*I was sent an ARC of Up All Night in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers and all of the writers involved.*

Synopsis:

“When everyone else goes to bed, the ones who stay up feel like they’re the only people in the world. As the hours tick by deeper into the night, the familiar drops away and the unfamiliar beckons. Adults are asleep, and a hush falls over the hum of daily life. Anything is possible.

It’s a time for romance and adventure. For prom night and ghost hunts. It’s a time for breaking up, for falling in love—for finding yourself.

Stay up all night with these thirteen short stories from bestselling and award-winning YA authors like Karen McManus, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nina LaCour, and Brandy Colbert, as they take readers deep into these rarely seen, magical hours.

Full contributor list: Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Glasgow, Maurene Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina LaCour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Meriano, Marieke Nijkamp, Laura Silverman, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters, Francesca Zappia.

Review:

As someone that has never been a big fan of short stories, I actually really enjoyed this. I think this was because each story had a completely different set of characters and did not relate to each other so the flow was never disrupted. 

The first story was definitely the strongest for me. The ending left me in complete and legitimate shock and I did not see the twist coming. The fact that most of the stories did not have an ending that you would have expected or could have predicted I found myself trying to guess what the twist at the end would be. Although not every single one had a shocking end, a lot of them still find their resolution in a way you would not have expected. 

It was really easy to get lost in these stories. My biggest issue with short stories is that they are over just as I start becoming interested in what is going on. However, that was not the case here. Almost instantly you become invested in the characters, their backstories and the situation they currently find themselves in. 

The cover was what first drew me into Up All Night. The colour combination is super eye-catching and beautiful. This perfectly encapsulates the mood and feelings of every story and its characters and showcases the time setting of the book in the most stunning way. The soft colours almost disguise the darker undertone that is ever present during this book.  

There was one story in particular that I struggled to connect with as it felt very hard to follow. There was a lot of repetition of certain sentences, which at first I thought was a print error. The structure of this story was not very obvious to me at first, however looking back it now makes perfect sense to what it was about and the type of character that it was focused on. 

Overall, Up All Night is a very strong collection of short stories. If you are the type of person that is not a huge fan of short stories then you should definitely still check this out. Every story has its resolution so for those of you that dislike the often non-endings of short stories, you won’t get that feeling here. Although do be prepared for endings you don’t expect or may not even like. 

WANT TO SEE WHAT I’VE BEEN READING LATELY? CHECK OUT MY GOODREADS HERE

DON’T FORGET TO LIKE AND FOLLOW YOUNG CREATIVE PRESS ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER

Like this post? Why not read this one too: Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2021