Book Review: Even If the Sky is Falling

Let’s talk about my first anthology series in a long time. I’m not a big fan of short stories or anthologies. Do I think short stories can be amazing, smart, and beautifully written? Absolutely! There is so much talent in being able to pull so much elegance and feeling out of so little words. Even with that being said, I am just a fan of long form stories. I try to keep an open mind, but like all of us, I tend to read what I like. Until I encountered a book that asked the question What chances would you take if you thought the world was ending?"

Even If the Sky is Falling is an anthology that’s about couples who find themselves stuck together as meteors are hurtling towards earth. What would they do at a time like this? I found the concept interesting and picked this book up. I am glad I did. The overarching story connecting each tale felt perfect. There are 5 total stories, so it feels right to give them all their own review.

All the Stars by Taj McCoy is a second chance love story about two people in the army. This is the story that gets the ball rolling and launches the distress symbol that the rest of the stories experience. Not only is this the perfect opening story, it’s my second favorite in the anthology. I enjoyed the characters, although Willy was very insufferable. His incompetence was almost too much. Watching Griffin and Halley fall back into each other’s arms was lovely. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Keep Calm and Curry On by Farah Heron is my absolute favorite out of all the stories. Maya and Tarek were so cute. I wanted them to get together soooo bad. I also love when the strong and hard daughter falls for a goofy, laid-back man. Someone to ground her in the beauty of life. They were the perfect couple. Knowing they both have wanted each other for so long made me swoon. I wish they got their own book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bunker Buddies by Charish Reed was very interesting and adorable. I love the way Nick ached for Shea, and the role playing was new for me, but I liked it. He was so reassuring and carefree with her. I wish I knew how the rest of their story went. This is another one I would love to read more of. I also liked that they were older. This is my third favorite of the stories. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Lucky Stars by Lane Clarke was okay. I feel like this story would benefit more from a long form book. While the tension between Jones and Dianna was there, I feel like it would've been more impacting with more context. They went from enemies to lovers too quickly. I liked the Dianna was Jones first, which was so cute. I would've liked the intimacy to be drawn out a little more, but besides that, that was a good read with good characters ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better by Denise Williams was a little hard for me to get through. BW/WM romance is not my cup of tea and won’t be any time soon, but I still wanted to give the story a chance. I love the premise. A good competitive romance is always going to get my goat. I just couldn’t get into the romance. I thought Hale being a doctor for women of color gave brown nose vibes. Them both pining after each other for all of those years made my heart ache. Denise Williams writes beautiful characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Interlude by Sara Smith was the worst of the bunch. It took me two tries to get through this one. First, all Jocelyn talks about is how tiny she is and even mentions Caleb being so big made him feel a little dangerous. The exaggerative descriptions of both of them felt fetish like the story went on. The way her Filipino heritage was handled also made it feel like a fetish, which is just really weird for me and took me completely out of the story. I only finished it to finish the anthology. I did like Jocelyn’s overall character besides her fetish issue. She is an interesting character. Her career was really cool. Caleb was a fine MMC, just a little bland. ⭐️⭐️

I liked the book overall and will say yes to more anthologies going forward.

#romance #anthology #blackgirllemon8 #blackromancebooks