From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children’s authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray , Victoria Schwab , Natalie C. Parker , and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton .

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.

AUTHORS INCLUDE: Samira Ahmed, Libba Bray, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Natalie C. Parker, Rebecca Roanhorse, Victoria Schwab, Tara Sim, Nic Stone, and a to-be-announced debut author/short-story contest winner

Reader Reviews

Sheena

(3/5)

Nov 21, 2024

I have written a mini review for each of the 15 stories in this anthology. (By mini review I mean 1-2 sentences).A Universe of Wishes - Tara Sim An M/M romance filled with magic and wishes. There is family tragedy but also the restoration of justice and hope. I really loved this one.The Silk Blade - Natalie ParkerFemale warriors competing for the bloom prince and instead may fall in love with each other. The potential was there but something with the writing didn’t sit with me so this was okay.T...

Ashley

(2/5)

This was a pretty disappointing collection. I only enjoyed a handful of stories. I think the thing that frustrates me the most about YA fantasy and sf recently is that these are the genres of the imagination, and yet so many authors keep telling the same old stories, even, as it turns out, when those stories are populated by a diverse cast of characters, featuring characters of many races, genders, and sexualities. Some of these stories were dull and uninspired, some I thought were just dumb, an...

Kenzie The Dragon Queen

This is going to have the Rhy Maresh and Alucard Emery story in it, from the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab!

Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin

I didn’t like it!! A couple stories were good, but not enough to keep the book. Seems like I’m a minority and that’s ok! As long as someone enjoys something right 😉Got my Winter Owlcrate Box today. Look under spoiler under picture to see the goodies(view spoiler)[1. We have a gorgeous enamel pin 2. Next is a gel eye mask with a quote from my wonderful, Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue3. We have some tea 4. Next are some cute reusable gift bags 5. Next is a yummy smelling candle 6. Next is a stainle...

Amy Imogene Reads

(5/5)

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: ★★★★★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, an...

Melanie

megs_bookrack

(4/5)

201

A Universe of Wishes is a YA Fantasy Anthology from We Need Diverse Books, edited by the wonderfully-talented, Dhonielle Clayton.Featuring 15-diverse stories from some of the best OwnVoices authors currently writing in the YA-space, this collection has a little something for everyone.Below are my ratings, as well as a short description of each story:1. A Universe of Wishes by Tara Sim, ⭐⭐⭐⭐I really enjoyed this one, surprisingly moving for such a short story. Buzzwords include m/m romance, dark

Elle

A stunning collection of 15 short stories from a wide range of acclaimed Fantasy & Young Adult authors, A Universe of Wishes will leave you totally hooked and amazed! As soon as I finished one story I would think well I’m sure this next one will be good, but there’s no way they could top that, only to be immediately proven wrong.As stated in the above synopsis, this is the fourth collection from We Need Diverse Books, a nonprofit initiative with the goal of expanding diversity in children’s lite...

destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries]

If anyone else needed that final little nudge to pre-order this... it features a Rhy/Alucard origin story 🥺😭 MY HEART IS SO FULL ALREADYThank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

Alaina

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Not sure why I waited so long to dive into this beauty.. but I'm disappointed in myself. It is filled with about 15 short stories that you will either like or love. For me, I think I was confused about one story because I never read the series before and then there's two other books that were okay but I wasn't completely invested.So out of all the books, a lot were easy to devour and gave me some interesting characters to f...

Angela Staudt

A Universe of Wishes is my first ever anthology, and I am so excited to say it was amazing. I definitely want to read more anthologies after reading this spectacular book full of so many amazing stories. I really was interested in reading this because I knew almost all of the authors and have absolutely loved their books. While some of the short stories may not have hit the mark with me, most of them were really spectacular and was making me wish they were full length books. I don’t really know

☆ sana ☆

did i get this to read a royal affair only? why yes i did. RHY ALUCARD KELL AND LILA I’VE MISSED YOUUU!!!

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A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology

A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology

A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology

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