Love Is Hell

All right, this anthology should be easy to sum up. First off, the quaint title is completely misleading. Three out of these five stories were disturbing or sad and certainly not happily-ever-after. Scott Westerfeld and Melissa Marr's stories are among the lighter of the bunch, and I get the feeling that lot of readers were more dismayed about the sad tone to the stories in this anthology than anything else. To rate each one...Sleeping with the Spirit by [a:Laurie Faria Stolarz|58846|Laurie Faria Stolarz|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1226034643p2/58846.jpg]: Ghost love. The writing style is reminiscent of [a:Carrie Jones|345630|Carrie Jones|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1233874092p2/345630.jpg], author of show more [b:Need|4070493|Need|Carrie Jones|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vEmEDks2L._SL75_.jpg|4117634], another supernatural YA. Like that book, Sleeping with the Spirit is written in first person, present tense and the characters are shallowly developed, but the plot moves quickly and the same themes are present, albeit even stronger here. In fact, I found the themes of grief and loss here very moving, but I would guess that would affect older readers more, or perhaps readers who have experienced a loss themselves. Too mushy? Stupid Perfect World by [a:Scott Westerfeld|13957|Scott Westerfeld|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1199748511p2/13957.jpg]: Futuristic. A nice pick-me-up after the last story, these characters were not developed in the least, but I'll admit, it was pretty funny and imaginative. ;) Reading this, I can see Westerfeld's appeal to a YA audience. Thinner Than Water by [a:Justine Larbalestier|30033|Justine Larbalestier|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]: Girl with dreams bigger than her small town and a strange boy. Another moving story made the more so by the very disturbing, too-realistic themes of mob violence, ignorance, and insular societies. This reminded me of one of my favorite authors, Juliet Marillier, whose fey creatures can also be very cruel and inexorable. The first two thirds of this story read like a horror story about an actual girl in an actual isolated, xenophobic town. Even the romance was darkened by questions of self denial and destruction. Thought-provoking. The ending, while a little abrupt, indicated a strong, realistic heroine, and I couldn't shake off the feeling this wasn't fiction about fey, it was commentary. Well-written. Fan Fictions by [a:Gabrielle Zevin|40593|Gabrielle Zevin|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208386796p2/40593.jpg]: I kept waiting for something to give this story purpose, but nothing showed. The ambiguous, very unresolved ending left me thinking that I could have skipped these pages, but horror or psychological thriller fans will probably appreciate this. It reminded me a lot of the Katie Holmes flick, Abandon.Love Struck by [a:Melissa Marr|175855|Melissa Marr|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192302741p2/175855.jpg] (yes, that Melissa Marr): Selkie meets mate, accidentally traps mate. Madness ensues. If any of these is typical, it's probably this short, but anyone with a soft spot for paranormal romance will probably enjoy this one. It's flawed, but I will give major points for the intelligent heroine (although that same intelligence makes her later Misunderstanding less plausible, LOL). I liked it overall. I really can't resist those dreamy selkies who will give up so much for their "mates," though the character of Veikko was great in that he is not the typical stuff of PNR fantasy. There are apparently loser selkies too. LOL! A nice down-to-earth warning, as most of Alanna's actions are to young readers. I give you props, Marr. I think parents would approve. :)So there's probably something to appeal to everyone in this collection, although if you have strong feelings about your happily-ever-afters and fluffy reads, you may want to forgo this one. show less

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com

A hot ghost with a message from beyond the grave. Two futuristic teens discovering the wonders of dreams and hormones for the first time. A hand-fasting that leads to more heartbreak - and magic - than any girl would have thought possible. A mysterious, immortal boy who may or may not be any more real than the paper he's printed on. A selkie who traps a human with his skin - though really he only wanted to date her.

That's a brief glimpse of the stories of LOVE IS HELL, an anthology of romantic and fantastical YA fiction from several of the genre's top authors.

Though most of the stories are dark, there's plenty of humor to be had, especially in Westerfeld's amusing take on a too-perfect future. show more Zevin's tale will make you question your own reality (in a good way), and Marr, Larbalestier, and Stolarz prove that love is a force more powerful than common sense, hate, or even death.

With plenty of swoon-worthy moments and surprising twists, there's much to enjoy from all.

I found myself wishing that many of the stories were longer, so their characters and events could have been developed more, but that's always the danger with short stories. Readers will race through this eagerly and likely find themselves hoping each author chooses to explore the worlds they've created again in the future. show less

I usually don't read short story anthologies but three of the authors in this book have written books I enjoyed - Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfeld & Gabrielle Zevin. I went in with trepidation but came out having really enjoyed the stories. They were imaginative, well rounded and the characters were very approachable. My favourite has to be Scott Westerfelds as his story created a whole other world of existence. Recommend for anyone that just wants a book to dip in and out of.

I usually don't read short story anthologies but three of the authors in this book have written books I enjoyed - Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfeld & Gabrielle Zevin. I went in with trepidation but came out having really enjoyed the stories. They were imaginative, well rounded and the characters were very approachable. My favourite has to be Scott Westerfelds as his story created a whole other world of existence. Recommend for anyone that just wants a book to dip in and out of.

