Review: Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines Who Hack

Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines Who Hack by Paige Daniels
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have a story in this huge anthology (seriously -- it's the thickest book on my shelf, well worth the price in weight alone), but I'm going to review each story as unbiasedly as I can.

THE ALCHEMIST’S DAUGHTER by Selenia Paz
Well, you all know I love Ada Lovelace, and putting her in an alchemy murder mystery? Perfection!

THE ALTERED AVATAR by Mary Fan
I love a murder mystery, and this one set in an augmented reality game was so fun!

ATTACK ON AEGIS by Paige Daniels
Fun superhero story set in the 90s. The story didn't really grab me, but I enjoyed all the references to my childhood. I miss Palm Pilots...

BECOMING A WORLD BUILDER by Valerie Hunter
I didn't love the ableism coming from the bad guys, but the story itself is very accepting. I really identified with the way the main character pretended to be the "stronger" women in her life but struggled with finding the strength in herself.

DATA RECOVERY by Nicholas Jennings
Remember that episode of Magic Schoolbus where they go into the computer? It's that, but with more gummy worms!

DISCORD ON HARMONIA by M.L.D. Curelas
I wish this one was longer because I want to know more about this world.

THE EXPERIMENT CALLED LIFE by Halli Gomez
LOVE LOVE LOVE this one! I don't have Tourette's, but I identify so strongly with Gemma not fitting in.

FALSE MESSIAHS: A ROBOT REPAIR GIRL ADVENTURE by Josh Pritchett
Very interesting premise but I wasn't super into the story, maybe because I haven't read all the stories in the series.

IMPOSSIBLE ODDS by A.A. Jankiewicz
Military sci-fi isn't really my thing, but I like this. It's like if Ender's Game was actually enjoyable.

IN CYBERIA, AVATAR CONTROLS YOU by Jeremy Rodden
I found the treatment of the "vegetables" kind of offensive. I don't think that's an appropriate term for people in vegetative states, nor do I think they were beyond saving. I would have LOVED the story if Carrot was the hero. That being said, very Matrix-esque and a surprising twist.

IN THE SHADOW OF ZYRCON by Joanna Schurman
Has a kind of Firefly feel, but with gay girls and disability rep! I want more adventures from this crew.

INMATE C87 by Kay Dominguez
This one could have been stretched out to fill an entire book. I love the premise, even though the white collar corruption hits a little close to home. My one criticism is that the main character almost felt more like an adult than a teenager.

LIFE HACK by Aaron Rosenberg
I was all ready to say this is an exciting and wacky tale about outlandishly wonderful gene alterations... but the ending was very much a letdown.

LOGIN by Jennifer Lee Rossman
I'm not going to review my own story, but I'll mention that it's a Rumplestiltskin retelling that has own voices wheelchair-user rep, a helpful robot, and features artwork by my friend Sharon.

MOON GIRL by Jennifer Chow
I love the enemies-to-friends trope, and this story used it very well. Not to mention non-European mythology!

MY OTHER TREE HOUSE IS A ROCKET SHIP by Russ Colchamiro
I love the tone of this one. One of the co-authors is seven years old, and I don't know how much she wrote and how much her dad wrote, but it's much better than anything I could have written at that age. She's got a future in this business.

THE POWER OF FIVE by Jenifer Purcell Rosenberg
I found the writing of this story to be very simplistic and childish, almost distractingly so at times, but the alien is so dang cute.

PYRAMID SCHEME by Jamie Krakover
Indiana Jones with aliens and banter? Yes please.

SEA-STARS AND SAND DOLLARS by Lyssa Chiavari
GAY GIRLS STEALING SUBMARINES! That's everything I've ever really wanted in a story. Also, the robot Trite and my robot Baby need to be BFFs and go on adventures together.

SECOND SUN by J.R. Rustrian
Has a slight "A Closed and Common Orbit" feel -- tech-smart girl and an AI trying to fix a spaceship. And can we talk about that gorgeous illustration? It looks like a book cover!

SHOCKWIRED by Tash McAdam
Trans! Girl! In! Spaaaaaaace!

SWORD & SHIELD by Jelani Akin Parham
The fact that the mysterious enemies were only mentioned toward the end was a little disappointing; I didn't feel like I understood what was going on until later on, and I want a sequel that explains their origins. But gay girls versus scary murder-things? That's a recipe for a good time in my book.

TWISTED BRICK by M.J. Moores
Didn't grab my attention, but I liked how the two POVs showed how John and Cassy saw each other.


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