Such a fun concept that is also really powerful and important. I thought there was a great variety of stories that illustrated multiple cultures and lives.

I asked to read this book because I teach a modernized traditional story unit to my 8th graders and currently use a similar collection using Asian tales - A Thousand Beginnings and Endings. I was looking for a companion text to vary my offerings. I definitely can see using some of these stories for that purpose, particularly those by: Amparo Ortiz, Torrey Maldonado, and Monica Sanz.

I absolutely loved the Latinx spin on all of these stories that we’ve heard so many times and I look forward to getting this into the hands of Latinx students

this had such a great premise, but the majority of the stories were so badly written like why are we retelling Hamlet where he's a robot with a pregnant teen girlfriend? Why are we mentioning making out 10 times in a 20-page Beauty and the Beast retelling? It's a little better going in thinking of them as standalone stories because they remixed the originals to the point where the entire plot was gone. This would've been 1 star if it wasn't for Prefiero No, and Prefiero No only

Here’s the thing:

There are too many books and not enough time in the world. My ADD is outrageous, and if you can’t grip me in 2 chapters, I will lose the plot I fear. Now here we are still waiting for a review. Well, here is what I have right now. Even if I were to “choose not to review” it counts that ratio so let’s chat about it.

This was sadly a DNF for me. I could never get into the story. I’ve read others in the series but this one just lost my interest and couldn’t get back into it.

As a Latine I want to love all the Latine voices, but I think I enjoyed maybe one or two and. I read a few.

I adored the concept of this anthology. I enjoyed reading these queer, modern, Latine remixes of classic stories. Unfortunately I found they fell short in craft. Writing a short story is much more difficult than writing a novel. Some of these authors really nailed the challenge. Several stories, however, had extremely intricate worlds that either distracted from the actual story or left me completely confused. They may have made excellent novels but simply didn’t work as a short story.
My favourites: Thornfield by Monica Sanz, Prefiero No by Alexandra Villasante, and Tesoro by Sandra Proudman.

In general I really love these anthologies. Some of these individual stories were stronger than others, some I could have done without, but the representation was and will always be important.

I did not enjoy the short stories. Maybe with the retelling of Jane Eyre, but otherwise, some of these short retellings were cringe. Try hard. Forcing a square peg into a round hole.
Young adults may enjoy some of these short stories, but I had to give up on them.

This book had so many stories that should become cult classics. I was taken on a fantastic journey and the best part was guessing or matching up the original story to the remix.

I loved all of the stories in this book! And the concept for the book overall was one that I hadn't seen before but really enjoyed.

Loved these stories! These are super awesome takes on well known stories. They are very creative and very unique.

Relit is a very cool collection of retellings with LatinX voices and stories. Lots of these stand out but I really enjoyed the Pride and Prejudice retelling and the Beauty and the Beast retelling. I'll definitely be looking into more of these authors work in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

A modern and diverse set of short stories that pay homage to classic, canon literature. I will definitely be using this in my classroom! I loved revamped The Great Gatsby story!

Izzy and Darcy navigate Pride and Prejudice-style conflict, misunderstandings, and courtship on a colony spaceship called the ISS Hertford. In a send-up of Beauty and the Beast, Juna discovers the real monster in her new small town is not the clawed fox-tailed boy who lives in the woods, but the local mayor. And in Torrey Maldonado’s retelling of the myth of the minotaur, the dangerous labyrinth in a populous city neighborhood has its roots in a long-closed factory that exploited its workers. These 3 stories, and 13 more, by award-winning and bestselling YA authors such as Zoraida Córdova, David Bowles, and Amparo Ortiz center a Latinx point of view in an empowering anthology that reimagines classics through fantasy, science fiction, and with a dash of magic.

