{"id":1061,"date":"2022-01-24T23:29:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T23:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/?p=1061"},"modified":"2022-05-30T11:48:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T11:48:07","slug":"serendipity-worth-the-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/2022\/01\/24\/serendipity-worth-the-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Serendipity: Worth The Read?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chloe Yokitis<\/p>Staff Writer<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Serendipity is a short story collection focused on ten different romantic tropes, edited by New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Even though I\u2019ve never been a fan of short stories, I decided to give Serendipity<\/em> a try. With stories by well-known authors such as Sandhya Menon, Abigail Hing Wen, and Anna-Marie Mclemore, I was looking forward to reading stories from some of my favorite authors as well as discovering new ones as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of the stories in the book, which is marketed as \u201cten romantic tropes, transformed,\u201d focuses on different tried-and-true cliches\u2014 like a fake relationship or a secret admirer. Many of these stories followed the trope completely, while it was a bit of a stretch for some. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To my dismay, this book was hit-or-miss, with a few entertaining stories sprinkled in with the average and, regrettably, subpar ones (particularly Leah Johnson\u2019s take on the \u201cstranded together\u201d trope, which was a struggle to finish). But a handful of stories were captivating and enchanting. These are the top three stories from Serendipity<\/em> that are worth your time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auld Acquaintance by Caleb Roehrig<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the friends-to-lovers (or as the table of contents says, \u201cthe best friend love epiphany\u201d) trope, Caleb Roehrig\u2019s short story is both engaging and heartwarming. It focuses on Ollie and his best friend Garrett, who are celebrating New Year\u2019s Eve at a school-wide party at their high school. Before the story begins, the two make a pact that they will be each other\u2019s New Year\u2019s kiss unless they are able to find boyfriends (spoiler alert: they\u2019re not).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Ollie and Garrett are funny and relatable teenagers who were completely enamoring. With side characters such as Layla, Ollie\u2019s best friend, and Kieran, who poses a competition with Ollie for Garrett\u2019s affections, the story is well-rounded and entertaining. The characters\u2019 realistic dialogue and thoughts (the story is told first-person in Ollie\u2019s perspective) make for a level-headed though still enjoyable narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auld Acquaintance is<\/em> one of the four LGBTQ+ stories in the book. At its heart, it is a sweet, memorable tale about how teenage friendship can turn into true love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shooting Stars by Marissa Meyer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Marissa Meyer, the editor of Serendipity<\/em> but also a contributor, comes a charming story focused on two classmates during a school trip. Misty, the protagonist and narrator, has been \u201chopelessly in love\u201d with Roman Spencer for years. When they and their classmates embark on a trip to Yellowstone National Park, their paths can\u2019t seem to stop crossing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meyer\u2019s talent for writing both strong and likable characters definitely showed itself in this story. Misty, who was endearing and perceptive, matched perfectly with Romans\u2019 gentle and caring personality. The last few lines of the story in particular are beautifully written and showcase Misty and Roman\u2019s development throughout the story. Their relationship, as well as the fun romantic subplot between Misty and Roman\u2019s best friends, easily made this story one of my favorites in this anthology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Blink of the Eye, Elizabeth Eulberg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before reading Serendipity<\/em>, I had never heard of Elizabeth Eulberg before. But after reading this short story, it is a name I will not forget. In a Blink of the Eye<\/em> follows Morgan, who is visiting London on a choir trip, along with her best friend Dani and Dani\u2019s boyfriend, Tyler. To Dani\u2019s disconcertment, Morgan has never quite warmed up to Tyler, though he and Dani have been dating for months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story, which is based off of the \u201ctrapped in a confined space\u201d trope, was not what I expected, but Eulberg\u2019s story was very well done. Morgan\u2019s characterization felt very sincere and genuine, which made her an incredibly likable protagonist who I was rooting for throughout the whole story. I absolutely loved the ending of the story and thought it was a perfect conclusion to Morgan\u2019s development. In a Blink of the Eye<\/em> captivated my interest from the first page to the last, and was an absorbing and satisfying short story that was unquestionably one of my favorites from Serendipity<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured photo courtesy of www.marissameyer.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though I\u2019ve never been a fan of short stories, I decided to give Serendipity a try. With stories by well-known authors such as Sandhya Menon, Abigail Hing Wen, and Anna-Marie Mclemore, I was looking forward to reading stories from some of my favorite authors as well as\u00a0 discovering new ones as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":1073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[311,313,79,81,314,312,310,316,315],"class_list":["post-1061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-style","tag-book-review","tag-caleb-roehrig","tag-chloe-yokitis","tag-cy19956","tag-elizabeth-eulberg","tag-marissa-meyer","tag-serendipity","tag-valentines","tag-valentines-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1061"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2202,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions\/2202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2021-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}