Three Sides of a Heart: Stories About Love Triangles audiobook

Average Rating: 3.81 Stars, but I'm giving a five because there were so many stories here on my new faves list. This was a fantastic short story collection, and I have to admit I was really pleasantly surprised after seeing some mediocre reviews. What stands out about this collection to me is the creativity. So much speculative fiction and so many weird ideas! There's a lot of weirdness hidden within this collection, and I have no doubt even some of my fave stories will be polarizing - I've already seen two one-star reviews for one of my fave stories, lol - but I think everyone will be able to come away with a few favorites out of all these weird and wonderful stories.If you only want my recommendations for best stories in this collection, try the badass sapphic alternate history of Justina Ireland's Dread South, the speculative character-driven scifi of Natalie C. Parker's Cass, An, and Dra, the friendship-focused contemporary of Veronica Roth's Vim and Vigor, the weird and wonderful magical realism tone of Brenna Yovanoff's Vega, the fascinating characters and stunning setting depiction of Alaya Dawn Johnson's A Hundred Thousand Threads, and the saddest thing I have ever read, Bethany Hagen's Unus, Duo, Tres. You'll notice that's a full 6 of the 16 stories in this collection. I am SO. HAPPY. # FULL STORY REVIEWSSince I mostly wanted subversions out of this anthology, I'm going to put a 🇸🇱 to indicate love triangles that aren't three heterosexual individuals, and a ☀️ to indicate trope subversion or stories I felt did something totally new with the love triangle. ♔ Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno - ★★★☆☆ 🇸🇱This is contemporary following a girl, her brother, and her brother's maybe-girlfriend. This was cute, first of all, and I like that part of this love triangle was simply a guy and a girl who everyone thinks are dating but aren't necessarily at all. Unfortunately, I think I misunderstood and believed they were dating for part of the reading. I also don't love that the burden is put on our protagonist to deal with her homophobic parents; how, exactly, is it teenage angst to not want to associate with a mother who can't shut up about your short hair? She's the parent. She can deal. ♔ Dread South by Justina Ireland - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️I'M SCREAMING AT HOW GOOD THIS WAS. It's about a badass black zombie hunter girl in the post-civil war era and the white girl who falls for her. And LOTS of trope subversion. Every racist trope, especially the "you're the one good black person" trope, just died a very painful death. Writing style rocked, concept is of course badass - civil. war. zombie. hunters. - and honestly, I'm just so here for gfs murdering racists. Good concept and great story. ♔ Omega Ship by Rae Carson - ★★☆☆☆ ☀️This is about... a naked girl and two hot naked boys having to repopulate the earth. Which, trope subversion, yay? I think Carson was going for a subversive feminist little story, and there was one moment towards the end I liked, but... I think the concept was just too fucking messy for this to ever turn out well. It just got cringey. Also, I'm not saying including genetic research is always bad, but eugenics could really be critiqued?♔ La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh - ★★★☆☆This is about a girl in Buenos Aires and the boys she meets along the way. I think fans of good contemporary romance will enjoy this a lot, but it didn't do a ton for me. Liked the banter, but the whole sexy-tango-dancing thing is just not me. Also, very weak love triangle and nothing new was done with it. ♔ Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️This is a novella in which our main character, Cass, can see the outcomes of their decisions before making them - until they end up torn between An, their best friend or maybe something more, and Dra, a hypnotizing person they’ve just met. And it is really, really, really compelling. I felt like I couldn't breathe towards the end. It's more of an urban fantasy story about choices than anything else; I'd argue the love triangle is somewhat immaterial, but it's a great way of conveying the story. (Honestly, the ideal ending to this one is them all getting together.) ♔ Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy - ★★★★☆ 🇸🇱Bi girl falls in love with another girl while giving her and her boyfriend kissing lessons. Cute, cute, and cute. Nothing new with the love triangle, maybe, but I really enjoyed reading this. ♔ Triangle Solo by Garth Nix - ★☆☆☆☆Listen, I'm sorry, but it is laughable how terribly this was written. The constant ellipses. The obvious reveals. Everything. God, it was just terrible. ♔ Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️Oh my god, this was so beautiful? It takes a story about a love triangle and turns it into a story about genuine friendship. So much trope subversion. ♔ Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston - ★★★☆☆ 🇸🇱☀️This follows three possibly all in love with each other characters, Alex, Tab, and CJ. Each of the three stories has three sections, one for each POV. Mostly, I just found this a bit confusing: the gimmick is cool, but I didn't catch on quickly enough and honestly found it a little too