In The Underwater Ballroom Society, you will “visit an old hangout one last time with an ex-siren and find out what the twelve dancing princesses learned in their secret world. You will feel the fallout of Oberon stealing a guitar god. You will wonder if magic might finally find a lonely officer of the Crown and a smuggler. You will learn about the secret society of Mycologians and find love with a girl who never otherwise fit in to society’s expectations. You will know what happened to Syrus Reed after The Tinker King, and you will be swept away by the determined romance of Amy Standish and Jonathan Harwood in Spellswept, the prequel novella to Snowspelled. You will solve mysteries with Harriet George under the Valles Marineris on Mars, and you will be left longing at the rusalka’s ball.

Most of all, it’s creators hope that you will return to The Underwater Ballroom.

I received an eARC of The Underwater Ballroom Society from editor Stephanie Burgis in exchange for an honest review.

I loved that this included content warnings directly underneath the title before the story began.

Y.S. Lee’s Twelve Sisters was a beautiful Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling that dealt with the future of the sisters after the eldest marries the prince.

Penhallow Among Passing Things by Iona Datt Sharma was lyrical and stunning. I’d read a whole novel about Kernow. It’s also got a little bit of steam between two women – a guard and a smuggler, in fact!

I wish that A Brand New Thing by Jenny Moss wasn’t so ableist, and that it had a content warning. If that had been in place think I might have very well enjoyed the story if I’d known what I was getting into.

I really enjoyed Cassandra Khaw’s Four Revelations from the Rusalka’s Ball, which was not quite as gory as the last work I reviewed.

Snowswept was absolutely delightful, and I will definitely be checking out the novel that comes afterwards with adult Cassandra! I adored Shveta Thakrar’s The Amethyst Deceiver, and would gladly read a full novel about the mycelium’s heists.

Overall, The Underwater Ballroom Society was an incredible anthology that flowed really well, pun intended. I highly recommend it! Pick up a copy on Amazon!