I really enjoyed a lot of these stories but once they got more fantastical it kinda lost me. it also felt too juvenile to me.

I love All Out, the first in this trilogy of queer anthologies, and so I had high expectations for Out Now. However, it was disappointing. I must note that I don't usually read contemporary fiction, which skews my opinion significantly. As with most anthologies, some stories were better than others. If you like contemporary romance, I recommend this, but if you're used to historical or fantastical fiction, it might not be for you.

Out Now has a little something for everyone who enjoys stories with LGBTQ characters. The stories focus on young adults who are either coming into their own or figuring out where they fit. The genres and tropes run the gamut, and while not all of those are my cup of tea, they are short stories, which is a pretty good way to step out of my comfort zone and read a genre I wouldn't normally pick. It's also a good way to meet some new authors for my ever-growing to be read pile. Regardless of the genre, each short story does give a voice to a variety of sexual identities, including those who aren't sure what that identity is, and the overall theme of the book as a whole sends a good message. The stories are all short enough to make for quick bedtime reads or even a nice afternoon break. Overall, most of the stories were 4 stars.

I loved this anthology so much. Each story felt real and fresh and different, but there was a thread of hopeful and happy endings that just made this whole anthology a delight to read.

We need more of these, so excited to see this followup and hope to see many more coming soon!..........................................

Picked it up for the cover and title but found some amazing authors along the way. Really enjoyed this.
Anthologies are always hard to rate, some stories were 5 stars, some 2.

There’s few things that are more annoying than a reading slump stopping you from reading a five star book. – me explaining why it took me so long to read this one.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series/collection and I was so excited to get an ARC of this one! I literally giggled when I saw that I had been approved! And then the reading slump hit and it’s taken a long time to pull myself out of it. But I finally did, and this is one of the first things that I picked up and in news that shouldn’t be shocking at all, I flew through it. I just adore the entire premise of these anthologies, I mean having a collection of stories that’s made up entirely of queer stories shouldn’t be such a mind blowing concept, but it still kind of is? And I love it so so much.

I also think that the stories just flow together so well, that doesn’t always happen in an anthology so this was really enjoyable. I’ll admit that I don’t remember my thoughts on any of the individual stories but I do know that there wasn’t any that were bad or even stood out for being less enjoyable? I mean it’s rare to give an anthology five stars so that should probably tell you everything that you need to know.

I loved this book, I can’t wait to buy a physical copy and then to read the final one in the series.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

Since some of the contributors are authors I like, I was expecting more from this collection, but it had a couple of gems and the rest of the tales were underwhelming.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you didn't know, not only is this an anthology, but it also belongs to a series of anthologies. The first is titled All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages, and all of its stories are historical fiction. Out Now: Queer We Go Again! is the second title in the series, and it follows contemporary, queer stories. The third installment will be called Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder, and all of its stories will be set in the future. It comes out on June 7th, 2022, and I could not be more excited! This has to be one of my favorite concepts for an anthology EVER! Out Now has gotten me even more pumped to read Out There as soon as I can possibly get my hands on it! As with All Out, there was one story in Out Now that was a little to out there for me, but if I used the star rating system, I would rate all of the rest between 3-5 stars! I love, love, love this series!

My actual average rating is a 2 star, but I've lowered it due to the overall enjoyment of the anthology being... nearly nonexistent. I did not enjoy this at all and honestly had to slug through it. Almost every single one of these stories needed some heavy HEAVY revision. They were formulaic, flat, and forgettable to say the least. I just expected more. Expected better stories, better representation, and MORE queerness all things considered. I'm so so SO disappointed. Also, I might be missing some rep/some might be incorrect so let me know if I am so I can correct it!!!!

Kick. Push. Coast by Candice Montgomery: 2 stars ⭐️⭐️
Rep: Questioning
Thoughts: I can appreciate what this was trying to do, but I just felt it was lacking overall. Questioning rep is so hard to come by honestly so I do love that for this collection but, again, I really felt like something was missing in the actual story.

What Happens in the Closet by Caleb Roehrig: 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rep: Gay
Thoughts: I LOVEEEEED this story. It was so interesting and so funny. I love comedy-horror and I felt super connected to the characters, which is always difficult to accomplish in a short. Applause all around.

Player One Fight! by Eliot Schrefer: 1 star ⭐️
Rep: Gay
Thoughts: This wasn't it for me. I didn't and couldn't connect to this story whatsoever.

Lumber Me Mine by CB Lee: 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rep: Lesbian MC, Asexual LI
Thoughts: Super cute read! I’m right in the middle with it. I don’t have amazing things to say, but nothing bad either!!

Follower by Will Kostakis: 2 stars ⭐️⭐️
Rep: Gay MC, Bisexual LI
Thoughts: Interesting premise, but just too short to actually connect with the characters. I’d love a longer story from this though!!

Refresh by Mark Oshiro: 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rep: Gay
Thoughts: I thought this was a super sweet story, but I was missing something from it. Once the two met, I felt like it moved so quickly and finished up a little too perfectly. Idk!!

Victory Lap by Julian Winters: 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rep: Gay
Thoughts: Excuse me?! “That one Montell Jordan song”?? That is not how we do it. Overall, this was super cute and sweet. I understand the relationship the MC has with his dad is the focal point of the story, but I wish the LI played even a littleeeee bit more of a part. Still loved the father/son relationship though. We love a supportive father.

A Road of One’s Own by Kate Hart: 1 star ⭐️
Rep: Bisexual MC, Pansexual LI, but tells people she's lesbian?
Thoughts: I technically only skimmed most of this (more of a DNF, really), but I didn't like it AT ALL. The story was super confusing and all over the place and I kept losing track of all the different characters. Like literally couldn't remember their names and associated story. And I HATE stories that still call Native Americans "Indians". It just irks me.

