Book Review: Begin, End, Begin.

Title: Begin, End, Begin: A Love Oz YA Anthology

Author: Edited by Danielle Binks

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Goodreads. Book Depository.

This book is a great way to delve into some beloved Aussie YA authors, and check out new ones! Ten authors, ten stories, and a good book for when you are wanting something short and sweet.

Synopsis:

The YA event of the year. Bestsellers. Award-winners. Superstars. This anthology has them all. With brilliantly entertaining short stories from beloved young adult authors Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Ellie Marney, Jaclyn Moriarty, Michael Pryor, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Lili Wilkinson and Danielle Binks, this all-new collection will show the world exactly how much there is to love about Aussie YA.

My thoughts:

One of the great things about anthologies is that you get to read a short story from authors you haven’t read before. Each story is short and complete in its own right, and is perfect for when you just want to read something short, sweet and to the point. We have such a great collection of #LoveOzYA authors here in Australia, and it was awesome to see them teaming up to create this collection of stories. Included in this book are these stories from these authors:

• One Small Step by Amie Kaufman

• I Can See The Ending by Will Kostakis

• In a Heartbeat by Alice Pung

• First Casualty by Michael Pryor

• Sundays by Melissa Keil

• Missing Persons by Ellie Marney

• Oona Underground by Lili Wilkinson

• The Feeling from Over Here by Gabrielle Tozer

• Last Night at the Mount Solemn Observatory by Danielle Binks

• Competition Entry #349 by Jaclyn Moriarty

My favourite of all of these are the contemporary stories, such as Sundays (so cute!) and Competition Entry #349, but honestly, I did enjoy the majority of them. I also loved First Casualty, which is a commentary on our Federal Government’s treatment of refugees (so much shade!) It’s amazing to think that authors can write something nice and short, but have it be complete in its short length. A lot of these authors write epic stories that span pages and pages so it’s great to see them stretch their writing skills and create a short wonderful piece of writing.

If you’re wanting something that you can pick up and put down, or a collection of stories that you don’t have to invest too much time in, then this is a great book choice for you. I really enjoyed it.

Recommended for: Young Adult fiction lovers – whether your favourite genre is contemporary, romance

Quotes:

There are too many stories and too many quotes to choose from, so here’s some from the introduction by editor Danielle Binks.

“Books are family. Books are community.”

“LoveOzYA was born from readers and writers and all who love Australia’s national youth literature. It was not born out of patriotism or a rejection of international voices – far from it. LoveOzYA has been about the inclusion of voices. And it has been a movement, as the name suggests, of love.”

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Buy it here.

If you haven’t read any LoveOzYA, then I definitely recommend checking out any of the authors above – having met a few of them, I can attest to them being wonderful and incredibly engaging. If you have any Aussie recommendations, come at me!

Until next time booklovers,

Maddy x