BOOK RIOT Book Recommendations and Reviews 2024-01-02T18:17:55Z https://bookriot.com/feed/atom/ WordPress Community http://www.bookriot.com <![CDATA[The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=559929 2024-01-02T18:17:55Z 2024-01-02T18:17:17Z

Happy 2024! The holiday season is over, which means it’s time to take a look at the books that sold the best over the week leading up to Christmas. These sales stayed pretty similar to previous weeks, suggesting that a lot of people found Fourth Wing under their trees this year. It’s worth shouting out that Heartstopper Vol. 5 by Alice Oseman was the number one bestseller on Publishers Weekly’s and USA Today’s lists, but because so many of the other lists break out teen and/or graphic novels into their own lists, it didn’t make it onto this one.

To get these numbers, we look at the USA Today overall top 10; Publishers Weekly overall top 10; the New York Times top 10, both Combined Print & E-Book Fiction and Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction lists; Amazon Charts top 10, both Fiction and Nonfiction; and Indie Bestsellers top 10, Fiction and Nonfiction, both Paperback and Hardcover. New additions to the list this week are bolded.

This list continues to have a lack of diversity on many levels, including being disproportionately by white authors. Some Indie Bestsellers you should know about are The Fraud by Zadie Smith and The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi.

Books On All Five Bestseller Lists:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros Book Cover

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (Publishers Weekly #2, USA Today #4, NYT #1, Amazon #1, Indie Bestsellers #5)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Publishers Weekly #4, USA Today #2, NYT #3, Amazon #3, Indie Bestsellers #1)

Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney (Publishers Weekly #3, USA Today #5, NYT #2, Amazon #2, Indie Bestsellers #3)

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann (Publishers Weekly #7, USA Today #3, NYT #1, Amazon #5, Indie Bestsellers #1)

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (Publishers Weekly #6, USA Today #9, NYT #2, Amazon #2, Indie Bestsellers #7)

Books On Four Bestseller Lists:

cover of The Woman in Me

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (USA Today #7, NYT #4, Amazon #9, Indie Bestsellers #1)

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (Publishers Weekly #8, NYT #3, Amazon #4, Indie Bestsellers #7)

Books On Three Bestseller Lists:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (NYT #6, Amazon #5, Indie Bestsellers #2)

No Brainer (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #18) by Jeff Kinney (Publishers Weekly #5, USA Today #6, Amazon #1)

The Exchange: After the Firm by John Grisham (Publishers Weekly #9, USA Today #8, NYT #4)


Go beyond the bestseller lists with made-for-you book recommendations from TBR, our book recommendation service!

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

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Community http://www.bookriot.com <![CDATA[The Most Anticipated SFF of 2024, According to Goodreads]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=559927 2024-01-02T17:50:56Z 2024-01-02T17:50:28Z

It’s a new reading year, which means it’s time to start building our TBRs with all the fantastic new books out in 2024! Goodreads has put together a list of the most-anticipated fantasy, science fiction, and horror new releases. These are the titles that have been added to users’ Want to Read shelves the most often.

Some trends obvious from a glance are several big time speculative fiction sequels out in 2024, including from Sarah J. Maas, Olivie Blake, Seanan McGuire, James S.A. Corey, and two different horror series sequels from Stephen Graham Jones! Romantasy continues to be the stand-out subgenre of the moment, but the genre mashup of horror and romance is also one to watch.

Here are some of the most-anticipated speculative fiction books out in 2024, organized by genre.

Most Anticipated New Fantasy Books Out in 2024:

cover of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo; illustration of a hand holding a chain

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson

The Book of Love by Kelly Link

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

Most Anticipated New Sci-Fi Books Out in 2024:

cover of Womb City

A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

Baby X by Kira Peikoff

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson

The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar

Most Anticipated New Horror Books Out in 2024:

cover of The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden; illustration of a white mansion atop a large cliff; in front of a red sky

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa

The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim


Read the full list of the most-anticipated fantasy, science fiction, and horror books of 2024 at Goodreads.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

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Kelly Jensen http://www.stackedbooks.org/ <![CDATA[Key Parts of Iowa Book Ban Bill Cannot Be Enforced]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=559913 2024-01-02T14:22:21Z 2024-01-02T14:18:09Z In a decision that came down Friday, December 29, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher called for an injunction on an Iowa law that would permit a wide swath of book bans across the state. The decision was made as a result of two current lawsuits in the state over the law.

The injunction is not a ruling on either case, but it is the first step in hearing the cases in full. Judge Locher granted the injunction and enjoined enforcement of Senate File 496, which was set to go into effect January 1, 2024. The law would require all materials in schools be “age appropriate” and that there be no “descriptions or depictions of sex acts,” defined by Iowa Code 702.17, among several other provisions limiting discussion or instruction about gender or sexuality.

Injunction and enjoinment mean that both cases will be heard before the law can be implemented in full. So for now, books in schools across the state of Iowa will remain as they are.

According to the preliminary injunction:

The law is incredibly broad and has resulted in the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries, including, among others, nonfiction history books, classic works of fiction, Pulitzer Prize winning contemporary novels, books that regularly appear on Advanced Placement exams, and even books designed to help students avoid being victimized by sexual assault. The sweeping restrictions in Senate File 496 are unlikely to satisfy the First Amendment under any standard of scrutiny and thus may not be enforced while the case is pending. Indeed, the Court has been unable to locate a single case upholding the constitutionality of a school library restriction even remotely similar to Senate File 496.

Although not yet a win in either lawsuit, this is a huge victory for anti-censorship. The judge recognized not only the First Amendment rights being infringed upon by such a sweeping ban of books across the state, but also emphasized the specific types of books being scrutinized by it. This kind of bill was unprecedented in scope.

“This is a big win for education professionals, students, and parents,” said the Iowa State Education Association. “This ruling means they can continue successfully guiding all students without fear of punishment or losing their jobs.”

The judge also granted a preliminary injunction and enjoined another piece of Senate File 496, related to gender and sexuality education in schools:

The law forbids programs, promotion, and instruction to students in those grades relating to “gender identity” and “sexual orientation,” but those terms are defined a neutral way that makes no distinction between cisgender or transgender identity or gay or straight relationships. Meaning: on its face, the law forbids any programs, promotion, or instruction recognizing that anyone is male or female or in a relationship of any sort (gay or straight). The statute is therefore content-neutral but so wildly overbroad that every school district and elementary school teacher in the State has likely been violating it since the day the school year started. This renders the statute void for vagueness under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because the State will have unfettered discretion to decide when to enforce it and against whom, thus making it all but impossible for a reasonable person to know what will and will not lead to punishment.

One aspect of the law, though, was not granted such injunction or was it enjoined. Senate File 496 requires that districts notify parents when a student requests use of pronouns that do not match school records. Judge Locher stated that because only one of the lawsuits addresses this and because the plaintiffs themselves are not subject to its enforcement–they are “out” to their families already–the injunction could not occur.

In rendering the preliminary injunctions, Judge Locher explained findings from previous book ban cases, including Pico vs. Island Trees and Pratt v. Independent School District No. 831. These findings, he wrote, put the onus of responsibility for justifying such book restrictions on the state:

Based on Pico and Pratt, the Court concludes that: (a) the Student Plaintiffs have a First Amendment right not to have books and materials removed from the school library based on ideological, religious, or other grounds designed to suppress ideas or impose a “pall of orthodoxy” over the classroom; and (b) the State must establish a “substantial and reasonable governmental interest” that justifies the school library restrictions.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds expressed frustration about the decision, stating in a short press release that “there should be no question that books containing sexually explicit content — as clearly defined in Iowa law — do not belong in a school library for children. The fact that we’re even arguing these issues is ridiculous.” Reynolds pushed the law through with heavy support from members of Moms For Liberty chapters in Iowa (including those who have purposefully lied about their “parental rights” being infringed in local districts).

No word yet has come from the districts which have already pulled titles to be in compliance–it is likely to come in the next few weeks as schools return to session. Among the districts who began to pull books include Mason City, which utilized AI to find books depicting “sex acts,” Iowa City, and dozens more, which are available in a Des Moines Register database.

Read the entire decision here, with excellent analysis by Laura Belin at Bleeding Heartland here.

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Kelly Jensen http://www.stackedbooks.org/ <![CDATA[Winter 2024 YA Book Releases To Enjoy This Season (& Beyond)]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=558323 2023-12-07T23:40:56Z 2024-01-02T11:40:00Z

Pause and take in a deep breath of fresh air. As we enter into a new year, among the many things we have to be excited about are new books. The world of YA is looking especially generous, with plenty of winter 2024 YA books to get excited about. Whether you’re into high fantasy, chilling horror, or romance, there’s something here for you to preorder or reserve at your library this season.

As always, this list of new winter 2024 YA books will not be comprehensive, especially as book publication dates are still periodically shifting. It is far less common now than it was even a couple of seasons ago, but I’m finding it happening still, likely with the combination of printing challenges due to paper sourcing and the long-term effects of COVID-19 (we may be “out” of the pandemic according to the government, but the pandemic is not actually over). Use this list less as definitive this season and more as pretty accurate with some potential changes. Then, preorder any book that strikes your fancy.

All series books are marked with a * and are listed first below each date. They may be the first in a series or later entries. This list does not include comics, and it does not include new paperbacks. Those will both come in separate lists shortly for triple the YA new release goodness.

Grab your TBR, open up your book tracker of choice, and add some great winter 2024 YA books to it. Descriptions come from Amazon because, much as I wish I’d read all of the books, it is simply impossible. Keep your eyes peeled for the roundup of winter 2024 YA paperback releases coming soon as well; you’ll find there a mix of both new paperback originals and the new format of your favorite already-published YA.

Winter 2024 YA Book Releases

January

2

dark star burning book cover

*Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by Amélie Wen Zhao

The Demon Gods have risen. Skies’ End has fallen to the colonizers. And Lan and Zen have chosen sides.

But they will not fight together.

Though Lan inherited the power of the Silver Dragon, she understands the path she must take. She believes the Demon Gods to be the cause of war, conflict, and turmoil, and that the future of the Last Kingdom depends on their being eliminated forever. Worse, she knows that if the Elantians manage to bind one of the legendary beings, their army will be unstoppable. To save her kingdom and her people, Lan will need to find the only mythical weapon capable of destroying the Demon Gods: the Godslayer.

Zen is sure that the only way to free the Last Kingdom is to use the power of the Demon Gods. When he bound the Black Tortoise, he paid the ultimate price: to inherit its strength, he will forfeit his body, his mind, and his soul. Yet one Demon God is not enough against the might of the colonizers. In the ruins of the northern Mansorian lands slumbers a magical army of demonic practitioners capable of facing off against the Elantians—but Zen must find the Seal to awaken them to fight by his side.

At the center of both Lan’s and Zen’s journeys is one city: Shaklahira, a former stronghold of the Imperial Court that vanished without a trace when the Elantians invaded. Its location is a mystery, and both are sure that it holds the answers they need, but the past it hides might be more dangerous than anything they’ve faced yet.

The battle for the Last Kingdom rages on. But to win the war, Lan will have to decide: Can she face the boy she loves again? And when she does, can she kill him to free her people?

*Sky’s End by Marc J Gregson

Exiled to live as a Low, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But Meritocracy is a harsh and unforgiving rule on the floating island of Holmstead, and when his ailing mother is killed by monstrous gorgantauns, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle’s clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades.

Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, gains a fresh recruit with Conrad. Now he must endure vigorous training, manipulative peers, and the Gauntlet—a brutal final test that yields riches and status to whichever skyship crew kills the most gorgantauns. Forced to serve in the lowest of stations and unseen by all, Conrad overhears whispers of rebellion in the dark. Conrad had never known anything existed below the toxic black clouds of the Skylands . . . until now.

Cupid’s Revenge by Wibke Brueggemann

It was never Tilly’s intention to fall in love, but Cupid will get you when you least expect it. That’s exactly what happens when Tilly’s best friend, Teddy, ropes Tilly into a plan to woo his dream girl, aspiring actress Katherine Cooper-Bunting. It turns out Teddy’s not the only one who finds her dreamy.

But Katherine is off-limits. The only thing more important than Tilly’s feelings for someone she just met is not hurting Teddy, whose heart has been broken in the past.

Avoiding temptation is easier said than done, as Teddy convinces Tilly to help him audition for a local play as a way to get to know Katherine better―a complete horror for someone who grew up in an artsy family but doesn’t have a creative bone in her body. On top of dealing with her growing feelings for the girl she shouldn’t like (but who may like her back), Tillie is still grieving a loss while navigating her grandfather’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis. So yeah, that’s a lot for any sixteen-year-old to handle without Cupid’s vengeful arrows getting involved.

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more―until an anonymous gossip columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

just happy to be here book cover

Just Happy To Be Here by Naomi Kanakia

Tara just wants to be treated like any other girl at Ainsley Academy.

That is, judged on her merits—not on her transness. But there’s no road map for being the first trans girl at an all-girls school. And when she tries to join the Sibyls, an old-fashioned Ainsley sisterhood complete with code names and special privileges, she’s thrust into the center of a larger argument about what girlhood means and whether the club should exist at all.

Being the figurehead of a movement isn’t something Tara’s interested in. She’d rather read old speeches and hang out with the Sibyls who are on her side—especially Felicity, a new friend she thinks could turn into something more. Then the club’s sponsor, a famous alumna, attacks her in the media and turns the selection process into a spectacle.

Tara’s always found comfort in the power of other peoples’ words. But when it comes time to fight for herself, will she be able to find her own voice?

Okay, Cupid by Mason Deaver

As a cupid, Jude thinks they understand love a little bit more than the average human. It makes sense — Jude’s been studying love their whole teen life. And, yes, there have been some bumps in the road, and they’re currently on probation for doing something that they absolutely, definitely shouldn’t have done… but they’re ready to prove they can make matches without ever getting involved.

Only… Jude’s next assignment isn’t about setting up two adults. No, this time Jude has to go to high school, with kids their own age. And the assignment is a tough one: two best friends who are meant to be more than just best friends… but who aren’t currently speaking to each other after a huge falling out.

Jude thinks they’ve got this one all under control, and that they won’t get involved whatsoever.

Which proves that maybe Jude hasn’t learned the first lesson of humans and love … It’s complicated.

Stay with My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan

Liana Sarkar lives and breathes music, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her A&R coordinator father. Maybe if she succeeds, he’ll finally give her the time of day instead of drowning himself in work to distract from the grief of her mother’s passing.

When Liana accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band, Third Eye, she makes it her mission to steer them towards success—without them discovering her role in their setback. But as she gets closer to Third Eye, especially their enigmatic leader Skyler Moon, it becomes harder to hide the truth.

With both her heart and their futures on the line, will Liana be able to undo the damage she’s caused?

Read less

9

Arya Khanna’s Bollywood Moment by Arushi Avachat

Shaadi preparations are in full swing, which means lehenga shopping, taste testing, dance rehearsals, and best of all, Arya’s sister Alina is home. The Khannas are together again, finally, and Arya wants to enjoy it. So she stifles her lingering resentment towards Alina, plays mediator during her sister’s fights with their mother, and welcomes her future brother-in-law with open arms. (Okay, maybe enjoy isn’t exactly right.)

Meanwhile at school, Arya’s senior year dreams are unraveling. In between class and her part-time gig as a bookshop assistant, Arya struggles to navigate the aftermath of a bad breakup between her two best friends and a tense student council partnership with her rival, the frustratingly attractive Dean Merriweather.

Arya is determined to keep the peace at home and at school, but this shaadi season teaches Arya new realities: Alina won’t always be in the bedroom down the hall, Mamma’s sadness isn’t mendable, friendships must evolve, and life doesn’t always work out like her beloved Bollywood movies. But sometimes, the person you least expect will give you a glimpse of your dream sequence just when you need it most.

Structured like a Bollywood film (entertaining intermission included!) Arya Khanna’s Bollywood Moment will make you swoon, laugh, cry, think, nod your head in agreement, and quite possibly make you get up and dance.

the atlas of us book cover

The Atlas of Us by Kristin Dwyer

Atlas has lost her way.

In a last-ditch effort to pull her life together, she’s working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras. The only plus is that the days are so exhausting that Atlas might just be tired enough to forget that this was one of her dad’s favorite places in the world. Before cancer stole him from her life, that is.

