Average Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I was very much looking forward to reading this collection during Pride month but it took me a while to finish, both because I’ve been in a truly terrible reading slump and also this collection didn’t always manage to keep my interest. There are some amazing stories here, especially in the first half but once the book took a turn from contemporary to a bit more fantastical in the second half of it, I feel it lost a bit of its charm and I also wasn’t always able to understand what was happening. But the representation includes a spectrum of gender identities and sexualities and I thought it was all done with a lot of respect (though I won’t vouch for the authenticity because I’m not an ownvoices reviewer for any).

If you wanna read a variety of short stories from high school kids worrying about prom to vampires and gods and sacrifices, then this is a good collection and I hope you’ll find your favorite stories in it.

Below are my individual reviews for the stories:

Kick. Push. Coast by Candice Montgomery

This is the story about a young person who is questioning their gender, sexuality, pronouns.. everything.. while also trying to navigate their attraction for a girl they see from afar everyday. I could feel the pain the character is feeling because the confusion is palpable in their words, but I loved the turn the story took and ended up being so sweet.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What happens in the Closet by Caleb Roehrig

This was mostly a cute story of a young gay boy at prom trying to flirt with his frenemy while also fighting off vampires. It’s definitely cool to see the undead creatures make a comeback in interesting ways.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Player One Fight! by Eliot Schrefer

Story of a gamer boy who wants to be with another, but the other one can’t seem to make up his mind. The writing in this felt felt a bit erratic though.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

Lumber Me Mine by C. B. Lee

This was a very cute story of high school senior dealing with her breakup with her childhood friend as well as feeling the initial attraction to someone new. I really enjoyed the beginning of this new relationship and the ace rep was so casually mentioned and not made a bid deal out of, it was cool.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Follower by Will Kostakis

A chance encounter between an online influencer and one of his followers on a beach turns into a fascinating conversation about love. This was a bit boring at times but overall pretty cute.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Refresh by Mark Oshiro

Two guys who aren’t confident in their bodies just trying to connect irl after meeting up online, this was a funny meet cute but also profound in its own way shedding a light on body image issues.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Victory Lap by Julian Winters

A young boy who wants a date for his school’s winter formal - this should have been a very predictable story. But the friendship, the bond between a father and son, the importance of having a supportive parent when you are scared to come out - all of this is depicted beautifully and the story turned out to be absolutely adorable. Not for nothing that I love Julian’s writing so much.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Road of One’s Own by Kate Hart

A camping trip; a young woman trying to figure out her recently broken up relationship, a newfound attraction for a girl and what she wants her future to look like; and a bit of commentary on the whitewashing of Native American history as well as all the microaggressions they face on the daily - this story was both fun and contemplative with so much to look forward to.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Seditious Teapots by Katherine Locke

I love the idea of the teapot metaphors to describe Rory’s extreme anxiety about how to label themselves and even wondering why it’s necessary to have a label. I also liked the conversations they had with some new found queer friends who help them resolve their doubts a little.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Star-crossed in DC by Jessica Verdi

Definitely surprised to read a story about the queer daughters of two presidential candidates on the opposite side of LGBTQ rights. It was still well written and interesting, though I would have liked it to have been longer and given more closure.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Floating by Tanya Boteju

The main character seemed like she had OCD or maybe ADHD but I really didn’t understand much of the story. Maybe I’m not the right audience for it.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️

The Soft Place by Hillary Monahan

The main character is completely high in this story and the writing reflects that mood, which means I really didn’t get what was happening.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️

A Pound of Flesh by Kosoko Jackson

Greeks curses, a human and a god in love, then endless conflict between Athena and Ares as a backdrop for police brutality and resulting protests in America - this was timely in a sense but some points that were made felt very tone deaf too. But the love story itself seemed very tragic but fascinating.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

One Spell Too Many by Tara Sim

Baked goods, witches, love spells baked into yummy pastries - this was both highly entertaining and an interesting lesson in good intentions leading to not so good consequences. Very well written and I loved the beginnings of a new relationship.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Far from Home by Saundra Mitchell

A space boy and his human boyfriend trying to run from federal agents trying to capture him, this was quite thrilling and adrenaline inducing.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Coronation by Meredith Russo

I liked the trans representation in the story and a bit of what happened, but I can’t say I truly understood the story or the world as a whole.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Once Upon a Seastorm by Fox Benwell

I loved the idea of the main character struggling to find his roots and going on a journey to find them, and the author also manages to integrate a great mother-son relationship that is resilient even during tough times.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
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Overall thoughts:
What a heartwarming and important anthology!
However, there is a lot of LGB representation, a few trans characters stuck in towards the end (seriously, the first one was in story 14, the second and third are in story 16, and the fourth is in story 17, out of 17 stories,) three non-binary characters, and . . . what, one demisexual character, one ace love interest, and one asexual or gray-ace character whose asexuality is only mentioned in part of a sentence, and no aromantic, gender fluid, or Two-Spirit characters at all? How can an anthology claim to be for all queer people if there are absolutely no aromantic, gender fluid, or Two-Spirit characters?

