I love queer stories and especially ones centered on resilience and perseverance. Unfortunately I really struggle with anthologies and found it difficult to get into any of the stories involved. Maybe one day I will come back to this because so many sound so good!

I don't usually read short story collections, but I remember requesting this one because I wanted to read more LGBT titles. This was quite a ride. There are some stories I didn't especially care for, usually falling into genres I'm not a fan of (scifi), but most I did! One of my favorites is probably the one about the library because of how positive and inspiring it was. Not all of them was very happy, hence the title, Queers Who Don't Quit. Enjoyed it!

This is a great collection of queer stories, all encased in an impressingly wide variety of genres. Like most story collections, I liked some, I didn't like others, but I love that this book exists and that so many queer identities are discussed.

I always find it challenging to review anthologies, especially ones such as this with such a wide array of diverse stories, but overall I found myself disappointed with the quality of many portions of the book. There were some very engaging and memorable stories, but others which I found hard to follow or connect with, which made it increasingly hard to read. I did enjoy that this book included authors with different writing styles and perspectives, and that every story was something completely new, but I would be more likely to recommend a few individual chapters than the book in its entirety.

Most of the stories in this book had an amateur feel to them, like someone who was just getting started as a writer and had the potential to become a good one. Several of them I liked and would've given a higher star rating, but many of the stories either ended abruptly or had no real plot. The wide variety of genres and settings made the book a bit confusing, because it could take awhile to figure out if a story took place in the past, present, or future.

Fantastic collection of queer short stories, spanning genres from contemporary fiction to scifi. Most of the stories are written in the first person, and all deal with an excellent, diverse cast of characters, with special attention paid to the LGBTQI 'minorities' like trans men and aces. Superbly written and curated. Highly recommended for any rainbow bookshelf.

Short story collections are usually hit and miss for me ... and I’m going to be honest, the majority of these were mostly ‘misses.’ Due to content or writing style, I made a good faith effort to read the stories that didn’t interest me, but I have to admit, I didn’t finish some of them. Despite all that, I think queer stories written by queer people are very important, and it is good a collection like this exists. It just didn’t really do it for me, unfortunately.

Like every anthology, this one had great and not so great stories. They were all wonderful in their own way, but I want to point out the ones which really stuck with me.
First of all - I loved how many characters in this books were trans, enby or ace. I haven't read an anthology with so many enby, ace and trans characters and I think it was just beautiful.
My most favourite stories were the story about the Space cowboys, the trans woman who went to court because of the bathroom situation at her school, the ace woman who finally told her sister about her feelings, the woman who opened her own queer bookstore and the very first story. Matter of fact, I would have loved to read a whole book about that couple of gay boys who got matched by the algorithm. And one of them was a trans man? I was in love.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy. I absolutely enjoyed reading this anthology.

Queers Who Don't Quit is a short story compilation that focuses on queer people persevering regardless of what life throws at them. The stories range from light-hearted sci-fi to brutal depictions of addiction and war, but the overall feel manages to remain hopeful. As with all compilations, there were some stories I loved, some I didn't, but overall it was an excellent collection that I'd recommend picking up.

As this is a short story collection, I'm going to give an overall review before dipping into what I thought of each story.

I loved the connecting theme of these stories. For too long queer stories have had an undercurrent of sadness and tragedy. We weren't allowed to be happy or strong; we weren't allowed to fight back or persevere. With the 'Bury Your Gays' trope being so prevalent in mainstream media, it's no wonder a book about queers continuing to live in the face of difficulties is so brilliant.

The collection pulls from a multitude of different genres which gave the sense that LGBT+ people exist and live in different times, different places, and with different circumstances. Although I generally shy away from contemporary, the short story format allowed me to enjoy them when I wouldn't have otherwise.

This book is incredibly diverse. I was happy to see a lot of representation for sexualities and genders that are glossed over. There were multiple stories with asexual representation, aromantic representation, non-binary, trans-women, gender non-conforming people, questioning people, etc. I've never read anything with such a wide range.