Using real names is forbidden on the trail. So Atlas becomes Maps, and with her team—Books, Sugar, Junior, and King—she heads into the wilderness. As she sheds the lies she’s built up as walls to protect herself, she realizes that four strangers might know her better than anyone has before. And with the end of the trail racing to meet them, Maps is left counting down the days until she returns to her old life—without her new family, and without King, who’s become more than just a friend.

Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta

Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant—by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist.

Things are hella complicated.

Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?

From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.

16

beasts of war book cover

*Beasts of War by Ayana Gray

Once a prisoner to Fedu, the vengeful god of death, Koffi has regained her freedom, but she is far from safe. Fedu will stop at nothing to hunt her down and use her power to decimate the mortal world. Koffi knows when Fedu will strike: during the next Bonding, a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event. To survive, Koffi will have to find powerful new allies quickly, and convince them to help her in the terrible battle to come.

Once a warrior-turned-runaway, Ekon has carved out a new life for himself outside Lkossa, but the shadows of his past still haunt him. Now, alongside unexpected friends, Ekon tries to focus on getting Koffi to the Kusonga Plains before the next Bonding. If he fails, Koffi will be consumed, either by her own dangerous power, or the terrible fate Ekon is doing everything he can to prevent. Ekon devotes himself to protecting Koffi, but the lingering threats from his own past are more urgent than he knows.

As Koffi and Ekon race to the Kusonga Plains—and try to garner the help of Eshōza’s ancient gods along the way—they must face a slew of dangerous beasts old and new. In the end, destiny may unite Koffi and Ekon for the last time—or tear them apart for good.

American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky by Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth E. Wein

In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where some previous Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?

American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield on Chicago’s South Side. As the U.S. hurtled toward World War II, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful integration was possible.

Complete with black-and-white photographs throughout, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky.

A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel

All monsters and heroes have beginnings. This is mine.

Sixteen-year-old Manisha is no stranger to monsters—she’s been running from them for years, from beasts who roam the jungle to the King’s army, who forced her people, the naga, to scatter to the ends of the earth. You might think that the kingdom’s famed holy temples atop the floating mountains, where Manisha is now a priestess, would be safe—but you would be wrong.

Seventeen-year-old Pratyush is a famed slayer of monsters, one of the King’s most prized warriors and a frequent visitor to the floating temples. For every monster the slayer kills, years are added to his life. You might think such a powerful warrior could do whatever he wants, but true power lies with the King. Tired after years of fighting, Pratyush wants nothing more than a peaceful, respectable life.

When Pratyush and Manisha meet, each sees in the other the possibility to chart a new path. Unfortunately, the kingdom’s powerful have other plans. A temple visitor sexually assaults Manisha and pushes her off the mountain into a pit of vipers. A month later, the King sends Pratyush off to kill one last monster (a powerful nagin who has been turning men to stone) before he’ll consider granting the slayer his freedom.

Except Manisha doesn’t die, despite the hundreds of snake bites covering her body and the venom running through her veins. She rises from the pit more powerful than ever before, with heightened senses, armor-like skin, and blood that can turn people to stone. And Pratyush doesn’t know it, but the “monster” he’s been sent to kill is none other than the girl he wants to marry.

Alternating between Manisha’s and Pratyush’s perspectives, Sajni Patel weaves together lush language, high stakes, and page-turning suspense, demanding an answer to the question “What does it truly mean to be a monster?”

escaping mr rochester book cover

Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney

Jane Eyre has no interest in a husband. Eager to make her own way in the world, she accepts the governess position at Thornfield Hall.

Though her new employer, Edward Rochester, has a charming air—not to mention a handsome face—Jane discovers that his smile can sharpen in an instant. Plagued by Edward’s mercurial mood and the strange wails that echo through the corridors, Jane grows suspicious of the secrets hidden within Thornfield Hall—unaware of the true horrors lurking above her very head.

On the topmost floor, Bertha Mason is trapped in more ways than one. After her whirlwind marriage to Edward turned into a nightmare, he locked her away as revenge for withholding her inheritance. Now his patience grows thin in the face of Bertha’s resilience and Jane’s persistent questions, and both young women are in more danger than they realize.

When their only chance at safety—and perhaps something more—is in each other’s arms, can they find and keep one another safe before Edward’s dark machinations close in around them?

Evergreen by Devin Greenlee

All seventeen-year-old Quill wants is a break from the family business. Flowers, plants, the generations-old garden. What he wouldn’t give for a taste of the outside world. Normalcy. But his mom won’t let him out of the house, telling him he’s just not ready…

All because he’s a dryad. Well, not just any dryad, but a male dryad―the first ever. And unlike everyone else in his family, he hasn’t a lick of magic. Just a shock of green hair, matching green eyes, and a growing frustration that there’s an entire world out there waiting to be discovered. Until the night when the outside world―specifically his new neighbor―discovers him.

Liam Watson lives in a culture filled with electronics, mobile devices, and social media―where there is no magic or even the belief in it. And as much as Quill finds Liam irritating (he’s so cute it’s annoying), he can’t help himself.

Now Quill’s getting a taste of the outside world and of Liam…and he wants more. But all is not well in this magical, urban garden, and someone―or something―is changing the very essence of it.

And wherever Quill goes, the danger grows…

If I Promise You Wings by A.K. Small

Seventeen-year-old Alix Leclaire dreams of becoming a renowned feather artist, creating statement pieces that define glamour and high fashion. As an intern at Paris’s premier feather boutique, trained by the alluring Raven, she works with the staff to construct wings for the dancers at the Moulin Rouge.

But with every feather she sews, the grief Alix has been evading looms. Her best friend, Jeanne, died months ago and ever since, Alix has felt compelled to live as Jeanne did, taking risks she never would have before. Alix begins stealing feathers for her own use—a serious offense at the boutique—and loses herself in a passionate affair with Raven, who makes her his muse. Even when Blaise, an old schoolmate, offers solace and healing, she pushes him away.

Echoing the chaos and division in her heart, the wings that Alix creates take on a frightening and wild beauty. Living like Jeanne has given her everything she ever wanted—but at the risk of losing it all.

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

London, 1812. Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Not just by the endless corsets, petticoats and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society’s expectations. The world―and the vast majority of his family and friends―think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife.

But Oliver can’t bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family’s home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It’s during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart. And not to mention incredibly attractive.

As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares begin to hope that his dream of love and life as a man could be possible. But suitors are growing bolder―and even threatening―and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: Settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly, honestly his own.

my big fat desi wedding book cover

My Big, Fat Desi Wedding edited by Prerna Pickett

Drama. Food. Fashion. More drama. More food. Nosey aunties and uncles―and, of course, the universal language of love. These elements are a must-have for any Desi wedding, inclusive of people indigenous to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In this anthology, authors from various parts of the Desi community will share genre-bending stories that explore the lush traditions of their region, translating that universal language through the familiar lens of the Ultimate Family Gathering.

In this collection that centers hope, love, and family, readers will enjoy eight stories from both award-winning and debut authors.

Out Of Our League: 16 Stories of Girls in Sports edited by Dahlia Adler and Jennifer Iacopelli

Ambition. Drive. Determination. Talent. Courage. Teamwork.

Every athlete knows what it takes to win. But for players who are teen girls, the stakes are so much higher. In this anthology, the voices of these athletes come alive, highlighting the ferocity of those who are often shunted to the side. From navigating rampant misogyny to forging a sisterhood through sweat or just reveling in the love of the game, the stories in Out of Our League address the phenomenal physical and emotional power of teenage athletes as they compete, persevere, and thrive, on and off the field.

A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat

The house was supposed to be a fresh start. That’s what Libby’s mom said. And after Libby’s recent bipolar III diagnosis and the tragedy that preceded it, Libby knows she and her family need to find a new normal.

But Libby’s new home turns out to be anything but normal. Scores of bugs haunt its winding halls, towering stained-glass windows feature strange, insectile designs, and the garden teems with impossibly blue roses. And then there are the rumors. The locals, including the mysterious boy next door, tell stories about disappearances tied to the house, stretching back over a century to its first owners. Owners who supposedly hosted legendary masked séances on its grounds.

Libby’s mom refuses to hear anything that could derail their family’s perfect new beginning, but Libby knows better. The house is keeping secrets from her, and something tells her that the key to unlocking them lies in the eerie, bug-shaped masks hidden throughout the property.

We all wear masks—to hide our imperfections, to make us stronger and braver. But if Libby keeps hers on for too long, she might just lose herself—and everyone she loves.

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So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She’s a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbors.

When she’s forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn’t expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon—or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.

As Faron’s desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other’s lives, as well as the fate of their world.

Somewhere In The Deep by Tanvi Berwah

From the author of Monsters Born and Made comes an action-packed South Asian inspired fantasy that will have your heart racing at every turn. Seventeen-year-old Krescent Dune is buried under the weight of her dead parents’ debt and the ruinous legacy they left behind. The only way she can earn enough money to escape her unforgiving island is by battling monstrous creatures in an underground fighting pit.

After a fight goes terribly wrong, she’s banned from the pits. Now hopeless, she is offered a deal: in exchange for the erasure of her debts, she must join and protect a hunting party for a rescue mission deep within the mining caves beneath the island. 

Krescent is determined to keep her head down and fulfill her role as the dutiful bodyguard, even though she is trapped underground with her childhood enemy and a company of people who would gladly kill her if they knew who her parents were. As they come across creatures she believed only existed in legends, it becomes clear they are in far more danger than she could have imagined.

But someone doesn’t want her to make it out alive. And she’ll have to figure out who before she’s left alone…in the dark. 

Unstoppable by Maggie Nichols

In 2015, Maggie Nichols’s gymnastics career was on fire.

Having spent most of her young life training as an elite-level gymnast, Maggie carried the team all-around at the 2015 World Championships, helping to cinch the team gold medal. Next in her sights was the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She was eagerly looking forward to training for the 2016 Olympic Games along with teammates such as Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, and Laurie Hernandez. But on the verge of achieving her lifelong Olympic dream, her world came crashing down.

That summer Maggie revealed to her coach that USAG doctor Larry Nassar had been sexually abusing herself and other athletes under his care. What followed was an extensive investigation that would capture the nation’s attention and illuminate for the world the trauma and massive cover-up behind the scenes of one of the country’s most celebrated sports institutions.

Ultimately, Maggie would go on to become an 8-time NCAA champion and an outspoken advocate for the protection of young children, especially young athletes.

This inspirational tell-all offers an intimate look into the world of elite gymnastics, the sexual abuse scandal that shattered lives and dreams, and how Maggie Nichols risked everything in the name of justice. Maggie now tells this story in her words: a story of hope, trauma, reclamation, and above all, triumph.

23

*Destroy The Day by Brigid Kemmerer

Left for dead, but desperate to survive . . . they have one last chance to save their kingdom.

Prince Corrick is out of options. Held captive by the vicious Oren Crane, he’s desperate to reunite with Tessa, but will need to ally with the rebel leader Lochlan, who until now wished him dead. An unlikely but deadly pair, Corrick and Lochlan must plot their next moves carefully. . .

An island away, Tessa Cade is heartbroken and angry. Grieving Corrick, and unsure how to find a way back to Kandala, she doesn’t know who to trust. Until Rian–the man she trusts least–makes an offer: aid in a plot to finally oust Oren Crane and see what the future holds. . .

Meanwhile in Kandala, Harristan is dethroned and on the run. He’s struggling to unite the rebels in his fractured kingdom, but he finds support–and maybe more–in unexpected places.

Can Harristan be the king his people need? Can Corrick and Tessa find their way back to each other? As outside threats loom and the fires of revolution burn from within, time is running out to save their kingdom.

*The Summer Queen by Rochelle Hassan

As a new coven, Aziza, Leo, and Tristan faced evil and triumphed. All that’s left is to put their lives back together, a process complicated by the fallout from painful secrets, the emotional and physical scars they now carry, and the mysteries that still haunt them.

But with the approach of the solstice comes the arrival of strange new visitors to Blackthorn: the Summer Court, a nomadic community of Fair Folk from deep in Elphame. They’ve journeyed to the border between the human world and fairyland, far from their usual caravan route, to take back something that belongs to them―something Leo’s not willing to lose.

Refusing to give up without a fight, he makes a risky deal with the Summer Court’s princess and regent. The challenge she proposes sends Coven Blackthorn into the farthest, wildest reaches of Elphame.

But when you play games with the Fair Folk, even winning has a cost.

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The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee by Ellen Oh

Mina has become the hero of her own story. Literally.

When Mina Lee woke up on Saturday morning for SAT prep, she did NOT expect to:

1. Nearly be fried by a superhero who turned out to be a supervillain.

2. Come face to face with Jin, the handsome boy of her dreams.

3. Discover a conspiracy involving the evil corporation Merco that she created.

And it’s all happening in her fictional world. Mina is trapped in the story she created. Now it’s up to her to save everyone. Even if it means losing Jin forever.

From the award-winning author of Finding Junie Kim and co-founder of We Need Diverse Books, Ellen Oh. In the speculative fiction adventure The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee,a teenage artist grapples with her first love, grief, and learning how to take charge of her own life.

The Getaway List by Emma Lord

The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List ― a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away ― will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future.

Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young―except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.

Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru

In the slowly sinking city of Coconino, Arizona, the days are long, the money is tight, and the rain never stops.

For Jin Haldar, this life is nothing new—ever since her father died in a diving accident, she’s barely made ends meet for her and her younger sister, Thara.

Enter Bhili: a drifter who offers Jin and Thara the score of a lifetime—a massive stash of gold hidden in the sunken ruins of Las Vegas.

Jin knows it’s too dangerous. She stopped diving after her father’s accident. But when her sister decides to go, Jin’s left with only one choice: to go with her.

A ragtag crew is assembled—including Jin’s annoyingly hot ex-boyfriend. From there, a high-stakes heist ensues that’s beyond even Jin’s wildest fears. Crumbling ruins, sea beasts, corsairs, and a mysterious figure named João Silva all lie in wait. To survive, Jin will have to do what she promised herself she’d never do again: dive.

My Fair Brady by Brian D. Kennedy

Wade Westmore is used to being in the spotlight. So when he’s passed over for the lead in the spring musical, it comes as a major blow—especially when the role goes to his ex-boyfriend, Reese, who dumped him for being too self-involved.

Shy sophomore Elijah Brady is used to being overlooked. Forget not knowing his name—most of his classmates don’t even know he exists. So when he joins the stage crew for the musical, he seems destined to blend into the scenery.

When the two have a disastrous backstage run-in, Elijah proposes an arrangement that could solve both boys’ problems: If Wade teaches Elijah how to be popular, Wade can prove that he cares about more than just himself. Seeing a chance to win Reese back, Wade dives headfirst into helping Elijah become the new and improved “Brady.”

Soon their plan puts Brady center stage—and he’s a surprising smash hit. So why is Wade suddenly less worried about winning over his ex and more worried about losing Elijah? 

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Not Dead Enough by Tyffany D. Neiheiser

Charlotte survived the car crash that killed her boyfriend Jerry, but that night, everything changed. Charlotte wants desperately to get back to “normal,” –whatever that means now– and start reconnecting with friends she hasn’t spoken to in months. And she’s trying to work through her PTSD with the help of her therapist, only she can’t tell the truth about Jerry or what really happened the night he died.

Just when Charlotte thinks she might be moving on, someone starts sending her threatening messages claiming to be Jerry, saying things only he would know. But it can’t really be Jerry because there’s no such thing as ghosts. The cold spots in her room must be a draft and the noises she hears must be the house creaking. There has to be a logical explanation for all of it. Because if ghosts are real, then Jerry came back for her—just like he always said he would.

30

*A Reckless Oath by Kaylie Smith

with their losses and come to grips with their own part to play in the Fates’ War ahead.

After the heart-wrenching death at the end of book 1, Calla and the other witches are sent reeling. Still stuck in the deadly Neverending Forest, the group must decide their next steps as the Fates’ War looms near. Calla, torn between past allegiances and new circumstances, finds herself pushing away the one person who can unlock her future.

