Normally I add a quick little comment about why I’m excited for each of these releases but last month I tried skipping that and just including the Goodreads synopsis for each title. I honestly think I prefer having both on these posts so I’ll be including both this time around.
Each title is linked to its Goodreads page if you’re interested in adding one!
All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth #1) by Adalyn Grace
February 4th
I was pretty much in when I heard that this was a YA fantasy with pirates, mermaids, and magic. It’s actually my current read and so far it’s pretty damn good!
As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer—the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.
When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.
But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder—and more peril—than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.
Straight On Till Morning (Twisted Tales #8) by Liz Braswell
February 4th
I actually tried reading one of the Twisted Tales books before it was “Once Upon a Dream” and was the Sleeping Beauty retelling. I DNF’d it, was not enjoying it whatsoever. BUT you can’t throw a Peter Pan retelling out there and expect me not to at least try it…..
What if Wendy first traveled to Neverland… with Captain Hook?
Sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling’s life is not what she imagined it would be. The doldrums of an empty house after her brothers have gone to school, the dull parties where everyone thinks she talks too much, and the fact that her parents have decided to send her away to Ireland as a governess-it all makes her wish things could be different.
Wendy’s only real escape is in writing down tales of Never Land. After nearly meeting her hero, Peter Pan, four years earlier, she still holds on to the childhood hope that his magical home truly exists. She also holds on to his shadow.
So when an opportunity to travel to Never Land via pirate ship presents itself, Wendy makes a deal with the devil. But Never Land isn’t quite the place she imagined it would be. Unexpected dangers and strange foes pop up at every turn, and a little pixie named Tinker Bell seems less than willing to help.
But when Captain Hook reveals some rather permanent and evil plans for Never Land, it’s up to the two of them to save Peter Pan-and his world.
Deathless Divide (Dread Nation #2) by Justina Ireland
February 4th
I actually really enjoyed the first book “Dread Nation” and that really says something since normally I’m not a fan of historical fiction. Throw some diversity and zombies in the mix and I’m game. I’m curious to see how the sequel continues on with the story!
After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.
But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodermus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880’s America.
What’s more, this safe haven is not what it appears – as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.
But she won’t be in it alone.
Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by – and that Jane needs her, too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.
Watching Jane’s back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it’s up to Katherine to keep hope alive – even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
February 4th
This is a Tor novella about queer libraries in the wild west, I’m game.
In Upright Women Wanted, award-winning author Sarah Gailey reinvents the pulp Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity.
“That girl’s got more wrong notions than a barn owl’s got mean looks.”
Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her–a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.
The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.
The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates #1) by A.K. Larkwood
February 11th
This just sounds great, very rare is it to see an adult fantasy book with such a short synopsis ( in my opinion) but it pulled me right in.
What if you knew how and when you will die?
Csorwe does — she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.
But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard’s loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.
But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.
Ink in the Blood (Ink in the Blood #1) by Kim Smejkal
February 11th
Yeah, I pretty much read “magic tattoos” and was sold.
A lush, dark YA fantasy debut that weaves together tattoo magic, faith, and eccentric theater in a world where lies are currency and ink is a weapon, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Kendare Blake.
Celia Sand and her best friend, Anya Burtoni, are inklings for the esteemed religion of Profeta. Using magic, they tattoo followers with beautiful images that represent the Divine’s will and guide the actions of the recipients. It’s considered a noble calling, but ten years into their servitude Celia and Anya know the truth: Profeta is built on lies, the tattooed orders strip away freedom, and the revered temple is actually a brutal, torturous prison.
Their opportunity to escape arrives with the Rabble Mob, a traveling theater troupe. Using their inkling abilities for performance instead of propaganda, Celia and Anya are content for the first time . . . until they realize who followed them. The Divine they never believed in is very real, very angry, and determined to use Celia, Anya, and the Rabble Mob’s now-infamous stage to spread her deceitful influence even further.
To protect their new family from the wrath of a malicious deity and the zealots who work in her name, Celia and Anya must unmask the biggest lie of all—Profeta itself.
A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers
February 11th
Normally this quiet sounding type of historical fiction does not sound like my jam at all. However, it’s about a young witch cursed to keep reliving her doomed love affair through the years. Now that sounds like my jam.
A young witch is cursed to relive a doomed love affair through many lifetimes, as both troubled muse and frustrated artist, in this haunting debut novel.
In 1895, sixteen-year-old Juliet LaCompte has a passionate, doomed romance with the married Parisian painter Auguste Marchant. When her mother — a witch — attempts to cast a curse on Marchant, she unwittingly summons a demon, binding her daughter to both the artist and this supernatural being for all time. Juliet is fated to re-live her affair and die tragically young lifetime after lifetime as the star-crossed lovers reincarnate through history. The demon — who appears to Juliet in all her reincarnations as a mysterious, handsome, and worldly benefactor-has been helplessly in love with her since 19th century France, even though she forgets him each time she dies. He falls for her in 1930s Hollywood, in 1970s Los Angeles, and finally in present-day Washington D.C. — where she begins to develop powers of her own. In this life, she starts to remember her tragic past lives. But this time, she might have the power to break the cycle…
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
February 18th
I actually already read my ARC of this and will be putting up my full review soon, but damn this book was good! I highly recommend checking it out!