Seditious Teapots by Katherine Locke: 2 stars ⭐️⭐️
Rep: Nonbinary/questioning MC, Nonbinary LI, Agender pansexual SC
Thoughts: Interesting concept. Love the ironic teapots thing. Very cute. BUT why were there no quotation marks???? The formatting was so confusing and I literally could not tell when someone was speaking. I appreciate the rep a LOT, but it was honestly just confusing to read.

Star-crossed in D.C. by Jessica Verdi: 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rep: Bisexual MC, Lesbian LI
Thoughts: I really liked this one. Definitely a favorite in the collection. I don't have too much to say about it. It was really cute, almost like a F/F Red, White, & Royal Blue. I enjoyed it a lot!

Floating by Tanya Boteju: 1 star ⭐️
Rep: Lesbian
Thoughts: Maybe this wasn't for me or I'm not the intended audience, but this was strange and I literally did not get it. I'm neurodivergent so maybe the narrative being all over the place was too much for my brain to handle and comprehend. Idkkkkkk.

The Soft Place by Hillary Monahan: Unrated
Thoughts: I really don't like absorbing media surrounding/about/including drug use. I have no idea why it's triggering for me, but it is. So this is one I'm not going to be reading!

A Pound of Flesh by Kosovo Jackson: 2 stars ⭐️⭐️
Rep: Gay
Thoughts: I can see what this was trying to do, but I couldn't get behind it. The background of police brutality felt used just as a plot device and I didn't appreciate that at all. I enjoyed the Greek mythology wrapped up in current affairs idea and think, with some fleshing out, it could be something great. Athena is my GURL though and I did not like how she was represented in this, but I see where it's coming from.

One Spell Too Many by Tara Sim: 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rep: Pan MC, Trans LI
Thoughts: I really liked this one! I love anything witchy so it was almost a gimme at the mention of spells, but I genuinely liked this writing style! I felt the characters were loveable as well. Overall, very atmospheric and cute.

Far From Home by Saundra Mitchell: 1 star ⭐️
Rep: Gay
Thoughts: I liked the idea behind this one, but felt it wasn't fully fleshed out.

The Coronation by Meredith Russo: -negative stars
Thoughts: Did not read and will not support. I didn't know an abuser had a story in here until I got to it. I don't often read all who is involved in an anthology before I pick it up. Wouldn't have supported it if I knew she had a story in here. Ew.

Once Upon a Seastorm by Fox Benwell: 2 stars ⭐️⭐️
Rep: Trans MC
Thoughts: I don't have much to say about this one!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is such a great anthology series. What's not to love.

There have been a lot of anthologies lately, and, as long as they perform decently at your library, this is another great one for the ranks. Some personal standouts were the stories by C. B. Lee, Katherine Locke, and Mark Oshiro.

3.5

Could not open the original download properly and thus missed the window to read it. Read it from the library instead, and loved some of the stories very much. Some of the stories weren't exactly my cup of tea. Overall a great anthology!

*Thanks to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the complimentary copy for my honest review*

Let me start this off by saying I am TERRIBLE at reviewing anthologies. I never know how to give them a solid rating because the stories always get such mixed ratings from me. Overall this was a pretty good book, I feel like it touched on a lot of important topics such as coming out to family, friends, and learning about sexuality. I feel that a lot of people can benefit from this book if they're scared or insecure of their sexuality.

You know the drill: short story collection, some were meh, and some were life. “Seditious Teapots” was like a queer therapy session in the best way.

Every time I read good queer YA, I weep for young me who so desperately needed these.

3.5
Where do I start with this! I love a good anthology and better yet a queer anthology! There is a mix of different kinds of short stories in this. Even though this is a solid anthology, I do feel that there need to be more different stories from different parts of the LGBTQIA+ community. Even though there are many, there are even more people not represented in this book, which hits the reason this is a 3.5 rating. If there were more different representations this the rating would have gone up. I am not going to talk about every story in this book but I am going to say that my favorite was Victory Lap by Julian Winters. I felt that not only was it amazingly written there was a mix of representation. This book has a vampire to aliens to many more different kinds of characters. Overall, I think this is a good read. If you are wanting to start reading queer books (I don't know why you wouldn't already be reading them.) but let's say you are new to reading queer books then this would be a good start.

As is typical for anthologies, I have to give this an average rating. There were some stand outs for me, including "What Happens in the Closet" by Caleb Roehrig (an obvious precursor to his 2020 release The Fell of Dark), "Lumber Me Mine" by CB Lee, "Seditious Teapots" by Katherine Locke, and "Star-Crossed in DC" by Jessica Verdi. These all handled the short story format wonderfully, providing a full, satisfying arc in a limited amount of pages.

The rest did not accomplish that. To be fair to them, that is not always an author's intention with a short story. Authors like to leave things to the imagination and allow open endings, but that was to the point of confusion with a lot of the other stories for me. I still liked most of them, and I would definitely still suggest you read this book if you are interested in it, but it just takes a lot for a short story to really wow me.

Short story anthologies are always hard to review because some of the stories are amazing, and some tend to fall flat. What I appreciated most about this was the range of genres of stories, there were some that were contemporary, some that leaned a little more fantastical, and some I didn't even know how to classify.

As anthologies go this was pretty average to me. I applaud the diversity but most of the stories didn't really stand out to me. My favorites were Victory Lap by Julian Winters, One Spell Too Many by Tara Sim.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.