This one was okay. Some stories were good but some I could have done without.
I’m not sure if short stories are for me. I’m always left wanting more

An entire set of stories that are set during the night shift. Anthologies are some of the best ways to find new authors or see some of your favorites flex their writing skills. Short stories are always interesting to me as the author must grab the reader's attention from the first page, build the characters and back story and amaze us with the reveal all in a few chapters. As always when reading an anthology, some resonate with the reader more than the others, a few will leave you wondering how the author managed to put so much into such a short number of words and I've read some that will leave you wondering if someone left something out. UP ALL NIGHT hits all the highs and a few lows but overall, it's well worth your reading time.

Up All Night

Up All Night , the YA short story collection edited by Laura Silverman, contains stories that take place between sunrise and sunset.

I honestly have not been a fan of anthologies because short stories never satisfies my curiosity. I always want more. But this anthology some of my favorite authors so I thought I would give it a try. The 13 stories in this collection all take place between late afternoon/early evening and sunrise. They’re a mixed bag—some are love stories, some are about friendship, and there are even a few creepy stories.

There are a lot of YA authors whose work I enjoy or at the very least familiar with in this collection and some I’ve either never read before or I’m not familiar with. I loved the diversity in these stories—racial, gender, sexual, even characters with disabilities.

As with any short story collection, there are some stories that were stronger or resonated more with me. I am amazed by the talent YA writers seem to possess. It is truly the reason why it’s among my favorite genres to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I didn’t have time for this book when I was approved. I plan to read it in the future though. Looks fun!

i've always been intrigued by stories that take place in the span of a day - or a night. as a kid, being up all night felt fresh and daring and exciting, like so many things were possible in the liminal space between sunset and sunrise. now that i'm older, it's a hard pass on staying up all night; early bedtime and memory foam pillow are calling my name! but the appeal of stories that unfold in those liminal hours, that still holds for me.

though this anthology wasn't a particular standout for me personally, i think what i liked best about this collection were the themes of (re)connections and revelations that occur in the softness of the night.

many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

1: Never Have I Ever by Karen McManus — ★
this story very much reminded me of the hashtag #crimingwhilewhite: white kids being all (view spoiler) “hot” while getting away with shit that could’ve had brown and Black kids incarcerated or brutalized is not my idea of a good story. (this story left a poor taste in my mouth, actually.) not to mention, of course the east and south asian girls were cast as “tightass” and uptight? it's 2021. can we move beyond this tired stereotype?

2: Like Before by Maurene Goo — ★★★★
stories about friendship always hit me in my softest parts - and friendships on the verge of breakup? an earnest protagonist scrabbling to piece them back together? my heart’s a little sore after this one, in a good way.

3: Old Rifts and Snowdrifts by Kayla Whaley — ★★★½
i LOVE the casual diverse rep in this story - the narrator is a disabled bisexual girl who uses a wheelchair, and her love interest is japanese american (with a south asian side character).

also, a personal point of resonance: this is the first time i’ve encountered casual rep/discussion in a YA story of how sleeping arrangements can be complicated/difficult for disabled people. i really relate to this, as someone with primary lymphedema and needs to wear a specialized garment to bed while elevating my leg - it makes spontaneous sleeping arrangements really uncomfortable (sometimes painful), and i appreciated seeing a character in a YA story mention that we have to consider these things!

on a different note, i think i struggle with romantic short stories because it really takes me time to build up connections and investment and chemistry with the characters/their pairing. it’s why i’ve always vastly preferred slow-burns to (abominable) insta-love - and short stories don’t really give me the space to percolate in my feels.

4: Con Nights, Parallel Hearts by Marieke Nijkamp — ★★★★
this one also hurt my heart, and i think marieke nijkamp blends disparate elements—so effectively: it’s short but packs an emotional punch. reading the words “i’m not doing okay” written on the page

5: Kiss the Boy by Amanda Joy — ★★½
again with what i mentioned earlier, i have a hard time connecting to romantic short stories! i personally don’t get as invested in the characters’ stakes and i’m left wanting more from the story.

