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2021 Young Adult New Books We’re Going To Need [Ft January to April Releases]

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It’s that time of year again — when I help your tbrs crush you flat!!

Honestly, that’s very kind of me and you are welcome in advance. I’ve collected 60+ release coming out from January to April that I think sound super good and I want to read them!! Is that possible? 😌👌🏻absolutely not. Will I pretend I could though? Absolutely yes.

We scoff in the face of realism. (Also I need to inherit a small fortune.)

I hope you enjoy and find some you’re excited for too! All covers link to Goodreads. I do feel I’m missing more YA fantasies, though?! So shout out in the comments which ones you’re excited for.

 

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➢ 2020 New YA Releases January, March, April
➢ 2020 New YA Releases May, June, July
➢ 2020 New YA Releases August, Sept, Oct, Nov
➢ Why It’s Perfectly Acceptable To Have An Enormous TBR Pile

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas | Goodreads

Angie Thomas is such a phenomenal storyteller and an auto-buy author so 😭🙌🏻of course this goes instantly on my tbr! I’m also super lucky to have an ARC so I can’t wait to read this!

If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.
Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.
Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.
When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man. 
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The Girls I’ve Been by  Tess Sharpe | Goodreads

Apparently January is for blood red covers but 👀👌🏻am okay with that. This is pitched as “the daughter of a con artist who is taken hostage in a bank heist” and I simply adore con artists and heists.

Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother’s protégé. But when mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.
For five years Nora’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:
#1: Her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’re all friends, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.
#2: The morning after Wes finds them kissing, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised at the bank. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly, because:
#3: Right after they enter bank, two guys start robbing it.
The bank robbers may be trouble, but Nora’s something else entirely. They have no idea who they’re really holding hostage…  
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Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant | Goodreads

Books about writers!!! These always go straight onto my tbr because relate 😌👌🏻 teen-writer-me would’ve been so excited for this book too 😍 

Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life. She’s rarely seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she’s a true leading lady is in her own writing—in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader.
When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she’s excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just…gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she’s ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa’s stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming.
But as Tessa checks each item off Caroline’s list, she gets further and further away from herself. She risks losing everything she cares about—including the surprising bond she develops with sweet Sam, who lives across the street. She’s well on her way to having her own real-life love story, but is it the one she wants, after all?  
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What Beauty Is There by Cory Anderson | Goodreads

I simply exist for angsty contemporaries about families and brothers and broken messiness 😩 you know I do. This also gives me vibes not too dissimilar from my books so!!! I really want to read it.

Jack Morton has nothing left. Except his younger brother, Matty, who he’d do anything for. Even die for. Now with their mother gone, and their funds quickly dwindling, Jack needs to make a choice: lose his brother to foster care, or find the drug money that sent his father to prison. He chooses the money.
Ava Bardem lives in isolation, a life of silence. For seventeen years her father has controlled her fate. He has taught her to love no one. Trust no one. Now Victor Bardem is stalking the same money as Jack. When he picks up Jack’s trail, Ava must make her own wrenching choice: remain silent or help the brothers survive. 
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Into The Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer | Goodreads

Forests!! Monsters!! My aesthetic!! It’s pitched as “impossible love between a monstrous tree siren and a boy who lives at the edge of her wood” and I was just THERE, ready and needing it.

The forest is a dangerous place, where siren song lures men and women to their deaths. For centuries, a witch has harvested souls to feed the heartless tree, using its power to grow her domain.
When Owen Merrick is lured into the witch’s wood, one of her tree-siren daughters, Seren, saves his life instead of ending it. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and every night her longing to become human deepens. But a shift in the stars foretells a dangerous curse, and Seren’s quest to become human will lead them into an ancient war raging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her. 
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Roman & Jewel by Dana L. Davis | Goodreads

I really loved this author’s debut (Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now) but I haven’t read anything else by her yet, and this!! must!! change!! Also this just sounds fantastic with a Romeo x Juliet twist. 😍

