REVIEW: MEET CUTE - AN ANTHOLOGY

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*ARC RECEIVED FROM NETGALLEY*

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Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors. 

Readers will experience Nina LaCour's beautifully written piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard's glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, Nicola Yoon's imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups, Katie Cotugno's story of two teens hiding out from the police at a house party, and Huntley Fitzpatrick's charming love story that begins over iced teas at a diner. There’s futuristic flirting from Kass Morgan and Katharine McGee, a riveting transgender heroine from Meredith Russo, a subway missed connection moment from Jocelyn Davies, and a girl determined to get out of her small town from Ibi Zoboi. Jennifer Armentrout writes a sweet story about finding love from a missing library book, Emery Lord has a heartwarming and funny tale of two girls stuck in an airport, Dhonielle Clayton takes a thoughtful, speculate approach to pre-destined love, and Julie Murphy dreams up a fun twist on reality dating show contestants. 

This incredibly talented group of authors brings us a collection of stories that are at turns romantic and witty, epic and everyday, heartbreaking and real.

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3.5 stars

'Meet Cute' is an adorable YA anthology full of stories about people when they first fall in love. I've slowly been creeping back into my usual contemporary loving self and this was such a good way to spark my interest back up!

I'll admit right now that I was lazy and didn't take notes during the reading process so I can't guarantee my mini-reviews for each story will be anything more than 'yeah, I liked this one' but is it really an emmanovella review if there's any detail?

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I know I'm not usually one to be all 'omg this book is so diverse, amazeeee' and whatnot but I definitely noticed that a lot of these stories featured LGBTQ+ characters (I believe all f/f romance and also one transgirl) as well as a number of POC and different ethnicities! 

I believe every author was female (don't quote me on that!) and if I recall we only had one male POV (excluding one or possibly two that had dual perspectives!)

Overall, I enjoyed the stories and my first anthology experience was positive, though I did find it hard to connect and then disconnect from each character and plot in such a short amount of time. There are plenty stories in here that I want more from and whilst I appreciate the point of anthologies is to introduce you to different authors and glimpse stories that are just short (funny that, they're called "short stories") I just wanted more more more! 

I don't think I've been specifically encouraged to go and read more from any one specific author but I was, and I'll touch on this when I get to their story, encouraged to give an author a second chance. Though I don't think I'll go out of my way to buy any of their books. 

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Seige Etiquette by Katie Cotugno
I didn't care too much for this story or the characters, but then again I'm really not one for house parties and being involved in situations that get the police around.

Print Shop by Nina LaCour
I loved this story and I'm glad it was in this position as although I didn't mind the first one, I was a little worried I wasn't going to enjoy this book but Print Shop was the cutest and I just loved it so much. The character was amazing and just the whole dynamic between people and ugh the end!!

Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi
The main character in this one was a little... I don't really know. The first thing she says is just weird and I really don't picture anyone actually doing it and overall I couldn't care less about how 'anti-prom' and dresses and whatever else she was. It felt quite 'I'm not like other girls' and ugh. 

Click by Katharine McGee
This was an interesting premise and I loved the way this ended and I it was super sweet and I definitely related to the main character in some ways!

The Intern by Sara Shepard
This isn't a story that stayed in my mind but I think that's because it's kind of been done so many times and as a short story it can't really be that unique. It was still sweet though and one of the quicker reads

Somewhere That's Green by Meredith Russo
​​I'm not going to lie and say I mostly liked this because a side character was called Lucian and it made me think of Lucius Malfoy. In all seriousness, the characters in this felt so real and I loved the way they handled situations. They didn't overreact and had their heads on them like older teens do, not like teens who are just experiencing a mood swing which is how lots of authors write!
I'm still singing Suddenly Seymour...

​The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton
This was an interesting idea but I found it a little too complex to be thrown into such a small story. I don't quite understand how this world works or what the characters did and why it was bad and really it could have been a full novel, or at least novella. I'd have liked a bit more detail and really wish this story had it's own 100 page book as although I got the gist I found myself pulling out of the story and into the real world, wondering what was happening.

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Oomph by Emery Lord
asdfghjkl this story omg. Okay, I think this one was my favourite. It was just so fun and made me so happy and I need all the stranded airport stories nowwwwww thanks.

The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I loved the premise of this story and it worked perfectly in short form. I'm not one for sitting around and dreaming about the perfect way to fall in love but if I was I'd be stopping now because this is it 100%.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies
I often think about the lives of other people when I'm taking public transport. Where's this person going, who's that guy, why does this person seem familiar. I'm always wondering if I've crossed paths with someone before. And this story does that but in reverse - it's about a girl deliberately trying to find out the likelihood of finding someone again and it was the best.

259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan
Overall, this was a middle ground story. Part of me thinks it was great and other parts of me is like 'meh'. This was the only sole male POV and I often dislike reading from teenage boy perspective as typically they have a certain personality - the one that this character had - and I just don't care for it. 

Something Real by Julie Murphy
Two. That's the number of authors in this anthology I've read before and this is one of them. And I h a t e d Dumplin'. I wasn't much of a fan of this either but I'll admit I wasn't as annoyed with it and in fact found the character much more likeable. Whilst I won't be rushing out to buy and read her books, I am glad I gave her a second chance and got to appreciate her writing without being bogged down in despising the story/character!

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick
I was a little confused by what was going on in this. At first it just seemed like a typical cute romance but there's a whole backstory to these characters and I'm very curious about it. 
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The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon
This was not what I expected from Nicola Yoon, the second author I have previously read from. I'm a sucker for dystopian's and particularly world's where there's a business for everything (if that makes sense!) so this was right up my street. I just wish I got to see more of these departments and how they function!

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I'm certainly more keen to read anthologies now than I was so if anyone's got recommendations please do share! Let me know if you're planning to pick up Meet Cute and which story you're most excited for - I know I gave some brilliant synopsises hahah