weird. Definitely not a typical love triangle, though - I really liked that none of the characters were gendered. ♔ Hurdles by Brandy Colbert - ★★★☆☆...huh. This follows a girl caught between her normal boyfriend and normal life, and a boy she deeply loves. Which is something slightly new, I guess, but even this I've seen done before. I have... so many mixed feelings. I liked all the characters and the idea, but I had too many issues to really get fully immersed. First off, our main character here read really similar to Suzette from Little and Lion AND the main character of Colbert's Summer Days anthology story. And I suppose I just... found it kind of boring. The non-ending doesn't help; it would've worked if I'd connected with everything more, but since I felt so apathetic towards the story, it did nothing. ♔ The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantakerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles - ★★★★☆ 🇸🇱☀️...holy crap. Um, I'm not going to say anything about this, but I think you should read this to the end. ♔ Waiting by Sabaa Tahir - ★★★★☆This was a pleasant surprise! It's contemporary about a girl caught between two great guys, each with their own issues and good parts. It's not anything new, but I think I enjoyed this mostly because I genuinely liked both dudes. Another one where the ideal ending would've been them all getting together. ♔ Vega by Brenna Yovanoff - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️It's a love triangle between a girl, a boy, and a city. And I'm pretty sure half its readership is going to end it like "huh?" but it's still worth reading because HOLY CRAP I LOVED IT. Brenna Yovanoff just knows how to get to the heart of the human soul, and this short story is no exception. Her writing is just... holy shit, I adore it. I loved the picture I had in my head of Las Vegas while reading; Yovanoff just excels at creating mood quickly, and making you care for stories. ♔ A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️This was really really lovely. It's a story about a futuristic Mexico and rebellion. I don't know exactly what I liked most about this, but I think it was probably the writing - just stunning - and the characters, who I cared about so much by the end I was near tears. The story, while occasionally confusing and not necessarily full of huge plot twists, had me rapt with its odd tone and intriguing worldbuilding. Can't recommend enough - in fact, I'd love to read a full length novel. ♔ Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton - ★★★★☆ 🇸🇱☀️This was quite odd; it's a high fantasy story about an antihero, and there's also some high fantasy polyamory going on? I felt that the actual story and worldbuilding was too confusing to truly adore, but I found the writing quite engaging. Maybe worth a reread.♔ Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen - ★★★★★ 🇸🇱☀️Poly vampires and a whole lot of antiheroes. That was... the most painful thing I've read in my life. I cannot even begin to convey how painful this was. I reject this story and I very much reject this ending. I'm blocking all of you. Fuck. No one asked, Bethany Hagen. No one. VERDICT: A collection of weird and fantastic speculative fiction stories that left me totally enthralled. This story collection was so much more than I expected and I can't recommend this enough.Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Youtube

Full Review on The Candid CoverThree Sides of a Heart is an anthology not to be missed. These sixteen short stories by some of my favourite authors each put a spin on the classic love triangle trope. There is definitely something for everyone, and it might even change your opinion on love triangles.I love the concept of this anthology! The love triangle gets a lot of hate in YA, but honestly, I can appreciate one that is well-executed. Three Sides of a Heart takes this trope and twists it, giving the reader a whole new perspective. There is something from every genre with all kinds of pairings, and many of my favourite authors have contributed stories. Even if you loathe love triangles, I would still recommend this anthology, as there is so much to it that you are bound to find something you like.My favourite of the stories was Sabaa Tahir’s Waiting. One of the love interests is in jail, which isn’t common in YA, and the story features letters between him and the main character, which I always love. The main character is strong and sassy, and there is actually a bit of humour, which I appreciated. Waiting is such an emotional story that is so well-written, and I would definitely read a full book with its plot.I also really enjoyed Renée Ahdieh’s La Revancha del Tango. This story is set in Buenos Aires and is all about the tango. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about the tango before, so I found the originality to be refreshing. Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen intrigued me as well. I’m not really a fan of vampire stories, but the emotion and plot twists kept me captivated.Three Sides of a Heart is an anthology focusing on love triangles. There are many excellent works in this book, but I especially enjoyed Sabaa Tahir’s contribution. There is so much diversity and so many different genres, so I would absolutely recommend this one.

