or complaining about nothing. BUT i honestly think that too few stories share the women that fought for their place in the science world -still have to today.
And if you are naming an anthology about strong woman "radical element" i expect something Science-y in it! (could just be me, still disappointing to me)


Overall its not a bad anthology.
But i think it lacks the stand out part, especially in comparison to the first anthology that is said to be "part one" to this second book.

The title is misleading, which i always hate, and while i think that all authors did a good job and had great reasons for the stories they picked... i just wasn't not taking with this book overall.

Still its a good book and worth a try.

Actual rating: 3,7 stars.

If you're interested to read historical fiction that doesn't tell the same old stories over and over again, then look no further. Twelve authors told twelve stories about girls who defy society's expectations and fight for their place in the world. The stories are arranged chronologically and they all take place in America from 1838 - 1984, but they couldn't be any different from each other. Some play with magical realism (Dhonielle Clayton, Anna-Marie McLemore), other stories talk about religion (Mackenzi Lee, Dahlia Adler) or let autistic protagonists (Marieke Nijkamp) or queer characters take the lead. I love that the cast of authors was diverse as well and appreciate them sharing their own experiences. Because many of the stories talk about lesser-known historical events, I oftentimes found myself reading more literature on certain topics, thus learning quite a bit. Are all of the stories flawless? No. But this anthology really features some treasures.
My favourite stories were:
- Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood, which tells the story of Ruby, who wants to become a member of the circus, not only fleeing from her abusive uncle but rather following her biggest dream.
- Better for all the World by Marieke Nijkamp, which tells the story of an autistic girls who wants to become a lawyer, so that she can fight for other women who have no one to fight for their rights.
- The Belle of the Ball by Sarvenaz Tash, which tells the story of Rosemary who wants to be a screen writer – and who gets a thrill from defying her mother's expectations.

Overall, I highly recommend this anthology!

The Radical ELement is a collection of stories who rebelled against their time. The stories span up to the 1980s and take place all across the United States.While it is heartwarming to read stories about women overcoming being different in the world (religion, sexuality, nationality are all explored). the majority of stories are just that: fluff. There are two or three really good stories hidden inside that tell a full story and evolved the characters but many are just snippets of lives. The variety of the snippets is enjoyable and allows the reader to slip into different times and places.
Overall, I enjoyed reading most of them but only truly connect to a few stories.

<i>Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.</i>

I still have not been able to get my filthy little fingers on a copy of A Tyranny of Petticoats, so I was a bit hesitant about this at first; what if I'd missed something vital? Bless my slowness, because The Radical Element is 12 entirely new stories about badass ladies doing badass things (written by badass ladies doing badass things, too!) and seem to have no connection to ATOP. In case anyone was wondering. Which they're probably not because everybody but me seem know what an anthology is. ANYWAY.

So, the thing, for me, about rating collections of short stories like this one is that you never know what you're gonna get. And if you're gonna like it. Or if you're gonna life half of them and abhor the rest. And I was worried about that until I'd read the first and moved on to the second, and then that worry was put to shame. And it continued to be put to shame throughout, because at no point did I read any of these little stories and think, "gosh, what was the purpose of this?". Nuh uh. More often than not I made it to the end and sat glaring at my screen screen because I was not ready to let go of these characters. Sure, there were some that I enjoyed more than others, but overall, this was just a fantastic read.

Also, it has to be mentioned, the little author's notes at the end of each story? Wonderful. The little insight they gave in the author's reasons for writing this particular character in this particular setting were invaluable in my later digestion of the stories, and led me on several research-adventures for things that I never realised I needed to know more about. So, dear authors, thank you all for that.