On that note, I'd have liked to see more stories from BIPOC authors in this collection, and more disabled representation. As with most things, more effort needs to be put into making sure the book includes diverse voices from outside of the white queer people bubble.

I'm going to be keeping an eye on my favourite authors from 'Queers Who Don't Quit' because some of these stories are amazing!

A Government-Sanctioned Marriage by Cameron Van Sant

I loved this story! It's set on a spaceship heading away from overcrowded planet Earth, where due to issues with radiation they have an arranged marriage system based on genetics to help with reproduction. When the main character gets paired with a trans man, he and his family struggle with it as he had never considered the idea that he might not be straight. I'm always a sucker for queer sci-fi, and my only problem with this is that it ended too quickly! I could read an entire book with this premise.

CW: Homophobia, Discussion of forced reproduction.

This Is What You Get by Evie Riojas

An interesting story about a trans woman who's relationship is breaking down due to her mistakes. When the couple stops in for dinner she's faced with a horrible reminder from her past. It evoked a sense of dread that I appreciated, but it wasn't the type of story I typically enjoy.

CW: Drug Use, Addiction, Violence, Police Brutality, Murder, Infidelity, Blackmail

Actually by Tabitha O'Connell

A cute short story about an asexual woman wanting to come out to her sister! I wish it had been a bit longer, but it did an amazing job of describing the difficulties of figuring out the right time to come out.

First Day Back by A.P. Raymond

A school trip to a museum leads to a sweet conversation about being gender no-conforming between a non-binary worker and a child. This one was super cute.

CW: Minor addressed transphobia

Werewolf Blues by Eve Morton

When Julie hires Becca to work for her, she later finds out she's a popular trans YouTuber. It was a cute story, but I couldn't help but think if my new boss acted like this, it would be hugely overstepping boundaries. There wasn't enough depth to their relationship to make me comfortable with the employer/employee dynamic.

Crossroads by James Penha

I didn't like this story at all, so strongly that it impacted how I felt about the book overall. Two men are having sex on the beach when they meet up with old college friends who happen to be gay priests. It made me heavily uncomfortable. The way the mixed-race Jewish man in the story was treated leaned into fetishism. The phrase "your colour is so beautiful" made me cringe, especially alongside referring to a nipple as a Hershey's Kiss. There's also a scene where one of the gay characters came across as sexualising teenagers. This would be the one story I'd say it might be worth skipping altogether. No, thank you.

CW: Sexual Content, Fetishisation of a Brown Character, Sexualisation of Minors

First Cut by Elna Hoist

This one was fun! Set in the 1930s, a hairdresser who has a frayed relationship with her husband has an after-hours appointment with a gender non-conforming woman. I enjoyed this a lot, the characters were sympathetic, and it was so good to see gender non-conformitivity in a historical setting.

CW: Sexual Content, Infidelity, Potential/implied abuse

Version of Love by Ayelet Enisman

A fun story of friendship between two asexual people, featuring an exploration of the difficulties of living in a romance-focused world, and musicals! I loved the dynamic between the two characters and watching their friendship grow including awkward moments with family and serious discussions.

Punchline by G Benson

I loved this. A woman has gone travelling to run away from her past mistakes. When she keeps running into a person doing the same thing, the two confront their loss together. I love a good recovery story mixed in with rom-com worthy serendipity. The two characters are incredibly complex while remaining sympathetic; this was one of my faves in the collection.

CW: Sexual content, mention of death, depression, alcohol use, mention of a car accident, mention of medical surgery.

Help Wanted by Ashton Laviolette

After walking out of their job, Skyler is struggling to find a new one. That is until a Goddess decided she's willing to help out. This was wholesome; I especially loved how out of date the Goddess was because it led to some smile-worthy moments.

Under The Valley of the Stars by Alexis Ames

A horseback chase across the desert of Mars? Yes, please. This one was great fun. It mixed the western feel alongside sci-fi elements to great effect. I'd love to see a longer story with these two space cowboys.