This is a beautiful book filled with beautiful stories. All of these stories are deeply emotional in one way or another, and they are sure to make a lasting impact on the reader. There are multiple stories that in my personal opinion are even better stories than the originals. My personal favorite is "Juna and the Fox Boy: A Remix of Beauty and the Beast" by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, though also Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories. I cried in this remix. I loved everything about that story, but especially the two main characters and their personalities. Every story, however, is exceptional. Some of them really ought to be made into full length books of their own, and I hope they are some day. This is an essential purchase for public libraries, and it will find many devoted fans among readers of all ages.

3.5

Anthologies are always a mixed bag, but there were some good stories. I really enjoyed Anna Meriano's Pride and Prejudice remix that was told in the form of video transcripts and was basically The Lizzie Bennet Diaries in space. Zoraida's version of Frankenstein about a mermaid was great. Eric Smith has a touching Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea story set in a climate ravaged future.

Some stories will work for you, some won't. Either way, it's interesting to see how the authors put a new twist on classic stories.

Relit is one of the most incredible and inspired collection of stories that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. “Evermore” and “Isla Bella” in particular put such inventive spins on the original tales. As a bookseller, I can’t wait to get this book in the hands of readers everywhere.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I really liked this collection, especially how some authors tackled stories that don’t often get retold, like “Tesoro,” Sandra Proudman’s take on Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, or “Prefiero No,” Alexandra Villasante’z remix of Herman Melville’s Bartelby, The Scrivener. I loved the creative way each author added speculative elements to these stories, even while enjoying new takes on the “usual suspects, like The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast.

Diving into Sandra Proudman's anthology, "Relit," featuring 16 Latinx remixes of classic stories, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the cohesive brilliance of it. Anthologies often come with the risk of having both hits and misses, but "Relit" managed to deliver a consistently engaging and thoroughly enjoyable collection.

One of the standout aspects of this anthology is the skillful reimagination of classic tales, including The Great Gatsby, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and The Raven. The Latinx remixes maintain the essence of the original tales while seamlessly integrating cultural nuances, adding depth and complexity to the characters' experiences.

If you're a fan of anthologies that manage to hit all the right notes, "Relit" is a must-read, offering a delightful journey through familiar yet wonderfully reimagined literary landscapes.

My favorites include:

Shame and Social Media: A Remix of Pride and Prejudice
Thornfield: A Remix of Jane Eyre
Goldi and Three Bodies: A Remix of Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Isla Bella: A Remix of the Great Gatsby
Juna and the Fox Boy: A Remix of Beauty and the Beast
Celia's Song: A Remix of The Little Mermaid

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

One look at the beautiful cover of this book, and I was smitten. This is an absolute stunner of a book, featuring writing by remarkable Latine writers, including the amazing David Bowles, who was the most familiar name to me when I picked up this anthology.

The anthology form is one that I think works particularly well for YA readers. The reader can pick and choose which stories they want to engage with. These stories are quick treats, like Forrest Gump’s fabled “box of chocolates”. You never know quite what you’re going to get. And that is the magic and the joy of this collection.

The opening story, Shame and Social Media (a twist on Pride and Prejudice) is one of the stronger entries in the collection. It takes that fabulous Lizzie Bennett spirit, and pulls it thoroughly unexpectedly into the future, with Isabel Bernal building a social media campaign around housing inequity on a spaceship. The tone that Anna Meriano builds in Isabel’s posts is just snarky enough, and the Darcy character actually gets to have some personality, which has always been one of the flaws of the original story for me.

Another standout from the collection is Sariciea J Fennell’s Goldi and the Three Bodies, if only for its audacity. Pull Alessia Cara’s “Here” up on your playlist while you read this one. Let’s just say that you don’t want to be the one that Goldi thinks is “just right”. For your readers who want a little creep with their joy, this story might be a great fit.

What will your students enjoy? Students will appreciate being able to pick and choose from this collection. Because there are stories like The Great Gatsby being riffed on here, this would also be a terrific companion for high school English classes. You could also have a lot of fun with a library display - pairing Uzma Jalaluddin’s Ayesha at Last with Pride and Prejudice and the first story in this collection. If your students (or colleagues) are looking for Bishop’s “mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors”, there are lots of openings into the Latine community here.
Thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the e-arc.