Individual Stories:

1. "Kick. Push. Coast." by Candice Montgomery.
Representation: Non-binary protagonist, demisexual protagonist
Content Warnings: Homophobia
3.25 stars.

So. I liked the message of the story. The imagery and themes are well-thought-out. Dustyn was a likable character. The use of second person fit the story well.
However. I like a little more to a story than someone trying to learn a new skateboarding skill while thinking about stuff and trying to impress the girl they like. And the skateboarding lingo was too much. It was almost indecipherable.
By the way, being attracted to a trans person does not mean one has to identify as pansexual (or panromantic) automatically. And please don't use phrases like "symptoms of demisexuality". It's degrading and makes it sound more like a disease than an identity.


2. " What Happens in the Closet" by Caleb Roehrig
Representation: Gay men
Content warnings: Violence, homophobia
1.5 stars

This story was childish and stupid, it's filled with stereotypes, and it's really problematic. Oh, and I just couldn't stand the *very detailed* make-out session going on while people are literally dying in the next room.
Do not, ever, presume to know more about someone's identity than they do. Ever. Especially based on external factors like appearance and mannerisms. But that's exactly what our protagonist Austin does! And it is not called out. No, it turns out that he was right.


3. "Player One Fight!" by Eliot Schrefer
Representation: Gay male protagonist, unspecified mlm interest.
Content Warnings: Stalkerish behavior of protagonist
1 star

Well, this story was a mess. A telly, pointless, summarized mess with a stalker of a protagonist. There is no resolution at all.


4. "Lumber Me Mine" by C. B Lee
Representation: Chinese-American protagonist, lesbian protagonist, asexual love interest
Content Warnings: Toxic past relationship
4.25 stars

I liked this one a lot. The author somehow manages to write about a toxic past relationship while keeping the story sweet and heartwarming. I'd love to see this story expanded into a full-length novel.
However. Why did Ash feel the need to run down everyone else who identifies as asexual?


5. "Follower" by Will Kostakis
Representation: Gay male protagonist, bisexual love interest
Content Warnings: Questionable social media practices
2.5 stars

I don't really have much opinion of this one, except that I did not find any of it romantic. At all.


6. "Refresh" by Mark Oshiro
Representation: Gay men, Latinx characters, fat characters
Content Warnings: Catfishing (called out) and internalized fatphobia (called out)
3 stars

It's all right, I just want there to be more to a story than a guy puts a fake picture up on social media, gets called out for it, but gets the dude he wanted to date anyway.


7. "Victory Lap" by Julian Winters
Representation: Gay male protagonist, African-American protagonist, unspecified mlm love interest, non-binary side character
Content Warnings: Past death of a parent
4.25 stars.

It's really wholesome and cute, but very, very saccharine.


8. "A Road of One's Own" by Kate Hart
Representation: Indigenous love interest, pansexual love interest, and bisexual, polysexual, or pansexual protagonist
Content Warnings: Mention of genocide of Indigenous peoples
4.25 stars

Overall, I really enjoyed the story (road trips feminism? Count me in!) But, (and if I'm wrong, please tell me so in the comments) does the fact someone might someday be attracted to genders she hasn't been attracted to yet make her pansexual? I don't think so. With that logic, everyone is pansexual.


9. "Seditious Teapots" by Katherine Locke
Representation: Gender-questioning protagonist, agender side character, asexual or gray-ace protagonist, pansexual side character.
Content Warnings: Depression
4.75 stars

I absolutely adore this story! The themes are so deep and important, the imagery vivid, and who doesn't love teapots? The Revolutionary War, teapots, and gender all come together somehow in this story.


10. "Star-crossed in DC" by Jessica Verdi
Representation: Bisexual protagonist, lesbian love interest
Content Warnings: Homophobia
4 stars

One of the few stories in here with a solid plot! I love the plot, but the writing style seems kind of childish.


