A Bittersweet Symphony of Love’s Song

Love is like a coin. It has two sides, one where your heart sings from joy and the other is hardships and pain. Unfortunately when you flip for love you don’t know what side you are going to experience or when. Sometimes the coin will land on beautiful moments and other times you have to hope that the love won’t be stolen away, this is what Bittersweet Symphony explores. 

Bittersweet Symphony is a collection consisting of 14 short stories surrounding tragedies of love and how love is like the books namesake, bittersweet. There are 2 stories written in English and the rest is written in Filipino with a mix of English in a few stories. A group of talented authors and writers collaborated together and each wrote a narrative for this anthology. The book's theme was brought to life by Miss Maxi Aurella, the founder of a writing community called INKWELL.


I unfortunately was not able to read all the stories as I sadly don't understand Filipino, however I was privileged to read The Hanged Man's Tale by Ylisle and Flower and Tea By the Window by Rose R. Sales. Both tales were well written and easy to understand for all readers. I would recommend the Anthology for readers aged 16 and up and to readers who enjoy plot twists, cry worthy endings and love that is destined to fail or succeed. 


The Hanged Man’s Tale was an emotional read which had my heart crying. The story felt real and I loved how the main character was not perfect and how her choices and mistakes affected her life. Often writers write their main character too perfect and I love how Ylisle portrayed her character's regrets from those choices. 


Flower and Tea by the Window by Rose R. Sales is a cute and dark piece, where a young maiden, Primrose, falls in love with a merchant, Haiden, however there is an evil force that stands in their way. The story grabs at your heartstrings as you sit there hoping that the two characters will not lose each other, the question is how will it end? 


The sentences that impacted me the most were these two, “Through the long hours of darkness, she wept silently, her anguish hidden from view. The only silver lining of that day was her interaction with Haiden.” This shows the maidens heartbreak about what she has experienced and how that one moment made her day. That one moment also started a great friendship and brought about a change in Primrose’s life, which I feel is such an important moment in all stories. This moment was incredibly brought across by Rose. R Sales also wrote that the emotional side to her story was also one of her favourite parts, “My favourite part to write was the emotional climax—the moment when everything poured out and the heart of the story revealed itself.”


This book also has cute and soft pictures for each story, which helps to bring an even stronger reading experience. If you are a reader searching for a book which takes a deep dive into love and the many aspects of it, then I recommend checking Bittersweet symphony out. It's a great read to remind one how important love is.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 8, 2025 at 8:48 PM

    Thank you so much, Miss TRWest, for your thoughtful review.

    Your insights on our book—especially on the two short stories you read, “The Hanged Man’s Tale” by Ylisle and my own piece, “Flower and Tea by the Window”—were truly heartwarming to read. It means so much to know that you were able to immerse yourself in the worlds we created. That brings me a deep sense of joy and fulfillment.

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