Review: Briefs by Anyta Sunday

Briefs: Collection
by Anyta Sunday
Self-published
Anthology, LGBT, romance

Slow burn romance that quickens the heart. From sweet & light-hearted to raw and emotional - this collection contains eight contemporary gay romance novellas previously published individually between 2013 and 2016. 

Sweet & Light-Hearted: 

“Noticed Me Yet?” Who is this Mr. X that Jacob keeps writing to? And how can he be falling for him? 

“DJ Dangerfield” Who is this DJ Dangerfield in Real Life? And will Justin like him in the flesh as much as on the air? 

“Get It” Why does unrequited love leave you blind as a bat to other things? 

“500 Kisses” Are 500 kisses all it takes to steal a heart? 

“The Douglas Fir” Can Jason find that magic gift to win his neighbor’s heart? 

"It Could Be You" What is worst - having won 15 million quid but not being able to find the bloody ticket, or the unrequited love you have for your roommate? 

Raw & Emotional: 

"Hearts" Is it possible two dead hearts can see life again? 

"Bird Meets Cage" He was everything I wasn’t. He was the first man I ever loved, and he left without me ever telling him that the way he looked at me broke my heart.

I've read a lot of Anyta Sunday's books this year, and I have loved all of them. When I won Briefs collection, I was exited to dive in. I wasn't disappointed - naturally in an anthology, there's going to be hits and misses, but overall the anthology was brilliant. It started with four five star stories, then a few three star stories before finishing off with a four star story. It is a brilliant collection and some of the stories I absolutely loved. Forth to mention are especially Noticed Me Yet?, DJ Dangerfield, and Get It.

I highly recommend this for Anyta Sunday fans, and why not for everyone else too, because Sunday's writing is superb.

Here's some thoughts on the individual stories:

Noticed Me Yet? - 5 stars
Jacob's looking for a new flatmate when he gets into writing notice board messages to mysterious Mr X, who's one of the three choices to be his flatmate; Mr Philosophy, Mr Shy Guy and Mr Hunk. The story is absolutely hilarious, sweet, cute, and true Anyta Sunday story in every sense. Just brilliant. It's entertaining and I got so invested in the mystery who Mr X really is. I could have read a whole novel about this, it was that good!

DJ Dangerfield - 5 stars
This had a little bit mystery guy element too; Justin has been calling late night radio program and debating about bands and music with the DJ there for a better part of the year. Now they set to meet in real life, but it doesn't go as smoothly as Justin thought it would. There was lighthearted banter and sweetness, and it was so funny. I definitely fell for the characters and their story.

Get It - 5 stars
It's all about unrequited love - Benny wants Heath, who gives mixed signals, and Benny's friend James pines for him but Benny is blind for it. It was all adorable and cute, and James's is the best, he's such devoted friend and witty and caring. Benny was adorable in his blindness and everything else.

500 Kisses - 5 stars
This was first one that was out of the university setting as Dylan and Chris were in their late twenties. Dylan runs a summer camp and Chris is his ex-best friend and neighbour, who doesn't really get on with anyone. They get roped into a challenge: it's a myth that 500 kisses is all that it takes to steal a heart. The story is full of snark, banter, and enemies to lovers trope with funny and brilliant scenes. It was a captivating story which I couldn't stop reading.

The Douglas Fir - 3 stars
This was another case of unrequited love - both Jase and Dave had a crush on Noah, who was Jase's neighbour and straight. Jase isn't a fan of Dave as he sees Dave as a competition, and Jase does ridiculously sweet thing for Noah in hopes that maybe he'll like him back. The story was sweet in places and a bit funny - especially the bits where Jase's brother Scott was. However, the story was also melancholy and had a bit too much angst for my liking. The plot wasn't as captivating as the previous stories and the characters weren't as engaging as most of other Sunday's characters.