11. "Floating" by Tanya Boteju
Representation: Neurodivergent protagonist, hinted-at F/F romance
Content Warnings: No idea
Unrated

The character's neurodivergency is the focus of the story, so I decided not to rate it because I didn't know what would be fair for it. I honestly have no idea what was going on in this one, though.


12. "The Soft Place" by Hillary Monahan.
Representation: Lesbians, unspecified POC love interest
Content Warnings:Drug use, parental abuse/neglect, AIDS, homophobia
2 stars

Um, what the heck happened in this one? Is Rey a ghost or a drug-induced hallucination or something else? I guess she was a ghost because she left a cigarette wrapper behind, but I have no idea if that's what she is. Also, it's kind of bleak. I like the themes, though.


13. "A Pound of Flesh" by Kosoko Jackson
Representation: Gay men, unspecified POC protagonist
Content Warnings: Police brutality, hate crime
2.5 stars

It's a bad sign when I can't finish a short story in one sitting, and especially not if I have to put it down 3-4 times because I'm not invested in the story and I find it boring.


14. "One Spell Too Many" by Tara Sim
Representation: Bisexual protagonist, trans male love interest, bisexual side character, unspecified mlm side characters, unspecified wlw side character, Pakistani protagonist, Taiwanese side character, non-binary side character
Content Warnings: I can't think of anything
4 stars

A cute, light story, if a bit predictable. I really enjoyed the magic system, even though I wish the consequences of love spells had been expanded upon more; it sounds like a horrific idea.


15. "Far from Home" by Saundra Mitchell
Representation: Non-binary protagonist, gay male love interest, unspecified POC protagonist
Content Warnings: Violence
1 star

I have no idea why I hate this story so much, but I do. Something about the characters and writing style got on my nerves and made me want to fling my phone across the room.
Also, the protagonist is "neither a guy or a girl". Okay, so they're non-binary. That's absolutely okay. But why, then, does the protagonist refer to themself as a "spaceman"?


16. "The Coronation" by Meredith Russo
Representation: Trans female protagonist, trans male protagonist, unspecified POC protagonists
Content Warnings: Transphobia, child abuse
1.5 stars

How in the world did a trans female author write such a misogynistic story? And it is very misogynistic. McKenna is a spineless, weepy damsel-in-distress who cannot do anything for herself, who flings herself from one man's arms to another, and who has to be rescued multiple times. As if she'd be less of a girl if she was capable of doing anything but cry and rely on men. As if strong female characters cannot be trans or something.
And the plot and worldbuilding make no sense at all. I got lost in the story several times. The fact it is *very* omniscient didn't help.


17. "Once upon a Seastorm" by Fox Benwell
Representation: Trans bisexual male protagonist, unspecified mlm love interest
Content Warnings: Unplanned pregnancy, transphobia (called out)
2 stars

Another nonsensical story. The writing style was pretty, but what was the point? What was the plot? Who was the selkie, anyway? Was there even a selkie at all, or was that just a symbol? ( )

3.5 stars

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I'm not entirely sure what I thought about this anthology, but I don't think I found it quite as strong as the first one. According to a calculator, my ratings for the stories average out to 3.625 stars, but I have to admit I was tempted to round my 3.5 stars down to 3 stars instead of up to 4, even though the technical average amount was closer to four

However, I appreciate the fact that this is an anthology dedicated to uplifting queer voices, and although a lot of the stories fell flat for me I genuinely do recommend this book, because some of the stories were truly amazing, and honestly it's worth it just for those.

And now that we have my rambly general thoughts out of the way, let's get onto the story by story breakdown:

Kick. Push. Coast.
3 stars

I thought this one was pretty solid, but it wasn't really my thing. I thought it pulled off second person okay (and I usually hate second person), and the questioning rep was good. I just wasn't engaged, is my main problem.

Also the line "symptoms of demisexuality", which is uhhhh questionable because it's?? not an illness?? and as far as I remember that wasn't used on any of the other identities mentioned?? so uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
(it was an arc so maybe it changed, idk. I hope so)

What Happens In the Closet
3 stars

This was fun, but just sorta cheesy and stupid and honestly not very well written if you ask me. Also there were a few weird generalizations and stereotypes that I didn't love?? But like it was pretty fun.

Player One Fight
1 star

This is the single stupidest story I have ever read and the main character was an entitled prick and I hated it.

