Nothing new! but still good, many stories for all of us who are single and sometimes lonely during this pandemic times. Very much YA and wholesome. I recommend for a light and quick read.

Let us face it, we are all paranoid about the pandemic. So, why in the Dickens would I want to read about this real-life situation?

Reason 1: THAT COVER. How stinking cute is it?? The art made me almost desperate to know what stories these characters were trying to tell.

Reason 2: YA Romance, much?

I am 100% there.

All these stories were precious, some tugging at my little love-obsessed heart, while others made me laugh at loud. Our settings range from two young men meeting while walking their dogs to that annoying apartment neighbor across the way who keeps playing his guitar super loud while you are trying to enjoy some peace.

“Love Delivered” by Erin A. Craig
Too cute! Millie and her parents are uprooted from their home because of a job offer in a hospital needing help working with COVID-19 patients. While Millie’s parents work seemingly unending hours, Millie meets the cute pizza delivery boy.

“The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade” by Bill Konigsberg
I am absolutely debating if this one is my all-time favorite in the collection. It is so hard to decide! Remember earlier when I mentioned the socially distancing young men who meet while walking their dogs? Yeah, I think that about sums up this stinking cute story.

“One Day” by Sajni Patel
A young man plays his guitar in the apartment across the alley with headphones in, not realizing that he is disturbing the peace of the girl’s apartment opposite him. The girl throws a shoe, the guy holds it hostage. Romeo and Juliet, right? Trust me, it is funny and adorable!

“The Rules of Comedy” by Auiane Desombre
This one, ugh. I liked it but I got a bit annoyed. Complaining about millennials on TikTok? Yeah, I almost skipped this one. It was cute, in the end.

“The New Boy Next Door” by Natasha Preston
Hellloooo, bad boy next door. Well, almost. He is just mad about moving, but it is fine because both end up bonding over the tree between both yards. Sounds odd, but it was adorable.

“Love with a Side of Fortune” by Brittney Morris
I giggled at this one. Mom was a little nuts. Going to a fortune-telling on almost a daily basis? Yeah, that was a little much for me. But, hey. You do you. I liked the daughter, though. She was funny!

“Stuck with Her” by Rachael Lippincott
Going into this story, I kind of pegged early on what would happen, but was not sure how the author would get there. My heart really hurt for our main character, though.

“Masked” by Erin Hahn
This one totally threw me, BUT I LOVED IT. It’s American Idol-esque.

Overall, I give this anthology a solid 4!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this to review!

i really wanted to like this book set during the times of cholera. ope i mean covid. same same. that's okay. you'll prolly like it if you're single because that's who its for.

a very cute and endearing YA contemporary romance. nothing too groundbreaking but it was nice for a relaxing and light weekend read. great for teens and new adult readers looking for light escapism

This is a collection of short romantic stories...Love In The Time of COVID-19 Quarantine. There were a lot of very sweet stories throughout. When first reading this, I was hesitant because I've dived into books for escapism, but it was very sweet and hopeful about a time AQ (after quarantine). I've often wondered what books/movies/TV would look like in this new reality and I think the authors did well in executing realistic rom-coms.
-Love Delivered by Erin Craig - 2
-The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade by Bill Konigsberg - 4 (very cute, socially awkward, and who doesn't love a dog meet-cute).
-One Day by Sajni Patel - 4 (water guns is such a good idea for enforcing the 6 feet rule)
-The Rules of Comedy by Auriane Desombre - 3
-The New Boy Next Door by Natasha Preston - 2 (not a fan of brooding guys who are just ~soo~ magnetic)
-Love with a Side of Fortune by Jennifer Yen - 2
-The Green Thumb War by Brittney Morris - 5 (I enjoyed the switching perspectives of the main characters, I think it worked well to allow insight into both characters in a short story form)
-Stuck with Her by Rachael Lippincott - 2 (who doesn't like a good rival to lovers arc, but it was a bit too rushed in this medium)
-Masked by Erin Hahn - 4

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While still living in a pandemic, thank you COVID, I thought it was high time to dive into Together, Apart. I feel like now was way better for me instead of when I actually received the eARC. Mostly because I laughed so hard since I've basically lived through some of this already. Especially when we got to the plant chapters.

I actually took a screenshot from my phone and sent it to my sister, the plant killer. She wasn't thrilled and said that they are probably dying from my dark energy. Which may or may not be true.. but I don't go near the plants and they don't go near me. So I'm fully blaming her for killing the plants in our condo. So many plant victims.

Plus she killed my cactus.

Other than that one story, all the other ones had their own unique awkwardness and cuteness. I was actually surprised with so many characters finding a new love or friendship during this hard time. I'm sure that has actually happened throughout the world. Not for me because I barely leave the house and when I do.. I hope to never run into anyone I know because I'm on a mission. Get stuff and go back into my bubble and be safe.

Not sure what the world will be like once we can go back to being normal full time but I'm also not in a rush to do so. Thriving in the hermit life with my books.