The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.
Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn’t right at the Sun Down, and before long she’s determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…
Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin
February 18th
A revenge tale about a girl taking revenge on a group of “golden boys” for harming her friend. I am 100% here for revenge stories!
Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target.
They picked the wrong girl.
Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She’ll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school’s hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.
Foul is Fair is a bloody, thrilling revenge fantasy for the girls who have had enough. Golden boys beware: something wicked this way comes.
Solstice by Lorence Alison
February 18th
It was described as a “Tropical Horror Comedy” so I mean that definitely had my curiosity. I’m always looking for new horror books to try out and this one, while it probably won’t be creepy, might at least be entertaining.
A music fest goes wrong in this comic YA thriller as selfie-mad concert-goers wake up to realize their tropical island fantasy is a deadly nightmare.
When Adri is offered an all-expenses-paid trip to the exclusive Solstice Festival, she throws caution, her prestigious summer internship, and her parents goodwill to the wind. She just wants to live a little before the first day of the rest of her life, planned and scheduled in accordance to her parents’ law school dreams.
But when she and a horde of affluent, entitled teen partiers arrive at the island paradise, it looks nothing like the luxury vacation they were promised. There’s barely any food, nowhere to stay, and not nearly enough porta-potties. Pretty soon, the festival’s trending on social media for all the wrong reasons, and the music acts are cancelling left and right.
And then the first dead body washes up on the beach.
Adri has a front-row seat as everything devolves into chaos—and she’s in a prime position to put together the clues to who—or what—is killing off the helpless attendees. But even if she finds the killer, how can she hope to stop them?
Check your privilege at the door—before it gets you killed. This is one vacation you can’t escape.
Death in the Family (Shana Merchant #1) by Tessa Wegert
February 18th
This actually wasn’t on my radar until I say Chelsea Humphrey’s review on Goodreads and she had me adding it pronto! I am also just weirdly attracted to books that are on islands (not the tropical kind either).
A storm-struck island. A blood-soaked bed. A missing man. Senior Investigator Shana Merchant believes it all adds up to a killer in their midst—and that murder is a family affair.
Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she’s taken a job in her fiancé’s sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York.
But as a nor’easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge.
While Tim guesses they’re dealing with a runaway case, Shana is convinced that they have a murder on their hands. As the gale intensifies outside, she starts conducting interviews and discovers the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets.
Trapped on the island by the raging storm with only Tim whose reliability is thrown into question, the increasingly restless suspects, and her own trauma-fueled flashbacks for company, Shana will have to trust the one person her abduction destroyed her faith in—herself. But time is ticking down, because if Shana’s right, a killer is in their midst and as the pressure mounts, so do the odds that they’ll strike again.
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
February 25th
How could I not be suckered in with this plan: woo the king, marry the king, kill the king and take his kingdom. I am IN!
Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:
1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.
But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?
Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold
February 25th
I’ve actually already read my ARC copy of this book and will have a review up shortly. I wasn’t a fan of it but I think it’s probably more me than book itself. It wasn’t for me.
You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked.
And the wolf is angry.
Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
February 25th
I’m not usually a big fan of alien related books but this one where art is forbidden and an alien and a human bond together over it sounds pretty cute.
Can a girl who risks her life for books and an alien who loves forbidden pop music work together to save humanity?
Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world’s population.
Seventeen-year-old Janelle “Ellie” Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. Deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, humanity’s emotional transgressions are now grounds for execution. All art, books and creative expression are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her.
Born in a lab, M0Rr1S (Morris) was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie’s illegal library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They’re both breaking the rules for love of art—and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does.
Ellie’s—and humanity’s—fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution—thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while making a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.
Belle Revolte by Linsey Miller
February 4th
The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper
February 4th
The Queen’s Assassin (Queen’s Secret #1) by Melissa de la Cruz
February 4th
The King of Crows (The Diviners #4) by Libba Bray
February 4th
Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed
February 4th
Honor Lost (The Honors #3) by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre
February 11th
Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough
February 11th
Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #2) by Nicki Pau Preto
February 11th
The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica
February 18th
We Unleash the Merciless Storm (We Set the Dark on Fire #2) by Tehlor Kay Mejia
February 25th
Are you also looking forward to any of these books?
Have you read any of them yet (ARCs etc)?
What are some new releases I didn’t include that you’re looking forward to?
Let me know in the comments!
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Honor Lost has been preordered Heather!
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All the Stars and Teeth and The Shadows Between Us were absolutely amazing! I also really enjoyed Foul Is Fair and I think it was such a unique and interesting book!
I cannot wait to read The Unspoken Name *heart eyes*. I’ve heard such great things about it and the premise sounds so cool😊.
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