I'm going to try to break this up by each of the five stories in the anthology, but I'm not going to provide much of a summary of each because with 20 page stories there's not much you can say and not say it all.

Laurie Faria Stolarz: "Sleeping with the Spirit"

After moving to a new house, in a new town and starting a new high school, Brenda begins waking up in the morning with unexplained bruises on her arms. Her family attributes her stress to the usual feelings of being the 'new girl' but her friends Raina and Craig have another theory. One that involves the supernatural.

As with Deadly Little Secret, I really enjoyed Laurie Faria Stolarz's writing in this story but there wasn't anything amazing about this story. It was still written, show more had a definite beginning, middle, and end/resolution but it just sort of...was. It was good and I liked it (and remember it) but if I had to recommend short stories, it wouldn't be on the list.

1.5/2

Scott Westerfeld: "Stupid Perfect World"

Scott Westerfeld sticks with the Uglies type future/alternate universe where everything has been perfected and/or run by machines (It's not the Uglies universe, just similar in that regard). In this world there is Scarcity class where students learn about all the horrible, dreadful things we experienced in the past (hint: not all of them were so dreadful, some were just annoying) and for a project they have to pick one and live with it for two weeks...even if it interferes with their teleporting to Antarctica for class.

This was written really well and ready quickly and easily and I would gladly read more about the characters or the 'world' and Scarcity class as it was a really intriguing concept. This might have been my favorite story in the book (it's a close call with one other).

2/2

Justine Larbalestier: "Thinner Than Water"

"Thinner Than Water" is the tale of Jean and her villages practice of handfasting. A sort of 'practice' marriage, it is a girl's only real chance to get away from their parents and the life they've lived their whole lives up until that point.

Set in what I felt was sort of an indiscriminate time period, it seems to want to focus on Jean's need for independence but the writing didn't really jive for me. Or something. This story was enjoyable but I just didn't love it-and I'm not sure if that's because of the weird time setting (an Amazon review calls the time 'primitive' but there were cars...) or what but it was just that little bit off....

1.5/2

Gabrielle Zevin's "Fan Fictions"

Takes the nobody-can-see-me girl who hides out in the library and has her read The Immortals, a book given to her by the sexy, young librarian. It's a story that pokes fun at all the cliches of both YA fantasies & romances and fan fiction as well. The book brings Paige a hot guy all too ready to talk to her about it, Aaron, but is he all he appears to be?

This story was alright, nothing particularly amazing and honestly, it's the one I have the hardest time remembering-but I think that's because I wasn't terribly satisfied with the ending. It was slightly predictable but I still really liked it as an idea for a story and the characters and I liked it enough to wish it was done better, that says something. I will say that it was the other story that really stuck with the 'Love is Hell' theme most, though.

1/2

Melissa Marr: "Love Struck"

Melissa Marr's tale is one featuring selkies which should almost earn it some points right there...only it doesn't need to because it's really, really enjoyable so it doesn't need extra points. Alaina is at a beach bonfire when a mysterious male with kelp colored hair offers her his jacket. She refuses and feels unsettled enough to leave the gathering, but it's during her walk along the beach when things really get started.

After reading this story people should really have no doubt over Melissa Marr's great writing and storytelling and know it's not just limited to the Wicked Lovely series. This was the one that Perfect World was tied with for my favorite.

2/2

I believe that all adds up to 8/10 and that's a fair rating for the book, so for the collection as a whole:
8/10 show less

I really enjoyed all of the short stories in this book. They all had a different edge and feel to them and I could not stop thinking about the different stories during the day when I wasn't able to read them.

Title: Love Is Hell Authors: Melissa Marr, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, Gabrielle Zevin, Laurie Faria Stolarz Publisher: Harperteen Number Of Pages: 263

Summary from back of book: Sure, love is hell. But it's totally worth it. In these supernatural stories by five of today's hottest writers- Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely), Scott Westerfeld (Specials), Justine Larbalestier( Magic Or Madness), Gabrielle Zevin ( Elsewhere), and Laurie Faria Stolarz ( Blue Is For Nightmares)- love may be twisted and turned around, but it's more potent than ever on its quest to conquer all. From two students who let the power of attraction guide them to break the hard-and-fast rules of their world to the girl who falls hard for a good-looking ghost show more with a score to settle, the clever, quirky characters in this exciting collection will break your heart, then leave you believing in love more than ever.

Review: I absolutely loved this book! Every story was intriguing and very appealing. My personal favorite stories though are Thinner Than Water By: Justine Larbalestier and Fan Fictions By: Gabrielle Zevin. Thinner Than Water is about faeries and is very tragic. Fan Fictions is about a book where the characters come alive and in the end is also kind of tragic. Its weird I seem to like tragic stories... All in all this book was really fantastic!

I recommend this book if you like any of the authors above, love, romance, supernatural, and young adult novels. show less