If Romeo and Juliet got the Hamilton treatment…who would play the leads? This vividly funny, honest, and charming romantic novel by Dana L. Davis is the story of a girl who thinks she has what it takes…and the world thinks so, too.
Jerzie Jhames will do anything to land the lead role in Broadway’s hottest new show, Roman and Jewel, a Romeo and Juliet inspired hip-hopera featuring a diverse cast and modern twists on the play. But her hopes are crushed when she learns mega-star Cinny won the lead…and Jerzie is her understudy.
Falling for male lead Zeppelin Reid is a terrible idea–especially once Jerzie learns Cinny wants him for herself. Star-crossed love always ends badly. But when a video of Jerzie and Zepp practicing goes viral and the entire world weighs in on who should play Jewel, Jerzie learns that while the price of fame is high, friendship, family, and love are priceless.  
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The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick | Goodreads

Quickly sneaking in an adult epic fantasy (I want to read more adult!) because this one sounds SO GOOD. Also crime lords and it’s queer!

Nightmares are creeping through the city of dreams…
Renata Viraudax is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadezra — the city of dreams — with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune and her sister’s future.
But as she’s drawn into the elite world of House Traementis, she realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as corrupt magic begins to weave its way through Nadezra, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled — with Ren at their heart.  
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The Boy From the Mish by Gary Lonesborough | Goodreads

One of my goals for 2021 is to read more Aussie books, and this is pitched as: “queer Indigenous YA novel, set in a rural Australian community, about seventeen-year-old Jackson finding the courage to explore who he is, even if it scares him” Yes yes!!!

‘I don’t paint so much anymore,’ I say, looking to my feet.
‘Oh. Well, I got a boy who needs to do some art. You can help him out,’ Aunty Pam says, like I have no say in the matter, like she didn’t hear what I just said about not painting so much anymore. ‘Jackson, this is Tomas. He’s living with me for a little while.’
It’s a hot summer, and life’s going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It’s almost Christmas, school’s out, and he’s hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in town. Just like every year, Jackson’s Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city – but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them… As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family and community. And he must face his darkest secret – a secret he thought he’d locked away for good.  
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The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner | Goodreads

It’s a sapphic bodyguard romance with thieves and fantasy worlds!!! What more needs to be said!!! I think this is adult too so 👀excuse me breaking my own list’s rules.

Hard-drinking petty thief Dellaria Wells is down on her luck in the city of Leiscourt—again. Then she sees a want ad for a female bodyguard, and she fast-talks her way into the high-paying job. Along with a team of other women, she’s meant to protect a rich young lady from mysterious assassins.

At first Delly thinks the danger is exaggerated, but a series of attacks shows there’s much to fear. Then she begins to fall for Winn, one of the other bodyguards, and the women team up against a mysterious, magical foe who seems to have allies everywhere.  

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Wings of Ebony by J. Elle | Goodreads

Demigods and #ownvoices Black Girl Magic and hidden magic societies!! I am super keen for this one 😍

“Make a way out of no way” is just the way of life for Rue. But when her mother is shot dead on her doorstep, life for her and her younger sister changes forever. Rue’s taken from her neighborhood by the father she never knew, forced to leave her little sister behind, and whisked away to Ghizon—a hidden island of magic wielders.
Rue is the only half-god, half-human there, where leaders protect their magical powers at all costs and thrive on human suffering. Miserable and desperate to see her sister on the anniversary of their mother’s death, Rue breaks Ghizon’s sacred Do Not Leave Law and returns to Houston, only to discover that Black kids are being forced into crime and violence. And her sister, Tasha, is in danger of falling sway to the very forces that claimed their mother’s life.
Worse still, evidence mounts that the evil plaguing East Row is the same one that lurks in Ghizon—an evil that will stop at nothing until it has stolen everything from her and everyone she loves. Rue must embrace her true identity and wield the full magnitude of her ancestors’ power to save her neighborhood before the gods burn it to the ground. 
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Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala | Goodreads

I already read and LOVED this one!! It’s full of highly strung anxious gays who do craft and cosplay and the whole book is 😙👌🏻 a work of art.