Literally the entire thing was just his internal monologue about how much his "boyfriend" loved him, but like . . . they weren't even together??? the main character was just determined he would win the poor dude over??? and the poor guy was just like trying to go about his life?? and the main character was just like blah blah blah he loves me so much blah blah blah he's gonna be my boyfriend blah blah blah he just doesn't realize it yet

Lumber Me Mine
5 stars

One of my absolute favourite stories in the anthology. It was so fluffy and sweet but it also had so much too it, about moving on from a bad relationship and learning to love yourself outside of a relationship that was your entire world (but also it had a cute sapphic romance that I adored haha), and just jkhjfgfjkhghffd it was SO GOOD!! And it had ace rep!!

Also like . . . it made me so happy that I cried. It was so pure and sweet hjfgdghfg

Follower
4 stars

This was exceptionally dumb and not really anything special, but I greatly enjoyed it anyways and it put a smile on my face, and like . . . it was just fun af.

Refresh
4 stars

I sort of have the same thoughts on this one as I did the last one: it was good, it was fun, it was sorta stupid, it was absolutely not memorable. It was worth the read tho, for sure.

Victory Lap
4.5 stars

THIS WAS THE CUTEST SHIT also I would do anything for Luke's dad like wow he was the best person ever and I love him kjhjfgdghgfdjghfg

This one definitely made me desperately want to read more from Julian Winters and also just jghfhjhfg I loved it ahhh

A Road of One's Own
4.5 stars

This was so good!! I loved seeing the main character come to terms with her sexuality, and it was just very soft and sweet and also made me laugh

Honestly my only complaint with this one was that the side characters weren't very well developed

Seditious Teapots
5 stars

This story was one of my favourites and I just!! it was so good!! I fell so absolutely in love with the whole cast of characters, and I'm always soft for reading about characters who are just discovering they're queer and also just jkhjfgfhjghffd this was so funny and sweet and I loved it so much!!!

Star-crossed in DC
5 stars

This was hands down the best story in this anthology and I loved it so much and like honestly the whole anthology is worth it just for this, Seditious Teapots, and Lumber Me Mine.

This story . . . wow. This was about the daughter of a republican president who is in love with the daughter of the democrat candidate, and her having to come to terms with the fact that her family is really not great, and learning to stand up for what she believes in and also question her beliefs to better herself and hkjfgdghkhjgfghjghfd it was SO fucking good I loved it so much!!!!!

Floating
2.5 stars

This was like..... beautifully written but way too weird for me. I feel like this one will be really hit or miss for people though, because I think it's very much just a matter of whether or not you connect with it, and I REALLY didn't. (like it's a short story and yet I considered DNFing it so uhhhhh coming from someone who rarely DNFs......... that's not a good sign)

The Soft Place
3.5 stars

I didn't looove this one, because it was just a smidge too weird for me, but it was really unique and well-written and I genuinely really did like it.

A Pound of Flesh
2 stars

This one was so disappointing, because the premise was so excellent, but the execution just . . . didn't work. Honestly this one didn't work very well as a short story at all, but also I didn't love the writing style so I probably couldn't have read it as a whole book either.

One Spell Too Many
4.5 stars

I really don't have anything to SAY on this one, just that it was fun af and I loved it a lot

Far From Home
3.5 stars

This was so bizarre, but also really fun!! It wasn't my favourite thing ever, but it was quirky and enjoyable and sweet and that was enough to make it worthwhile.

Once Upon A Seastorm
3 stars

I literally do not know what to make of this one but I like?? vaguely enjoyed it??? when I wasn't contemplating DNFing it??? idk it was weird but like good but like weird af and tbh I just didn't click with the writing style ( )

I always find it difficult to know how to review a book like “Out Now” because of the variety of voices and themes that are contained within its covers. I find myself in that position once more with this wonderful collection of short works.

What I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this collection. There are stories about queer vampires, heartbreak, longing, asking a boy to winter formal, instagram influencers and their take on romance, aliens and other creatures! There are such a variety of delectable queer stories that’s it’s impossible not to connect!

There are some great and visible authors in this collection: Caleb Roehrig, Mark Oshiro, Julian Winters, Candice Montgomery, Tanya Boteju, Tara Sim, and Meredith Russo. I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the authors and the different takes on the theme! There really is something for everyone in this collection!

I had my favourite stories, naturally, everyone will. I’m a huge fan of Caleb Roehrig and his story “What Happens in the Closet” was a bitey, snarly, queer joy. I also was really touched by Mark Oshiro’s “Refresh” which deals with online dating and how we represent ourselves in the photos we choose.

The topics are modern, the feel is authentic. A great book for your isolation! Or simply a wonderful gift to someone who might need a pick-me-up or some queer feels!
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