Because You Love to Hate Me [Spoiler-Free Review]

Because You Love to Hate Me 
By Amerie (editor), Renee Ahdieh, Soman Chainai, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tulcholke, Nicola Yoon

My Rating: ★★★

Description: 

13 stories of villainy from 13 well-known YA authors. 

My Review

The problem with a short story anthology, honestly, is that everyone is going to find at least one story that they don't like. The opposite is also true, of course, but I feel like the mixed ratings for this book on Goodreads may have something to do with the fact that everyone has different opinions on every single short story in the book. So rating the whole book is hard because, well, I had different opinions about every single short story in this book. It was a mixed bag for me, honestly. 

But without further ado, let's just get into it.

The Blood of Imuriv by Renee Ahdieh 

My Rating: ★★

This story started out strong, but the rest of it never really lived up to its killer opening. While the concept itself was intriguing, the execution was lacking, and I wish the author had spent more time on the parts of the story I was actually interested in (the main character can see nightmares?? Gimme more.)

CW: Descriptions of blood, violence. Minor swearing? 

Jack by Amerie 

My Rating: ★★

This was just a story. Nothing really stood out to me as special, and the end twist was shocking (not in a good way) because there was little to no foreshadowing for it. 

It wasn't the worst story in the anthology, but it definitely wasn't my favorite. 

CW: Violence, references to cannibalism. Reference to kissing. 

Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainai 

My Rating: ★★

The idea of a story being told entirely through text messages (or IMs, or whatever it was) was very interesting to me. 

But it quickly grew confusing, and the storyline, while halfway interesting, never really had a proper arc, and so lacked meaning. Gwen's character was interesting (in a twisted sort of way). She's manipulative and will do anything to get what she wants. However, overall, this story didn't really stick with me. 

CW: Sexual references. Some language. 

Shirley and Jim by Susan Dennard 

My Rating: ★★★★

At this point in the anthology, I was starting to worry that I'd be reading 300+ pages of 2-star stories. And then came along this gem. 

I loved it! A Sherlock Holmes retelling, with both Sherlock and Watson being recast as female, it was well-written, engaging, and had an excellent story arc. The character of Moriarty was fascinating as well, and I love what the author did with his character in her retelling. 

CW: Kissing. Potential minor swearing?

The Blessings of Little Wants by Sarah Enni 

My Rating: ★★★

This story was fairly solid. Though that said, I keep forgetting that I even read this story... my thoughts keep blanking when I see this title, and then there's the moment of realization: oh, that story. So it wasn't very memorable. 

But the characters were interesting, and the plot and writing were both solid. I wish the end had had a little more foreshadowing, but it was a fairly good twist. 

CW: Violence, descriptions of blood. 

The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer 

My Rating: ★★★★

I loved the concept of this story! It's a sort-of Little Mermaid retelling, focusing on the backstory for the Sea Witch. The writing was good, and the characterization and character arc (descent into villainy) was actually very well done. 

CW: Nudity, kissing, descriptions of blood. 

Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon 

My Rating: ★★★

TRIGGER WARNING: Rape

I liked this story. It casts the character of Medusa in a new light and shows her backstory and what caused her to become the way she is. 

I found it very interesting, and at the same time very sad. 

There were a few places where I felt that I needed more explanation, which is why this is only rated 3 stars. But it was well-written and Mei's character was excellent. 

CW: See trigger warning. Sexual jokes. References to sex. Some violence. 

Death Knell by Victoria Schwab 

My Rating: ★★★★★

So... *guilty face* I may have picked this book up just because I knew Victoria Schwab had written a story for it. 

Yeah. I know. Sorry not sorry. 

But this story was everything I wanted it to be and more! I knew going in that I was going to love it (because I have loved every book I've read by Victoria Schwab.) The writing was beautiful, simple and elegant. Third person, present tense for the win! I also loved the characters and the character arcs and ahh just everything about this story. 

CW: A flashback to a kiss. 

Marigold by Samantha Shannon 

My Rating: ★★★

This is another story that suffers a bit from the lack of foreshadowing. It's about faeries, and a girl who has been traded to the faeries in exchange for the queen's daughter. Her brother and her lover go in search of her. 

The writing style didn't appeal to me hugely, and like I said before, lack of foreshadowing took away from my enjoyment of the end. But it was still a decent story, just not the best.  

CW: Implied off-page sex and a few references to sex. Some swearing? Gun use. 

You, You, It's All About You by Adam Silvera 

My Rating: ★★★

This is one of the few pieces of writing that I've read that's written in second person (you did this, you did that.) It was an interesting narrative choice, and I feel it worked very well. 

The foreshadowing for the end was done very well. 

The reason that this isn't a four star is because there was one thing that kept getting brought up, but that stretched my suspension of disbelief. 

CW: Drug use, kissing. 

Julian Breaks All the Rules by Andrew Smith 

My Rating: ★

This story was not enjoyable for me at all. The writing style really grated on me (I hate it when the POV character talks to the reader, especially if they're trying too hard to be quirky). It was also just a little bit too disturbing for me.

CW: Violence, drug and alcohol abuse, nudity, a brief mention of a couple having sex, sexual references. The main character is a psychopath, and his thoughts are disturbing to read. Profanity. 

Indigo and Shade by April Genevieve Tulcholke 

My Rating: ★★★★

This was a very interesting take on Beauty and the Beast. The end was shocking, and also really emotional. I liked it a lot. There's not really much else I can say without spoilers. 

CW: Kissing, sexual references, violence. Maybe some profanity? 

Sera by Nicola Yoon 

My Rating: ★★★★

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. I found it really interesting and original. 

CW: Violence. There might have been profanity?

Overall, I'm giving this anthology 3 out of 5 stars. But if you liked Victoria Schwab's writing, you should read it just for Death Knell. Because Death Knell made the whole book worthwhile.