Raffy has a passion for bedazzling. Not just bedazzling, but sewing, stitching, draping, pattern making–for creation. He’s always chosen his art over everything–and everyone–else and is determined to make his mark at this year’s biggest cosplay competition. If he can wow there, it could lead to sponsorship, then art school, and finally earning real respect for his work. There’s only one small problem… Raffy’s ex-boyfriend, Luca, is his main competition.
Raffy tried to make it work with Luca. They almost made the perfect team last year after serendipitously meeting in the rhinestone aisle at the local craft store–or at least Raffy thought they did. But Luca’s insecurities and Raffy’s insistence on crafting perfection caused their relationship to crash and burn. Now, Raffy is after the perfect comeback, one that Luca can’t ruin.
But when Raffy is forced to partner with Luca on his most ambitious build yet, he’ll have to juggle unresolved feelings for the boy who broke his heart, and his own intense self-doubt, to get everything he’s ever wanted: choosing his art, his way.
Project Runway goes to Comic Con in an epic queer love story about creativity, passion, and finding the courage to be your most authentic self. 
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Honourable Mentions!

 

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth | Goodreads

I need something to fill the Cruel Prince shaped hole in my life so  hello FAE and outcasts and a murder mystery for the gays 😪🙌🏻I am so excited for this.

The “ironborn” half-fae outcast of her royal fae family.
A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge.
A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne.
The prince’s brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret.
For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts—until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world.
Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. If that’s not bad enough, there’s a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The only question is: which way?
Wish them luck. They’re going to need it.  
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The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna | Goodreads

I also am super lucky to have an ARC of this from a book box and 😍✨this is going to be a real treat of an epic fantasy. It’s about a girl who’s going to join an all-girl army of immortals with magical powers.

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.  
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A Pho Love Story by Loan Le | Goodreads

Okay the pitch is: “two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.” Feuding AND food?! 😩say no more.

If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.
If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and spark and fire. She loves art and dreams pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.
For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring phở restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.
But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao together despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.
Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories? 
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We Are Fire by Sam Taylor | Goodreads

This jsut sounds dark and gnarly 👀👌🏻which is my kind of epic fantasy. Also reminds me of one of my old wips so that makes me extra keen to try it!

In the cold, treacherous land of Vesimaa, children are stolen from their families by a cruel emperor, forced to undergo a horrific transformative procedure, and serve in the army as magical fire-wielding soldiers. Pran and Oksana―both taken from their homeland at a young age―only have each other to hold onto in this heartless place.
Pran dreams of one day rebelling against their oppressors and destroying the empire; Oksana only dreams of returning home and creating a peaceful life for them both.
When they discover the emperor has a new, more terrible mission than ever for their kind, Pran and Oksana vow to escape his tyranny once and for all. But their methods and ideals differ drastically, driving a wedge between them. Worse still, they both soon find that the only way to defeat the monsters that subjugated them may be to become monsters themselves. 
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Honourable Mentions!

Can’t Take That Away by by Steven Salvatore | Goodreads

I’m definitely seeing more nonbinary authors having books out this year and I am extremely ready for this 😍🙌🏻 I actually preordered this one (also so love the cover) and I can’t wait!

Carey Parker dreams of being a diva, and bringing the house down with song. They can hit every note of all the top pop and Broadway hits. But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother’s spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice.
Then Carey meets Cris, a singer/guitarist who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. With the rush of a promising new romantic relationship, Carey finds the confidence to audition for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, setting off a chain reaction of prejudice by Carey’s tormentor and others in the school. It’s up to Carey, Cris, and their friends to defend their rights–and they refuse to be silenced.
Told in alternating chapters with identifying pronouns, debut author Steven Salvatore’s Can’t Take That Away conducts a powerful, uplifting anthem, a swoony romance, and an affirmation of self-identity that will ignite the activist in all of us.
An empowering and emotional debut about a genderqueer teen who finds the courage to stand up and speak out for equality when they are discriminated against by their high school administration.
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The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore | Goodreads

I always adore McLemore’s exquisite prose so this is an auto-buy for me 😭 Their work is just gorgeous, but also deals with quite dark themes. I feel like this one will be a heartbreaking one too.