CW: death

Space Boy by Cal Benitex

I'm not sure how to describe this story. The main character has awoken after drug use and a fall and is unable to recognise their mother. I found it quite strange, and although intriguing, it left me feeling a bit perplexed.

CW: drug use, injury, potential amnesia

The Path To truth by Alia Alvina Boyd

This follows a trans woman working at a school who decides to speak out about the bathroom bill in North Carolina and is subsequently fired. It brought up a lot of important topics and despite setbacks ended on a hopeful note which I enjoyed.

CW: Transphobia, mention of suicide, mention of addiction

So She Chose by Zoe Brook

The main character sees a beautiful performer. The writing in this story was beautiful and evocative. I wish there had been more to it though.

Some Things Are More Important

A very important and uplifting story. The main character quits her job at the bookshop after her boss puts conversion therapy books on the LGBT+ shelf. She decides to set up her own bookshop and although facing homophobic setbacks the community rallies around her. I would love to live this life. This story is exactly what this book is about, queers who face setbacks but keep on fighting to succeed.

CW: Mention of Conversion Therapy, Homophobia, Homophobic hate crime

All That Remains

This story takes place in the Syrian Desert and looks into the Armenian genocide; soldiers see ghosts. I think this story is very important and well-written; the only reason I didn't like it more is that I don't enjoy fiction that focuses on the military.

CW: Genocide, War, Violence

Travelling Companions by Tabitha O'Connell

Our main character is going to Paris, posts about it on her Facebook page and is accompanied by a complicated group of people. One of which is her old friend who she has a difficult relationship with due to her erasing her asexuality. I enjoyed this a lot. It looks at those old friendships and the difficulties that they have when you grow into two different people, are you even friends anymore?

CW: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, acephobia

Overall, I enjoyed a lot of this book! I loved what it set out to do, and I thought the focus on under-represented identities was amazing! I'm looking forward to seeing what will come out of these authors in the future!

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a e-arc copy of this amazing book. I was intrigued when I requested this book because of how different it was to anything I’ve heard of.
I love the diversity of the stories and the people who wrote them. Not all the same genre and I love that there was so distinct genre that you looked for, they were all different.

A few of my favorite stories were: First Day Back by A.P. Raymond, Werewolf Blues by Eve Morton, Help Wanted by Ashton Laviolette, The Path to Truth by Aila Alvina Boyd

“this is normal. We define our own lives and our own words. What is normal to us is our beautiful.” From Werewolf Blues

trigger warning
<spoiler> transphobia, drug abuse, trauma, PTSD, emotional abuse, bullying, grief, suicide </spoiler>

If I may quote from one of my favourite stories from this collection: Queer as f*ck!

I got exactly what I came for: Queer own voices stories. The diversity in this one is incredible. There are white and non-white people, the only wish I'd have for another round were some disabled characters. But apart from that, so many queer identities get covered! Trans people, non binary, pan, bi, gay, I met my first fictional agender person in this! Ace and aro people!

Another huge plus is that we have both narratives evolving around the typical human rights problems queer people face, but we also have fun adventures in which the characters happen to be queer. We are more than our suffering. Good representation means all kinds of stories.
Sure, I've never been in the position of being on Mars and having to flee pursuers on horseback in a desert, but sometimes it's exactly what I want to read about.

Some stories come with warnings, but not all. In the first story with warnings, I remember being very irritated because there was other stuff I'd have warned about, that I found even heavier than the issues that were mentioned beforehand.

You see this is a collection by a small publisher and that this is from queer people about queer people for queer people. I highly doubt this will monetary profitable, so please, if you're intrigued, go and check it out. Maybe spend some money. I promise you you'll get your money's worth.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

May contain spoilers. A collection of short queer stories. Average 3.5. Some really good ones in there.

1. A government-sanctioned marriage by Cameron Van Sant. M/M trans. Arranged marriage in space. Confused guy with a pushy mother. 3 stars.