First off, I went into Together Apart without knowing one key thing about the short story collection - all the stories have happy endings. I start off when that because while I enjoy a good happy ending, reading through an anthology and having every single story wrap up perfectly happily was weirdly overwhelming. So while I was reading, a book with stories about the COVID pandemic nonetheless, I didn’t expect every story to have a happily ever after and instead of leaving me happy and optimistic (as it should have), it almost left me uneasy. But the point of the story collection is to provide hope in a time that often feels hopeless.

Each story in the book is set during the COVID pandemic and quarantine, when the world was basically shut down for months. Each story is a hopeful and sweet YA journey that really demonstrated so much of the fear, confusion, worry, and (yes, again) hope that we have all been feeling over the past year. Even more, I think these stories will all be so important for teenagers experiencing the disappointments of things like missing out on prom, graduation, friendship experiences, etc. I laughed and smiled a lot. I got a big emotional. But none of the stories brought me to tears, and I am an emotional reader. Each of these stories was so sweet, and they were all so diverse and different. I really enjoyed that. I’m not huge on short stories, but I felt these were perfect in length and gave me just enough to connect with the characters and look forward to the future and feel a sense of excitement for what’s to come.

I just wish I would’ve went in with the expectation of all happy endings. That would have completely changed my experience while reading. Instead, hindsight is a bit closer to 20/20.

This was really cute! I enjoyed each story which is rare for me, usually short story collections tend to be hit or miss. A few I think would be great if they were expanded into novels. I also really appreciated the diversity. Overall this was a quick, very enjoyable read. 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for review. All opinions are my own, as usual.

5 stars to this entire anthology as a whole !I never felt like I had to push through a story. I'll quickly break down my thoughts for each story. These bullets are taken almost word-for-word from my phone so get ready for some raw reaction thoughts. For each one, I'll focus on the romance and how well Covid was used in the story. My Kindle told me they took about an average of 30 minutes each for me to read, around 30 pages in paperback form.

1. Pizza Boy by Erin A. Craig
4 stars
-Pizza+Chocolate Cake+Horror Books= Adorable romance
-Interesting seeing early stages of Covid (very few masks, people not knowing how to talk to each other from 6 feet apart, etc.)

2. The Socially Distant Dog Walking Brigade by Bill Konigsberg
4 stars
TW: Self harm mentioned, struggles with coming out
-Had very deep discussions about sexuality in a short story
-Any romance with dogs is so cute
-This is one of the only stories where Covid wouldn't have changed the story too much, but that doesn't mean it was bad

3. One Day by Sajni Patel
4.5 stars
-OMG adorable!! (exactly how I wrote that in my phone)
-Meet cute to the extreme+fun sibling=my favorite (eat a piece of chocolate every time I say a story's my favorite, you will hate chocolate after)

4. The Rules of Comedy by Auriane Desombre
5 stars
-My new (actually) favorite one
-TikTok, older sister, soda, comedy
-Gay!
-Related to this one the most just in terms of friends, the main character Facetimes her crush and that's how I spent a lot of my (still ongoing) quarantine

5. The New Boy Next Door by Natasha Preston
4.75 stars
-My second favorite
-Brooding teen but such a simp
-Though it was quick, I felt the relationship was pretty realistic for being next door neighbors

6. Love With a Side of Fortune by Jennifer Yen
2.5 stars
-My least favorite
-Own-voices, but I thought the plot device was stereotypical for an Asian family and just overdone in short stories (mom believes everything a fortune teller tells her)
-Character broke Covid rules! This is really my major problem. In all of the other stories, the character never went anywhere besides each other's houses and they were always outside. If they didn't have masks (looking at the range of time, that wouldn't be completely inaccurate for some of the stories) they were always 6 feet apart. In this story, the characters eat at the family's restaurant without masks, go to a museum, and hold hands. The main character and her best friend also hug and seemingly aren't wearing masks. Every other story used not being able physically be together as an emotional but almost inspiring part of the book to stop the spread, but this one didn't.

7. The Green Thumb War by Britney Morris
3 stars
-There wasn't a lot of character development
-One of the main conflicts of the story could have easily been solved, spoiler warning for the parentheses:

(They could have just brought the dishes out to each other from 6 feet away, but instead he throws the stuff to her!?)

8. Stuck with Her by Rachael Lippincott
3.25 stars
-Not much character development and the romance was a little rushed
-Gay enemies-to-lovers (you all know I love enemies-to-lovers!)

9. Masked by Erin Hahn
4.25 stars
-American Idol amazingness
-Liked the flashback
-The most out-there in terms of relatability, but still fun
-I don't know whether to admire the main girl's sacrifice or question why she thought she would never be able to wear a fancy dress that she spent hours making for prom. Both?

Overall the stories were good. I loved the premise of the book and the short stories inside. Some are better than others but I enjoyed it.

2020 was awful, and 2021 is still really tough, especially for young adults. This book is a collection of stories written by some popular contributing YA authors who do a great job of bringing the angst of this time period to the page. Definitely a collection worth reading.