When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly-magical pasteler�a, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown, in Anna-Marie McLemore’s The Mirror Season…
Graciela Cristales’ whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.
But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela’s school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.
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Rule of Wolves (#2) by Leigh Bardugo | Goodreads

I was reading Leigh’s newsletter and this IS the end of the Grishaverse for now she said 😭(Although she still said she has “ideas” for SOC3, so I do think that’ll appear one day? For now we just wait for the show after this one. 🥺😩

The Demon King. As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king’s gift for the impossible.
The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.
The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.
King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall. 
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The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu | Goodreads

This is supposed to have Stranger Things vibes!! And the blurb says: “following a precocious and cynical teen as she explores the shadowy magical underside of modern Edinburgh.” Yes please?! Black #ownvoices author and I think it’s adult fantasy but I’m not sure.

When a child goes missing in Edinburgh’s darkest streets, young Ropa investigates. She’ll need to call on Zimbabwean magic as well as her Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. But as shadows lengthen, will the hunter become the hunted?
When ghosts talk, she will listen…
Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker. Now she speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to the living. A girl’s gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching children–leaving them husks, empty of joy and life. It’s on Ropa’s patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns will change her world.
She’ll dice with death (not part of her life plan…), discovering an occult library and a taste for hidden magic. She’ll also experience dark times. For Edinburgh hides a wealth of secrets, and Ropa’s gonna hunt them all down.
Sixth Sense meets Stranger Things in T. L. Huchu’s The Library of the Dead, a sharp contemporary fantasy following a precocious and cynical teen as she explores the shadowy magical underside of modern Edinburgh.
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Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Bouley | Goodreads

This is #ownvoices Indigenous American, and I’m very keen to read more indigenous authors this year (from different countries too). Plus it’s got it ALL. Sports. Murder mystery. Tracking criminals down. Protecting your family!? 🥺

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.
The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don’t add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicine. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.
Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.
Debut author Angeline Boulley crafts a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
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Bones of a Saint by Grant Farley | Goodreads

This is giving me huge The Outsiders vibes and I was obsessed with that book as a teen so 👀👌🏻I would love to try this.

Fifteen-year-old RJ Armante has never known a life outside his dead-end hometown of Arcangel, CA. The Blackjacks still rule as they have for generations, luring the poorest kids into their monopoly on petty crime. For years, they’ve left RJ alone…until now.
When the Blackjacks come knocking, they want RJ to prey upon an old loner. But RJ is at his breaking point. It’s not just about the gang who rules the town. It’s about Charley, his younger brother, who is disabled. It’s about Roxanne, the girl he can’t reach. It’s about the kids in his crew who have nothing to live for. If RJ is to resist, he must fight to free Arcangel of its past.
Set in Northern California in the late ’70s, this timeless coming-of-age story examines the nature of evil, the art of storytelling, and the possibility of redemption.
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The Secret Recipe for Moving On by Karen Bischer | Goodreads

First of all BAKING. Secondly, the blurb is promising messy chaotic friendship groups (found family?!) and they better make cake is all I can say 😪👌🏻

Ellie Agresti’s not sure anything could be worse than being dumped by her boyfriend, Hunter, the first day of senior year.
But sharing a “life skills” class with him and his new girlfriend, Brynn? AND getting partnered with a “family” of misfits (A.J., the loudmouth; Isaiah, the horse-racing obsessive; and Luke, the tattooed stunt-biker)?
It’s a recipe for certain disaster…until an in-class competition allows Ellie to channel her angst into beating Hunter and Brynn’s team, and she unexpectedly bonds with her own group–especially Luke–in the process.
But as Ellie soon discovers, it will take more than classroom triumphs to heal her broken heart–and find herself again. 
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Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olsen | Goodreads

I am always weak for Phantom of the Opera retellings so this is just 😩💛a need for me. Also it’s genderbent which makes it even better!!

