This anthology had a good group of stories. They were diverse and I loved that it was all science fiction or fantasy stories. I would definitely read longer or expanded versions of some of the stories. Overall it was a solid collection.

This is a strong collection with diverse view points and experiences within the Latinx sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism genres. The writing is good, the variety of worlds and situations is interesting.with magical, star-crossed space princesses from rival houses, curses, post-apocalyptic timelines, giant stuffed bunnies, spaceships, and a very loyal goat there is sure to be a story to suit whatever you may be in the mood for.

The anthology as a whole was just okay. There was a few standout stories, but overall I was kind of bored. I think it may have been better if there was a couple less stories, giving  a bit more space for some others to expand just a little.

I think the majority of readers will enjoy this and anthologies are always a good way to get a sample of an author’s writing before diving into a full length book. I recommend for YA SFF fans

It was by accident that I learned of this short story collection. I was on Twitter and I came across a tweet posted by Circe Moskowitz, one of the contributors to this collection. Her tweet convinced me to read a book I had never heard of called Tender is the Flesh, a book I still think about. I started following her after I read the book and saw one of her tweets about this collection. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy and I can safely say I enjoyed every single story. 

Normally when I read short story collections, there is always one or two (or sometimes three or four) stories that just don’t do it for me. But in Reclaim the Stars, I enjoyed every one. All of them. All 17 stories. Each one is written from a Latin perspective, interchanging English, Spanish and Taino, which I loved. The descriptions of the different regions where each story takes place, aside from being in space, are rich in details, from the food to the clothing to the characteristics of each character.

Some of the stories had me in my feelings. I either cried tears of joy or sadness, raged or felt hopeful. There is a plethora of characters to choose from different backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations. You know, like real life. But there is also a lot of magic, both literally and figuratively. These characters live and travel through space, can speak to the ocean and its creatures, or move between worlds. I can only imagine the young ones who will read these stories and imagine themselves in them. 

I can’t wait to read the finished edition so I can fall into these stories all over again.

*Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for providing me with this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!*

Sum It Up: 
Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms and Space is a curated collection of sci-fi and fantasy short stories that explore the Latinx diaspora in this world and the next. This book is divided into categories including “To the Stars,” “The Magical Now” and “Other Times, Other Realms” creating an immersive and tonal atmosphere for the reader to slip into as they enjoy the unique contributions of various POC voices. 

Who Should Read This: 
I would recommend this book for anyone in a reading slump that’s looking to get back into fantasy without committing to an entire book or series. This anthology allows for readers to sample and enjoy different authors and story styles while only occupying your attention for 5-10 pages. It was very easy to pick this up, read a few stories, and feel comfortable putting it down knowing I could return at a later time without feeling lost. 

My Favorite Stories: 
Most of the stories were just okay, but there were a few stand-out moments that really made me say “wow.” I really enjoyed “Creatures of Kings,” a story about a young girl’s relationship with Death, which reminded me a lot of Pan’s Labyrinth and did an excellent job of exploring complex worlds within worlds. Another story, “This is Our Manifesto” gave me big 1984 vibes with an excellent opening line and some really insightful commentary on the prison industrial complex. Would highly recommend this story if you're looking for something dystopian on a smaller, more digestible scale. 

Overall, I rated Reclaim the Stars 4 stars for the variety in the stories and the formatting and style of the collection as a whole. While some of the stories failed to catch my attention or lacked detail, the stories that stood out really carried the experience for me.

Reclaim the Starts is a whimsical and diverse anthology filled with adventure, magic, love, and family. 

It’s composed of seventeen short stories written by Latinx YA authors, who transcend the realm of time and space. Every story is wildly different, and the genres span between fantasy, sci-fi, and dystopian. It’s a great book for when you need a quick read! I particularly loved the diversity and different lore; it felt as though I was reading a dark fairytale. Not to mention the cover is beautiful!!

I highly recommend it if you love magical realism and folklore! Here are just some of my favorite short stories from the book:

•Reign of Diamonds by Anna-Marie Mclemore is about two princesses who must fight to the death to satisfy a peace treaty between their worlds. 

•Creatures of Kings by Circe Moskowitz. What happens when a God of death and a girl of flesh fall in love?

•Eterno by J.C. Cervantes explores destiny and who we’re supposed to be, rather than who our family wants us to be.  

•Tame the Wicked Night by Zoraida Cordova is a story about curses and love.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

I had really high hopes for this one. I love so many authors that were featured in this anthology. However, this one fell a little flat for me. It started out great and I loved the first few stories that were more sci-fi and dystopian like "Reign of Diamonds" by Anna-Marie McLemore about two princesas (who secretly love each other) having to fight to the death for control of the galaxy. Then there was "Flecha" by Daniel Jose Older about going back to a planet you once loved only to find it destroyed by climate change and 'The First Day of Us" by David Bowles about the start of polyamorous relationship on a space station. And of course "The Tin Man' by Lilliam Rivera about a dystopian world ravaged by sickness and how to survive alone. 

Ok, so it's very clear that I liked the stories in the first section "To the Stars" the best. After that the stories were just ok, and I wanted more from them. More of the adventure in the first section and less of what was happening in the next two. This is of course just my opinion, and like I said I had really high expectations for this collection, so that could be part of why I feel like the rest of the stories fell flat. I also feel like the stories in the first section were a little shorter so maybe that's why I enjoyed them more. The ones in the other sections just felt a little long for short stories and they seemed to drag. Overall, this is still a decent book and explores themes in the Latinx diaspora very well.