6: Creature Capture by Laura Silverman — ★★★
cute!!! though this story didn't leave as much of an emotional imprint on me, i nonetheless love the similarities of creature capture to pokemon go - and the camaraderie that can come out of playing the game.

7: Shark Bait by Tiffany D. Jackson — ★★
wasn’t really the story for me? but seeing others’ reviews, this one was quite moving for different readers. i think the ending/resolution was a little abrupt for me, and didn’t leave me feeling great.

8: A Place to Start by Nina LaCour — ★★★½
this one unfolded quietly but meaningfully, and i enjoyed the way that the two characters spent their night redecorating their new house and forging a closer bond as new siblings. i’m realizing throughout the course of this collection that i’m really favouring the stories that talk about forging (re)connections between people in non-romantic contexts

9: When You Bring a Dog to Prom by Anna Meriano — ★★½
again, i just don’t really connect to short stories centred around romance! this one left me a little wanting, though i did like the casual BIPOC and queer rep.

10: Missing by Kathleen Glasgow — ★★★
this one genuinely creeped me out and then ended on a quieter note than i was expecting

11: What About Your Friends by Brandy Colbert — ★★★
again again: stories about friendships really touch me. especially when it involves friends working through conflicts messily but still ultimately with compassion. though this wasn’t my favourite show of brandy colbert’s writing (i fell IN LOVE with the voting booth), i still enjoyed it!

12: Under Our Masks by Julian Winters — ★★★★
okay okay, i know i said i don’t really vibe with romances - but this one really touched me in a soft spot! i fully credit julian winters’ easy-to-fall-into writing, and the parallels he drew between coming out as a superhero and coming out as gay.

13: The Ghost of Goon Creek by Francesca Zappia — ★★★★
this was such a feel-good story for me, even though it wasn’t necessarily as fluffy as some of the others in this anthology - and that’s what i love about this final story in the collection. the feelings just emerged in me as i read about the bonds being forged in the graveyard, new friends on a spontaneous adventure.

I am amazed at how much authors can pack into a short story. It takes a lot of talent to have well developed characters and interesting storylines in just a chapter length piece. I am drawn to anthologies more and more. Up All Night was a fun concept and I was pleased by the variety of stories. There were a few on the scary or chilling side, but there were also some lighter stories featuring friends or romance. Because the storylines and characters aren’t connected to each other, this is a great one to pick up if you know you’ll be reading off and on and can’t commit to an entire novel.

What a delightful and nostalgic collection! The stories featured in "Up All Night" bring me back to my High School years, with all the feelings, relationships, and realness. This collections brings together wonderfully diverse voices and each story features its diversity in an authentic way. This is inclusion! I don't remember the last time I read a collection of short stories. Most of these featured fairly innocuous tales of friendship or romance, though I was definitely blindsided by one pretty creepy horror story. One of the stories features a game similar to Pokemon Go and it was just plain fun! I absolutely recommend this collection!

This is a great anthology of short stories all connected by their night settings. These stories represent a wide range of different genres, cultures and perspectives. It would be a great choice for a middle school classroom.

I will always be a sucker for a thematic short story anthology. This one was especially fun because late-night adventures always have a certain amount of magic.

As usual with short story anthologies, not all stories are created equal. However, I loved seeing the very different takes on the simple theme of each story taking place between sunset and sunrise. We got thrillers and horror and scifi and contemporary and romance all in one small package. I think the thrillers took the cake for being most engaging (because of the formulaic nature of a thriller and the ease of building tension in a short time) but I was fascinated by the cleverness of the scifi (even if the executions kind of fell flat). Romance and contemporary isn't really my jam, but Nina LaCour definitely got my attention with her story.

I enjoyed these ya short stories. They follow characters you have various adventures throughout the night. All of these stories take place during the same night. As the hours progress the stories get more intense. Not a bad compilation.