Isda does not exist. At least not beyond the opulent walls of the opera house.
Cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few who can manipulate memories when people sing, she was saved by Cyril, the opera house’s owner. Since that day, he has given her sanctuary from the murderous world outside. All he asks in return is that she use her power to keep ticket sales high—and that she stay out of sight. For if anyone discovers she survived, Isda and Cyril would pay with their lives
But Isda breaks Cyril’s cardinal rule when she meets Emeric Rodin, a charming boy who throws her quiet, solitary life out of balance. His voice is unlike any she’s ever heard, but the real shock comes when she finds in his memories hints of a way to finally break free of her gilded prison.
Haunted by this possibility, Isda spends more and more time with Emeric, searching for answers in his music and his past. But the price of freedom is steeper than Isda could ever know. For even as she struggles with her growing feelings for Emeric, she learns that in order to take charge of her own destiny, she must become the monster the world tried to drown in the first place.  
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Sweet & Bitter Magic by Andrienne Tooley | Goodreads

Sapphic enemies-to-lovers and witches and curses and queendoms?! Say no more, I am already convinced.

Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation. But after committing the worst magical sin, she’s exiled by the ruling Coven and cursed with the inability to love. The only way she can get those feelings back—even for just a little while—is to steal love from others.
Wren is a source—a rare kind of person who is made of magic, despite being unable to use it herself. Sources are required to train with the Coven as soon as they discover their abilities, but Wren—the only caretaker to her ailing father—has spent her life hiding her secret.
When a magical plague ravages the queendom, Wren’s father falls victim. To save him, Wren proposes a bargain: if Tamsin will help her catch the dark witch responsible for creating the plague, then Wren will give Tamsin her love for her father.
Of course, love bargains are a tricky thing, and these two have a long, perilous journey ahead of them—that is, if they don’t kill each other first…
In this charming debut fantasy perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Girls of Paper and Fire, a witch cursed to never love meets a girl hiding her own dangerous magic, and the two strike a dangerous bargain to save their queendom.
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Honourable Mentions!

 

These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy | Goodreads

This  is definitely one of my most hyped books!! It’s pitched as: “Three Dark Crowns meets Wicked Saints in this queer #ownvoices retelling of “The Firebird”. Umm yes!! I love Russian folklore, and make it sapphic. 😌

When twin heirs are born in Tourin, their fates are decided at a young age. While Izaveta remained at court to learn the skills she’d need as the future queen, Asya was taken away to train with her aunt, the mysterious Firebird, who ensured magic remained balanced in the realm.
But before Asya’s training is completed, the ancient power blooms inside her, which can mean only one thing: the queen is dead, and a new ruler must be crowned.
As the princesses come to understand everything their roles entail, they’ll discover who they can trust, who they can love—and who killed their mother.
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She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen | Goodreads

I relaly enjoyed Late To the Party and I ened more sapphic romcoms in my life so 🥰 Excited for this! It’s also “High school nemeses fall in love” which is NICE.

After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first game since their break up, Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with the worst possible person: her nemesis, the incredibly beautiful and incredibly mean Irene Abraham. Things only get worse when their nosey, do-gooder moms get involved and the girls are forced to carpool together until Irene’s car gets out of the shop.

Their bumpy start only gets bumpier the more time they spend together. But when an opportunity presents itself for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex (and climb her school’s social ladder at the same time), she bribes Irene into playing along. Hijinks, heartbreak, and gay fake-dating scheme for the ages. From author Kelly Quindlen comes a new laugh-out-loud romp through the ups and downs of teen romance. 

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In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens | Goodreads

I have preordered this one too (Ahhhh) I’m so so excited. It’s a queer Pirates of the Caribbean with a disaster prince!!

