Rainbow Awards 2015: Honorable Mention
Judges’ comments: Consistently good short stories. … An excellent anthology of World War 1 stories all told with a remarkable eye for authenticity and a great deal of love and compassion. … Wonderful read!
The Book Breeze: review by Ace Katzenbooks
Conclusion: A good collection of stories, and an excellent reminder that even when things are tough, we can remember that for LGBT people a hundred years ago, they were much more dangerous.
Prism Book Alliance: 4 stars from Feliz
Conclusion: This anthology is, in my eyes, a must for readers interested in the WWI – era as well as for fans of the contributing authors. (who might even discover new favorites, like I did.) It’s high-quality writing throughout, not to be consumed as a whole, but best enjoyed one story at a time.
Historical Novel Society: review by Christoph Fischer
Conclusion: Entertaining, emotional and thought provoking this not only fills a gap in WWI literature, it is also a very moving and stimulating read with plenty of original ideas.
Very highly recommended.
Editors’ Choice, and Shortlisted for the HNS Indie Award 2016
Long and Short Reviews: 4 stars from Astilbe
Excerpt and conclusion: They say that tough times bring out a person’s true colors. If this is true, I want to meet all of these characters. … a beautiful collection that I’d recommend to anyone who has even the slightest interest in World War I or GLBTQI fiction.
Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews: 4 stars from Sally and Mark
Comments about individual stories: A lovely but bittersweet story of wanting to be normal and fitting in. (No Man’s Land) … Oh this was beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!! (I Remember) … I particularly loved the gentle innocence of both young men and the very practical steps they took independently to try to find out what was what, and the misunderstandings that this engendered. (Inside) … For such a short story the author has packed in a lot of emotional wallop and a lot of sharply drawn secondary characters, including a number of period appropriate but benign women, unusual and refreshing for M/M. (A Rooted Sorrow) … This story blew me away. My historical knowledge is so rooted in European history that it’s always a joy to be shown another country and another way of life, in this case in Cambodia, then under French rule. (Anh Sang)
Adventurous Hearts: review by Narrelle M Harris
Excerpt: … a superb collection of stories that give voices to those who were silenced by the mainstream at the time. … a damned fine read which will break your heart, fill it with hope and remind you that love will find a way to grow, even under the harshest conditions.
Odds and Ends: review by Kizzia
Excerpt: … I can, hand on heart, say that I didn’t find one story that didn’t move me or make me think about some aspect of living at a LGBTQIA person during the war that I hadn’t considered before. This is something that, given my deep and abiding interest in WWI, you should know is no idle praise …
Reviews by Amos Lassen: review by Amos
Conclusion: This is an anthology in which every story is an excellent read and a look at an age that none of us experienced personally.
On Top Down Under: 5 stars from Kazza K
Overview: A Pride of Poppies is a quality anthology. There isn’t one story I didn’t enjoy. The editing is superb and the writing exceedingly good to sublime. … I could not believe the depth and breadth of storytelling in each and every individual story.
Poppies on Amazon:
- Jo gave it 5 stars and said: A interesting collection of stories – they demonstrate the power of the short story – capturing a mood, a moment in a few words, sometimes surprising always thought provoking.