Book Review: Proud; cur. by Juno Dawson.

Ever since Stripes Publishing announced this anthology I've been looking forward to it. Especially as I knew that it was being curated by trans icon Juno Dawson! It was well worth the wait!

SOURCE: NetGalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Proud
AUTHOR: Juno Dawson
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Stripes Publishing
PAGES: 352
GENRE: LGBT, Anthology, Short Stories, Poetry

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
A stirring, bold and moving anthology of stories and poetry by top LGBTQ+ YA authors and new talent, giving their unique responses to the broad theme of pride. Each story has an illustration by an artist identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Compiled by Juno Dawson, author of THIS BOOK IS GAY and CLEAN.


A celebration of LGBTQ+ talent, PROUD is a thought-provoking, funny, emotional read.


What I Liked:

• The collection itself was such a great mix of talents - authors, artists and poets combine to create a pretty awesome contribution to the LGBT+ movement. I liked that the collection was not solely based around contemporary stories and that it also included some fantasy and retellings. I also liked that there was so much trans rep, and that the book didn't just focus on one part of the LGBT+ crowd.
• I had a fair few favourites - 'Penguins' by Simon James Green was the perfect high school romance and Alice Oseman's accompanying art was EVERYTHING, 'On The Run' by Kay Staples perfectly demonstrated what acceptance in a relationship was all about, 'The Phoenix's Fault' by Cynthia So was everything my fantasy and mythical creature loving heart could have desired, and 'I Hate Darcy Pemberley' was THE queer retelling of 'Pride & Prejudice I've been waiting for.

What I Disliked:

• I didn't fall in love with every contribution in this book. That is to say, I adored some pieces more than others. That's to be expected in any anthology though, and I think it happened more with the poetry because I don't read much of it.

Overall Conclusion:

This was a great collection, full to the brim of inclusivity and the kind of rep that I expect to see and am actively seeking out in published book. Publishers, if you are reading this, we WANT more LGBT+ in our reads! I loved the trans rep especially because it's so hard to find any books with trans characters in and there were so many here! I'd love to read more collections like this in the future.