I loved the meet cutes in this collection so much. I was so happy to see some of my friends in this. Erin Hahn had my favorite story in this book. Each of these could be an entire novel and I’d read them all. Loved it.

This was an enjoyable collection of short stories taking place during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The characters are diverse and show a range of realities for people living through this crisis.

This book will be a definite purchase for our high school library! Thank you so much for allowing me to have access to the digital arc!

All of the stories in Together, Apart are so cute and show a glimmer of hope and joy during such a difficult and devastating time. My favorites in the collection were “Love with a Side of Fortune” by Jennifer Yen and “Masked” by Erin Hahn, but they were all so good!

“Love, Delivered” by Erin A. Craig - 4 stars
A strong start to the collection, “Love, Delivered” was a fun meet-cute and explored what it might feel like to have moved right as the lockdown began. When it ended, I wanted more of Millie and Luka's story so that's good sign!

“The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade” by Bill Konigsberg - 4 stars
I love dogs, so I loved the idea of two people meeting while walking their dogs! Kaz and Daxton instantly connect and begin meeting up daily to walk their dogs together (while six feet apart, of course).

“One Day” by Sajni Patel - 3.5 stars
Being in a cramped apartment with your family during lockdown would be hard, and Sajni Patel captures this feeling in Bobby. Her annoyance comes to a bursting point when she goes to her balcony for peace and quiet only to hear a bit playing guitar. So of course she throws her shoe at him, and then they start communicating through a whiteboard and later text. Very cute!

“The Rules of Comedy” by Auriane Desombre - 3 stars
While the “The Rules of Comedy” was cute, it was my least favorite in the collection. I did like that there was a focus on a sister relationship (especially the gap on high school/college age) and how part of the love story unfolds through TikTok.

“The New Boy Next Door” by Natasha Preston - 3.5 stars
The boy next door trope is a classic, and “The New Boy Next Door” was a fun lockdown take on it. Quinn was super friendly and it was neat to see how her neighborhood came together to try to support each other during the difficult time.

“Love With a Side of Fortune” by Jennifer Yen - 5 stars
I've been looking forward to reading Jennifer Yen's debut A Taste for Love, so I'm super glad that I loved “Love With a Side of Fortune” as much as I did! Michelle is working at her family's Chinese restaurant during lockdown, so when her crush Evan picks up an order, it's a pleasant surprise. But then Evan keeps returning as his parents both work at the hospital, and sparks fly between him and Michelle!

“The Green Thumb War” by Brittney Morris - 4 stars
Another apartment story, I love how Billie and Bastian windows were right across from each other. The dual POVs was a fun change-up for the collection, and their competition was cute!

“Stuck With Her” by Rachael Lippincott - 4 stars
As someone who had a terrible roommate my freshman year of college, I cannot imagine being in quarantine with her. I would have gone out of my mind. So I could sadly relate to Mia's annoyance and anger a little too closely. But this one has a happy ending!

“Masked” by Erin Hahn - 5 stars
I’ve read and loved both of Erin Hahn’s novels, so it’s no surprise that “Masked” was one of my favorites in the collection! It was absolutely adorable! I loved how Gray destroyed her dream dress in order to sew masks for her community, the dual POVs of her and Jude, how they met, and the secret musician/celebrity identity reveal.

As with all short story collection, some are better than others. It may be because I'm reading this almost a year into quarantine, but the stories all felt a little bit saccharine. It's easy to tell that this was written at the beginning of the pandemic (a lot of references to things being normal by summer or fall), which, while not the authors' faults, definitely leaves me feeling a little depressed.

Is it possible to have a meet cute in quarantine? Yes, yes it is! Assortment of straight and queer relationships develop in the middle of a pandemic. Whether it's flirting with the pizza delivery guy or bantering over Chinese take-out, meeting someone from the next balcony or while walking your dog, all of these romances begin to blossom because of Covid. In these stories, everyone is concerned and everyone is taking precautions seriously. Most are expressing some level of anxiety, are being personally affected by the virus, and are meeting or interacting with someone they otherwise would not.

I voluntarily read this book and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. This book is well written and the characters are described well. I really enjoyed this anthology. It is a good read. It is enjoyable and it defines how everyone is doing because of Covid-19. This book is in stores now for $9.99 (USD). I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Several authors come together in this collection to share short stories set during the current pandemic. There's a definite sense of melancholy given the situation, but there's also a sense of hope in the connections the characters are able to make even despite the circumstances. I enjoyed each of these stories, relating to their feelings of frustration at being cooped up and enjoying the creative ways they made new friends--and even found love--while taking precautions and being safe. Whether flirting to the cute boy on the balcony across the way, falling for the pizza delivery boy, connecting with someone while out walking the dog, or bonding in an oak tree, among other ways, these stories capture our reality and that we really aren't alone in this.

This book is everything I needed right now! Filled with short stories from various authors about finding love amidst the pandemic. Thank you to @Netgalley for allowing me to read an early readers’ copy in exchange for an honest review.