Loved all the diversity and characters in this anthology. Favorites were by Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton and, Anna-Marie McLemore.

This was SO GOOD. Witches, retellings, space thieves, the weighing of hearts, Schwab returns to the world of A Darker Shade of Magic, and Libba Bray returns to the world of Gemma Doyle... What. A. Showstopper.

Writing: ★★★★★
Concepts: ★★★★★
Originality: ★★★★★

A Universe of Wishes comes out on January 5, 2021!

As this is an anthology, I've reviewed each story individually and given a one sentence sales pitch of sorts below. Quick take, my favorites were: The Weight by Dhonielle Clayton, A Royal Affair by V.E. Schwab, Unmoor by Mark Oshiro, Liberia by Kwame Mbalia, and The Scarlet Woman by Libba Bray.

Tara Sim - A Universe of Wishes (3.5 stars)
Thorn harvests wishes from the dead and gets caught red-handed by the morgue boy—what now?

Natalie C. Parker - The Silk Blade (4 stars)
Lushly described, beautifully colored—a bisexual female warrior competes to win the heart of the Bloom prince and may or may not fall for her beautiful rival instead.

Libba Bray - The Scarlet Woman(5 stars)
Gemma Doyle has been in New York for a while now, but the world's magical community isn't done with her yet and someone's determined to reel her back in with grisly gifts.

Anna-Marie Mclemore - Cristal y Cerisa (3.5 stars)
A transgender prince, a Mexican girl attends a ball with a pair of fated glass slippers and a desperate plea for her people.

Kwame Mbalia - Liberia (4.5 stars)
Kweke is the primary research officer on the spacecraft Liberia growing plants with ancestral ties to the crew's abandoned homeland, deep roots.

V.E. Schwab - A Royal Affair (5 stars)
Sure to be a fan-favorite for series readers, this behind-the-scenes take on Alucard's origin romance with Prince Rhy was such a treat.

Rebecca Roanhorse - The Takeback Tango (4 stars)
An intergalactic thief is on a mission to steal back her people's treasures from the republic... and she might not be the only one with a conquered people to avenge.

Nic Stone - Dream and Dare (2.5 stars)
Dream escapes her family's expectations to help a monster in the woods. (This story did not resonate with me, so apologies for the bland description.)

Jenni Balch - Wish (3 stars)
A "granter" in a LAMP device is summoned to a set of very bizarre circumstances: a spaceship, a girl, and a dream for space travel.

Dhonielle Clayton - The Weight (5 stars)
A deep cut, damn. Marcus and Grace know they love each other, and they're going to get their hearts weighed to prove it... that's good, right?

Mark Oshiro - Unmoor (5 stars)
Urban fantasy, Felix wants to "unmoor" his painful memories of his lost love, Arturo—no matter the cost.

Samira Ahmed - The Coldest Spot in the Universe (unrated)
No sentence pitch for this one... I'll be honest, I could NOT get into this one and therefore did not complete it. Told in diary entries, some sort of apocalyptic natural disaster mixed with the dead? Confused.

Tessa Gratton - The Beginning of Monsters (3 stars)
High fantasy in miniature—Crystal-taloned Elir designs a new body for King Insarra, who is tired of their female one. Add in one snarky heir and some political intrigue and you get...

Zoraida Cordova - Longer Than the Threads of Time (4 stars)
A truly sensational Rapunzel retelling. There's a Tower in Central Park and every magic user knows those inside are deserving of their prison sentence—too bad one young brujo is curious enough to get close enough to find out the truth.

Onyebuchi - Habibi (3.5 stars)
Told in diary entries, an American Black prisoner and a Middle Eastern protestor behind bars strike up a magical and unworldly pen pal situation with heart-wrenching and emotional results.

i really enjoyed this anthology, it has great stories and all the stories flowed super well together. I loved the topic of this anthology and I really enjoyed reading this.

In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

These stories were amazing. Heartfelt and full of adventure, I saw perspectives on things that I would never be able to get. We do need diverse books, and this is a fantastic one. People will see themselves in these characters and in the struggles they face. What made it especially enjoyable for me was the recognizable authors and some familiar settings. A Universe of Wishes was an utterly enchanting way to practice inclusivity and give voices to those who are marginalized. The writing was great, and I could feel the magic leaping off the page.

I am glad these stories exist because as someone who can easily find a representation of myself in popular culture, many people don't. Those people have stories to tell and voices to be heard, and I feel glad to have read these different perspectives.

This anthology brings a breath of fresh air to the fantasy genre. Over the last 5-10 years we have seen an uptick in diversity throughout the genre - authors, characters, worlds. And this anthology did not disappoint in bringing a lot of it together in one nice little package. This anthology did a great job of challenging our biases in fantasy writing - we shouldn’t always think of a medieval England type kingdom with brave knights, there should be all manner of peoples, relationships, environments. This book didn’t even stop there, there were also big differences in story format - some were typical short story layout, some were a series of letters, some diary/log entries.
Another thing most of the stories in this anthology succeeded at - short stories require quick attention grabs, many of the stories succeeded very well with this, but there were a few that never grabbed my attention.
Thanks @NetGalley for the ARC!