This was so beautiful with so many voices of the Latin diaspora reflected in these fantastical stories. Two of the strongest stories I read were from debut writers Linda and Circe Moskowitz. Removed one star for the inclusion of anti-indigenous writers, Isabel Ibanez, David Bowles and Sara Faring ( I did not read those stories)

This bold and mystical short story collection, showcasing voices from the Latinx diaspora through the lens of speculative fiction (á la A Phoenix First Must Burn) made me so thankful for stories and magic. The atmosphere was impeccable. I so appreciated the broad range of voices in this story; there were feminist stories and love stories and tales of standing up for what is right. Not only was it diverse in voices, but it was sprawling in scope, touching on magical realms and unique ideas while also interweaving issues from everyday teenage life. It was such a unique collection, and with many of the stories, I found myself spellbound, my spirits lifted as I absorbed these much-needed messages and enchanting backdrops. A few stand-outs for me were Leyenda by Romina Garber—a true picture of strong females in YA that we need so much more of—Color-Coded by Maya Motayne—a wholesome story about the transition between child and adolescent, with a very creative quirk—and Tame the Wicked Night by Zoraida Cordova—a riveting story that gave gender-flipped Beauty and the Beast vibes. As for every anthology, there were a few stories that I enjoyed less, but overall I was so happy with the execution of this wonderful idea. We can never have enough of these stories and voices in YA, and I so appreciate the people who promote them.

I love anthologies because each story is a little snapshot of a new world, as well as the person who created it. They’re an excellent way to discover authors or revisit favorite ones in unexpected ways. When I first heard about Reclaim the Stars, I knew it was my kind of book. Not only did this collection hold stories from various Latinx authors I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time, but those same stories would take place in both the fantasy and science fiction genres—I wouldn’t have to choose!

As different as these stories are, they all share common themes of love and loss, power and commitment, kindness and cruelty. They’re reflections of our own world, molded by the words that transport us into new realities. I was also delighted to find that so many of these authors wrote queer love stories.

I came for the stories by the Rick Riordan Presents authors (J.C. Cervantes, Daniel José Older, and Mark Oshiro) but discovered a huge array of new writers I'm interested in. My favorite tales were from Anna-Marie McLemore, David Bowles, Isabel Ibañez, and--far and away--Zoraida Córdova.

Raw, moving, and powerful. This collection of short stories touches upon what it means to love, to grow, to grieve, to live. An excellent volume on any shelf.

The first story by Anna-Marie McLemore is amazing but it is all down hill from there. I keep trying to read this anthology but decided to give up after the next three stories were only 1 and 2 stars. I DNF'd this at around 25%

I love scifi and speculative fiction. Reclaim the Stars is full of supernatural, fantasy, space, magical, queer, and/or romance stories all centering Latinx people. It opens with a tale of princesses who are destined to duel for the right to wield power. There is a moving and sweet parable about puberty. The revenge stories are delicious. Brujas! It hit me during a story about a mermaid how wonderful and powerful it is to read a story and know what the real world location looks like, especially if it is Puerto Rico. I am purchasing this book for myself and keeping it on my gift list.

I loved this collection, and I especially love that there are stories to share with my students, stories that I think they will connect and relate to no matter where they are from. This group of stories includes work from some of my favorite authors, specifically Anna-Marie McLemore and Zoraida Cordova, These stories are lush, beautiful, and thoughtful; many of the stories go beyond the genre to help the reader think about things like climate change, or how we fit into our families, or what the consequences are for being ourselves.  Like every collection, you're not going to love every story in the same way, but I think that people will enjoy most stories and find those ones that speak specifically to them.  Wonderful writing, beautiful work!

I am very excited to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this anth9logy. I loved the fresh perspectives in sci-fi and fantasy short stories. They’re all vibrant, richly detailed, and full of interesting characters. Many of them absolutely also directly reflect the heritage and culture of the contributors, and others feature latinx references and language. I loved the variety of writing styles, and I feel that this is a true gem of short story anthologies; not a single story in here was “a clunker” so to speak, and that isn’t the case foe other anthologies I’ve read over the years. Every story ranged from very good to outstanding!

This collection of short stories was wonderful to read! I loved how Reclaim the Stars brought such different voices together and how each short story tackled various themes in ways that kept me continuously hooked in. Although I really did enjoy this collection, there were a few stories that did leave me wanting more or wishing that they were shorter. I also wanted to give a special mention to my favourite story in the book, “Eterno” by J.C. Cervantes; this story kept me completely mesmerized and I wish that I could read a full-sized book based off of this story alone! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Zoraida Córdova for the eArc copy of this book!

This is such a brilliant and fantastical collection of short stories to share latinx folklore. I loved that this collection featured so many authors I haven't heard of before, as it introduced me to new content and writing styles; this combined with the length 0f the stories made it a quick fun read!

I didn't finish this book, I did read about 40% of it. I felt a lot, if not most, of the stories really struggled with the small amount of space they had, and considering the size of the book, it may have been better to have less authors to give their stories more room to breathe.

I have to review every NetGalley book I get or my ratio won't hit 100%, the "I will not be giving feedback" button doesn't count, thanks for understanding!

I have to admit that short stories clearly aren’t my cup of tea but the ones that I did read were wonderful.

Reclaim the Stars was a remarkably strong anthology, I was impressed by how many high quality stories there were in this collection. It was refreshing to see retellings of new, diverse stories (and made me want to read the originals!)

It’s always difficult to review anthologies because there’s so many stories, so I’ll just call out my favorites:

Reign of Diamonds - Absolutely loved this one. I mean, its about two space princesses with magic who are in a fight to the death. How could you not want to read that? 
Eterno - I would like a full book or series set in this world please. I loved how dark this one was. 
Tame the Wicked - Gender swapped beauty and the beast, always a yes for me

It’s always a treat to find a new anthology that I love, and I can’t wait to add a physical copy of this one to my shelves. I hope that we’ll get more anthology from Latinx authors as well (or even a part two of this one!).