Serendipity, edited by Marissa Meyer, is a collection of contemporary YA short stories, each featuring a different romance trope. I had very high hopes going in, because I love a lot of the authors who contributed, and I was not disappointed. There are a wide variety of tropes and characters, and there’s definitely something for everybody.
Here are mini reviews of each story:
“Bye Bye, Piper Berry,” by Julie Murphy, features the “fake relationship” trope. It follows Piper, whose boyfriend of three years just cheated on her, as she convinces their best friend, Gabe, to fake date her to make him jealous and hurt him, little knowing that Gabe has long been in love with her. I just didn’t love Piper’s motives; I feel like fake-dating to make somebody jealous is more excusable than fake-dating to try and hurt them back. I also just wish there’d been a little more character depth 3.5/5
“Anyone Else But You,” by Leah Johnson, features the “stranded together” trope. A pair of senior co-presidents, Jada and Perry, when they’re trapped together in a Party Palace when Jada is late to them buying supplies for the Senior Send-Off. It’s a cute wlw story, and I loved the characters and their dynamic. 4.5/5
“The Idiom Algorithm,” by Abigail Hing Wen, features a trope called “class warfare” that I didn’t realize was a trope. It follows a guy whose girlfriend, an exchange student from China, is removed suddenly from the country when her parents find out that they’re dating, completely erasing her identity as he had known her from the Internet; he then builds an algorithm to try and find her. It’s highkey very creepy, even though that isn’t the main romance. 2/5.
“Auld Acquaintance,” by Caleb Roehrig, features the “best friend love epiphany” trope. It follows two gay best friends who have promised each other that, if they don’t get a boyfriend by the end of the school shut in (taking place on New Year’s Eve), then they’ll kiss each other at midnight. This of course leads to one realizing that he’s in love with the other. It was an okay story; I just felt like neither of the protagonists had any personality. 3.5/5
“Shooting Stars,” by Marissa Meyer, features the “One Bed” trope. I absolutely adored it (as was expected, considering that Marissa Meyer’s books own approximately my entire heart and soul). It follows a girl on her senior trip who keeps ending up in situations with only one bed with her crush every night until they finally end up getting together on the last night and it’s adorable and definitely my favorite story in the book. 5/5
“Keagan’s Heaven on Earth,” by Sarah Winifred Searle, features the “secret admirer” trope. It’s a graphic novel short story, which I really enjoyed, since I’ve never seen one of those in a mostly-prose short story anthology before. It follows Mickey, who is forced onto the dance committee as a punishment for skipping classes. They fall for Keagan, their lab partner who offers to help out, and it’s really cute; I just wish that there was a little more plot- and character-development. 4.5/5
“Zora in the Spotlight,” by Elise Bryant, features the “grand romantic gesture” trope. It follows Zora, who accidentally receives somebody else’s promposal at the school dance, to her mortification. It was intended for an influencer who goes to her school who was wearing a similar outfit to her, and the guy attempting to ask the influencer out has never even met her, so there were definitely some uncomfortable stalker-vibes, particularly when the two end up falling for each other. 2.5/5
“In a Blink of the Eye,” by Elizabeth Eulberg, features the “trapped in a confined space” trope. This isn’t much of a romance story, but I really enjoyed the way it turned the trope around. Basically, the protagonist, Morgan, is on a show choir trip to London, during which her best friend, Dani, tricks her and Dani’s boyfriend, Tyler, into going on the London Eye together so they can sort out their differences (namely Morgan’s dislike of Tyler). I really enjoyed the friendship development. 4.5/5
“Liberty,” by Anna-Marie McLemore, features the “the makeover” trope. It follows Ximena, a Latina girl who forces herself to try and fit Eurocentric beauty standards as much as possible to fit in on the cheerleading team until her former idol, Camilla, a Latina beauty YouTuber, joins the team and encourages Ximena to be true to who she actually is. The two help each other and eventually fall for each other and it’s beautiful and wonderful. 5/5.
“The Surprise Match,” by Sandhya Menon, features the “matchmaker” trope. It follows a girl who has made a program that analyzes the social media accounts of people at her school to identify who people’s ideal matches are. When her best friend asks her to run it for him, she gets jealous and realizes her feelings, but doesn’t give him his true result (her) for fear of ruining their friendship. It’s really cute, as with all of Menon’s work. 4.5/5
Overall, I really enjoyed this short story collection. There were quite a few stories that I absolutely adored, even if there were a couple that I disliked. I very much appreciated all of the queer representation; I’m glad to see that it’s becoming more common in these sorts of YA collections, particularly wlw rep, which has lagged behind mlm rep in the YA world for a while. I’m giving the book 4/5 stars, and definitely recommend it to anybody who loves YA romance; even if you dislike one or two of the stories, the rest make it far worth it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Serendipity releases on January 4, 2022, so be sure to check it out if you’re interested!
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