It Could Be You - 3 stars
The story is about Ted, who misplaced a winning lottery ticket, and who avoids the topic of his best mate and roommate Jensen's leaving like plague, because he doesn't want to loose him. It's a sweet story, but way too short as it was a lot shorter than the other stories in this collection. Because of the shortness, there isn't enough time to get to know and really care about the characters, which made the story less memorable than the others. Otherwise the story is good, I liked the British setting and Ted and Jensen.

Hearts - 3 stars
The story is about heartbreak and how to survive a dead heart, and more importantly, is it possible to mend a broken heart? Daniel has to find out, because his partner left him and he has to follow how the same thing happens to his new neighbour, Toby. The story is pure angst with a hopeful twist, and while it is good, it didn't stand out. I was also in mood for lighter stuff, so maybe I read the story in the wrong time.

Bird Meets Cage - 4 stars
This is another of the more melancholy stories. It's also historical, first part set in the summer of 1949, when the circus was in town and Nathan met Stardust and Danny. Nathan falls for Stardust, but Stardust thinks he's a free bird and Nathan's a cage. Nathan's heart is broken when he strikes a friendship with a clown Danny, who was left behind by the circus. The second part sets twelve years later, when the circus is back in town and Nathan gets a chance to confront Stardust and let go of all the hurt. The story is good and engaging. Not my favourite of the collection, but a solid story.

4 of 5 stars

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Review: Because You Love To Hate Me Anthology

Because You Love To Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy
Edited by Ameriie
Published by Bloomsbury
Paperback (purchased)
YA, anthology

Leave it to the heroes to save the world--villains just want to rule the world.

In this unique YA anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential BookTubers to reimagine fairy tales from the oft-misunderstood villains' points of view.

These fractured, unconventional spins on classics like "Medusa," Sherlock Holmes, and "Jack and the Beanstalk" provide a behind-the-curtain look at villains' acts of vengeance, defiance, and rage--and the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that spurned them on. No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again!

Featuring writing from . . .
Authors: Renée Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola Yoon

BookTubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zoë Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).

I was super excited to read Because You Love To Hate Me because I love villains, especially those who are complex and well executed, and ah, I just love villains. Of course, there was also the fact that Victoria Schwab was one of the authors, and I was so ready for her take on a villain tale. I had high expectations, and some of these short stories more than lived up to those expectations. However, not all of the stories were on same level and while I adored some, others I had neutral feelings or I just didn't like them at all. Few of the stories didn't even feel villainous at all, which was really disappointing. I had four favourites, all of which more or less blew my mind: Victoria Schwab's, Andrew Smith's, Adam Silvera's and Sarah Enni's.

I'm well aware of the huge controversy that came with this anthology, concerning the booktubers and their contribution. I don't have much to say about the matter as my feelings towards it are quite neutral. After reading the whole book, including the essays that the booktubers wrote, I think that some of the prompts were brilliant and some weren't. The essays, well, I don't think they added anything, because most of them just analysed the short story and I do prefer to think for myself. However, I have to mention that I really liked Jesse George's because it wasn't an analyses but really creative writing.

Okay, so I reviewed all the short stories and rated them, and the rating for whole book was the average of the individual stories.

The Blood of Imuriv by Renee Ahdieh - 3 stars

I haven't read anything by Ahdieh, so I was pleasantly surprised that the writing was really good. The main character Rhone was intriguing and I really liked him. The short story just felt like a prologue to a novel and it wasn't satisfying enough. There was just a little bit too much of history, intentions and culture crammed to the story that it took some of the charm from the story. I'd definitely read a full novel about Rhone if that was possible!

Jack by Ameriie - 1 star

This story was just boring. Mostly because I couldn't identify with any of the characters, and the writing was not the best. The prompt was weird and maybe that's why the story suffered some, but it was quite predictable and well, boring.

Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainani - 1 star

I was quite excited about this because the prompt was right up my alley - because hey, what can go wrong with mashup of King Arthur legend and Hades/Persephone myth? Apparently everything can go wrong. For one, the setting was modern American high school and the story was told in text messages; the text message format made it hard to connect with anything, and the high school setting just followed up all the stereotypes. The characters were also, well, not likable. Gwen was plainly a selfish bitch, and while Arthur and Lance had potential to be something, they were both doormats and so easily manipulated by Gwen. And there wasn't really anything villainous either! I was just so disappointed.

Shirley & Jim by Susan Dennard - 1 star

I know, do these one stars never end? At this point I was just so over with the trope of retelling a great British classic that was set in modern American high school. More than that, this wasn't a story about a villain - it was more of a story how Shirley (gender-swaped Sherlock) became who she was destined to be, and it wasn't that much about Jim Moriarty. It all just left me cold because I hoped for truly villainous stories and I didn't get it. 

The Blessing of Little Wants by Sarah Enni - 4 stars

This was a little bit strange, but in a good way. I absolutely loved the setting in Britain, especially the part where the characters traveled to northern Scotland! The writing style was good and very engaging and brilliant. The main characters, Sigrid and Thomas, were also just so cool. This was a really nice villain origins type of story, and I'd love to read more about Sigrid. 

The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer - 4 stars

This wasn't a surprise because Meyer is one of the best authors to write a retelling. I mean, this short story had it all from great character arc to plot and motives! Such a good and solid villain origins/fairytale retelling. There was absolutely nothing bad about this.

Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon - 2 stars

It might have been just me, because I did look up the prompts before reading the short story. The prompt was Medusa, and basically while the story does a nice spin on that by setting it in ancient Asia rather than Greek, the story was predictable. I knew from the very beginning where the story was going and thus I wasn't very engaged with the story. I yearned for some mystery, for some thrill, but got nothing. Don't get me wrong, this deals with important topic that should be discussed more, but that did not save the story from being predictable.

Death Knell by Victoria Schwab - 5 stars

This was simply so great and true Victoria Schwab style! Death waking up at the bottom of a well? Yes please! Schwab certainly delivers because the prose is amazing, and the story itself if intriguing and magical. Brilliant villain, stunning story, everything was just perfect. 

Marigold by Samantha Shannon - 3 stars

This was good and engaging because it was hard to tell who was the villain because of the qualities every character had. There was also plot, solid storyline and atmosphere of nineteen century London. The only thing that I struggled with was the characters. I just didn't like any of them and that ate some of the enjoyment of the story. It was a good story, just unlikable characters.

You, You, It's All About You by Adam Silvera - 5 stars

This, if anything, blew my mind. I had no expectations going in but oh my, did I fell in love. This had to be the most villainous story because the villain was terrifying - I almost don't believe that a villain like this was included in YA anthology because of how ruthless the main character was. I loved the writing style and that it was written in second person. Just brilliant and genius story with truly intriguing villain. I basically loved everything! 

Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith - 5 stars

Oh my, this was so good. I mean, psychopath as a main character? That's unreliable narrator if anything, and I loved it! Julian is so charismatic, and the story was full of suspense, and just so brilliant. I need to know more! I demand full novel of this, it was so great!

Indigo & Shade by April Genevieve Tucholke - 4 stars

I liked the story, especially the main character Brahm, who was just so brilliant Gaston-type of character full of bravado and arrogance. The story itself was interesting and twisty, something that's so Tucholke's type.

Sera by Nicola Yoon - 1 star

I just didn't click with the story. Prompt itself had potential with gender-flipped god of war, but the story fell flat for me. It doesn't even feel like YA because most of the time the narrator was the main character's mother and I felt like I was reading a story meant for mothers. I just didn't care about any of the characters and was bored throughout the story.

I'm going to give this three stars, because there were stories that I gave five stars but also stories I gave one star. Overall, I'd just say that there are stories that are absolutely worth to check out, but then some are not.

3 of 5 stars

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