Now this might be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t really have a problem with love triangles. Knowing a book has a love triangle doesn’t immediately turn me off the book, so I came into this anthology excited to see how these authors executed this divisive trope, but I wasn’t necessarily looking for a complete reinvention or trope subversion. That said, some of the stories in Three Sides of a Heart bring a fresh new take to the love triangle that was a lot of fun to see. Average rating: 3.77 StarsStories I was most excited for: Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno; Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy; Hurdles by Brandy Colbert; Waiting by Sabaa TahirFavorite Stories: La Revanacha del Tango by Renée Ahdieh; Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker; The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles; Waiting by Sabaa Tahir; Vega by Brenna Yovanoff; & Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany HagenThat's 6 5-star reads!Least Favorite Stories: Triangle Solo by Garth Nix; Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston; & A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn JohnsonRiddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno | 3.5 StarsThis story is all about the recently out Rowan, who loves designing costumes for the theatre department and her brother’s best friend Taylor. Made complicated by the fact that everyone thinks Steven and Taylor are dating. I like that the anthology starts out with an LGBT relationship, and we get to see a girl and a guy be platonic friends. I also thought Ro’s dad was supportive of her, which was nice, but her mom was not, and that kinda sucked. Overall this was a nice start, good characters but it felt pretty surface level to me.Dread South by Justina Ireland | 4 StarsThis story made me really excited to read Dread Nation (this short story is set in the same universe). Dread South is all about a badass Zombie slaying black girl, Juliet, and the Southern Deb she is charged to protect. Juliet was an awesome character and I liked her a lot. Unfortunately. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Louisa or Everett, the other two legs of the triangle. I did like seeing Louisa and Juliet grow closer and training together, but I wasn’t really invested in the relationship.Omega Ship by Rae Carson | 3 StarsThis was pretty weird scifi story where 3 (naked) teens are the sole survivors of their space ship, and must repopulate a new planet. This was honestly so outrageous and bizarre that it was supremely entertaining for me. I get the deeper commentary of the story, but what was happening was so ridiculous that the commentary kinda got lost and it made me laugh.La Revancha del Tango by Renée Ahdieh | 5 StarsMy first 5 star read of the anthology, and I just really loved this story so much. The writing was immersive and beautiful. This is a story about a girl who is on a trip to Buenos Aires, where she meets a couple of cute boys at the hostile she’s staying at. But this really was a story about love of dancing and the freedom that the girl felt through the tango. There was also some nice banter.Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker | 5 StarsThis was a story all about choices and the legacy and power in a choice. It’s a sort-of urban fantasy, where Cass has the ability to see the outcome of her choices, and she’s torn between her best friend/girlfriend An and Dra, someone she’s just met . This story is really all about exploring possibilities and experiences are more important that the what-ifs. Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy | 3 StarsRuby is a kissing coach who falls for childhood friend Annie, when she gives her and her boyfriend kissing lessons. I actually really loved this to start out with, but then we got some cheating - which I always hate. It honestly brought the story down a bit for me. Triangle Solo by Garth Nix | 2 StarsTwo best friends hate the triangle (the instrument) and both have a crush on a girl who recently moved back. This just felt really flat and was super obvious. There wasn’t really anything that grabbed me.Vim & Vigor by Veronica Roth | 4 StarsFriendship stories about superheroes and healing. The only reason this wasn’t 5 stars is because I didn’t really like Edie as much as I wanted too, but I’m always here for stories about girl friendship!Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston | 2 StarsThis was just so confusing? It’s more like 3 mini-stories within this story, all about 3 friends who all love each other in some way. I actually liked the first mini story, but then it just ended and we switched to a different mini story, with a different character as the narrator. I would have liked this more if it was just one of the stories, developed more.Hurdles by Brandy Colbert | 3 StarsThis is another one where I really liked the beginning, I thought Mavis, the main character torn between two boys, was nice and easy to connect to. But there was definitely some emotional cheating going on that I didn’t love, and the story overall was just pretty basic.The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Catwoman by Lamar Giles | 5 StarsI need this to be a