With the still-beating heart in her hand, Amina is finally able to return to her home in the Land of the Valkyries. But when she finds that everything she left behind has irrevocably changed in the six years she’s been gone, she turns her sights to revenge on the one who banished her all those years ago: the Valkyrie Queen.

Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite siren, Delphine, has been dragged down into the depths of the sea, and is imprisoned by the ruthless Siren leader. As past lovers turn into enemies and former foes into allies, Delphine must navigate the dangerous court and her play her part until she’s able to escape and return to the surface.

From deep within Siren’s Sea to the skies above the Land of the Valkyries, A Reckless Oath takes readers on a new journey where stunning revelations will have them questioning everything.

The Dark Fable by Katherine Harbour

Evie Wilder is an orphan who has gone through most of her life unnoticed . . . until she’s caught up in a dramatic heist and captures the attention of the Dark Fable. They have chosen her for a reason: she can turn invisible. This skill would make Evie a treasured asset to the legendary group of thieves known for spiriting away obscure and occult artifacts.

Evie cannot resist their allure and is eager to join this newfound family. But she discovers there are more skeletons in the Dark Fable’s past than she could have ever imagined. And these secrets might be the answer to her own tragic past.

No one is who they seem to be and the price of uncovering the Dark Fable’s cryptic history just might be fatal . . .

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

Three girls, one supernatural killer on the loose . . .

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to consider—that her murdered sister is gone forever and there is nothing she can do about it. Rather than grieving and moving on, Zara decides she will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave—even trading in the occult.

Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul has been slowly turning necrotic. It’s a miserable existence marred by pain, sickness, and monstrous things that taunt her in the night. Now that she’s glimpsed what’s beyond the veil, Jude’s desperate to find someone to undo the damage she’s done to herself.

Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s problems. Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset—her invocations—to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer.

When Emer’s clients start turning up dead all over London, a vital clue leads Zara and Jude right to her. If a serial killer is targeting her clients, Emer wants to know why—and to stop them. She strikes a tenuous alliance with Zara and Jude to hunt a killer before they are next on his list, even if she can’t give them in return what Zara and Jude want most: a sister and a soul.

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Just Say Yes by Goldy Moldavsky

Jimena Ramos had no idea she was undocumented.

Now she’s seventeen, and she needs to figure out a way to stay in New York City, the only home she can remember. There’s only one possibility that will get her a green card quickly enough: Jimena is going to find an American to marry her.

She’s got one excellent candidate: Vitaly, her next-door neighbor and friend, the only person she trusts with her secret. But Vitaly’s got his own plans for the future. He’s a definite no.

So Jimena tries online dating. She decides to approach this marriage like a business transaction. She figures out a plan that just might save her and make her a citizen at last.

But of course, she can’t stop thinking about Vitaly.

Poemhood by Amber McBride, Erica Martin, Taylor Byas

Come, claim your wings.

Lift your life above the earth,

return to the land of your father’s birth.

What exactly is it to be Black in America?

Well, for some, it’s learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it’s unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one’s swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it’s gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it’s grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie’s spectacular 7Up cake.

Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast—they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep—and carry more than just unimaginable pain—there is also joy.

Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them.

these deadly prophecies book cover

These Deadly Prophecies by Andrea Tang

A teenage sorcerer’s apprentice must solve her boss’s murder in order to prove her innocence in this twisty, magic-infused murder mystery perfect for fans of Knives Out and The Inheritance Games.

Being an apprentice to one of the world’s most famous sorcerers has its challenges; Tabatha Zeng just didn’t think they would include solving crime. But when her boss, the infamous fortuneteller Sorcerer Solomon, predicts his own brutal death—and worse, it comes true—Tabatha finds herself caught in the crosshairs.

The police have their sights set on her and Callum Solomon, her murdered boss’s youngest son. With suspicion swirling around them, the two decide to team up to find the real killer and clear their own names once and for all.

But solving a murder isn’t as easy as it seems, especially when the suspect list is mostly the rich, connected, and magical members of Sorcerer Solomon’s family. And Tabatha can’t quite escape the nagging voice in her head asking: just how much can she really trust Callum Solomon?

Nothing is as it seems in this quick-witted and fantastical murder mystery.

Wander in the Dark by Jumata Emill

Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone.

Amir never finds out, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch. And in no time, Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of a rich white girl’s murder? All of New Orleans agrees: the case is open-and-shut.

Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, things don’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but Marcel knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving his innocence will repair the rift between them.

To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.

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Yours From The Tower by Sally Nicholls

Tirzah, Sophia, and Polly are best friends who’ve left boarding school and gone back to very different lives. The year is 1896, and Polly is teaching in an orphanage, Sophia is scouting for a rich husband at the London Season, and Tirzah is stuck acting as an unpaid companion to her grandmother. In a series of letters buzzing with atmosphere and drama, the friends air their dreams, hopes, frustrations, and romances. Can this trio of very different young women—one industrious, one artful, and one in exile—find happiness and love near the dawn of the Edwardian era? From the award-winning author of the Carnegie Medal–nominated historical romance The Silent Stars Go By comes a playful, feel-good story of friendship and aspiration pitched just right for fans of Jane Austen and her contemporary disciples.

February

6

*All This Twisted Glory by Tahereh Mafi

The highly anticipated third novel in the This Woven Kingdom series, full of powerful magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal, from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sabaa Tahir, and Tomi Adeyemi.

As the long-lost heir to the Jinn throne, Alizeh has finally found her people—and she might’ve found her crown. Cyrus, the mercurial ruler of Tulan, has offered her his kingdom in a twisted exchange: one that would begin with their marriage and end with his murder.

Cyrus’s dark reputation precedes him; all the world knows of his blood-soaked past. Killing him should be easy—and accepting his offer might be the only way to fulfill her destiny and save her people. But the more Alizeh learns of him, the more she questions whether the terrible stories about him are true.

Ensnared by secrets, Cyrus has ached for Alizeh since she first appeared in his dreams many months ago. Now that he knows those visions were planted by the devil, he can hardly bear to look at her—much less endure her company. But despite their best efforts to despise each other, Alizeh and Cyrus are drawn together over and over with an all-consuming thirst that threatens to destroy them both.

Meanwhile, Prince Kamran has arrived in Tulan, ready to exact revenge…

Layered with exquisite tension and heart-stopping romance, All This Twisted Glory is the explosive third book in the captivating, bestselling This Woven Kingdom series.

*Clarion Call by Cayla Fay

Neve faces her vengeful cousin, the leader of the legions of hell, forcing her to decide where her loyalties truly lie in this thrilling sequel to Ravensong that’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Celtic mythology.

Neve and her sisters failed in protecting the mortal world against the legions of hell when the Veil they had spent their lives guarding split and the vengeful cousin they forgot ever existed, Aodh, managed to slip through. Dangerous and bitter, Aodh is on a mission to free the rest of their family still trapped behind the veil and set them loose on the mortal world.

Still injured from her last battle, Neve is not only working to track Aodh, but also trying to navigate painful memories that keep rising to the surface. Memories of her past lifetimes protecting the Gate…and of her first life, before she and her sisters scrubbed it from their minds. More questions arise when a new family member reveals themself, someone Neve and her sisters have been missing. Someone who might just be able to save them all.

Neve must face the sins of her past while navigating the dangers of the present. The more she remembers, the more it seems like everything she was raised to believe was a lie, and the fallout might decimate everything she has worked so hard to build in the present, including her relationship with Alexandria.

Caught between humanity and divinity, the past and the present, Neve must try to strike a balance between the warring forces both within and without, because if she doesn’t, it might not just be her relationship at stake, but the whole world.

*The Cursed Rose by Leslie Vedder

Not all curses should be broken. Not all fairytales end happily ever after.

Fi is a prisoner. Briar, a monster. Shane’s a warrior. And Red is a traitor. What was once a formidable group of four fighting to reawaken the kingdom is now ruptured, torn apart by the wicked Spindle Witch.

Confined to a tower with the monstrous Briar Rose, Fi is caught in the Spindle Witch’s ever-tightening web. With the Spindle Witch on the verge of finding the Siphoning Spells and crushing Andar—with Fi’s help, no less—Fi’s only hope lies in decoding the ancient riddle of the Rose Witches before she loses Briar forever.

Shane is desperate to save Andar—and her partner. She’s on the hunt for a weapon left by the mysterious Lord of the Butterflies, which holds the key to the Spindle Witch’s demise. Her love for Red has only fortified. But Red’s betrayal puts her in danger from a new enemy—the Spindle Witch’s executioner, the Wraith, a witch as powerful as he is cruel.

The future of Andar lies in the secrets of its past. Fi and Shane must take on the greatest lost ruin of them all—the Tomb of Queen Aurora.

Filled with vicious bone monsters, new alliances, and surprises at every turn, prepare to be swept away by this taut, clever, and heart-filled series conclusion.

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The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton

After running away from home, Sybil Clarion is eager to embrace all the freedom the Belle Époque city of Severon has to offer. Instead, she’s traded high-society soirées for empty pockets. At least she has Esme, the girl who offered Sybil a home, and if either of them dared, something more.

Ever since Esme Rimbaud brought Sybil back to her flat, the girls have been everything to each other—best friends, found family, and secret crushes. While Esme would rather spend the night tinkering with her clocks and snuggling her cats, Sybil craves excitement and needs money. She plans to get both by stealing the rare posters that crop up around town. With rent due, Esme agrees to accompany—and more importantly protect—Sybil.

When they’re caught selling a poster by none other than its subject, Maeve, the glamorous girl invites Sybil and Esme to The Absinthe Underground, the exclusive club she co-owns, and reveals herself to be a Green Faerie, trapped in this world. She wants to hire thieves for a daring heist in Fae that would set her free, and is willing to pay enough that Sybil and Esme never have to worry about rent again. It’s too good of an offer to pass up, even if Maeve’s tragic story doesn’t quite add up, and the secrets could jeopardize everything the girls have so carefully built.

A Whisper of Poison by Jess Lourey

John Wick meets The Giver in this post-apocalyptic teen survival young adult novel from bestselling author Jess Lourey.

ASAP by Axie Oh

Sori has worked her whole life to become a K-pop idol, until she realizes she doesn’t want a life forever in the spotlight. But that’s not actually up to Sori—she’s caught between her exacting mother’s entertainment company and her father’s presidential aspirations. And as the pressure to keep her flawless public image grows, the last person she should be thinking about is her ex-boyfriend.

Nathaniel is off limits—she knows this. A member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world and forbidden from dating, he isn’t any more of an option now than he was two years ago. Still, she can’t forget that their whirlwind romance was the last time she remembers being really happy. Or that his family welcomed her into their home when she needed it most. . . .

So when Nathaniel finds himself rocked by scandal, Sori offers him a hideaway with her. And back in close quarters, it’s hard to deny their old feelings. But when Sori gets an opportunity to break free from her parent’s expectations, she will have to decide: Is her future worth sacrificing for a second chance at love?

bless the blood book cover

Bless The Blood: A Cancer Memoir by Walela Nehanda

When Walela is diagnosed at twenty-three with advanced stage blood cancer, they’re suddenly thrust into the unsympathetic world of tubes and pills, doctors who don’t use their correct pronouns, and hordes of “well-meaning” but patronizing people offering unsolicited advice as they navigate rocky personal relationships and share their story online.

But this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from another realm. Walela’s diagnosis becomes a catalyst for their self-realization. As they fill out forms in the insurance office in downtown Los Angeles or travel to therapy in wealthier neighborhoods, they begin to understand that cancer is where all forms of their oppression intersect: Disabled. Fat. Black. Queer. Nonbinary.

In Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir, the author details a galvanizing account of their survival despite the U.S. medical system, and of the struggle to face death unafraid.

Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo

Bad girl. No matter how hard Samira tries, she can’t shake her reputation. She’s never gotten the benefit of the doubt—not from her mother or the aunties who watch her like a hawk.

Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet—until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of an older, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she’s keeping a bigger secret than ever before—one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her place in her community.

In this gripping coming-of-age novel from the critically acclaimed author Safia Elhillo, a young woman searches to find the balance between honoring her family, her artistry, and her authentic self.

Daniel, Deconstructed by James Ramos

Photographer and film buff Daniel Sanchez learned a long time ago that the only way to get by in an allistic world is to mask his autism and follow the script. Which means he knows that boisterous, buff, and beautiful soccer superstars like his best friend, Mona Sinclair, shouldn’t be wasting time hanging out with introverts who prefer being behind the camera.

So when Daniel meets a new classmate, Gabe Mendes, who is tall, mysterious, nonbinary, and—somehow—as cool as Mona, Daniel knows exactly how this is going to play out. Mona and Gabe will meet cute, win their nominations for Homecoming Court, and ride off into the sunset together. Daniel just needs to do a little behind-the-scenes directing.

But matchmaking means stepping into the mystifying and illogical world of love, dating, and relationships, where nothing is as it seems and no one knows their lines. And when Daniel finds himself playing a starring role in this romance, he’ll question everything he thought he knew about himself and his place in the world.

Dead Girls Don’t Say Sorry by Alex Ritany

What does it mean when your best friend is dead and your instinct is relief? A stunningly immersive debut about toxic friendships, grief, romance, and new beginnings.

Friendship, at least for me, has never been anything but complicated.

Before:

One year ago, best friends Nora and Julia were starting their senior year of high school, with plans to apply to the same university so they wouldn’t be separated. When Dillan Fletcher comes back to town, life as Nora knows it begins to unravel. And then, the unthinkable happens.

After:

Months after surviving the accident that killed her best friend, Nora Radford is stagnating. Dillan has remained by her side, but he and other friends are starting university, while Nora is still trying to unravel the lies that Julia told, lies disguised as friendship.

DEAD GIRLS DON’T SAY SORRY is an absorbing page-tuner told in two timelines about how friendships evolve, how growing up can reveal the dark side of those you trust most. And it’s about how even in the face of tragedy, we can find our way out of the dark and have the courage to step into something better.

even if it breaks your heart book cover

Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn

The only thing keeping nineteen-year-old Case Michaels together after the death of his best friend, Walker, is a list Walker left behind of things he wants Case to accomplish in his absence. So far, though, Case hasn’t even been able to continue riding bulls in the rodeo circuit, something he’s done his entire life, balking at the thought of competing without Walker by his side. But the list? Case is determined to follow it to the letter– and he follows it all the way to Winnie Sutton.

Eighteen-year-old Winnie Sutton just wants to keep her family together. She graduated high school early to work long shifts at the Michaels family ranch so she can support her younger siblings and a father who’s more than happy to let Winnie fill the responsible parent role. If she sometimes sneaks out to ride the horses herself and forget about life for a while– well, that’s no one else’s business– until the day she crashes headfirst into Case Michaels. Case sees her riding skills and immediately ropes her into competing for the ranch and becoming his friend.

Winnie and Case couldn’t be more different, but Case can’t help but be inspired by Winnie’s badly-hidden passion for riding and competition. And there’s something about Case that makes Winnie want to try grasping onto a dream for herself, whether that’s a shot at a rodeo trophy, the annoyingly handsome rancher’s son who won’t leave her alone, or maybe both.

How The Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith, Jr.

Tony dreams about life after high school, where his poetic voice can find freedom on the stage and page. But the Boogeyman has been following Tony since he was six years old. First, the Boogeyman was after his Blackness, but Tony has learned It knows more than that: Tony wants to be the first in his family to attend college, but there’s no path to follow. He also has feelings for boys, desires that don’t align with the script he thinks is set for him and his girlfriend, Blu.

Despite a supportive network of family and friends, Tony doesn’t breathe a word to anyone about his feelings. As he grapples with his sexuality and moves from high school to college, he struggles with loneliness while finding solace in gay chat rooms and writing poetry. But how do you find your poetic voice when you are hiding the most important parts of yourself? And how do you escape the Boogeyman when it’s lurking inside you?

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a “pleasure to have in class.” It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She’d never send them of course — she’d rather die than hurt anyone’s feelings — but it’s a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie’s work.

All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. “You’re attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you’ve been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft . . .”

Sadie doesn’t have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them . . . that is, until they’re accidentally sent out.

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It’s her worst nightmare — now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they’re not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there’s one person growing to appreciate the “real” Sadie — Julius, the only boy she’s sworn to hate . . . .

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Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender

For Ash Woods, practicing alchemy is a crime.