Prince Tal has long awaited his coming-of-age tour. After spending most of his life cloistered behind palace walls as he learns to keep his forbidden magic secret, he can finally see his family’s kingdom for the first time. His first taste of adventure comes just two days into the journey, when their crew discovers a mysterious prisoner on a burning derelict vessel.
Tasked with watching over the prisoner, Tal is surprised to feel an intense connection with the roguish Athlen. So when Athlen leaps overboard and disappears, Tal feels responsible and heartbroken, knowing Athlen could not have survived in the open ocean.
That is, until Tal runs into Athlen days later on dry land, very much alive, and as charming—and secretive—as ever. But before they can pursue anything further, Tal is kidnapped by pirates and held ransom in a plot to reveal his rumored powers and instigate a war. Tal must escape if he hopes to save his family and the kingdom. And Athlen might just be his only hope… 
A young prince must rely on a mysterious stranger to save him when he is kidnapped during his coming-of-age tour in this swoony adventure that is The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue meets Pirates of the Caribbean.
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Witches Steeped In Gold by Ciannon Smart | Goodreads

I’m so ready for a new YA epic fantasy to sweep me off my feet 😪 Hoping it’s this one (isn’t the cover stunning too?!)

Divided by their castes. United by their vengeance.
Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom—and vengeance.
Jazmyne is the queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power.
Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain—except the lengths they will go to win this game.
Deadly, fierce, magnetically addictive: this Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut is a thrilling journey where dangerous magic reigns supreme and betrayal lurks beneath every word.
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Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli | Goodreads

I basically am all for any book by Becky Albertalli 😪👌🏻This one sounds like it’s going to be a bit feelsy too with friendships on the line.

Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theater rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.
But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off script. Matt Olsson is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.
Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship. 
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Between Perfect And Real by Ray Stoeve | Goodreads

This is an #ownvoices trans book too and I’m very excited about how many are being published in 2021! And it’s about coming out and being mislabelled and understanding yourself and theatre.

Dean Foster knows he’s a trans guy. He’s watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks he’s a lesbian—including his girlfriend Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a “nontraditional” Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out. But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is now––not just on the stage, but everywhere in his life. Dean knows what he needs to do. Can playing a role help Dean be his true self? 
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The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris | Goodreads

I read the author’s debut, SLAY, a while ago and it was so so good…I definitely want whatever she writes next! This one also is going to have a touch of magical realism as Alex can touch objects and see into the future.

Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short.
It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life.
And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes.
With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.
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Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman | Goodreads

I love Bowman’s contemporaries (Starfish is utterly heartbreaking) so I’m keen to see what she does with sci-fi! There’s already so many twists in just the blurb. 👀

Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years.
The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.
When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all.
As Nami works with a team of rebels to bring down Ophelia and save the humans under her imprisonment, she is forced to reckon with her past, her future, and what it is that truly makes us human.
From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes an incisive, action-packed tale that explores big questions about technology, grief, love, and humanity.
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Honourable Mentions!

tell me which are on your tbr? and do I need to add any others to mine? 👀

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Comments

  1. AHHH these all look incredible,,, all so tempting >.< i'm really excited to read Winter's Orbit when it comes out, i'm hyped for that! otherwise, i am woefully ignorant of what new releases are coming so reading this was rly interesting <3

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  3. Check the box auto ok “Lore” too. It’s a January release, if I’m not mistaken, and it has Greek mythology vibes.
    But those seem so good! You have destroyed my pocket *cries*