full length novel asap. So many great characters and such an intricate and well thought out plot. I don’t want to say too much, because I feel like you should just go into this one, but it was incredible!Waiting by Sabaa Tahir | 5 StarsBefore reading the last story, this was the one that hooked me emotionally. There isn’t really anything revolutionary or new about the story: Girl torn between a new friend who’s going to same college as her and her longtime crush and friend who’s recently gone to jail, but I just really loved it. I connected to the characters, and I cared about the relationships. It was so heartwarming and had a bunch of feel-good fuzzies!Vega by Brenna Yovanoff | 5 StarsPure beauty and magic! This is about a girl torn between her love of Vegas, her home, and her best friend Alex. I loved seeing the spirit of Vegas personified, it was stunning. And really getting to see what’s right for you vs what’s right for the people you love explored. This was just beautifully captivating.A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson | 2 StarsThis is another one where I was pretty confused. I really loved the world and the rebellion that was happening, but the characters were a miss for me and I immediately knew what the big twist was, so there wasn’t really any suspense for me.Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton | 3.75 StarsThis was the first high fantasy story in the anthology, and while I really liked it, wow is it hard to establish a high fantasy world in such a short time. Because the pacing was so fast, some things felt a little rushed for me.Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen | 5 StarsI was so emotional after reading this, I actually teared up. This is a great gothic vampire story with lots of emotions and beautiful characters. This was such a great collection of stories and most of them really worked for me. Like I said above, I’m not anti-love triangles so I had pretty high expectation going in, and Three Sides of a Heart is a beautiful and diverse collection that showcases many kinds of love and the beauty that exists in all of them.I received a copy of the book from HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight Look, I know that people often dislike love triangles, but I really don't hate them, as long as they're done well. Obviously since that is literally the point of all of these stories, I felt like it was handled well in almost every case. But I figure if you're anti-triangle, you're probably not even considering reading this anyway? So let's just move along.I figured I'd list all the stories, and giving a little star rating to each with a few... thoughts. But like, very few because it's a lot of stories? Also, another fun fact: Val @ The Innocent Smiley and I had basically opposite thoughts on nearly every single story. So you should read her review too if you're on the fence? Great. Let's do this. Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno: The great contemporary I've come to love from Katie Cotugno (also comes with her signature incomplete ending, the only thing I didn't like). Dread South by Justina Ireland: This was amazing! I am even more excited to read Dread Nation after this glimpse into the world! Omega Ship by Rae Carson: Someone needs to contact Rae and ask her to please make this a series. It was weird, but I adored it. I mean, a space love triangle whilst trying to save the human race? Of course I'd like it. La Revancha del Tango by Renee Ahdieh: I thought it was cute, albeit a bit short. Still good stuff. Cass, An, and Dra by Natalie C. Parker: The premise is quite intriguing. I'd love a whole book about it! Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy: It was cute, but a spoilery thing made me a bit salty. Triangle Solo by Garth Nix: My notes for this literally say "ehhhh?" Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth: I think I wanted more of a concrete outcome because that is how I roll. But still cute. Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston: That was the most confusing thing I have ever read. No idea. None. Hurdles by Brandy Colbert: Cute, but seemed a bit... rushed, even for high school love standards? The Historian, the Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles: "That was fucked up and I loved it."-- My actual notes Waiting by Sabaa Tahir: I really enjoy all the diversity in this anthology! Also, it IS okay to choose NO ONE, someone should tell our girl this. Vega by Brenna Yovanoff: Liked it, even if i didn't relate to them. Also, found myself loving the author's writing and needing all her books immediately. A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson: Nice twist. I enjoyed. Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton: This was unique and interesting, I wish it was longer to understand the world better (and yes, I do understand they're short stories, shh).  Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen This one gave me a case of the sads, but in a good way. Bottom Line: These were very clearly more hit than miss for me! Overall, a very solid selection. I think it's really diverse, and has so many stories from so many genres that everyone will be able to find a story they love!