Writing a review for a story anthology is always a bit tricky. Do I say something about all of the stories or just the ones I liked? Do I just say what I liked about the whole in general terms or keep to the specifics? I think in this case I will do a little bit of both. This is a very nice anthology of stories filled with diverse characters and story lines. For the most part I enjoyed all of them, although there were a few that left me wanting more, and a few that just didn’t quite do it for me. But on the whole a very nice collection.

I am going to pick out a few of my favorites and tell a little about them and why I liked them.

A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim
This story centered around a boy who could draw magic out of dead people so that he could make or grant wishes. Such a wonderful concept which I would love to see a whole book dedicated to. I loved the characters, both Thorn and Sage, and how their relationship developed. I also very much enjoyed the ending.

The Scarlet Woman: A Gemma Doyle Story by Libba Bray
I have not yet read the Gemma Doyle series, but after reading this, I have moved it up the TBR pile a bit. I really enjoyed the characters, although I was a bit lost in the plot. It felt a bit unfinished, so not sure where it falls in the sequence of the series. But I still liked it, although the ending was open-ended.

Cristal y Ceniza by Anna-Marie Mclemore
This was an excellent Cinderella retelling with a latinx bruja twist to it. This is another one that I would love to see more of the story, or maybe more fairytales told through this world’s diverse lens. I have not read anything by this author before, but I really liked her style and will certainly be keeping an eye out for other works by her.

The Takeback Tango by Rebecca Roanhorse
This was a great science fiction story that takes place in space. I loved how the characters were both so interested in saving their ancestor’s history from the victors. Great little heist story and I certainly could get behind more stories about these two.

Wish by Jenni Balch
I loved this science fiction twist on the Jinn mythology. I really liked Lane and his issues with being a Jinn, but also his desire to help Ariadne. Ariadne was also a delightful character, so full of loss and loneliness. The way they solved the wish issue was also very lovely.

I could probably go on about a few of the other stories, but that is enough to hopefully entice you into picking up the wonderful anthology of stories.

I really liked the idea of this short story collection and I did really enjoy it. Honestly, I was shocked by my average rating. I think this is a great collection. There is a whole lot of diversity in it. I also haven't read anything yet from most of these authors and I this collection made me super excited about checking out those authors. I kind of had a problem with some of the stories because they just didn't feel like a full story and more like an introduction to something larger. There were also some stories that overall weren't my cup of tea but I think other people will really like. There were also two stories that I really liked. Both were by authors I hadn't read anything from before and now I can't wait to read something by them. This was my first real fiction anthology and it has made me really excited to check out more.

I've been in a reading slump for weeks now after finishing a long series - and this diverse anthology was just what I needed to break out of it. 'A Universe of Wishes' as been on my TBR list for a while now because of one particular little story ('A Royal Affair' by V.E. Schwab set in her Darker Shades of Magic series) as it dealt with my favorite characters. However, after seeing how many marginalized authors were involved, I wanted it even more.

While 'A Royal Affair' was my favorite of the short stories, I enjoyed almost all of them. Some more than others, but as a whole I think 'A Universe of Wishes' is the perfect anthology. Despite having an eARC thanks to NetGalley, I definitely plan to purchase this when it comes out to feature on my shelf (I mean, just look at that beautiful cover!).

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the E-ARC. A Universe of Wishes is a fantastic anthology, filled with utterly charming stories, Ranging from Magical Realism to Science Fiction. This anthology truly delivers on its promise of diverse stories from a wide range of young adult authors. Initially I was attracted to this anthology because of V. E Schwab's Shades of Magic story, and was not super familiar with many of the other authors. I absolutely loved A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim and The Coldest Spot in the Universe by Samira Ahmed. An excellent anthology, perfect for those looking for more diverse young adult stories.

A wonderful collection of anthologies written by various authors filled with diverse romances, from tragedies to blooming beginnings, to adventures and endings. I absolutely loved how many diverse characters there were, from POC to different sexual orientations, it just was a wonderful collection of magical stories! i have to say my all time favorite story out of all of them was one I was not expecting to find at all, and that was the prequel story of the relationship between Rhys and Alucard from A Darker Shade of Magic series by V.E. Schwab. Let’s just say my heart is ACHING for them. Overall I highly recommend this collection of fantastic stories because who doesn’t love a little magic, romance, and adventure? Make a wish, and read these stories!!

*Thank you so much Netgalley and Random House Children's for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

“And it’s like there are all these Quincys inside me and they all tired. They all tired. And the only time they all feel glued together is when I’m readin your letters.”


A Universe of Wishes is a great collection of diverse YA sci-fi and fantasy stories. Some are whimsical and some are heartfelt, but they are all absolutely stunning. My only complaint about this collection is that two of the pieces weren’t standalone stories, but instead stories that took place in an author’s already established universe. I think short stories like that are great, but since I hadn’t read either of those series it felt a bit tiresome to read those additions. That didn’t diminish my love for the other stories in this collection in the slightest though! This one hits shelves on January 5th, so be sure to add it to your tbr!