Only an elite few are legally permitted to study the science of magic―so when Ash is rejected by Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, he takes a job as the school’s groundskeeper instead, forced to learn alchemy in secret.

When he’s discovered by the condescending and brilliant apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash is sure he’s about to be arrested―but instead of calling the reds, Ramsay surprises Ash by making him an offer: Ramsay will keep Ash’s secret if he helps her find the legendary Book of Source, a sacred text that gives its reader extraordinary power.

As Ash and Ramsay work together and their feelings for each other grow, Ash discovers their mission is more dangerous than he imagined, pitting them against influential and powerful alchemists―Ash’s estranged father included. Ash’s journey takes him through the cities and wilds across New Anglia, forcing him to discover his own definition of true power and how far he and other alchemists will go to seize it.

No Time Like Now by Naz Kutub

A teen finds himself in a race against time when he learns he’s given away more years than he has left to live in this thought-provoking speculative romp.

It’s been one year since Hazeem’s father passed away unexpectedly, and one year since Hazeem got his special ability: He can grant any living thing extra time. Since then, he’s been randomly granting people more years to live: his old friend Holly, his study buddy Yamany, his crush Jack. . . . The only problem is, none of them wanted to spend any of that time with Hazeem.

Now, Hazeem spends most of his days with his grandmother. When she experiences a heart attack, Hazeem is quick to use his power to save her–until Time themself appears and tells Hazeem he has accrued a time debt, having given away more life than he has left to live and putting the entire timeline in serious danger of collapse. In order to save the timeline and himself, Hazeem must take back some of the life he has granted other people. Suddenly, Hazeem is on a journey through and against time, but as he confronts the events of the past, he must confront the mistakes he made along the way. Hazeem will come to realize that when it comes to time, quality is more important to quantity–but is it too late to reclaim the life he’s given away so he can really start living?

No Time Like Now is timely twist on A Christmas Carol that takes readers on a thought-provoking adventure, asking what matters most in life.

Out of Body by Nia Davenport

Seventeen-year-old Megan Allen has been jumping from friend group to friend group in her high school, trying on identities like outfits. Nothing ever seems to fit—until she meets LC, the adventurous, charismatic girl who appears at her favorite coffee shop one day like magic. Finally, Megan feels like she’s becoming the person she’s meant to be: someone like LC.

On the night of their friendiversary, what was supposed to be a bonding experience ends in a waking nightmare. Suddenly, Megan is no longer herself. Too late, she realizes that LC has secrets—dangerous ones. Betrayed by her best friend, thrust into another girl’s life, and targeted by LC’s enemies, she must claim what makes Megan Megan to get her life back . . . or die trying.

Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories edited by Sandra Proudman

In classic stories remixed, Latinx characters take center stage

Pride and Prejudice is launched into outer space, Frankenstein is plunged into the depths of the ocean, and The Great Gatsby floats to an island off the coast of Costa Rica.

A shape-shifter gives up her life to save the boy she loves from an evil bruja. La Ciguapa covets a little mermaid’s heart of gold. Two star-crossed teens fall in love while the planet burns around them.

Whether characters fall in love, battle foes, or grow through grief, each story will empower readers to see themselves as the heroes of the stories that make our world.

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Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada

Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all . . . until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself.

Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that—despite every authority figure telling him otherwise—maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time.

As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand—and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place.

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*The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna

Mere weeks after confronting the Gilded Ones—the false beings she once believed to be her family—Deka is on the hunt. In order to kill the gods, whose ravenous competition for power is bleeding Otera dry, she must uncover the source of her divinity. But with her mortal body on the verge of ruin, Deka is running out of time—to save herself and an empire that’s tearing itself apart at its seams.

When Deka’s search leads her and her friends to the edge of the world as they know it, they discover an astonishing new realm, one which holds the key to Deka’s past. Yet it also illuminates a devastating decision she must soon make…

Choose to be reborn as a god, losing everyone she loves in the process. Or bring about the end of the world.

Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson, Ekua Holmes (Illustrated by)

In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes

about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender.

Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections of her childhood in Portland, tender odes to the Black women in her life, and urgent calls for Black girls to step into their power.

Black Girl You Are Atlas encourages young readers to embrace their future with a strong sense of sisterhood and celebration. With full-color art by celebrated fine artist Ekua Holmes throughout, this collection offers guidance and is a gift for anyone who reads it.

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The Boyfriend Wish by Swati Teerdhala

There’s only one item left on Deepa Josyula’s high school bucket list: finding the perfect boyfriend. But when her meticulously planned Homecoming proposal crashes and burns thanks to Vik Mehta—both neighbor and long-term nemesis ever since he started their neighborhood prank war—she’s not sure how she’s going to finish the list. To make things even worse, she’s stuck working with Vik on a Student Council committee. So when her grandmother gifts her a jasmine flower and tells her to make a wish, Deepa doesn’t see the harm. She wishes for her dream boyfriend, just like she had imagined when she was younger. The next morning a new neighbor moves into their cul-de-sac, and Rohit D’Souza crosses off everything on her ideal boyfriend wish list down to a tee: thoughtful, handsome, and romantic as hell.

She can hardly believe it. But according to her grandmother, the wish is only the beginning. To earn it, to complete it, the wish must be sealed with a kiss. But Rohit is quickly becoming the most popular new guy both in school and in her friend group, and Deepa hasn’t kissed a boy since freshman year. The more Deepa plans the perfect kiss with Rohit, the less sure she is of what her heart truly wants. Is it the perfect boy brought by magic—or the uncertainty of the boy who’s always been next door?

Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley

High school is hard enough to survive without an apocalypse to navigate.

Sid Spencer has always been the most normal girl in her abnormal hometown, a tourist trap built over one of the fault lines that seal magic away from the world. Meanwhile, all Sid has to deal with is hair-ruining humidity, painful awkwardness, being one of four Asians in town, and her friends dumping her when they start dating each other—just days after one of the most humiliating romantic rejections faced by anyone, ever, in all of history.

Then someone kills one of the Guardians who protect the seal. The earth rips open and unleashes the magic trapped inside. Monsters crawl from the ground, no one can enter or leave, and the man behind it all is roaming the streets with a gang of violent vigilantes. Suddenly, Sid’s life becomes a lot less ordinary. When she finds out her missing brother is involved, she joins the remaining Guardians, desperate to find him and close the fault line for good.

Fighting through hordes of living corpses and uncontrollable growths of forest, Sid and a ragtag crew of would-be heroes are the only thing standing between their town and the end of the world as they know it. Between magic, murderers, and burgeoning crushes, Sid must survive being a perfectly normal girl caught in a perfectly abnormal apocalypse.

Only—how can someone so ordinary make it in such an extraordinary world?

A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai

A teen’s fight for suffrage turns into one of survival when her crew’s Antarctic expedition ship gets stuck in the ice in this historical novel told in journal entries perfect for fans of Gary Paulsen and The Downstairs Girl.

November 1914.

Clara Ketterling-Dunbar is one of twenty-eight crew members of The Resolute—a ship meant for an Antarctic expedition now marooned on ice one hundred miles from the shore of the continent. An eighteen-year-old American, Clara has told the crew she’s a twenty-one-year-old Canadian. Since the war broke out, sentiment toward Americans has not been the most favorable, and Clara will be underestimated enough simply for being a woman without also giving away just how young she is. Two members of the crew know her nationality, but no one knows the truth of her activities in England before The Resolute set sail.

She and her suffragist sisters in the Women’s Social & Political Union were waging war of a different kind in London. They taught Clara to fight. And now, even marooned on the ice, she won’t stop fighting for women’s rights…or for survival. In the wilderness of Antarctica, Clara is determined to demonstrate what a woman is truly capable of—if the crew will let her.

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This Day Changes Everything by Edward Underhill

Abby Akerman believes in the Universe. After all, her Midwest high school marching band is about to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City―if that’s not proof that magical things can happen, what is? New York also happens to be the setting of her favorite romance novel, making it the perfect place for Abby to finally tell her best friend Kat that she’s in love with her (and, um, gay). She’s carefully annotated a copy of the book as a gift for Kat, and she’s counting on the Universe to provide an Epic Scene worthy of her own rom-com.

Leo Brewer, on the other hand, just wants to get through this trip without falling apart. He doesn’t believe the Universe is magical at all, mostly because he’s about to be outed to his very Southern extended family on national TV as the trans boy he really is. He’s not excited for the parade, and he’s even less excited for an entire day of sightseeing with his band.

But the Universe has other ideas. When fate throws Abby and Leo together on the wrong subway train, they soon find themselves lost in the middle of Manhattan. Even worse, Leo accidentally causes Abby to lose her Epic Gift for Kat. So to salvage the day, they come up with a new mission: find a souvenir from every location mentioned in the book for Abby to give Kat instead. But as Leo and Abby traverse the city, from the streets of Chinatown to the halls of Grand Central Station and the top of the Empire State Building, their initial expectations for the trip―and of each other―begin to shift. Maybe, if they let it, this could be the day that changes everything, for both of them.

This Is How You Fall In Love by Anika Hussain

Zara and Adnan are just friends. Always have been, always will be. Even if they have to pretend to be girlfriend and boyfriend…

Zara loves love in all forms: 90s romcoms and romance novels and grand sweeping gestures. And she’s desperate to have her own great love story. Crucially, a real one. So when her best friend Adnan begs her to pretend to date him to cover up his new top-secret relationship, Zara is hesitant. This isn’t the kind of thing she had in mind. But there’s something in it for Zara too: making her parents, who love Adnan, happy might just stop them arguing for a while. She may not be getting her own love story, but she could save theirs.

So Zara agrees and the act begins: after all, how different can pretending to be in a relationship with your best friend be to just hanging around with them like usual? Turns out, a lot. With fake dating comes fake hand-holding and fake kissing and real feelings… And when a new boy turns up in Zara’s life, things get more confusing than ever.

The course of true love never did run smooth, but Zara’s love story is messier than most…

With A Little Luck by Marissa Meyer

Jude is determined to fly under the radar. He just wants to draw comics, host D&D night with his friends, work at his parents’ vinyl record store, and escape high school as unscathed as possible. That is, until the night he finds himself inexplicably gifted with a bout of supernatural good luck.

Suddenly, everything Jude has ever wanted is within reach. His art is being published. He helps his friend’s song become a finalist in a songwriting competition. And he wins a pair of coveted concert tickets, which he can use to ask out the popular girl he’s been crushing on since elementary school.

But how long can Jude’s good fortune last? And why does he find himself thinking about Ari, his best friend since forever? If Jude has been dreaming of the wrong girl this whole time, does that mean he’s doomed to be unlucky in love forever?

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*Disciples of Chaos by M. K. Lobb

Damian Venturi isn’t aware of it yet. But as small shifts start to crack the foundations of the Ombrazian power structure after the Rebellion’s attack, cracks are beginning to show in Damian’s own facade. Uncontrollable anger is bubbling to the surface and can’t always be pushed down. Can he keep everyone safe, even from himself?

Rossana Lacertosa should feel victorious. She accomplished everything she set out to do, and more. The Rebellion’s attack set countless prisoners free and brought attention to the unfairness in the Palazzo’s structure. And Damian is back by her side where he belongs. Yet the war with Brechaat rages on and government officials are hellbent on keeping the status quo.

Then an Ombrazian general arrives from the front lines, and orders dozens of arrests, shipping Roz and Damian’s friends up north. Determined to free those who matter most, Roz and Damian set their sights on Brechaat. But their journey is dogged by strange magic, and Damian shifts further from the boy he used to be.

The complications of love, magic, faith, and war will keep readers eagerly turning the pages as they head towards the gripping conclusion in the Seven Faceless Saints duology.

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*For The Stolen Fates by Gwendolyn Clare

In this heart-pumping sci-fi sequel to In the City of Time, two people have to work together to prevent the cataclysm that will soon break the laws of physics and render Earth uninhabitable.

Now in possession of the most dangerous book ever scribed, Willa and Saudade settle into the nineteenth century and start planning how to avert the cataclysm that will soon break the laws of physics and render Earth uninhabitable.

Faraz only wants his best friend, Leo, to have the time to come to terms with the death of his father―even if his father was a power-hungry villain who had to be stopped. But someone has stolen the editbook again, and now Faraz and his friends must track down Willa and challenge her for control of the editbook.

Meanwhile, Leo’s older brother Aris contemplates a path toward redemption after using the editbook to destroy the city of Napoli. Can he salvage his remaining relationships, after a lifetime of following their father?

But as far as Willa and Saudade are concerned, all these people are suspects in a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

*Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

Enemies-to-lovers doesn’t get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter falling in love in bestselling author Kristen Ciccarelli’s latest romantic fantasy

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can’t help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert

Goddess, goddess, count to five

In the morning, who’s alive?

In the course of a single winter’s night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town.

Nora’s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca’s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town’s past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local lore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games. . . .

An arresting, crossover horror fantasy threaded with dark magic, THE BAD ONES is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief.

Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle

Brynn Kwan is desperate for her high school persona to be real. That Brynn is head of the yearbook committee, the favorite for prom queen, and definitely not crumbling from a secret disability that’s rapidly wearing her down. If no one knows the truth about her condition, Brynn doesn’t have to worry about the pitying looks or accusations of being a faker that already destroyed her childhood friendships. She’s even willing to let go of her four-year relationship with her first love, Oliver, rather than reveal that a necessary surgery was the reason she ignored his existence for the entire summer.

But after Brynn tries to break up a fight at a pep rally and winds up barred from all her clubs and senior prom, she has nothing left to prop up her illusion of being just like everyone else. During a week-long suspension from school, she realizes that she doesn’t quite recognize the face in the mirror—and it’s not because of her black eye from the fight. With a healthy sister who simply doesn’t understand and a confused ex-boyfriend who won’t just take a hint and go away like a normal human being, Brynn begins to wonder if it’s possible to reinvent her world by being the person she thought no one wanted: herself.

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The Diablo’s Curse by Gabe Cole Novoa

Dami is a demon determined to cancel every deal they’ve ever made in order to tether their soul to earth and become human again. There’s just one person standing in their way: Silas. An irresistibly (and stubborn) cute boy cursed to die young, except for the deal with Dami that is keeping him alive. If they cancel the deal, Silas is dead. Unless… they can destroy the curse that has plagued Silas’s family for generations. But to do so, Dami and Silas are going to have to work together. That is, if the curse doesn’t kill them first. . . .

My Throat An Open Grave by Tori Bovalino

Growing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn’t at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy. If she isn’t the Lord of the Wood will take her, and she’ll disappear like so many other girls before her.

But living up to the rigorous standards of the town takes its toll. One night, when Owen won’t stop screaming, Leah wishes him away, and the Lord listens. The screaming stops, and all that’s left in the crib is a small bundle of sticks tied with a ribbon.

Filled with shame and the weight of the town’s judgment, Leah is forced to cross the river into the Lord of the Wood’s domain to bring Owen back. But the devilish figure who has haunted Winston for generations isn’t what she expects. He tells her she can have her brother back―for the price of a song. A song that Leah will have one month to write.

It’s a bargain that will uncover secrets her hometown has tried to keep buried for decades. And what she unearths will have her questioning everything she’s been taught to fear.

The Someday Daughter by Ellen O’Clover

Audrey St. Vrain has grown up in the shadow of someone who doesn’t actually exist. Before she was born, her mother, Camilla St. Vrain, wrote the bestselling book Letters to My Someday Daughter, a guide to self-love that advises treating yourself like you would your own hypothetical future daughter. The book made Audrey’s mother a household name, and she built an empire around it.

While the world considers Audrey lucky to have Camilla for a mother, the truth is that Audrey knows a different side of being the someday daughter. Shipped off to boarding school when she was eleven, she feels more like a promotional tool than a member of Camilla’s family. Audrey is determined to create her own identity aside from being Camilla’s daughter, and she’s looking forward to a prestigious summer premed program with her boyfriend before heading to college and finally breaking free from her mother’s world.  

But when Camilla asks Audrey to go on tour with her to promote the book’s anniversary, Audrey can’t help but think that this is the last, best chance to figure out how they fit into each other’s lives—not as the someday daughter and someday mother but as themselves, just as they are. What Audrey doesn’t know is that spending the summer with Camilla and her tour staff—including the disarmingly honest, distressingly cute video intern, Silas—will upset everything she’s so carefully planned for her life.

