YA dystopian/science fiction has become an unlikely favorite genre of mine in the last year or so. That’s why I was excited to read Marked, an anthology dedicated to stories in this niche category. While some of the stories left me a bit disappointed, in general, I quite enjoyed this collection. I’m going to review each short story separately.
“Beyond the Stars” by Journey Bloomfield: This space adventure story was a solid start to the collection. Although it was a bit hard to keep up with the cast of characters at the beginning, I loved the camaraderie and found-family dynamics between them. I also enjoyed the humor (I don’t usually like robot characters, but Z was hilarious) and the overall mood.
“The Fall of the Flawless” by Keon Dawnson: In the interest of candor, I have to say I don’t think this story was ready for publication. I thought some aspects of the plot—like the Flawless and the influencer character—were intriguing and had the makings of a good creepy sci-fi story. Overall, though, the story (both plot and prose) suffered from a severe lack of editing. Additionally, while I understand that third person present tense is a rhetorical choice, I’ve never seen it done well, and this story was no exception.
“The Day the Sky Shattered” by Michael Cade: I liked this story’s plot and characters, but the prose left me a little more conflicted. On one hand, it was descriptive, which is usually something I like. However, it was almost too descriptive, almost purple-prose-y. (Was Hemingway the author who said to cut out all adjectives and adverbs? If so, he would have had a stroke reading this.) Part of me wondered if this story was edited by AI*, although it’s probably just the author’s own writing style.
“The Unselected Star” by Agnes Crisler: Fans of YA dystopian fiction with a slight romantic thread will enjoy this one. Although the plot left me with some questions, I did particularly like the ending and the theme of sacrifice.
“Last Hope” by Bea Hatcher: This story is very brief compared to the others in the collection, but it turned out to be one of my favorites. Of course the premise drew me in, and while victory seemed a little too easy for the protagonist, that’s to be expected in a story of this length. I would enjoy a more detailed glimpse into this setting.
“A Day Disrupted”by Philip Howlet: This was one of the more interesting stories in the collection. I particularly enjoyed the humor and the writing style. Because of some fake-cussing and innuendo, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to younger readers, despite the protagonist’s age.
“The Tragic Truth” by Hallie Kprof: This story’s premise was one of my favorites in the collection. The writing style wasn’t perfect, but it was generally vivid and evocative.
“The Sparrow’s Last Sacrifice” by Isabelle Knight: I think I would have enjoyed this story more if it wasn’t second-to-last in the book, because some elements/tropes felt like a repeat of previous stories. By the end, I did want to read more about the world and characters. I also appreciated the polished writing style.
“The Button” by Ashleigh C. Longworth: This might just be my favorite story in the collection. It’s dark and strange, and definitely unlike most of the others in the collection—it feels more contemporary, and the protagonist is an ordinary teenage girl thrown into an almost unimaginable predicament. I especially liked Meghan’s narrative voice and the side characters.
* Why am I so concerned about AI in this anthology? Shouldn’t I trust indie authors enough not to pick apart every phrase and sentence for the telltale signs of the regurgitation machine? The answer is that this book’s Goodreads blurb has a lot of AI red flags, and I’d say with 90% certainty that it was written with “assistance”. However, none of the stories in this collection stuck out to me as definitely AI-written like the blurb did.
I received a free review copy of this book from the authors. I was not required to write a positive review.