This incredible book of short stories took my breath away. Find the best way to spend a wish. How to make hard choices. Pushing boundaries. Be bold. Not to forget your past. That you may need a partner in crime. Dare to Dream. That wishes can come true. To learn the true story of the heart in unexpected ways. The true price of not feeling heartbreak. To unfold your own myth and be connected across the ages. Stories of beauty. A fairytale in NYC. How love is always real, no matter the form it takes. These stories create an enchanting and, sometimes, heart wrenching way to look at love and I cannot reccomend this higher. I do not think any of these tales will leave me any time soon. I would give this more than 5 stars if I could. And, thank you Netgalley for this amazing ARC!

Not going to lie, I read this based on the VE Schwab story and OH MY GOD MY HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m not sure why I continue to read anthologies hoping that this one will be different, but I just don’t think I enjoy these very much. It’s hard for me to get into the beginning of a book, and it’s even harder to find the interest for short stories, yet I keep attempting to read these. I was interested in this one mostly because of VE Schwab’s Shades of Magic story and that was AMAZING, but I couldn’t focus on a majority of the others. There were some fun concepts, but I think I need to take a break from anthologies for a while.

I loved this one so much. It’s exactly as promised: diverse, atmospheric, and fantastic. Every single story was completely unique and incredibly well done.
One reason I loved the anthology was that a few of the stories took place in worlds the authors had already written about. There was one in the Diviners universe, but my favorite story was “A Royal Affair,” which was somewhat of a prequel to Rhy and Alucard from the Shades of Magic series.
This was such an amazing read that I’m so grateful to have received!

A good anthology leaves you craving more.

AND THIS TOTALLY DOES THAT.

In particular, several entries stand out. Libba Bray's The Scarlet Woman brings us back to the world of Gemma Doyle, where magic and secret societies still clash in secret. It was wonderful seeing Gemma reunite with Fee and Ann, and the hints about her new life in New York City are a clear contrast to the gothic glamor of school days. Bray, I am ready to learn more about what happens next! In Anna-Marie McLemore's Cristal y Ceniza, they take the foundation of Cinderella and weave another tender love story among the glass slippers and courtly love. This one left me breathless, the description of the glittering outfits, the magic it takes to be yourself. I would love so much for this to become a full-length novel exploring the multiple intersections of being queer in a fairytale.e land, Longer Than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Cordova has us back on the streets of NYC where brujas practice in secret and other dangers lurk. This re-telling of Rapunzel is a must for fans of Brooklyn Brujas. Fab is an easy protagonist to love, as well as his commentary on the magical hijinks in the city. The ending had me screaming a little.

A Universe of Wishes is a wonderful, wonderful anthology to have on your shelf and to cherish.

*Thank you to the publisher,We Need Diverse Books and Netgalley for providing me with a E-ARC of "A Universe of Wishes" in exchange for an honest review * I really liked this! All the stories were great, but I liked "A Universe of Wishes" by Tara Sim the best.

I really liked the stories by Dhonielle Clayton and Anna-Marie McLemore - those both made this worth reading for me. For the most part, the other stories were just fine. I did also really like the Libba Bray story except for how open ended it was!

A good anthology leaves you craving more.

AND THIS TOTALLY DOES THAT.

In particular, several entries stand out. Libba Bray's The Scarlet Woman brings us back to the world of Gemma Doyle, where magic and secret societies still clash in secret. It was wonderful seeing Gemma reunite with Fee and Ann, and the hints about her new life in New York City are a clear contrast to the gothic glamor of school days. Bray, I am ready to learn more about what happens next! In Anna-Marie McLemore's Cristal y Ceniza, they take the foundation of Cinderella and weave another tender love story among the glass slippers and courtly love. This one left me breathless, the description of the glittering outfits, the magic it takes to be yourself. I would love so much for this to become a full-length novel exploring the multiple intersections of being queer in a fairytale.e land, Longer Than the Threads of Time by Zoraida Cordova has us back on the streets of NYC where brujas practice in secret and other dangers lurk. This re-telling of Rapunzel is a must for fans of Brooklyn Brujas. Fab is an easy protagonist to love, as well as his commentary on the magical hijinks in the city. The ending had me screaming a little.

A Universe of Wishes is a wonderful, wonderful anthology to have on your shelf and to cherish.

A Universe of Wishes is a marvelous YA short story collection filled with fifteen diverse stories written by some of the best authors in YA today! I admit I was most looking forward to Dhonielle Clayton’s Belles story, which wasn’t present in the ARC provided. This is only worth mentioning to say I was thrilled with every story I read so much that I didn’t notice it was missing until I was done the whole collection. It is fun that some of the authors (like Ms. Clayton) chose to set their stories in the worlds of their previous series. V.E. Schwab, Zoraida Cordova, and Libba Bray all also followed note. There are also fresh tales set in brand new worlds that leave readers dreaming for more. Each story is gripping and fantastical - a beautiful mix of diverse fantasy and science fiction tales. This is a must-read anthology for readers of YA fantasy. Highly recommended!!