Three Sides of a Heart is a recently released anthology based on a fav YA trope - The ❤️🔺. Come on, we all have read one (I just finished my reread of New Moon - TRIANGLE CITY).What I loved about this anthology is the authors took the trope and played with it. This is not a 16 story rehashing of girl meets boy...meets another boy and DRAMA ENSUES. Oh no, this is a magnificent set of multi-faceted stories that prove the triangle is so much more than girl/boy/boy.My favorite stories are Omega Ship by Rae Carson (explores how one girl owns the traditional love triangle), Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy (a girl who offers kissing lessons need I say more), Hurdles by Brandy Colbert (this one explores how the love triangle isn’t even always about romantic love), and Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethany Hagen (this is the vampire love story we all needed but never got).This anthology is special because it contains more diverse stories featuring sex positive characters than we’ve likely ever gotten altogether in YA. It features a diverse set of authors across genres. There’s almost nothing else out there like it (ahem, have you read Feral Youth? Because you should). Contemporary readers will find comfort here but so will readers of SFF, historical, and more.Oh, and the audio is fab and narrated by multiple narrators.

♦ Video Review ♦Average Rating: 3.39 Stars. This really had some gems in it and overall this was the best experience I've ever had while reading an anthology so I'm giving it a very confident 4 stars.This anthology is full of super enjoyable, intriguing stories about love triangles. I absolutely love the variety in it. It has all kinds of different genres, it has your normal, well-known love triangle and it has some really interesting, different concepts.I would highly recommend reading this anthology, even if you dislike love triangles because it will make you fall back in love with the trope. This is an anthology that shows how tropes are really just shit because people go back to the same idea over and over again. There's so many different ways to write a trope and it really gives me hope to see some more intriguing love triangles in future YA novels. Here are my individual ratings & thoughts on the short stories: Riddles in Mathematics by Katie Cotugno: 3.5/5 stars. This was cute. Nothing special or new but really enjoyable. I kinda wanna read a full novel of this now.Dread South by Justina Ireland: 4/5 stars. SO GOOD. Amazing concept that worked so well in this short format. So many things were packed into this, just wow. I liked what Ireland did with the love triangle and the ending was A+.Omega Ship by Rae Carson: 2/5 stars. I don't even know what the fuck I just read. I mean I guess it was.. interesting but also very weird. Like I couldn't take the cringe. I liked where this went and it was certainly an intriguing take on the trope but.. still.. weird.Le Revancha del Tango by Renée Ahdieh: 3/5 stars. That was pretty basic but also pretty cute. It had a dance aspect in it that I really enjoyed. But it rather felt like "oh I have this cute story idea" and then she tried to make it fit into this anthology.. yeah, no. Didn't feel like much of a love triangle tbh.Cass, An and Dra by Natalie C. Parker: 5/5 stars. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! A really gripping short story that did wonderful things with the trope. I am LIVING right now. This is what I'm here for.Lessons for Beginners by Julie Murphy: 4/5 stars. This story was so cute and super emotional. I expected a lot from Julie Murphy and I was not disappointed. She didn't really do anything special with the trope, which is why I'm only giving it 4 stars but it was a really great story overall!Triangle Solo by Garth Nix: 1/5 stars. The story was pathetic and because it didn't do anything special with the trope, I just can't give it more than 1 star. I MEAN THIS STORY IS WHY PEOPLE HATE LOVE TRIANGLES I GUESS 5/5 FOR PORTRAYING THAT.Vim and Vigor by Veronica Roth: 3/5 stars. This was just okay for me. I get what it was aiming for but I just didn't really feel invested. The ending was great though!Work in Progress by E.K. Johnston: ?/5 stars. Uuuuh yeah, I just didn't get this like.. at all. I'll probably reread it at some point and then maybe I get it enough to give it a rating.Hurdles by Brandy Colbert: 2.5/5 stars. I mean I feel like this is another one of those stories that is pretty much exactly why people hate love triangles. It was enjoyable enough for me but also a lot of eye roll.The Historian, the Garrison & the Cantankerous Cat Woman by Lamar Giles: 4/5 stars. SO GOOOOOD. This really caught me off guard and as far as the idea goes this is for sure one of my favourites.Waiting by Sabaa Tahir: 3/5 stars. This was pretty average for me. Enjoyable but really not much else to say about it.Vega by Brenna Yovanoff: 4/5 stars. Great idea and beautiful writing! It felt a little bit like a short story version of the song "New York" by Paloma Faith and I've always been fascinated with that song.A Hundred Thousand Threads by Alaya Dawn Johnson: ?/5 stars. I'm not giving this a rating because I found it really fucking confusing. I liked what I got from it but I need to reread it before giving it a definite rating.Before She Was Bloody by Tessa Gratton: 3.5/5 stars. This was intriguing but I found the world building way too complicated for a short story. There's much potential in this but I don't think the format quite worked.Unus, Duo, Tres by Bethan Hagen: 5/5 stars. Oh my FUCKING god. I can't believe I got my fucking heart broken in just TWENTY MINUTES. I am not okay. If you prepare to read this anthology in order PREPARE TO END IT WITH A BANG. My god.♦ Booktube Channel ♦ Twitter ♦ Instagram ♦I received an ARC of this through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!

