edited by Natalie Parker
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: December 19, 2017
THREE SIDES OF A HEART, a short story anthology, has a variety of stories with one thing in common- they all incorporate the popular YA trope of the love triangle. It’s difficult to pin this book down because of the very divergent topics, genres and characters used in each story. Sci-fi, historical fiction, fantasy, magical realism; murderers, magicians, knights, zombie-fighting slaves, astronauts-- you name it, this book’s got it. Because of the diversity of types of stories, some I found interesting and others less so.
One characteristic shared by each story is how unlike each love triangle is from the others. Many of the authors took great creative liberty, keeping the stories from becoming monotonous and producing some really inventive and delightful stories. One of them being Vega by Brenna Yovanoff which depicts the main character in love with a boy and a city. The characters in this short story are vibrant and original, each action they take prompts a reaction from the reader. The writing is beautiful and descriptive, exploring conflicted emotions and heartbreaking decisions with just 26 pages. Another story that I really enjoyed was Work in Progress by E. K. Johnston. It focuses on three people within three different realities, one on a spaceship, one during summer at a lake house, and one in medieval times. The reason this story struck me is that there is no “love” involved. The three characters simply are together, whether hiding in a space ship vent, sleeping in a bunk bed, or battling a dragon. The things they feel for each other are beyond physical affections or even saying the words “I love you”. Johnston does an amazing job of creating these feeling without flat out stating them- something not many authors attempt to do. Overall this short story anthology was fun and original, if you’d like to explore different genres and writing styles, this would be a great book to read.
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