Enjoyed almost every installment. There really is something for everyone who likes stories about darkness in its many forms.

Some stories were 5* and some were not. Doesn't even come close to the amazingness of Slasher Girls & Monster Boys

Not a bad little collection of stories. Some stories are disturbing, others creepy. We had modern tales, medieval fantasy, urban fantasy, dystopian, science fiction and more in this book! If it has to do with darkness or nighttime it could be in hear. Many of the stories leave you with a feeling of wondering what happened as you use your imagination to fill in the blanks.

So here are my thoughts (briefly) for each story.

Sleepstalk by Courtney Summers
The main character stalks her ex-boyfriend who she finds sleepwalking. something happened betwwen them that is stimulating their behaviors, but what? The girl terrifies me slightly with her though process a bit. 3.5/5 stars

Nature by Aprilynne Pike
Dystopina cast system for what you will be for one's adult life. Due to her physical measurements, a girl is put into the ‘wrong’ caste. This story left me wanting more! i loved it but so much of the girls life, the world around her, is left unanswered. If the author ever writes more of this world, I will jump on the chance to read it! 5/5 stars

Dark side of the Moon by Dia Reeves
Was I suppose to be high reading this? Does it take place in another ‘world’ setting? Strange town, everyone wears black, monsters exists, unusual is common place and boy gets on Night trolley whch all the town people fear, for once you get on, you don’t come home. This book reminded my of those psychedelic movies. Interesting concept on one level but needed a lot of polishing. 2.5/5 stars

Ghost Town by Malinda Lo
Story works backwards and filled with ghost pranks, but is any of it real? This was done in an interesting style and has me curious for the authors work. 4/5 stars


Eyes in the Dark by Rachel Hawkins
Okay so the first thing that REALLY jumped out at me was that cost of the food. Peaches were on 25 cents! And this is relatively current times as the have cell phones and texting. So my first though is "Where is this store, I want to go shop there." Anyways for the story itself... The girl goes with ‘bad boy’ for a ride and goes to a forbidden bridge Where they see red eyes belonging to...something...
Not a bad story idea. Just creepy enough without actually being scary. 4/5 stars

Stillwater by Valerie Kemp
A teen boy questions the town he lives in. Why does he keep finding notes to himself or from a brother he doesn't always remember. Also a family fued to add some spark! I have lots of questions on this one. Some practical plot holes but otherwise an interesting premise. 3.5/5 stars

I gave you my love by the light of the moon by Sarah Rees Brennan
A girl is transformed into a werewolf and is 'rescued' by a vampire who helps her cope with her new identity. Fluff piece with potential romance. I felt this was a part of a full novel, broken and turned into a short story. 3/5 stars

Night Swimming by Beth Revis
Science fiction. Based on the summary of Across the Universe, I think this is ashort story in that 'world.' A group of teens are on meds to 'keep sane,’ but what is really going on? What I couldn't figure out is if the main character was male or female! It about drove me nuts. Behavior had me thinking it is a gut but thoughts had me thinking a girl. We get no name, nothing! Still the storyline has a curiosity to it that I enjoyed. 3.5/5 stars

Almost normal by Carrie Ryan
Zombie carnival! Need I say more. It reminded me of the movie 'Frozen.' Both are stuck in a bad place, at a very bad time! A short fun read.

There’s nowhere else by Jon Skovron
Teen boy lives with his mother and her abusive boyfriend but finds himself dreaming of being another person. Literally! But when one person observes his 'ability' what will happen? I felt bad for this kid in a way but his choices (big and small) have me shaking my head. He does not seem to have a lot of common sense. 3/5 star

Naughty or Nice by Myra McEntire
Private school vacation is about as far as I could stomach on this one. The book just set me on edge with the how the story is laid out. Settings and conversations seem jumpy and out of place. Too Boring so I didn’t finish. 1/5 stars


Shadowed by Christine Johnson
Interesting shadow curse has been placed on the Duke’s daughter. She cannot see light (daylight, candle light, etc) for fear of what her shadow will do. Medieval setting with knights! 4.5/5


Now bid time return by Saundra Mitchell
We get a story by the editor!
A young teen girl goes to take pictures of the northern lights but something is in the pictures and someone seems to be entering her cottage she is staying at. Bit of romance. Sweet! 4/5