As with many anthologies, there were some stories in here that I loved, some that I was neutral about, and some that I didn't care for at all. However, for me, the good vastly outweighed the bad, and I really enjoyed this, overall! I'm not someone who loves or hates love triangles, I think it all depends on how they're done, and they were done, for the most part, really well in here. I loved how diverse these stories were, I loved all of the LGBT representation, and I didn't think any of them were too long, which is great! My favorites: Riddles in Mathematics - Katie CotugnoHurdles - Brandy Colbert Waiting - Sabaa Tahir Vega - Brenna Yovanoff Before She Was Bloody - Tessa GrattonUnus, Duo, Tres- Bethnay Hagen

This delightful little book is filled with charming stories about Love Triangles. The way the numerous YA authors adapted these stories was a marvel. Particular highlights included Rae Carson's "Omega Ship", Brenna Yovanoff's "Vega" and "Lessons for Beginners" by Julie Murphy. I found myself enjoying not just the creative ways that these authors adapted their themes, but the stories themselves, often wanting more pages that I got.

Average Rating: 2.96 (but I raised it to four because I do what I want)No, but in all seriousness, I think when people say they hate love triangles what they mean is they hate poorly written love triangles. Because for every series with an excellently crafted, satisfying love triangle…….., there are ten that are so terrible that the two crappily written romances take away from what would otherwise be a good book. But, largely, this anthology largely contains stories from the first category. The stories were heartwarming, funny, well-written, from a variety of different genres, and you know what? they. had. love. triangles. And I loved it! I’m part of the group that loves a good triangle in fiction, and so this book was so fun for me! Not to mention that literally every single story had at least one poc main character, and the vast majority had lgbt characters. So awesome!”Riddles in Mathematics” by Katie Cotugno: ★★★★This may have not been the best story to start the collection off with—I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I did some of the others – but I felt the chemistry between Ro and the other two members of the love triangle. This one was interesting because it was kind of two love triangles in one, with Steven/Taylor/Ro and Taylor/Ro/Mariette and I really connected with Ro’s character. I would totally read this book, if it were a full novel and not just a short story. It was super cute!”Dread South” by Justina Ireland: ★★★★★ Holy crap. If Dread Nation wasn’t already one of my most hyped releases for 2018, it would be now. Justina Ireland is a genius. There’s no other way to put it. Black Civil-War era zombie hunters is the kind of concept and idea that I’m sure is going to spark movie and video game adaptations of Dread Nation, and “Dread South” was an amazing sneak peek into the alt-history timeline that will be released next year. Plus it was sapphic. This story, alone, was worth the cost of this anthology, and if you take one thing from this review, it should be go pre-order Dread Nation right now. Stop reading this. Go go go”Omega Ship” by Rae Carson: ★if I could describe how I feel about this short story in one picture it would be this: which sucks because the first few paragraphs sucked me right in!! but, really, this one was just weird and I think its issue is it has the same amount of world-building that a regular book would have, but as a short story it just didn’t work. Too much info-dumping. I also disliked all of the characters. I feel as though this one was, like, aiming for a feminist story, but I felt as though that decision Eva made was waaaaaaayyyyyy idiotic. An alternate title for this story could be “A Lesson in Hetero- and Cis-normativity.” All in all, I was not a fan.”La Revancha Del Tango” by Renée Ahdieh: ★WTF THIS WAS SO RANDOM and it wasn’t even a love triangle??? Also, the guy was kinda strange and annoying and crusty and gross. I wasn’t a fan. There was no chemistry, no plot, and no characters I liked.”Cass, An, and Dra” by Natalie C. Parker: ★★★★★Holy cow. I don’t even want to talk about the plot because I want it to be a surprise for readers, but this one wrenched my heart back and forth and back and forth. I thought the title was a little weird, but I suppose I can forgive. This is another one of my favorites – I reread it as soon as I finished it. The ending absolutely ruined me and I’m sitting here like “wtf just happened to me.” ”Lessons for Beginners” by Julie Murphy: ★★★I wasn’t feelin’ this one as much as I thought I would!! It was cute, but nothing stood out to me, and it felt largely plot-driven instead of character-driven. I probably would have given it two stars if not for the stunning diversity! I