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Title: Love Hurts
Authors: Malorie Blackman, Maureen Johnson, Catherine Johnson, Philip Pullman, James Dawson, Jenny Downham, Patrick Ness, E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle, Laura Dockrill, Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak, Susie Day, David Levithan and Lauren Kate
Publication: January 29th 2015 by RHCP Digital
Genre: Young Adult ~ Romance
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo
Rating: 3/5
Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
Malorie Blackman brings together the best teen writers of today in a stunningly romantic collection about love against the odds. Featuring short stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers from stars such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak and Patrick Ness, and with a brand-new story from Malorie Blackman herself, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak.
First of all, I’m a little disappointed that a lot of these short stories are just extracts from full books. So I didn’t read them but I read all the original stories and reviewed them seperately and some of them were quite good.
Humming Through My Fingers by Malorie Blackman – 5/5
This story was a great start of this collection. Malorie Blackman is a totally new author to me and I must say that I’m impressed with this short story because I absolutely adored it. It featured Amber, a blind girl and Ethan who initially only started talking to her for a bet that he made with his friends. But little did he know that Amber would make him see the world differently just like she does. Honestly, this story was just super cute and I have nothing negative to say about it.
Tumbling by Susie Day – 4/5
This story was unique to say the least. It wasn’t as good as the story by Malorie Blackman but I do try not to compare the stories too much. But anyway… I could relate to it a lot because I see myself as a fangirl too. I don’t watch Sherlock but it’s on my to-watch list, especially after this story. Susie Say is also a new author to me and I adored the way this story was written. I also loved that it was LGBT. I like varriety in short story collections like this. So yeah this story was great, sweet and tugged on a my heart a little.
Gentlewoman by Laura Dockrill – 3/5
So I didn’t love this story but I liked it for sure. At first I wasn’t sure what was going on. There was a little mystery in the beginning when the main character is trying to tell her best friend something. It becomes clear soon that Dan is a transgender teenager and is changing to Danni. I really liked how her parents were very supporting of her, her mother the most and it gave me a different view because I never read a story about a transgender person yet. Also Laura Dockrill is yet a new author to me so I’ll have to check out more of her titles.
Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat by David Levithan – 4/5
Gah! I love David Levithan stories so much! And this story was pretty great to me. I do know that this story is also featured in How They Met and Other Stories – a book that I own but have not yet read. I do kind of wish it would’ve been a new story but whatever. This story was actually the first one living up to the title of this book – Love Hurts. And other than that I loved how Lucy ended up feeling like she didn’t have be involved with someone to be happy. Perfect!
Endless Love: The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda – 2/5
I’m sorry! I really really really am but ugh! I dislike Lucinda and Daniel so much. It all goes back to when I used to read the Fallen series. I do like the first Fallen book and I’ve yet to finish the last book but I’m not a fan of angel books and I’m not sure if this short story fits in this collection for some reason. The only thing I liked from this story was when Cam made an appearance. I love him in the Fallen series and I’m glad to know that he’s still swoon-worthy. But anyway… I didn’t like this story. Lauren Kate is a great writer and a super nice person but just… angels are not my thing.
The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Johnson – 5/5
Catherine Johnson is (yet again) a new author for me and this story is written in the second person. I know a lot of people dislike second person narrative but I personally think it’s a gorgeous and unique way to write. And just like the narrative this story was gorgeous. It was pretty sad when we get towards the end of it when everything gets clear but wow I’m pretty impressed by it. I just love how much diversity there is in this collection.
The Unicorn by James Dawson – 2/5
This story was okay but (and this is just my opnion) I felt it didn’t fit in with teen fiction. I’m also not a big fan of the navy setting in the 50’s it was in. The writing and characters weren’t bad and I felt honestly sad at some moments + it felt very real but it was not my thing. I do think others might like this one more than I did.
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