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A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by night, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it―she can’t do the job alone.

Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.

We Got The Beat by Jenna Miller

Jordan Elliott is a fat, nerdy lesbian, and the first junior to be named editor in chief of the school newspaper. Okay, that last part hasn’t happened yet, but it will. It’s positive thinking that has gotten Jordan this far. Ever since Mackenzie West, her friend-turned-enemy, humiliated her at the start of freshman year, Jordan has thrown herself into journalism and kept her eyes trained on the future.

So it’s a total blow when Jordan discovers that she not only didn’t get the editor in chief spot, but she’s been assigned the volleyball beat instead. And who is the star and newly crowned captain of the volleyball team? Mackenzie West. But words are Jordan’s weapon, and she has some ideas about how to exact a long-awaited revenge on her nemesis. Then things get murky when forced time together has Mack and Jordan falling back into their friendship, and into something more. And when Mack confesses the real reason she turned on Jordan freshman year, it has Jordan questioning everything—past, present, and future.

If Jordan lets her guard down and Mack in, will she get everything she wants, or will she be humiliated all over again?

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*Fate Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

Change your fate—or kneel to it.

The Companions are scattered and hopeless, torn from each other. After Corayne barely escapes with her life, she must forge on alone, leaving her blade broken and her allies behind her. Her only consolation: Corayne now has Taristan’s sword, the only Spindleblade left in existence. Without it, he can’t rip open any more Spindles. Without it, he can’t end the world.

But Taristan and Queen Erida will not be defeated so easily. Both will burn the world to bring down Corayne—and bring forth their demon god, What Waits, ready to claim the realm of Allward for his own. 

In a final clash between kingdoms and gods, all must rise to fight—or be destroyed. 

Everything has come to this. Prepare for a larger-than-life, unforgettable finale to the instant New York Times bestselling Realm Breaker series, where a shattered alliance must rise from the ashes to make their final stand against a ruthless enemy…and the demon god who looks to shroud the entire world in darkness.

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Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye

Rosy is a bone familiar, gifted with the power to shift into animals marked with exposed bone. She spends most of her days in the magical Bone Forest, caring for her feral grandmother and hiding her powers to avoid conscription by the Witch King’s army. Until the day that Princess Shaw, a witch known as Death’s Heir, visits the Forest. When Rosy saves Shaw’s life, the princess offers her the chance to attend the prestigious school, Witch Hall, as payment. Though Rosy is wary of Shaw’s intentions, she cannot pass up the opportunity to find the cure for her grandmother’s affliction.

But at Witch Hall, Rosy finds herself embroiled in political games she doesn’t understand. Shaw wants Rosy for her entourage, a partner to help lead the coming war. All Rosy wants is to stay out of trouble until she can graduate and save her grandmother, but she can’t deny her attraction to Shaw or the comfort Shaw’s magic gives her. Will Rosy give in to her destiny, or will the Bone Forest call her home once and for all?

Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School by Tiffany Jewell

From preschool to higher education and everything in between, Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School focuses on the experiences Black and Brown students face as a direct result of the racism built into schools across the United States.

The overarching nonfiction narrative follows author Tiffany Jewell from early elementary school through her time at college, unpacking the history of systemic racism in the American educational system along the way. Throughout the book, other writers of the global majority share a wide variety of personal narratives and stories based on their own school experiences.

Contributors include New York Times bestseller Joanna Ho; award winners Minh Lê, Randy Ribay, and Torrey Maldonado; authors James Bird and Rebekah Borucki; author-educators Amelia A. Sherwood, Roberto Germán, Liz Kleinrock, Gary R. Gray Jr., Lorena Germán, Patrick Harris II, shea wesley martin, David Ryan Barcega Castro-Harris, Ozy Aloziem, Gayatri Sethi, and Dulce-Marie Flecha; and even a couple of teen writers!

Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School provides young folks with the context to think critically about and chart their own course through their current schooling—and any future schooling they may pursue.

Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana

Nida has always been known as Mamou Abdul-Hafeedh’s niece – the poet who will fill her uncle’s shoes after he was wrongfully incarcerated during the war on terror. But for Nida, her poetry letters are her heart and sharing so much of herself with a world that stereotypes her faith and her hijab is not an option.

When Nida is illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate’s political rally, she writes a scathing poem about the politician, never expecting the letter to go viral weeks before Election Day. Nida discovers her poem has won first place in a national contest, a contest she never entered, and her quiet life is toppled. But worst of all, Nida loses her ability to write poetry. In the aftermath of her win, Nida struggles to balance the expectations of her mother, her uncle, and her vibrant Muslim community with the person she truly wants to be.

With a touch of magic and poetry sprinkled throughout, Sarah Mughal Rana’s Hope Ablaze is heartbreaking, often funny, and ultimately uplifting, not only celebrating the Islamic faith and Pakistani culture, but simultaneously confronting racism and Islamophobia with unflinching bravery.

How Do I Draw These Memories? by Jonell Joshua

Jonell Joshua spent her childhood shuttling back and forth between Savannah and New Jersey – living in grandparents’ homes during the times her mother, struggling with mental illness, needed support to raise her and her brothers. Together the family found a way to keep going even in the darkest of times.

How Do I Draw These Memories? is an illustrated memoir about nostalgia, faith, the preciousness of life, and unconditional love.

From Jonell’s devastatingly brilliant pen as a writer and an artist, it plumbs the depths of what family can be – and how joy and hope can be found in the most ordinary and extraordinary moments.

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Snow Globe by Soyoung Park, Joungmin Lee Comfort (Translated by)

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.

The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.

Chobahm lives for the time she spends watching the shows produced inside Snowglobe. Her favorite? Goh Around, starring Goh Haeri, Snowglobe’s biggest star—and, it turns out, the key to getting Chobahm her dream life.

Because Haeri is dead, and Chobahm has been chosen to take her place. Only, life inside Snowglobe is nothing like what you see on television. Reality is a lie, and truth seems to be forever out of reach.

Translated for the first time into English from the original Korean, Snowglobe is a groundbreaking exploration of personal identity, and the future of the world as we know it. It is the winner of the Changbi X Kakaopage Young Adult Novel Award.

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

Sunny Behre has four siblings, but only one is a murderer.

With the death of Sunny’s mother, matriarch of the wealthy Behre family, Sunny’s once picture-perfect life is thrown into turmoil. Her mother had groomed her to be the family’s next leader, so Sunny is confused when the only instructions her mother leaves is a mysterious note: “Take care of Dom.”

The problem is, her youngest brother, Dom, has always been a near-stranger to Sunny…and seemingly a dangerous one, if found guilty of his second-degree murder charge. Still, Sunny is determined to fulfill her mother’s dying wish. But when a classmate is gruesomely murdered, and Sunny finds her brother with blood on his hands, her mother’s simple request becomes a lot more complicated. Dom swears he’s innocent, and although Sunny isn’t sure she believes him, she takes it upon herself to look into the murder—made all the more urgent by the discovery of another body. And another.

As Sunny and Dom work together to track down the culprit, Sunny realizes her other siblings have their own dark secrets. Soon she may have to choose: preserve the family she’s always loved or protect the brother she barely knows—and risk losing everything her mother worked so hard to build.

Where The Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek

Liska knows that magic is monstrous, and its practitioners are monsters. She has done everything possible to suppress her own magic, to disastrous consequences. Desperate to be free of it, Liska flees her small village and delves into the dangerous, demon-inhabited spirit-wood to steal a mythical fern flower. If she plucks it, she can use its one wish to banish her powers. Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to unknown horrors, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood—called The Leszy—a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.

Whisked away to The Leszy’s crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery: she is not the first person to strike this bargain, and all her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts—figurative and literal—of his past. Because something wakes in the woods, something deadly and without mercy. It frightens even The Leszy…and cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.

March

5

*An Unlikely Proposition by Rosalyn Eves

Eleanor did not come to London to be proper and boring. After the death of her husband and a year of mourning, the seventeen year old wants nothing more than her independence and to have a little fun. She’s hardly looking to remarry, despite pressures from her late husband’s nephew, who is keen on obtaining her inheritance. Eleanor quickly devises a plan that includes a fake engagement. What’s not a part of the plan? Falling for a dashing, quiet man outside of her social circle – a man who is not her betrothed. Can she survive the Season with her heart and her fortune intact?

Thalia is determined to begin afresh after a disastrous first Season in London. No romantic distractions, but only her work as a poet and newfound companion to Eleanor. Determined to get her poems published, she struggles to be taken seriously as a female writer. As the spring progresses, Thalia does not expect to take interest in a man from her past (a man who is engaged to her employer, no less!), but some feelings demand to be felt even if the timing isn’t quite right.

Rosalyn Eves’s An Unlikely Proposition is a transportive Regency drama that captures the sparkle of London, thrill of friendship, and swoon of new love.

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*The Encanto’s Daughter by Melissa de la Cruz

A young woman claims the throne of a realm inspired by Filipino mythology in this YA romantic fantasy, the first in an enchanting new duet by #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.

MJ Rodriguez has spent her life hiding in the human world, keeping a heavy secret: She’s half-encanto. As the only child of King Vivencio of the Sirena Court, she’s also next in line for the throne. And now, upon her estranged father’s sudden death, MJ must claim her place as rightful heir.

In wondrous Biringan, the road to the throne is paved with thorns. Without a reigning monarch, the realm has spiraled into disarray. MJ has to win over a backstabbing council that objects to a half-human ruler. And when it looks like her father’s passing wasn’t natural but possibly inflicted by a curse, she must hunt down the sorceress behind this merciless magic.

In a bind, MJ forges an unlikely alliance with the striking Sir Lucas of the feared Sigbin Court, and soon, she loses her heart to the mysterious knight. But with peril looming over Biringan, the princess must decide if she can both open herself to love and carry the weight of the crown.

*The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black

An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame. 

Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.

With a new war looming on the horizon and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. It’s just a question of whom he will doom.

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Bad Like Us by Gabriella Lepore

Spring break is a vibe—until someone gets murdered

Partying with popular classmates they barely know is not what Eva and her BFFs had in mind for their spring break. But things have been off ever since Miles’ academic career took a turn for the worse (they don’t talk about it), so a trip to a private beach lodge might be exactly what they need. And Eva won’t admit it, but the chance to reconnect with Colton is worth putting up with Piper’s constant livestreams to her thousands of “besties.”

At first, it’s all sand and waves, but tensions run high when an anonymous letter shakes up an already-flailing love triangle.

When someone turns up dead, Eva can’t even trust her closest friends—but she thinks she can trust Colton. As they get closer to the truth, they uncover secrets that upend everything they thought they knew about their fellow spring breakers.

The Boy Lost In The Maze by Joseph Coelho, Kate Milner (Illustrated by)

Theo, a seventeen-year-old London schoolboy with a single mother, is desperate to track down the father who left them, whom he scarcely remembers. At school he discovers Greek mythology and the ancient story of Theseus, a fatherless son driven on a similar search. As Theo focuses on Theseus in a series of poems he composes, it becomes clear the two journeys echo each other in uncanny ways. Theseus must conquer his enemies—a psycho Cyclops, a tree-bending murderer, a monstrous pig—while Theo is tricked and double-crossed, confronting obstacles ranging from a search-agency scam artist to a depraved lawyer. Poet Joseph Coelho brilliantly interweaves the boys’ stories, following them through dangers, horrors, and false successes, revealing that Theo must be as resourceful and strong as his mythical hero. In a unique twist, readers are asked to take a role in picking which option the heroes should pursue when facing choices on their path to manhood. The two alternating stories, along with stories from the Minotaur’s perspective, fuse into one in a riveting climax, as the protagonists meet in the heart of the labyrinth.

Breathing Underwater by Abbey Nash

In this slice-of-life, sensitively written novel, a teen girl grapples with a sudden epilepsy diagnosis, all while figuring out a new crush and an uncertain future.

Seventeen-year-old Tess Cooper lives by three rules: train hard, study hard, work hard. Swimming is her best chance at a college scholarship. It’s what her parents, her coaches, and even her best friend expect from her—and Tess can always deliver.

Until tragedy strikes. Tess has a seizure, and her world suddenly becomes one of doctor visits, missed practices, and a summer job stuck behind a counter—not sitting high in the lifeguard chair like every year before.

Instead, her spot goes to new guy Charlie. Sure, his messy hair and laid-back demeanor sends Tess’ heart racing, but this isn’t really the time. She’s got to focus on getting back in the pool—regardless of what her doctor or anyone else says.

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Clever Creatures of the Night by Samantha Mabry

When Case’s best friend Drea goes missing, Case dives into the bizarre, cultlike–and possibly murderous–behavior of Drea’s roommates in this gripping literary horror novel for fans of The Honeys and Mexican Gothic.WHERE IS DREA?

When Case shows up at the isolated West Texas house where her best friend, Drea, lives with friends from school, Drea is nowhere to be found. Why would she ask Case to visit and then disappear? With twenty-four hours until her ride home, Case intends to find out.

But Drea’s roommates can’t–or won’t–answer any questions. They leave Case to search alone, to find bits and pieces of Drea’s life hidden in and around the house, while they continue playing out a rural utopian fantasy. Their bizarre behavior puts Case on edge, and she’s not the only one. The animals nearby are lashing out, strangely aggressive.

Something bad happened in this house. Something that must be connected to Drea’s disappearance–and if she gets too close to the truth, Case might just be next.

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

This world of sea and storm runs deep with bargains and blood.

On the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira, like her mother before her, is a wrecker, one of the seven on the rope who swim out to shipwrecks to plunder them. Mira’s job is to rescue survivors, if there are any. After all, she never feels the cold of the frigid ocean waters and the waves seem to sing to her soul. But the people of Rosevear never admit the truth: that they set the beacons themselves to lure ships into the rocks.

When the Council watch lays a trap to put an end to the wrecking, they arrest Mira’s father. Desperate to save him from the noose, Mira strikes a deal with an enigmatic wreck survivor guarding layers of secrets behind his captivating eyes, and sets off to find something her mother has left her, a family secret buried deep in the sea.

With just nine days to find what she needs to rescue her father, all Mira knows for certain is this: The sea gives. The sea takes. And it’s up to her to do what she must to save the ones she loves.

Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal by Gretchen Schreiber

Ellie Haycock has always separated her life into sections: Ellie at home and Ellie at the hospital. At home, Ellie is a proud member of her high school’s speech and debate team alongside her best friend and her boyfriend. At the hospital, Ellie has a team of doctors and a mom who won’t stop posting about the details of her illness online. It’s not hard for Ellie to choose which of the two she prefers.

But this latest hospital stay is different. Ellie becomes close with a group of friends, including Ryan, a first-timer who’s still optimistic about the doctors that Ellie stopped trusting years ago. Despite their differences, she can’t seem to keep him out of her head. Ellie’s life has never been ordinary—but maybe this time it will be extraordinary.

Four Letter Word by Gretchen McNeil

For most of her life, Izzy has been looking forward to fulfilling her mother’s dream of studying abroad in Italy. Going into her senior year, Izzy is counting down the days until she can leave her humdrum life behind, until Alberto, a handsome and mysterious Italian exchange student shows up for his stay with her family. Now life in her hometown doesn’t seem so drab, as Izzy, and everyone else, is immediately charmed by Alberto and his irresistible accent.

But something about Alberto isn’t quite…right. As an avid true crime fan, Izzy has been following a serial killer case in San Francisco and the murderer, whose description bears a passing resemblance to the Italian exchange student living in her house, seems to have made his way north. As Izzy pays closer attention to Alberto—his actions, his temper—she finds more and more holes in his story that he has trouble explaining away.

When a local girl is murdered, Izzy thinks Alberto might not be who he seems. Worse, a series of “accidents” seem to target Izzy herself. In a race against the clock, Izzy must convince anyone that Alberto could be a notorious killer before another girl ends up dead.

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Kindling by Traci Chee

Once, the war was fought with kindlings—elite, magic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives.

Now the war is over, and kindlings have been cast adrift—their magic outlawed, their skills outdated, their formidable balar weapons prized only as relics and souvenirs.

Violence still plagues the countryside, and memories haunt those who remain. When a village comes under threat of siege, it offers an opportunity for seven kindlings to fight one last time. But war changed these warriors. And to reclaim who they once were, they will have to battle their pasts, their trauma, and their grim fates to come together again—or none of them will make it out alive.