Good book. I haven’t seen it talked about a lot which is a shame it deserves to get a bit of hype the characters stories were all intriguing and it just made me want to keep reading. Didn’t want to put it down once I’d started it. .

Up All Night is a collection of late-night YA adventures, edited by Laura Silverman, with short stories by Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Glasgow, Maurene Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina LaCour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Meriano, Marieke Nijkamp, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters and Francesca Zappia.

Even though (almost) all the stories are great, Up All Night is hard to read in one sitting. There are just too many coming-of-age epiphanies in one small book. The pattern of meeting a new cast of teenage characters at a dramatic late-night turning point makes it emotionally exhausting to read this all at ones. This is a collection where you read a story — or maybe two — and then do something else for a bit.

I was already a fan of Maurene Goo and Karen M. McManus, so I was delighted to see their stories in this collection. McManus’ story, Never Have I Ever, has her signature Brat Pack-movie feel with a huge twist at the end. I wasn’t familiar with Tiffany D. Jackson before this book, but her story Shark Bait is a standout in this collection. Race, class, and believable characters facing spoken and unspoken social expectations. I also liked the wide representation in this book in general. The teen friendgroups in the book didn’t look like teen movies used to, but it felt realistic and honest, not forced.

Up All Night really captured a variety of intense, dramatic teenage moments in this collection.

I was excited about this book because although I’m not a huge fan of short stories, I do like a good number of the authors who wrote stories in this book. Most of them have a writing style or themes I really enjoy. I know this book was supposed to be fun and quirky, but I think I’ve just come to the conclusion that I’m very picky about the short story collections I enjoy. Unfortunately I found the stories in this one to be predictable and forgettable. The writing of the authors wasn’t bad and there were a couple of good notes, but as a whole I just didn’t feel any type of way towards this collection. I think someone in high school might really enjoy these, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I loved this! I love anthologies and short stories with running themes and this did a lot of justice to so many different genres, cultures, and abilities. if you're looking for a fun, sweet book to read and are a fan of short stories, this is a great choice!

Like most anthologies, there are some stories that are more enjoyable then others. Overall though, this was a good read that I would recommend picking up.

First of all I love short stories, second of all I love YA. Third of all I loved the authors who wrote these short stories and the stories itself.
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Nighttime are those magical hours when anything can happen, anything is possible and you can become a different version of yourself. I loved all of these stories. The best part of short stories is you can read a story and come back to the next one. I loved it.

Thank you @algonquin for an advanced copy

My Thoughts:
These short stories by YA authors are the perfect book 99 out of 100 for the year because they are from trusted YA authors and the stories are just twisty enough to enjoy the short story genre. If at the end of the story I am left saying WHAT???!!! that's a good sign.

The short stories are as diverse in genre and character, but they all have a little bit of weird, which is expected in the wee hours of the night and early morning. Everything happens on one night so although we sometimes get a back story, the pacing is very dynamic.

Like chefs that have a distinct taste profile, many of these authors stick with their genres, but there are some surprises. I was sure Maureen Goo would write a romance, but she wrote a short story about three friends who lost their relationship along the way and one of the friends goes through a lot of trouble to conjure the past in "Like Before." It is not her usual romance, but it is still sweet and sad.

From the Publisher:
When everyone else goes to bed, the ones who stay up feel like they’re the only people in the world. As the hours tick by deeper into the night, the familiar drops away and the unfamiliar beckons. Adults are asleep, and a hush falls over the hum of daily life. Anything is possible.

It’s a time for romance and adventure. For prom night and ghost hunts. It’s a time for breaking up, for falling in love—for finding yourself.

Stay up all night with these thirteen short stories from bestselling and award-winning YA authors like Karen McManus, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nina LaCour, and Brandy Colbert, as they take readers deep into these rarely seen, magical hours.

Full contributor list: Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Glasgow, Maurene Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina LaCour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Meriano, Marieke Nijkamp, Laura Silverman, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters, Francesca Zappia.

This is a delightful collection of short stories from some of my favorite YA writers. It's all about summer and gives the best vibes.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.