A review by booksandladders
A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope by Patrice Caldwell

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Some of the stories were really great but others just completely missed the mark. That's the hard part with anthologies! Overall, I think the standouts were: "Letting the Right One In" by Patrice Caldwell and "The Curse of Love" by Ashley Woodfolk. Both I would take as full novels and then TV shows a la "First Kill" by V.E. Schwab.

I would recommend picking this up from the library, still!