From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a gut-wrenching, introspective fantasy about seven lost soldiers searching for the peace they once fought for and the future in which they’re finally daring to believe.

The Liar’s Club by Monica Murphy

Welcome to the school of lies. From TikTok sensation and New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy comes her next smash hit YA series that mixes Bully and One of Us is Lying into an irresistibly addictive novel about taking on the king of the campus―the cruelest (and hottest) guy in school―with the only weapon that hurts…the truth.

The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall

Hollis Beckwith isn’t trying to get a girl—she’s just trying to get by. For a fat, broke girl with anxiety, the start of senior year brings enough to worry about. And besides, she already has a boyfriend: Chris. Their relationship isn’t particularly exciting, but it’s comfortable and familiar, and Hollis wants it to survive beyond senior year. To prove she’s a girlfriend worth keeping, Hollis decides to learn Chris’s favorite tabletop roleplaying game, Secrets & Sorcery—but his unfortunate “No Girlfriends at the Table” rule means she’ll need to find her own group if she wants in.

Enter: Gloria Castañeda and her all-girls game of S&S! Crowded at the table in Gloria’s cozy Ohio apartment, the six girls battle twisted magic in-game and become fast friends outside it. With her character as armor, Hollis starts to believe that maybe she can be more than just fat, anxious, and a little lost.

But then an in-game crush develops between Hollis’s character and the bard played by charismatic Aini Amin-Shaw, whose wide, cocky grin makes Hollis’s stomach flutter. As their gentle flirting sparks into something deeper, Hollis is no longer sure what she wants…or if she’s content to just play pretend.

One Last Breath by Ginny Myers Sain

Mount Orange, Florida, is famous for two things: Cerulean freshwater springs, ideal for free divers who aren’t afraid of lurking gators. And the gruesome cold case murder of best friends, Bailey and Celeste, twenty years ago.

Bailey and Celeste’s murders cast a permanent darkness over sunny Mount Orange. Tru has always lived in that shadow. Now she’s supposed to head to FSU in the fall with her boyfriend, but those unsolved murders — and the death of her own sister — invade her every thought. It’s only in the shadowy deep of Hidden Glen Springs that she can breathe.

When a strange girl named Rio rolls into town, hell-bent on figuring out who killed Bailey and Celeste, Tru can’t resist entangling herself in the thrill of solving the decades old mystery any more than she can resist her familiar, aching attraction to Rio.

As the summer heat ignites, so does the spark between Tru and Rio…along with their other-worldy connection to Bailey and Celeste. But when someone begins stalking them, the girls become convinced the killer is back in town. And if they keep digging into the past, Tru and Rio know this time, it could be their blood that makes the springs run red.

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

Then an enemy’s iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother’s killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.’s most influential politicians.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it’s hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.

Promchanted by Morgan Matson

Two modern teens.

One classic fairy tale.

Absolutely no cell service.

Stella Griffin doesn’t believe in fairy tales. Ever since her boyfriend dumped her three weeks before the prom—not ideal timing—she’s convinced every love story is a lie.

She’s ready to skip the prom entirely. But she and her best friend, Nisha, have been planning for years to celebrate at Disneyland before the prom . . . an OG OC tradition. But even being all dressed up at the Happiest Place on Earth isn’t salvaging Stella’s night. Nisha has brought along her friend Reece to join them, and he and Stella do not get along. They’re like oil and water. Cats and dogs. Aladdin and Jafar. And so what if Reece is, fine, kind of cute? Stella’s over it all. Happily-ever-afters, true love’s kisses, princes on white horses. It’s not real.

. . . Or is it?

Because when Stella and Reece push through a hidden door in Sleeping Beauty’s castle, they’re not in Anaheim anymore. They’re in the story. In Sleeping Beauty—with Aurora and Phillip, the fairies, Maleficent, and extremely intelligent woodland creatures.

Unfortunately, they’ve landed right in the middle of the story—which throws things off. Suddenly, Aurora and Phillip are meeting before they were supposed to. The fairies are suspicious of the interlopers, and even Maleficent gets word of their arrival.

Stella and Reece will have to put aside their differences, make sure Aurora and Phillip fall in love, and get the story back on track—because if things don’t end the way they’re supposed to . . . they might never get home.

Will they be able to pull off a fairy-tale ending? And will Stella and Reece get a happily-ever-after of their own?

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Six Truths and a Lie by Ream Shukairy

Six Muslim teens are falsely accused of a deadly attack in this timely and harrowing examination of America’s justice system, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Samira Ahmed.

As fireworks pop off at a rowdy Fourth of July bonfire party, an explosion off the California coast levels an oil rig—resulting in chaos and worse, murder.

 

At the center are six Muslim teens – six patriots, six strangers, and six suspects.  

An old soul caught in the wrong place. An aspiring doctor. An influencer with a reputation to protect. A perfect daughter with secrets to hide. A soccer star headed for Stanford. An immigrant in love. Each with something to hide and everything to lose.

Faced with accusations of terrorism, The Six are caught in a political game that will pit them against each other in exchange for exoneration. They must choose: frame each other to guarantee their own independence or expose their secrets to earn back freedom for them all.

Star Wars: The High Republic: Defy The Storm by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

Star Wars: The High Republic, the New York Times best-selling series, continues. . . . For light and life!

One year after the fall of Starlight Beacon, the galaxy is in chaos. An anarchistic group known as the Nihil has taken over a section of space now known as the Occlusion Zone. Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh and scientist Avon Starros team up in an attempt to find a way through the Nihil Stormwall to save those on the other side.

But what are the Nihil’s real plans? And what of the nameless creatures that can destroy the Jedi Order? The battle has just begun. . . .

What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge

A rich and romantic new standalone fantasy loosely inspired by the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, from the New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Beauty! Perfect for fans of These Violent Delights and The Shadow Queen.

Centuries ago, the heretic sorcerer Ruven raised a deadly briar around Runakhia’s palace, casting the royal family into an enchanted sleep—and silencing the kingdom’s gods.

Born with a miraculous gift, Lia’s destiny is to kill Ruven and wake the royals. But when she succeeds, she finds her duty is not yet complete, for now she must marry into the royal family and forge a pact with a god—or die.

To make matters even worse, Ruven’s spirit is haunting her.

As discord grows between the old and new guards, the queen sends Lia and Prince Araunn, her betrothed, on a pilgrimage to awaken the gods. But the old gods are more dangerous than Lia ever knew—and Ruven may offer her only hope of survival.

As the two work together, Lia learns that they’re more alike than she expected. And with tensions rising, Lia must choose between what she was raised to believe and what she knows is right—and between the prince she is bound to by duty…and the boy she killed.

12

*The Other Lola by Ripley Jones

In the months after Cam and Blair broke their small hometown’s legendary missing-girl story and catapulted to accidental fame, they vowed never to do it again. No more mysteries, no more podcasts, and no more sticking their heads where they don’t belong.

Until Mattie Brosillard, a freshman at their high school, shows up on their doorstep, begging Cam and Blair for help. Mattie’s sister Lola disappeared mysteriously five years ago. No trace of her was ever found. Now, she’s back–but Mattie is convinced the girl who returned is an impostor. Nobody believes Mattie’s wild story–not Mattie’s brother, not Mattie’s mother, and not even Cam and Blair. But something is definitely wrong in the Brosillard family. And Blair has her own reasons for wanting to know what really happened to Lola while she was gone.

With Cam and Blair still struggling with the aftermath of their first mystery—and with new secrets swirling between them—the stakes are higher than ever in this can’t-miss sequel to Missing Clarissa.

*Rise of the Snake Goddess by Jenny Elder Moke

The beautiful island of Crete, an archaeological find for the ages, and one seriously pissed-off Greek goddess. It’s just another day for Samantha Knox. 

After being snubbed by her college’s archaeology department for an honor she rightfully earned, Sam is hell-bent on proving her worth to her misogynistic department head. So when an opportunity presents itself to solve the hidden meaning behind a symbol found inside a cave in Greece, Sam is all over it, and she’s bringing Bennett and Jo with her for the cross-Atlantic trip. 

Once on the island of Crete, Sam finds a treasure she never expected—the golden girdle of an ancient and powerful goddess, and she can’t resist its siren call, or the accolades she would win for discovering it. But before she can take credit for the find, the girdle is stolen and the island is hit with a series of earthquakes that don’t feel quite coincidental. 

Soon Sam, Bennett, and Jo are embroiled in a wild hunt—one that takes them to tiny island shops, a glamorous high-stakes auction, and a fiery near-death experience—to find the girdle before someone can use it to raise the ancient goddess from her slumber. An unexpected heist, a terrifying trek through a labyrinth, and a fight to the death with the Minotaur itself lead to a final standoff she and her friends won’t soon forget—one that might just break up Sam and Bennett for good. 

Set against the gorgeous backdrop and ancient ruins of the Greek islands, the pulse-pounding action in this twisting mystery will appeal to action-adventure fans, romance die-hards, and mythology buffs alike.

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Ariel Crashes A Train by Olivia A. Cole

Exploring the harsh reality of OCD and violent intrusive thoughts in stunning, lyrical writing, this novel-in-verse conjures a haunting yet hopeful portrait of a girl on the edge. From the author of Dear Medusa, which New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed called “a fierce and brightly burning feminist roar.”

Ariel is afraid of her own mind. She already feels like she is too big, too queer, too rough to live up to her parents’ exacting expectations, or to fit into what the world expects of a “good girl.” And as violent fantasies she can’t control take over every aspect of her life, she is convinced something much deeper is wrong with her. Ever since her older sister escaped to college, Ariel isn’t sure if her careful rituals and practiced distance will be enough to keep those around her safe anymore.

Then a summer job at a carnival brings new friends into Ariel’s fractured world , and she finds herself questioning her desire to keep everyone out—of her head and her heart. But if they knew what she was really thinking, they would run in the other direction—right? Instead, with help and support, Ariel discovers a future where she can be at home in her mind and body, and for the first time learns there’s a name for what she struggles with—Obsessive Compulsive Disorder—and that she’s not broken, and not alone.

Book, Beast, and Crow by Elizabeth Byrne

Anna Kellogg has always felt different. Growing up in Hartwood, New Jersey—where frequent disappearances are attributed to an urban-legend-like beast that dwells in the walled-in swamp at the center of town—can have that effect on people. But for Anna, it’s more than that. Since she was a child, she’s been plagued by episodes where she sees things others can’t see. Feeling different is one thing, but actually being different is another. If it weren’t for her best friend, Olivia, Anna’s not sure where she’d fit in.

But any hopes of having a normal senior year come to a halt when Olivia is attacked in the woods, bitten, and left for dead by a whirling cyclone of claws, fur, and teeth. Though Olivia survives, a sinister entity makes it clear that the mark had been set on Anna…and the miss has set in motion a catastrophic shift that will change Anna and her friends’ lives forever.

The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright

Magic is fading from Wales—choked off by King Offa’s Dyke, the enemy earthworks that spans the entire border. Even the dragons have disappeared. And now an attack is imminent.

Prince Taliesin would love to watch magic die. Prince Dafydd fears it, and the throne. But when their father promises the crown to whichever son can destroy the dyke and restore magic to Wales, the brothers are forced into an uneasy rivalry.

Ffion works hedgewitch magic for poor folk, not princes. Unlike the power-hungry Foxhall coven, she uses only what nature can spare. But when the coven’s greed costs Ffion everything, she will need power beyond her wildest dreams to get back what she’s lost.

So when Prince Taliesin arrives, begrudgingly seeking a witch’s aid, Ffion agrees to help him—even if it means walking from one end of Wales to the other with the most use-less peacock she’s ever clapped eyes on. Even if it means striking a bargain with Dafydd behind Tal’s back. The fate of Wales depends on their quest . . . and so might the fate of Ffion’s heart.

How To Manage Your Eco-Anxiety by Anouchka Grose, Lauriane Bohémier (Illustrated by)

How does climate change make you feel? Sad? Afraid? Powerless? Guilty? Manage your eco-anxiety with this helpful guide.

Drawing on years of experience as a psychoanalyst, Anouchka Grose shares cutting-edge insights on how to manage your eco-anxiety. Find out how to validate your emotions and build your resilience. Discover the comfort that can be found in your community.

Understand and face your eco-anxiety with ten accessible steps. A “tool kit” at the end of each step shows you ways to build on that knowledge and take action. You’ll finish this book feeling equipped with solutions and practical advice to help you be kinder to the planet . . . and yourself.

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Just Another Epic Love Poem by Parisa Akhbari

Best friendship blossoms into something more in this gorgeously written queer literary romance.

Over the past five years, Mitra Esfahani has known two constants: her best friend Bea Ortega and The Book—a dogeared moleskin she and Bea have been filling with the stanzas of an epic, never-ending poem since they were 13.

For introverted Mitra, The Book is one of the few places she can open herself completely and where she gets to see all sides of brilliant and ebullient Bea. There, they can share everything—Mitra’s complicated feelings about her absent mother, Bea’s heartache over her most recent breakup—nothing too messy or complicated for The Book.

Nothing except the one thing with the power to change their entire friendship: the fact that Mitra is helplessly in love with Bea.

Told in lyrical, confessional prose and snippets of poetry Just Another Epic Love Poem takes readers on a journey that is equal parts joyful, heartbreaking, and funny as Mitra and Bea navigate the changing nature of I love you.

Meet Me In The Fourth Dimension by Rita Feinstein

It’s easy to believe in the apocalypse when you’re losing your religion.

NASA has assured everyone the passage of rogue planet Malachite will be safe, but Crosby’s been getting other messages―from a fortune teller and Malachite truther message boards. And now she believes that Malachite will kill everyone who doesn’t ascend to the fourth dimension―a higher plane that transcends physicality.

She tries to prepare her friends and family to leave their bodies behind and raise their frequency by changing their diets, wearing the right crystals, and moving into her friend’s bunker before it’s too late. But no one is listening.

The more time she spends trying to talk her roommate and her quirky friends into her apocalypse plans, the more Crosby is forced to face the cracks in everything she believes to be true.

This novel in verse explores the danger and humanity of conspiracy in a post-truth world through empathy, friendship, and forgiveness.

Not Your Average Jo by Grace K. Shim

Riley Jo is a teenager who knows what she wants. Born and raised in Bentonville, Arkansas, this Korean American girl has her sights set on being a musician. So when her parents are surprisingly cool about her attending the prestigious Los Angeles–based arts-focused boarding school her senior year of high school, she jumps at the chance. This is her moment to make her indie rock dreams a reality!

Things at Carlmont Academy start out strong: She joins a band, and they set out to make plans to perform at the annual spring concert—with a chance to land a record contract. Another student, Xander, decides his school project will be a documentary about the band leading up to their first show. But not everything goes how Riley Jo imagined. She is soon sidelined when her other bandmates feel she is “too Asian” to be their lead singer, and they choose her classmate Bodhi Collins for the role instead.

Bodhi is rock music royalty, with a dad who is a famous music exec. And he’s got the “all-American rock star look.” Her classmates suggest she try making K-pop, but her heart is in indie rock. Riley Jo decides to take matters into her own hands and writes an original song to showcase her talent. But Bodhi takes the credit . . . and given his connections, the band lets him.

Xander captures all of this in his film, which he leaks in order to show the truth behind the band. Riley Jo decides to sign up for the spring concert and perform on her own . . . but will she finally be able to take center stage?

Spying on Spies by Marissa Moss

One of the founders of US cryptology who would eventually become one of the world’s greatest code breakers, Elizebeth Smith Friedman (1892–1980) was a brilliant mind behind many important battles throughout the 20th century, saving many lives through her intelligence and heroism.

Whip-smart and determined, Elizebeth displayed a remarkable aptitude for language and recognizing patterns from a young age. After getting her start by looking for linguistic clues to the true authorship of Shakespeare’s writings, she and her husband, William Friedman, were tasked with heading up the first government code-breaking unit in America, training teams and building their own sophisticated code systems during the lead-up to World War I.