2. This is what you get by Evie Riojas. F/F trans. The past calls on a family vacation. Threats and secrets. 3 stars.

3. Actually by Tabitha O’Connell. M/F ace. Short little confession story to the sister. 3.5 stars.

4. First day back by A.P Raymond. No romance. Sweet heart to heart about gender. 3 stars.

5. Werewolf blues by Eve Morton. F/F trans. A single mother with a new employee. Cute story. 3.5 stars.

6. Crossroads by James Penha. M/M. Really short story about a married guy meeting some priests. 3 stars.

7. First cut by Elna Holst. Historical F/F. After hours hair appointment whilst the useless husband is away. Wouldn’t mind a sequel of this one. 4 stars.

8. Version of love by Ayelet Enisman. No romance. Aromatic ace finding friendship and inspiration. Cute story. 3 stars.

9. Punchline by G Benson. A woman on the run keeps meeting the same person. Feels like the longest story so far. Bit of suspense. 4 stars.

10. Help wanted by Ashton Laviolette. No romance. Skyler is looking for a job and meets a goddess. Fun story. 4 stars.

11. Under the valley of stars by Alexis Ames. Two guys, a bot and nanobots. Short story nicely wrapped up. 3 stars.

12. Space boy by Cal Benitex. 3 stars.

13. The path to truth by Aila Alvina Boyd. A trans teacher risks it all. Probably the most powerful and painful story out of the lot so far. 4 stars.

14. So she chose by Zoe Brook. Short F/F. Instant attraction for a stage performer. 3 stars.

15. Some things are more important by Addy Long. My favourite so far. After her homophobic boss goes too far Daisy arranges to open up her own book shop. Contains plenty of homophobia but a lot of support as well. Made me both rage and smile. 5 stars.

16. All that remains by Nyri Bakkalian. Military meets ghosts. A little creepy but interesting. 3 stars.

17. Travelling companions by Tabitha O’Connell. Aromatic and Asexual Kat invites a friend to visit Paris. Cue a fake friend, fake friend’s tag along and a real friend. From the start Maddie annoyed me. But some lessons need to be learnt. I hope she and Sean do a redo. 4 stars.

This is a nice collection of stories that shows you all sorts of pairings in all walks of life. As with all anthologies, some you will like and some you will not. But there is something here for everyone and it's a great collection that gives voice to a large part of the LGBTQ+ community. I enjoyed reading this!

*** An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

This is a unusual genre for me. I am glad I did pick it up!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. In this collection of seventeen short stories, the whole spectrum of the LGBTQ+-community is represented: amongst the main as well as the secondary characters feature gay men, lesbian women, bisexuals, transsexuals, transgender characters, asexuals (I learned that they use the word “ace” to speak of themselves), aromantics, non-binaries, queers… It covers a range of genres, and so there was definitely something for everyone. Some I enjoyed more than others

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and literary fiction however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.

I always find anthologies tough to review and this one is no exception. There were a number of stories I really enjoyed, and a few that were misses for me. The representation this collection of stories gives to the LGBTQIA+ community is amazing, variable and well thought out. The story lengths are vary variable - there are some great stories that were over way too soon. I struggled to get into the first half of the book and thought I was on my way to a three star review - but there are some hidden gems in the second half.

I appreciated the range of genres - especially as it forced me out of my comfort zone a few times and now has me considering some genres I would not normally have thought about reading. I particularly enjoyed Punchline by G Benson, First Day Back by A.P. Raymond and Some Things Are More Important by Addy Long. This Is What You Get by Evie Riojas, Werewolf Blues by Eve Morton, The Path To Truth by Aila Alvina Boyd and First Cute by Elna Holst also deserve a mention. I will definitely be exploring the work of all these authors further.