think this was another story that would have benefitted from being a full-length novel rather than a short story, and I want to check out some books by Julie Murphy because the cuteness made me “awwww.””Triangle Solo” by Garth Nix: ★This is so bad it’s almost funny except for it’s not because it was kinda gross. Utterly horrible. The plot is this: Everyone lives on Mars. Suddenly a hot girl reappears in class and everyone falls instantly in love because she is HOT and she is BEAUTIFUL and no one even knows her personality but everyone falls in immediate love because she is HOT and BEAUTIFUL. Both of the guy characters have personalities, so can someone please explain to me how the only girl character has less personality than the instrument that the guys are so pissy about? And one quote that really annoyed me was, ”Relationships aren’t just all about charm and good looks.” and I mean, out of context it wouldn’t even be annoying, but there’s a conversation between Connor and Anwar before this part where Anwar was like “yeah Kallie was pretty cool in seventh grade but she wasn’t HOT or BEAUTIFUL but now that she is back and HOT and BEAUTIFUL I really want to date her” and Connor agreed. So why is it that the guys are seen as more than their par, or sub-par looks but when it comes to Kallie, all that matters is that she’s hot?? the answer is this: misogyny”Vim and Vigor” by Veronica Roth: ★★★★★Veronica Roth has officially changed my views on her writing from “meh/subpar” to “murders me every time I think about it” with one short story. What’s she doing writing dystopia?? Come over and write soft sci-fi contemporaries. I would totally read those. This was the second story in a row I laughed at the end of, though in this one it was a good way, because that trope subversion and twist full-on surprised me. This was a cute and fun-to-read story that made me laugh and cry.”Work in Progress” by E.K. Johnston: ?????Gonna be real here: I saw that this was written in second person and immediately skipped it because I was too tired for that crap. No rating because I literally read one sentence.”Hurdles” by Brandy Colbert: ★★Listen – I love Brandy Colbert’s writing style, and her stories are always beautifully diverse, but this is the second piece I’ve read by her (the first being Little & Lion) where the main character emotionally cheats on her significant other. That alone lowered the rating for me. The ending was also really unsatisfying – open endings are great when they work, but it just did not work for me. ”The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman” by Lamar Giles: ★★This one honestly just bored me to death. I skipped a large chunk in the middle because it was so bleh. Two stars instead of one because I liked the creativity of the footnotes, and the title makes me smile. ”Waiting” by Sabaa Tahir: ★★★THIS MADE ME SO MAD and the reason for that is both from a personal standpoint and an objective standpoint. Be ready for a rant under the spoilers. (view spoiler)[ SAM PICKED THE WRONG GUY AND I AM SO ANGRY ABOUT IT. But, honestly, I would have been able to deal with that had the E N T I R E story not been building up she and Felix’s relationship, only to pull the rug out from under the reader and be like you like this guy?? You think they’d be cute together?? Too bad. the story did nothing to build up the relationship between Sam and whats-his-face (I can’t even remember his NAME) and it was a poor choice, writing-wise, to have her end up with a guy who hadn’t been present for the first twenty pages of the novella. It was so bait-and-switch and seemed to be solely for the purpose of surprising the reader. I was not a fan (hide spoiler)]. The writing was good and two of the characters were well-developed, but the ending just made me so angry that I’m doing 3.5 stars instead of 5. I’m petty, ”Vega” by Brenna Yovanoff: ★At the risk of sounding like an idiot: I don’t understand the ending of this story. The writing was wayyy too flowery and I wasn’t really paying attention, and I literally have no idea what happened. This also wasn’t even a love triangle, and I legitimately don’t understand how it has a place with the rest of these stories. ”A Hundred Thousand Threads” by Alaya Dawn Johnson: ★I’m sorry, but I could just not get into this one. At all. I’ve never really been able to read books that are made of blog posts and interviews and such – I could never get into Illuminae or anything written the same way, because I kind of like to…. not have to pay a ton of attention to what I’m reading. That’s just me though, and I’m sure that this one was really awesome for other people! Just not me. ”Before She Was Bloody” by Tessa Gratton: ★★★★★uhhhhh this was awesome and a little terrifying. The world-building reminded me a lot of Reign the Earth, and the characters were the kind of anti-heroes that I