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  4. Rule of Wolves is on my TBR, as is The Notorious Virtues (though I’m super confused as to when that one is actually coming out because it’s had so many different release dates by now!). Ariadne is also on my TBR, I have an e-ARC of that one from Netgalley and I’m really looking forward to reading it. Some of my most anticipated releases from January-April (mix of MG, YA and Adult) are:
    -The Mask Falling-Samantha Shannon-So excited for the fourth Bone Season book, I got approved for it on Netgalley and can’t wait to read!
    -Liberte-Gita Trelease-The first Enchantee book was one of my favourite books of 2019, so I’m super excited for the sequel.
    -City of Spells-Alexandra Christo-Again, I loved the first Into The Crooked Place book so I’m really excited for the sequel.
    -Bridge of Souls-Victoria Schwab-I binged both Cassidy Blake books last year so really looking forward to the third one, plus it’s Victoria Schwab!
    -Dead or Alive-Derek Landy-The next Skulduggery Pleasant book, honestly feeling kind of let down by the 13th, which I’m currently reading but I hope this one will be better.
    Obviously I’ve already mentioned Ariadne and Rule of Wolves. Weirdly again all of my most anticipated releases are coming out in the first half of the year, it always used to be September and October for me and now that’s definitely shifted!

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  6. Thanks for making my reading wishlist even longer, lol. No really, thank you for putting the time you do into your posts. I often find new interesting reads from what you talk about on here. Oh and yes, the cover of Witches Steeped in Gold quite literally stopped me in my tracks when I was scrolling down. It is gorgeous! It reminded me that we totally read (and eat, lol) with our eyes first. My most anticipated read is out almost exactly on my birthday in June, The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker. The Golem and the Jinni was amazing, so I am definitely looking forward to this sequel.

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  8. You are always coming through with greatest lists of books! 💛 But sooo many, won’t be able to read them all! 😭

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  9. These all look so good!! I’m excited for Yolk by Mary HK Choi and Act Your Age, Eve Brown (although that one is adult). And lots of others that come out later in the year!

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  10. I think I’ve added 50% of these to my Goodreads, so thank you. If you haven’t read Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. I’m pee-ny-pantz excited for book 2 in 2021. I actually loved it as an audiobook, if you’re into those. Thank you for this amazing list.

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  11. These all look so good! I’m particularly keen to find more diverse adult fantasies this year and there’s some awesome looking recommendations on here and I will be 100% reading Library of the Dead!

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  12. January really is full of red covers! The books look like they’re ready to punch you in the face, rip out your heart, and leave you thanking them for it. This is the kind of energy I need going into the new year. xD

    I’m SO hyped for Kate in Waiting. Becky Albertalli almost always publishes her books in April right around my birthday and it is the BEST. I can’t wait.

    I’m also a sucker for books about writers, so yes, and please.

    Happy new year!! I hope 2021 treats you even better than 2020.

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  13. Angie Thomas is an auto-buy author for me too so I am so excited for Concrete Rose 😍 And I covered the blurb for Rule of Wolves up so fast because I still haven’t read King of Scars but I will get to it!! Ahh, and Akemi Dawn Bowman doing sci-fi??? I am definitely here for this!! Ahh there’s so much for be excited for 😍

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  14. At least 2021 is already giving us so many good new releases 🙏 I’m beyond excited for Concrete Rose, Happily Ever Afters (a MC struggling with writer’s block is very relatable), A Dark and Hollow Star (I also need more fae books!), We are the Fire (I always love elemental magic) and Rule of Wolves (super excited to see how this ends, but omg it’s really the end? 🥺) 🥰

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  15. WELL, now I have like 20 Goodreads tabs open! So many amazing sounding ones on here- I had such a hard time narrowing down my own list, and a ton of these are on my TBR! I have read Last Night at the Telegraph Club, This Will be Funny Someday, and We Could be Heroes, and I am happy to report that they are all at least 4 star books for me! So hopefully you’ll enjoy them too!

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  17. This gave me soooo many books to look for in the next couple of months; I’m SO excited! Thank you for sharing all of these! A few others I’m looking forward to (unless I overlooked them on this list haha!): Once Upon A Quinceanera, Monica Gomez-Hira; You Have A Match, Emma Lord; What’s Not to Love, Emily-Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka; and the next book in the Deceivers series by Kristen Simmons (can’t remember the name of it right now).

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  18. My most anticipated books from each month are The Wings of Ebony, The Gilded Ones, The Mirror Season and Infinity Courts. It’s going to be such a good year for diverse stories. 😍

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