Elizebeth’s solo career was even more impressive. She became the Treasury Department’s and Coast Guard’s first female codebreaker and created her own top-notch codebreaking unit, where she trained and led many male colleagues. During Prohibition in the 1920s, her work solving and intercepting coded messages from mobsters and criminal gangs lead to hundreds of high-profile criminal prosecutions, including members of Al Capone’s gang. Her crowning achievement came during World War II, when Elizebeth uncovered an intricate network of Nazi spies operating in South America, a feat that neither law enforcement nor intelligence agencies had been able to accomplish.

Despite her unparalleled accomplishments, Elizebeth was largely written out of history books and overshadowed by her husband. Only in very recent years has her name begun to receive the attention it deserves, including the US Coast Guard naming a ship in her honor and the US Senate passing a 2019 resolution to honor her life and legacy.

These Bodies Between Us by Sarah Van Name

Four girls. Four girls skating home, both sides of the road, fearless. Four girls at the mouth of an infinite ocean, sugared and salted with sand and seawater, the tide licking their sunburned feet.

This summer, they’re going to disappear.

For seventeen-year-old Callie and her best friends Talia and Cleo, every summer in their small North Carolina beach town is as steady as the tides. But this year, Cleo has invited enigmatic new girl Polly to join them, creating waves in their familiar friendship. And Cleo has an idea, gleaned from private YouTube videos and hidden message boards: they’re going to learn how to make themselves invisible.

Callie thinks it’s a ridiculous, impossible plan. But the other girls are intoxicated by the thought of disappearing, even temporarily—from bad boyfriends, from overbearing families, from the confusing, uncomfortable reality of having a body altogether. And, miraculously, it works.

Yet as the girls revel in their reckless new freedom, they realize it’s getting harder to come back to themselves… and do they even want to?

19

the last bloodcarver book cover

*The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le

Nhika is a bloodcarver. A coldhearted, ruthless being who can alter human biology with just a touch.

In the harsh, industrial city of Theumas, she is seen not as a healer as she was meant to, but a monster that kills for pleasure. And in the city’s criminal underbelly, the rarest of monsters are traded for gold. When Nhika is finally caught by the infamous Butchers, she’s auctioned off to the highest bidder―a mysterious girl garbed in white. But this strange buyer doesn’t want to use Nhika as an assassin or a trophy piece. She intends to use Nhika’s bloodcarving to heal the last person who saw her father’s killer.

As Nhika delves into the investigation amid Theumas’s wealthiest and most powerful, all signs point to Ven Kochin, an alluring yet entitled physician’s aide intent on casting her out of his opulent world. But despite his relentless attempts to push her away, something inexplicable draws Nhika to him. When she discovers Kochin is not who he claims to be, Nhika must face a greater, more terrifying evil, turning her quest for justice into a fight for her life.

Her only chance to survive lies in a terrible choice―become the dreaded monster the city fears, or risk destroying herself and the future of her kind.

Cancelled by Farrah Penn

Not to brag, but Brynn Whittaker is basically killing her senior year. She’s got the looks, the grades, and a thriving “flirt coach” business that will help pay for her ultimate dream school: Stanford University.

But when a highly incriminating video goes viral after the first rager of the year, Brynn finds herself at the center of a school-wide scandal of catastrophic proportions. She knows she’s not the girl in the video hooking up with her former best friend’s boyfriend (While wearing a banana costume, no less. Hey, points for style), but adding that to her reputation of being a serial dater, she quickly starts losing friends and customers. On top of that, the scorn she receives exposes the culture of misogyny that is rampant at her school . . . and Brynn and her three best friends are determined to take down all the haters.

But as she gets closer to identifying the person in the video that got her cancelled, Brynn must decide—is exposing the girl worth losing everything she’s worked so hard for?

This witty, unapologetic novel by Farrah Penn boldly tackles the problematic double standards that seek to bring girls down, and shines a light on the loving, uplifting friendships that can help them make it through those brutal four years.

Future Tense: How We Made Artificial Intelligence–And How It Will Change Everything by Martha Brockenbrough

Human history has always been shaped by technology, but AI is like no technology that has come before it. Unlike the wheel, combustion engines, or electricity, AI does the thing that humans do best: think. While AI hasn’t reproduced the marvelously complex human brain, it has been able to accomplish astonishing things. AI has defeated our players at games like chess, Go, and Jeopardy!. It’s learned to recognize objects and speech. It can create art and music. It’s even allowed grieving people to feel as though they were talking with their dead loved ones.

On the flip side, it’s put innocent people in jail, manipulated the emotions of social media users, and tricked people into believing untrue things.

In this non-fiction book for teens, acclaimed author and teacher Martha Brockenbrough guides readers through the development of this world-changing technology, exploring how AI has touched every corner of our world, including education, healthcare, work, politics, war, international relations, and even romance. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how artificial intelligence got here, how to make the best use of it, and how we can expect it to transform our lives.

Icarus by K. Ancrum

Icarus Gallagher is a thief. He steals priceless art and replaces it with his father’s impeccable forgeries. For years, one man—the wealthy Mr. Black—has been their target in revenge for his role in the death of Icarus’s mother. To keep their secret, Icarus adheres to his own strict rules to keep people, and feelings, at bay: Don’t let anyone close. Don’t let anyone touch you. And, above all, don’t get caught.

Until one night, he does. Not by Mr. Black but by his mysterious son, Helios, now living under house arrest in the Black mansion. Instead of turning Icarus in, Helios bargains for something even more dangerous—a friendship that breaks every single one of Icarus’s rules.

As reluctance and distrust become closeness and something more, they uncover the gilded cage that has trapped both their families for years. One Icarus is determined to escape. But his father’s thirst for revenge shows no sign of fading, and soon it may force Icarus to choose: the escape he’s dreamed of, or the boy he’s come to love. Reaching for both could be his greatest triumph—or it could be his downfall.

In The Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher

It’s been years since Nova Evans last saw Sam. She was too young then to understand why he had to move away―and what it had to do with the cuts and bruises he got from home and never wanted to talk about. All she knew is that they promised to find each other when they were older, something she thought was impossible thanks to her and her mom moving around constantly. Until she bumps into Sam in her new school, and realizes he has clearly forgotten their childhood promise.

Sam Jordan has a plan for his life: accept his college football scholarship, date his girlfriend Abigail, and―most importantly―hide how much he wants to do something, anything other than The Plan™ his parents and coaches have set before him. It doesn’t matter if sometimes he finds himself thinking about the new girl he met in the cafeteria, a girl who reminds him of a past that hurts to remember.

When a school-wide personality test reveals Nova and Sam to be each others’ top matches―not only that, but a match of 99%, the highest in the school―they begin to remember why they were such close friends, all those years ago. As well as the myriad of reasons this new-yet-familiar, magnetic, sparkling thing between them will never, ever work out.

In the Orbit of You is a story about the enduring and changing nature of friendship, of the strange struggle between who you are and who you want to be, and finding your voice after trauma.

Marked Man: Frank Serpico’s Inside Battle Against Police Corruption by John Florio, Ouisie Shapiro

1971. Brooklyn, New York. Undercover cop Frank Serpico is knocking on a drug dealer’s door. His partners are there to back him up, but when the door opens, he’s staring down the barrel of a gun―and his partners are nowhere to be found.

For more than a century, the New York Police Department had been plagued by corruption, with cops openly taking bribes from gamblers and drug dealers. Not Serpico. He refused to take dirty money and fought to shed light on the dark underbelly of the NYPD. But instead of being hailed as a hero, he became a target for every crooked cop on the force.

In Marked Man, John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro bring this true story of police corruption to life. Join Frank Serpico on his one-man crusade to clean up the largest police force in the United States. And discover the price he had to pay for being an honest cop.

the revenant games book cover

The Revenant Games by Margie Fuston

Blood is survival for seventeen-year-old Bly, who lives in the poverty-stricken human villages caught between enemy vampire and witch kingdoms. Most of the time, vampires and witches live in uneasy truce, buying human blood for their food and spells. But for two weeks a year, the ceasefire dissolves, and they hold the Revenant Games.

Any human can play in the games for either the witches or the vampires. Alongside life-changing riches, the witches will raise one person from the dead for whoever captures the highest-ranking vampire. In turn, the vampires offer immortality to whoever captures the most powerful witch. For most humans, the games are a ticket out of poverty. For Bly, it’s a chance to get back her dead sister, Elise, and save the life of her dying best friend, Emerson.

Together, she and Emerson forge a dangerous plan to play both sides and win both prizes: resurrection for Elise and immortality for Emerson. But when the vampire they capture stirs a passion in Bly that she hasn’t felt in a long time, she’ll have to make a choice: her sister or the boy who’s shown her there’s more to life than just survival.

Rules for Rule Breaking by Talia Tucker

Winter Park and Bobby Bae are Korean American high school juniors whose families have been friends since the kids were making crayon art. They, however, are repulsed by each other.

Winter is MIT-bound, comfortable keeping people at arm’s length, and known by others as responsible, though she has a desire to let loose. This probably comes from her rebel grandmother, who is constantly pushing boundaries and encouraging Winter to do so as well. Winter’s best friend is moving abroad and won’t be attending college at all, and Winter’s wrestling with what it means to be left behind. Bobby is as Type-A, anxious, and risk-averse as you can get. He’s also been recently dumped, which has him feeling disoriented and untethered.

That’s why, when Winter’s and Bobby’s parents insist that they go on a northeast college campus tour together, both teens find reasons to accept even though the idea of being stuck in a car together for 700 miles sounds unbearable. What awaits them is a journey of self-discovery, and the only rule on their road trip is to break all the rules. At first, this happens in hilariously calculated ways (using lists and reason and logic!), but they soon abandon that, challenging each other to dares in Virginia, getting high and wandering around Philly for food—and battling the subsequent digestive distress—and crashing a party in Cambridge. And, of course, realizing that they’re perfect together.

Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis

Neely’s monsters don’t always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in her closet, and the disembodied voice that shadows her every move become louder, she knows she’s in trouble. With a history of mental illness in her family and the suicide of her older brother heavy on her mind, Neely takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow—the caverns. There . . . she meets Mila. Mila is everything Neely isn’t—beautiful, strong, and confident. As the two become closer, Neely’s innocent crush grows into something more. When a midnight staff party exposes Neely to drugs, she follows Mila’s lead . . . only to have her hallucinations escalate.

When Mila is found brutally murdered in the caverns, Neely has to admit that her memories of that night are vague at best. With her monsters now out in the open and her grip on reality slipping, Neely must figure out who killed Mila . . . and face the possibility that it might have been her.

We Are Mayhem by Beck Rourke-Mooney

When Birdie’s parents move the family from their gated New Jersey community to the Catskills, Birdie thinks life as she knows it is once again―just like it was when she quit gymnastics―completely over. But when Birdie’s friends ditch her during a dare gone wrong, she finds herself staring down the barrel of a shotgun wielded by Mad Mabel the Mother of Mayhem, and Birdie strikes a deal with Mabel to work off her crime.

Abigail Rose, Mabel’s granddaughter, is convinced that Birdie―whose big, strong arms have always felt like the bane of her existence ― is destined to help pull her family’s male-dominated indie wrestling promotion in a more feminist direction.

With no way to return to or escape her past and no clear course into her future, Birdie has to find a way to somehow make her new town a home. But if Birdie is going to be the future of Mayhem, she first has to find a way to embrace who she is – no matter the cost.

where sleeping girls lie book cover

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

It’s like I keep stumbling into a dark room, searching for the switch to make things bright again…

Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school after being home-schooled all her life. Misfortune has been a constant companion all her life, but even Sade doesn’t expect her new roommate, Elizabeth, to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think she had something to do with it.

With rumors swirling around her, Sade catches the attention of the girls collectively known as the ‘Unholy Trinity’ and they bring her into their fold. Between learning more about them―especially Persephone, who Sade is inexplicably drawn to―and playing catchup in class, Sade already has so much on her plate. But when it seems people don’t care enough about what happened to Elizabeth to really investigate, it’s up to she and Elizabeth’s best friend to solve it.

And then a student is found dead.

As they keep trying to figure out what’s going on, Sade realizes there’s more to Alfred Nobel Academy and its students than she thought. Secrets lurk around every corner and beneath every surface…secrets that rival even her own.

26

*Royal Scandal by Aimée Carter

American-girl-turned-monarchy-nightmare Evan Bright has gotten used to the press about her but the media attention has only seemed to get worse. 

From desperate clickbait articles about her and the President’s son to Royal Record headlines pitting her against Princess Maisie, it seems everyone is dying for Evan to return back to America for good. Meanwhile Evan is receiving mysterious threats about her real story being revealed in a tell-all biography. 

When more information is leaked about Evan, she fears she will always be Britain’s media villain. But the threats escalate when there is an attempted assassination with no suspects…and Evan believes the person is in the palace’s walls. 

They say what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger…but what if it’s the royal family who wants you dead?

Chronically Dolores by Maya Van Wagenen

Dolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn’t life threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life.

Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative partnership. Beautiful, talented Terpsichore will help Dolores win back her ex-best friend, Shae. And Dolores will convince Terpsichore’s mom that her daughter has the social skills to survive public school. It seems like a foolproof plan, but Dolores isn’t always a reliable narrator, and her choices may put her in danger of committing an unforgivable betrayal.

Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis

Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.

Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.

But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans” might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.

Pieces of a Girl by Stephanie Kuehnert

A raw and bold memoir about abuse and addiction, and the power of expression and community that helped Stephanie Kuehnert, the author of Ballads of Suburbia and regular Rookie contributor, survive and thrive. Told in varied narrative styles, including journal entries, original illustration, and pages torn from her actual diaries and zines, this is the memoir of Stephanie’s life as a struggling outsider who survived substance and relationship abuse to become a strong young woman after years and years trapped in a cycle that sometimes seemed to have no escape.

the perfect guy doesn't exist book cover

The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist by Sophie Gonzales

Ivy Winslow has the house to herself for a week while her parents are away. She’s planning to use this newfound freedom to binge-watch her favorite fantasy TV show, H-MAD, and hang out with her best friend, Henry. She’ll also have to avoid her former best friend-turned enemy (and neighbor), Mack. But things quickly go awry when Ivy wakes up to find Weston, the gorgeous, very fictional main character of H-MAD in her bedroom, claiming to be her soul mate.

Ivy realizes that her fanfic writing has somehow brought Weston as she’s imagined him to life. But it turns out that the tropes she swoons over in her stories are slightly less romantic in reality, and her not-so-fictional crush is causing some real-world problems. To figure out why Weston is here and what to do with him, Ivy decides to team up with Henry and (against her better judgment) Mack. But with Mack back in her life, Ivy starts to wonder if Weston, her “perfect guy”, is the one who’s truly perfect for her . . . or if that was someone else all along.

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Erica Ezeifedi <![CDATA[The Best New Book Releases Out January 2, 2024]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=559785 2024-01-02T15:29:38Z 2024-01-02T11:38:00Z

This is the first new releases roundup of the new year, but if you feel like last year went by way too fast, there are a couple of things grounding us a bit in 2024. For one, romantic fantasy is still having a moment. Right out the gate, A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft promises a “romantic fantasy of manners” that follows a magic seamstress as she designs the wardrobe for a royal wedding.

And would it even be the 2020s without a Greek mythology book by Natalie Hynes that shouts out The Girls? Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth looks at the women of Olympus, specifically the Furies.

YA is also starting off strong with the graphic novel Ghost Roast by Shawneé and Shawnelle Gibbs, illustrated by Emily Cannon, which is basically Ghost Busters in New Orleans; and Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia, a contemporary novel about the first out trans girl at an all-girls school.

But what new releases do I have for you below? There’s a mother’s terrible secret during the 1945 Japanese occupation in Malaya, drunk demon saving, a missing sister, a queer theater kid rom-com, and more.

cover of The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

In Malaya in 1945, Cecily Alcantara is walking on a tightrope trying to keep (what’s left of) her family intact during a brutal Japanese occupation. Her son is missing, her eldest daughter has to contend with drunk Japanese soldiers at the tea house where she works, and Cecily’s youngest daughter is kept in the basement to stop her from becoming a comfort woman. But Cecily can’t really complain because everything is kind of her fault…

cover of Heartstopper #5 by Alice Oseman

Heartstopper #5 by Alice Oseman

With my love of sweet stories, graphic novels, and YA, I’m surprised I haven’t started this series yet. Listen, I’m slacking, alright? But that doesn’t mean you have to. The fifth installation of this mega-hit series finds Nick and Charlie in love but preparing to deal with a new challenge: University. Will Nick’s first year as a university student change everything?