The moth and the spider by Sarah Ockler
This all takes perspective from a suicidal girl who is very distant from life, family, etc. She wants to ‘do it right’ with suicide note. Very distorted story. Didn't make a lot of sense. was her mind just that broken or did I just not get it. 2/5 stars

Where the Light is by Jackson Pierce
A high school graduate finds himself working with the other townsmen deep in the mine. His father was a hero so he has a lot to live up to. A strange noise leads him to a girl who lives in the mines. Interesting idea. I could not quite tell if this was a dystopian world or just a community that really stuck together. 4/5 stars

This was Ophelia by Tessa Gratton
I have NO CLUE what was happening here. Not sure if I was just tired of the story that confusing. Did not finish.

Short stories are sometimes hard to get into if you've been reading novels only. But Defy tthe Dark was surprisingly easy to get into. And easy to read though too. I found most of the stories interesting, but a few a bit vague and confusing, as expected of a short story. And then there were the stories that I loved. From favourite authors, and authors who I now totally want to read their other works, this is a great collection of short stories. I loved their order and the fact that they seemed to blend and differ accordingly. If that makes any sense at all lol.

Oh and there's a short story from Beth Revis that links to her [b:Across the Universe|8235178|Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)|Beth Revis|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388247590s/8235178.jpg|13082532] series to was cool, except I've completely forgotten who wrote heaps and heaps. I didn't catch a name in the short story, soooo I have no idea who was the character.

Originally at: http://yabooknook.tumblr.com/post/54939251646/book-recommendation-defy-the-dark

DEFY THE DARK was one of my very anticipated reads of June, and I only hadn’t recommended it before because I wasn’t sure how you went about recommending an anthology. Here’s what I concluded, though:

Read it.

Enough?

DFD was an amazing collection of short stories from an even better line-up of authors. I can honestly say I read them all in one night and loved them. That’s not to say that I didn’t have my favorites oh i did and so I’ll use them to tell you why you should definitely read this.

So, my Four Favs:

Night Swimming by Beth Revis: I cried tears of blood reading this. It takes place in the world of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, on the generational ship Godspeed, and basically took my heart out for a nice little walk and then stepped on it. I won’t spoil anything but it tells the story from an ambiguous POV and half the fun was figuring out who it was. (The other half was getting your emotions toyed with, of course.)

I Gave You My Love by the Light of the Moon by Sarah Rees Brennan: Or, as I like to refer to it, IGYMLbtLotM. no, i don’t really refer to it like that Oh, SRB does it again, what’s new? This was the first short story of the anthology I read and it was fantabulous. How anyone can pack so much character development in so few pages will always be a mystery to me. Vampires? Werewolves? Tropes standing of their heads? Yes, please.

Stillwater by Valerie Kemp: I’d never read Valerie Kemp before, but when I turned my electronic page and saw that the story was over I was horrified. I literary just sat them going wat. The short story was just unf. Mind-bending and beautiful and mysterious and engaging. Is there more to this? Because I kind of need a whole book out of it now.

Naughty or Nice by Myra McEntire: McEntire is another author I’d never read, but I loved loved this short story. I think out of all the stories, I might have connected with her characters the most. And the mythology behind it was fascinating. Props for flawless dialogue as well, it had me laughing and clutching my iPad for longer than was altogether normal.

And these are just some of the stories that I loved. Like I said, DEFY THE DARK is amazing—hands down the best anthology I’ve read so far.

I loved them all, but Tessa Gratton slayed me so hard

Prequel to Forest of Hands and Teeth - but based on the setting being the amusement park, I think it's a prequel to book 2: [b:The Dead-Tossed Waves|6555517|The Dead-Tossed Waves (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #2)|Carrie Ryan|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320509170s/6555517.jpg|6549320]

and I loved it. I really did! It's so crazy to read these stories from before or as the zombies are coming and then to read the actual books about after they've come and how they've lived with them.

this is a great addition to the series and I'm glad I read it!

I read Defy the Dark during my journey to finish all of Rachel Hawkins' books. I thought this was a good collection of short, spooky stories. However, I thought some stories could have been scarier, and some weren't even scary/spooky, just irregular.