The wide range of representation, both of the community and the genres means there is something for everyone in this collection and I would definitely recommend giving this collection a read.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

How excited I was in 2014 when my native country Austria, in a ballsy decision I would never have dreamed they were capable of, selected Conchita Wurst, a bearded, glamorous drag queen, to participate in that year’s Eurovision Song Contest (for those who don’t know that competition, with a yearly audience between 100 and 600 million globally, please check it out on Wikipedia)! Of course conservatives all over the world immediately yelled “Freak Show!”, and viscerally anti-gay countries such as Russia even threatened to interrupt their broadcast of the event during Conchita’s performance. But Conchita sang, Conchita was amazing (duh—a good song, a pitch-perfect voice, a fabulous stage performance), and… Conchita won by a landslide (it turned out even the Russian public had voted massively for her). When she was proclaimed the winner, Conchita stepped on the stage again, beaming and beautiful, to accept the award. Then, with fiercely sparkling eyes, she brandished it and shouted, “We! Are! Unstoppable!”

I mention this anecdote because this short story collection reminded me immediately of that amazing moment, which did our community so proud. “We are unstoppable!” could be the leitmotiv of this excellent anthology, too. I was amazed not only by the quality of the assembled pieces, but also by the vast variety of voices—variety being what had always drawn me to the Eurovision Song Contest in the first place. In this collection of seventeen short stories, the whole spectrum of the LGBTQ+-community is represented: amongst the main as well as the secondary characters feature gay men, lesbian women, bisexuals, transsexuals, transgender characters, asexuals (I learned that they use the word “ace” to speak of themselves), aromantics, non-binaries, queers…

The genres and subgenres explored also provided a vast range of choice: there was a story with a SciFi-speculative twist, another one that told a Sci-Fi-Western style plot, yet another turned out to be a historical erotic romance. I encountered ghosts, I met students and teachers, ex-cops, shop managers, doctors, a long-forgotten Celtic goddess, mysterious divas, soldiers… Variety of voices, variety of genres, variety of settings, too. I travelled from planet Mars to rural America, from Ontario to European cities, from Syrian war zones to Israelian universities, and was offered a wide array of themes, too. What makes us attracted to another person? How can we have closure for painful events of our past? How can we deal with intolerance? Is it useful to take a stand and defend who we are? How do me make a new start when everything looks bleak and lost? How do we explain ourselves meaningfully to those around us? What does it mean to be the persons we are?

I read about love and lust, about pain and struggle, about fights and dreams. Above all, I read about many different queer characters, as the book title promises, who “don’t quit”. The main characters have that one thing in common: they don’t give up, they don’t give in. They believe in who they are, and they believe that we are unstoppable indeed. I’ve always liked short story anthologies, especially those dedicated to our diversified community, for exactly that reason: to get different authors express different points of view in different writing styles. ‘Queers Who Don’t Quit’ is a perfect example of how this can be done. An entertaining and thought-provoking read I recommend without a moment’s hesitation.

I enjoyed this collection of short stories

It covers a range of genres, and so there was definitely something for everyone. Some I enjoyed more than others, but that's not unusual for short story collections I find.

I particularly liked that it covered the full spectrum of LGBT. Bi and lesbians are often overlooked, so I liked that a range was included.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

I find this a tough book to review. The quality of the stories feels uneven - some were fantastic, whereas some felt like a rush job for an English class. But we really, really need more queer stories out in the world! (Personally I'm trying to figure out if I'm aromantic - social norms are hard to extricate yourself from).

The short stories in this anthology are a mix of genres of moods, from the real world, to imagined worlds. Happy endings. Uncertain endings. Bittersweet endings. Dark endings. If I'm being honest, in short stories, what I most enjoy are twists at the end and a bittersweet tang. There were a few too many happy endings in this anthology, but then again, so many mainstream novels don't give their queer characters happy endings, and I can understand why the authors in this one wanted to do different.

I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could; but 4 stars because on the whole, I enjoyed the mix of stories and the diversity of characters.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy, in exchange for an honest review)

I loved that this anthology had a diverse mix genres.
Each story compiled was unique and had a refreshing take on romance and society. An absolute must read!