Book cover of That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

Finally, finally, finally, the paperback edition of this funny romantasy is here. That cover is fire, and the title — though she be long — is pretty accurate. Cinnamon is just minding her business, enjoying a libation or five, when she comes across the demon Fallon Ozul, who needs her help. Soon, she’s roped into going on a quest to save demons from Myva, who is masquerading as a goddess but is actually preying on demons’ weakness. Also, Fallon keeps burning off his shirt, so…yuh.

cover of Nonfiction by Julie Myerson

Nonfiction by Julie Myerson

“This is definitely not a ghost story.”

Doesn’t that grab you by the esophagus real quick? It did me. Whoever wrote that book blurb copy deserves flowers, okay? As I continued reading the book’s description to find out if, indeed, it is not a ghost story — and even if it is truly nonfiction (it’s not) — I realized instead that it is a story of mothers and daughters. The writer main character has a daughter made difficult by her struggle with substance abuse and a mother who was another kind of difficult. Past and present interlock to form the narrative, but — as with the title and the ghost story statement — it’s not clear whether the story being presented is actually what’s going on.

cover of Cupid's Revenge  Wibke Brueggemann

Cupid’s Revenge by Wibke Brueggemann

This queer rom-com navigates some tricky waters. When Tilly’s bestie Teddy first asks her to help him get the attention of the girl he likes — actress Katherine Cooper-Bunting — Tilly is only concerned about her lack of talent and the audition she needs to help with. But then she starts to like Katherine herself…and Katherine might like her back. She doesn’t want to hurt Teddy, and she’s not even sure she wants anything romantic since her grandfather’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis is still looming large over her family.

cover of Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody

Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody

(content warning for mentions of self-harm)

Theodora “Teddy” Angstrom’s sister Angie has been missing for the past 10 years. Once her father dies by suicide, Teddy ends up falling down the same Reddit rabbit hole he had that was obsessed with Angie’s disappearance. And she keeps falling — falling into it with her boyfriend, her half-brother, and even with the elite school she teaches at. She also falls into amateur sleuth Mickey’s orbit, whose presence leads her to become more out of touch with her sense of morality. She’s either going to find out what happened to her sister all those years ago or totally wreck her life.

But if you’re in a different kind of mystery mood, and”underworld cabaret troupe that might be a dangerous cult” (!!) is more your speed, there’s Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton.

Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:

  • All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
  • The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
  • Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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Yashvi Peeti <![CDATA[8 Fantasy Graphic Novels For Adults To Lose Themselves In]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=556820 2023-12-27T21:14:08Z 2024-01-02T11:32:00Z

Fantasy graphic novels for adults have always had a dedicated fandom, but they’re becoming more appealing to a wider audience as well, including those outside of the popular superhero genre. There’s nothing quite like fantasy graphic novels for adults to help you completely step out of your reality and enter one of endless possibilities. Graphic novels can explore elements of fantasy in a way that most movies would never allow. Writers and artists can explore ideas, themes, characters, and mediums without the constant pressure of catering to popularity — or a special effects budget. There is a lot more room to experiment. The results are weird, quirky, nuanced, raw, and everything else you want your fantastical universe to be.

I’m bummed that Goodreads Choice Awards did not include the Graphic Novels category in 2023. To make up for that, this list contains some nominees of the previous years as well as books that could have potentially been on the 2023 list. The fantasy worlds held within their pages are built with warriors, monsters, old gods, and more. I hope you find yourself immersed and living alongside your characters or find them living inside you.

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr Comic Cover

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V. & Filipe Andrade

Humanity is built around its mortality. So what happens when they’re on the brink of discovering immortality? The avatar of death comes down to Earth. But there’s a catch. They have to live in the mortal body of the twentysomething girl from Mumbai, Laila Starr. We watch as Laila attempts to keep humans away from surpassing death. This is done through the lens of Hindu mythology with absolutely gorgeous illustrations.

monstress cover

Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda 

This is an ongoing steampunk fantasy series with eight published volumes. It’s set in Asia in the 1900s and follows a 17-year-old Maika Halfwolf. She is struggling to survive a war and shares a psychic link with a creature with tremendous power. She’s the target for both humans and their enemies. She’s both the hunter and the hunted. The art is dark, detailed, and brings out the strange world and the mysteries it holds. It is a little information-heavy and could get overwhelming, but if you can ride that wave, you’re in for an adventure.

cover of Monica by Daniel Clowes

Monica by Daniel Clowes

This latest graphic novel by Daniel Clowes was released in October 2023. We get to hear Monica’s story through interconnected perspectives of people she meets — creeps, cultists, soldiers, therapists, and charlatans. Her story is also told in multiple genres like war, romance, horror, crime, the supernatural, and more. If you’re looking for something sad and dark to be blown away by, pick this up.

book cover of fangs by sarah anderson

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

It’s a vampire and werewolf love story! Elsie’s vampire blood has run cold for 300 years, but she’s never met someone to share an immortal lifetime of potential warmth with. This changes when she meets Jimmy, who has charm, a good sense of humour, and is very by the book with running wild every full moon. They like each other’s weird habits and insatiable appetites. Watch them fall and stay in love with someone so great who’s also so different from them.

Daytripper cover

Daytripper by Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Dave Stewart & Sean Konot 

In this contemplative fantasy graphic novel for adults, we follow Brás de Oliva Domingos. He’s the son of a world-famous Brazilian writer and dreams of being one himself. However, he spends his days writing people’s obituaries and waiting around for his life to begin. We get to know about him through the people in his life: his parents, child, best friend, first love, and more. Each chapter of his life ends in a way he never sees coming. This is a lyrical exploration of what it is like to be alive and how death, both literal and metaphorical, is just around the corner.

from under mountains book cover

From Under Mountains by Claire Gibson, Marian Churchland & Sloane Leong 

If you’re looking for a slow-burn graphic novel and want to spend more time with the story, check this out. There are forces that threaten Akhara, like the mysterious magical goblins that live underneath the mountains. Karsgate Keep is all that stands in between. The daughter of the Lord of Karsgate Keep, Lady Elena, needs to rise to the occasion. She needs to defy convention and take on her father’s role. Will she be able to protect Akhara from harm perpetuating from both outside and within? Read on to find out.

Vei Vol 1 cover

Vei, Vol.1 by Sara B. Elfgren & Karl Johnsson 

This graphic novel has been translated from Swedish and is a perfect pick for fans of Norse mythology. It’s filled with bright, beautiful art and follows a warrior, Vei, who carries the fate of her people on her shoulders. The story begins with her exile and her eventual rescue by the Vikings. She ends up in the midst of Meistarileikir, a bloody game between the humans, the giants, and the gods of Asgard. This will decide who gets to rule the land of Midgard. Vei must fight for this land and her very life in it.

the cover of Locke & Key Volume 1

Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez

If you’re looking for psychological horror to give you chills, this is it. Mr. Locke is brutally murdered, leaving behind his shattered wife and three children: Ty, Kinsey, and Bode. They end up having to move to their father’s ancestral house in Lovecraft. Their pain isn’t over just yet. The house isn’t how it seems, but no one seems to notice. Well, no one except the youngest kid, Bode. The story unfolds in sinister layers and is so popular now that it’s been adapted into a Netflix series.

For more fantasy graphic novels for adults and teens, check out 20 Incredible Genre-Bending Graphic Novels and 10 Great YA Fantasy Graphic Novels.

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Susie Dumond <![CDATA[QUIZ: Which Book Should You Read First in 2024?]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=558416 2023-12-27T21:07:18Z 2024-01-02T11:31:00Z

New year, new reading goals, and lots of new books! Are you looking for the perfect book to kick off your 2024 reading? We’ve got you covered! Take the quiz below, and we’ll tell you what book you should read first in 2024. Your result could be fascinating nonfiction, thoughtful literary fiction, adventurous romance, transportive fantasy, or something full of surprises. Whatever it is, it’s sure to help you start off your year on the right literary foot.

Alright, let’s admit it: Some of you bibliophiles are already on book, what? Five? I’m with you! I jump right into my first book of the year as soon as the clock strikes midnight and the ball drops in Times Square. If you’ve already chosen your first book of 2024, you can still have a fun little quiz and book recommendation as a treat. And honestly, all the results are listed beneath the quiz, so why not add all eight recommended books to your TBR? If you’re a voracious reader, you can use all the recommendations you can get. It takes a lot of books to keep that kind of reading appetite satisfied. Alright, let’s crack the champagne and get to quizzing!

Results: Which Book Should You Read First in 2024?

book cover for Airplane Mode by Shahnaz Habib

Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel by Shahnaz Habib

Hoping to travel more in 2024? Check out this thoughtful and personal nonfiction book about the history of travel, from Shahnaz Habib’s experiences traveling the world as an Indian Muslim woman to the invention of passports and the concept of wanderlust.

cover of A Dirty Guide to a Clean House

A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can’t Live Without by Melissa Dilkes Pateras

You’re ready for a fresh slate this year, and nothing makes you feel more ready to take on the world than a clean house. Check out this approachable guide to whipping your house into shape by the coolest TikTok laundry lesbian, Melissa Dilkes Pateras.

cover of Divine Might

Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes

If you want to step into your own power this year, you’ll find a lot of inspiration in Natalie Haynes’ feminist take on the Greek goddesses and their lasting impact on modern culture. Figures like Hera, Aphrodite, and the Furies have long been remembered through the eyes of men, but Haynes brings them to life in all their complicated and powerful dimensions.

godly heathens book cover

Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon

Explore new worlds this new year with a fantasy novel. Gem has been careful to hide their strange dreams and visions, so they’re shocked when new kid in town, Willa Mae, seems to know all about them. Willa Mae reveals that they’re both reincarnated gods who have found each other across lifetimes — but they’ve also pissed off the Goddess of Death.

cover of The Goodbye Cat

The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa, translated by Philip Gabriel

Start your year off with a gentle, cozy book with great vibes and touches of magic. In these seven short stories about cats rescued by families in Japan, we see just how much our little feline friends can teach us about love, loss, and life.

cover of On Thriving

On Thriving: Harnessing Joy Through Life’s Great Labors by Brandi Sellerz-Jackson

You’re focused on living your best life in 2024, and life doula Brandi Sellerz-Jackson has exactly the advice you need to help you thrive. You’ll learn about the four great labors of life, how they might be impacting you, and how to find joy and satisfaction where you are right now.

cover of Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

Looking for adventure and romance in the new year? This is the book for you! Archaeologist Corrie is put in charge of an expedition in Mexico to research her ancestor, an ancient Aztec warrior. But she’ll have to share leadership with her rival, the obnoxiously handsome Ford.

cover of The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez; illustration of a pink flower on the top half, and a parrot upside down on the bottom half

The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez

Start the year with some contemplative literary fiction by one of today’s greatest novelists. Explore unlikely human and animal relationships, the healing power of connections, and the purpose of books and art during difficult times through the story of three strange roommates during the coronavirus pandemic.


We hope this quiz helped you find the perfect book to kick off your 2024 year of reading! You might also enjoy:

QUIZ: Which Cozy Book Should You Read This Winter?

QUIZ: Can You Guess the Fantasy Book Based on a Vague Description?

QUIZ: What Are Your Bookish Red Flags?

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Chris M. Arnone <![CDATA[Jump Into These 9 New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books in January 2024]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=558282 2023-12-27T20:59:28Z 2024-01-02T11:30:00Z

We’re coming down off of our holiday feasts and celebrations. Maybe the decor is still up, or maybe it’s tucked away already. The enormous swell of holiday book sales has come and gone. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any new books to get excited about, however. The new year means new reading challenges, new goals to hit, new book club selections, and how better to kick off 2024 than with some new science fiction and fantasy books?

What does January 2024 have in store for genre readers? There are some big, and I mean BIG sequels coming this month. There are plenty of standalones, too. Some famous names are promoting new works, and there are neophyte authors trying to make names for themselves, too. January features some mythological retellings, far-flung space adventures, hard science fiction, cyberpunk ghost stories, and pretty much everything in between. Whether you’re a young reader or a seasoned adult devourer of genre work, there’s something coming out this month for you.

So call your local bookstore, click those preorder links, or do whatever you have to do to get your hands on these new science fiction and fantasy books in January 2024.

New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books in January 2024 for Adults

cover of The Atlas Complex

The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake

I mentioned some big sequels coming out, didn’t I? How about the epic conclusion to Blake’s Atlas trilogy? The broken alliances are coming home to roost, and the caretaker, Atlas Blakely, is finally going to have to take on the six Alexandrians.

cover of The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

Every month is a good month for Gothic horror, including January. This book blends historical fiction with the supernatural in South Africa. A once-grand estate is now a boarding house. Sana is one of the misfits living there, but she’s constantly curious, seeking to understand the history of the estate. She may find more than she was bargaining for in her explorations, though.

cover of House of Flame and Shadow

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

Oh, and here’s an even BIGGER sequel. If you haven’t heard of Sarah J. Maas and her several huge romantasy series, you must be living under a literary boulder. This is the third and much-anticipated book in her Crescent City series. Bryce is still trying to get back to Midgard, and since she has no idea who to trust, that is a harder task than it seems. Magic and steamy romance collide once again.

cover of Tusks of Extinction

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

The mammoth is back! That’s the setup for this new sci-fi thriller with plenty of science and climate fiction elements. The digitized consciousness of the late Dr. Damira Khismatullina is brought in to understand the resurrected species and protect them from poachers. But there’s more motivating the resurrection of mammoth’s than she can understand.

cover of To Challenge Heaven

To Challenge Heaven by David Weber and Chris Kennedy

David Weber’s space opera series, Out of the Dark, continues with this new book. It’s been 40 years since half of Earth’s population was killed, an alien invasion finally fended off before human extinction. Humans now roam the stars, but the stars are dangerous, full of predators. What’s worse, the aliens are coming back, bent on revenge.

cover of Voyage of the Damned

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

Fantasy meets murder mystery in this novel, all set on a magical voyage. The emperor’s ship is embarking on a voyage to celebrate 1,000 years of peace. When one of the 12 heirs to the emperor is murdered, suspicion abounds. Ganymedes, the least-favorite heir, has to become the hero, find the killer, and keep the great peace.

cover of Womb City

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

This Africanfuturist horror novel brings cyberpunk vibes, dystopian vibes, and ghost stories together for a great and unique read. Nelah seems to have it all, except for her loveless marriage to a controlling husband. It becomes too much, and Nelah commits a terrible crime. The ghost of the body she buried is now haunting her, trying to reveal the truth, and Nelah finds herself in a conspiracy in order to keep the truth hidden and her loved ones safe.

New Science Fiction and Fantasy Books in January 2024 for Young Readers

cover of A Drop of Venom

A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel

Mythological retellings are all the rage recently, and I’m here for that. This YA book takes the Medusa myth and remixes it with Indian mythology in an “unapologetically feminist” story. A young woman endures the most terrible things only to emerge monstrous. But is she the real monster?

cover of The Selkie's Daughter

The Selkie’s Daughter by Linda Crotta Brennan

This middle grade book blends fantasy and historical fiction into a great new read. Brigit knows all of the old stories, except she knows that they’re true. She’s the daughter of a selkie, after all, a secret she guards closely. But when young seals start turning up dead, Brigit needs to stop the culprit and reach the Great Selkie to spare her people from a curse.


As always, you can find a full list of new releases in the magical New Release Index, carefully curated by your favorite Book Riot editors, organized by genre and release date.

Looking for more sci-fi and fantasy? Check out the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2022 and 2023, Crunched, which looks at all the SFF that has appeared on Best of 2023 lists and awards. You might also like these 20 Must-Read Space Fantasy Books.

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Deals http://bookriot.com <![CDATA[Book Riot’s Deals of the Day for January 2, 2024]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=559832 2024-01-02T16:41:33Z 2023-12-31T11:00:00Z ]]> Deals http://bookriot.com <![CDATA[Book Riot’s YA Book Deals of the Day for December 30, 2023]]> https://bookriot.com/?p=559697 2023-12-27T13:18:57Z 2023-12-30T11:30:00Z
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