ARC Review – Up All Night by Laura Silverman

Title: Up All Night: 13 Stories between Sunset and Sunrise

Editor: Laura Silverman

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Publication date: July 13th, 2021

pages

4/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis

When everyone else goes to bed, the ones who stay up feel like they’re the only people in the world. As the hours tick by deeper into the night, the familiar drops away and the unfamiliar beckons. Adults are asleep, and a hush falls over the hum of daily life. Anything is possible.

It’s a time for romance and adventure. For prom night and ghost hunts. It’s a time for breaking up, for falling in love—for finding yourself.

Stay up all night with these thirteen short stories from bestselling and award-winning YA authors like Karen McManus, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nina LaCour, and Brandy Colbert, as they take readers deep into these rarely seen, magical hours.

Full contributor list: Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Glasgow, Maurene Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina LaCour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Meriano, Marieke Nijkamp, Laura Silverman, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters, Francesca Zappia

Review

Up All Night is a collection of YA contemporary short stories that take place overnight, where teens stay up late and the whole world is their oyster. There are themes of friendship, love, family, and second chances. Not all stories have happy endings, but each story feels full and complete.

I often struggle with short stories because I never feel like they are long enough to tell the story and have it feel satisfying. This was not the case with any of the 13 stories included in this collection, each story is fully developed, beautifully written, and flowed well in the story – but also with each other as you read. 13 different authors wrote these stories, but they fit together so well you don’t get caught up in different writing styles.

Another huge plus in this collection is the amount of diversity. These stories provide representation for BIPOC, AAPI, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ communities. A lot of the stories involve a romantic arc, but not all of them. Some are heartwarming stories of friendship and second chances. There are a few that delve more into the magical realism realm with ghosts and superpowers though most are contemporary.

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Happy reading, folks!