love to read about. Though it was a little confusing at times, that was probably my fault and not the stories lol. I really want to see this one as a full-length novel. ”Unus, Duo, Tres” by Bethany Hagen: ★★★★★WOWWWW. This was such a strong, heartbreaking ending. This broke my heart. I’ve never really been a fan of vampires because blood makes me a little queasy, but this short story completely won over my heart. It made me tear up. It was beautiful, diverse, and so well-written. Another one of my favorites.In conclusion, this anthology rocked my socks off. Even though there were a,,,, lot more stories than I previously thought there were that didn’t really sit well with me, the ones that did work blew me away with amazing characters, awesome writing, and sick world-building. This is a wonderful addition to and reader’s library – both those who are a fan of the love triangle, and even those that will never be a fan.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

How are there so few reviews on this anthology??? Have y'all not seen the author list??? Seriously though, I really enjoyed this collection quite a lot. Admittedly I'm one of those folks who usually doesn't enjoy love triangles, but this definitely takes the cliched version of the trope and twists it on its head over and over and over again in so many different ways and genres I hardly know how to describe them all. YA contemporary is probably the most prevalent (which I have to say isn't my fave genre) but even those play with expectations, bringing in diversity in sexuality or race or even just a shift in perspective on who the "third" in the triangle turns out to be. Despite me usually having trouble with the genre, I really enjoyed the hell out of most of the contemporary stories. And the spec fic ones? Holy crap I loved basically all of them. No really. They were freaking amazing. I honestly am not sure which of the stories included would count as a "fave" considering how different they all were. Usually there are some blinding stand outs in anthologies for me, but seriously, they were just all that good. Definitely one I'll be recommending!

It's been a while since I read an anthology where I enjoyed nearly all of the stories. Three Sides of a Heart had stories from a wide variety of genres, which made for a really enjoyable reading experience. Not all of the stories had a traditional love triangle and this actually made the collection as a whole a lot more fun for me. My two favorites were Katie Cotugno's "Riddles in Mathematics" and Lamar Giles' "The Historian, The Garrison, and the Cantankerous Cat Woman." If you're looking for a great way to try a bunch of big-name YA authors, Three Sides of a Heart is definitely worth a read.

I’m not the kind of person to go out and look for books that are remotely romantic or cheesy in nature. However, the cover of this book caught my eye, and while they say don’t judge a book by its cover, I did exactly that. The vibrant colors were attractive, and when I picked it up, I spotted the names of several of my favorite authors, including Renee Ahdieh, Sabaa Tahir, and Veronica Roth. When I read the inside cover, I was somewhat skeptical. It seemed too cute and romantic for me to like. But, these authors were all incredible, so I figured it had to be okay. I was pleasantly surprised.This book was so different from a lot of things I’ve read. It explores the love triangle trope in 16 unique and intriguing ways. It contains most everything you could imagine. They’re short stories, and many of them have satisfying endings. It’s a heartwarming, interesting, and gripping read. The best books take you to a different world and allow you to leave the real world behind. This book does exactly that. Three Sides of a Heart has a diverse range of stories where no two stories are alike. It has a little bit of everything for everyone. Even if romance isn’t your preferred genre, I recommend giving this compilation a shot. - Varsha K

Generally, I really liked all the stories in this collection. Some of them were *chef's kiss* wonderful: Rae Carson's "Omega Ship" made me want an entire novel, Tessa Gratton's "Before She Was Bloody" and Bethany Hagen's "Unus, Duo, Tres" were great stories to end the collection on. A couple of them were weird and just generally not my bag: I did not Get "Work in Progress" by E.K. Johnston. I was going to complain that the stories were mostly very heteronormative, but I just double checked, and 6 of the 16 stories (37.5%) are super gay (a couple others are potentially gay, but I read the relationships more as friendships rather than romances), which is more than I was remembering. At any rate, only one ends in a happy three person relationship, which I was sort of hoping for more. The same percentage of authors are non-white, and there are only two dude writers in this collection.