New year, new books! It’s time to continue my annual tradition of taking stock of books being released in the coming year. What better way to spend New Year’s Eve than refining my TBR pile? Here are a few of the books that I am most excited for:
- In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (set to be released January 8)
Just like last year, I’m starting off my list with the next book in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. In 2018, I read the latest installment, Beneath the Sugar Sky, which tackled dark themes of death and resurrection in a candy-coated setting. In this fourth book, McGuire returns to fantasy worlds with a darker atmosphere. In an Absent Dream follows Katherine Lundy as she finds a doorway into the Goblin Market, where every bargain comes with a terrible price.
- The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (set to be released February 12)
Yangsze Choo’s debut novel, The Ghost Bride, came out back in 2013, but I only just discovered and reviewed it this past summer. The timing turned out to be fortuitous, though, since now I don’t need to wait long for her next book! Like The Ghost Bride, The Night Tiger explores death, ghosts, mythology, and the afterlife in colonial Malaysia. This book has two main protagonists: one is Ji Lin, a dressmaker’s apprentice whose ambition and curiosity lead her to uncover some dangerous secrets. The other is a young houseboy, Ren, who is given the solemn mission of finding his dead master’s missing finger before his soul becomes stuck on earth forever.
- Miss Violet & the Great War by Leanna Renee Hieber (set to be released February 26)
The new year wouldn’t feel complete without a new Leanna Renee Hieber book! I had this one on my list last year, when the release date hadn’t yet been settled. But it turns out it will be coming out in February 2019! Miss Violet is the long-anticipated conclusion to the Strangely Beautiful saga. This is my absolute favorite series by Leanna, as you might be able to tell from my glowing reviews of Strangely Beautiful and Perilous Prophecy. The first book followed Miss Percy Parker as she came into her goddess-given powers and found companionship within London’s ghost-fighting Guard, while the subsequent prequel gave some background on the Guard and the god and goddess whose legacy they protect. Now in the final installment, Percy’s daughter Violet will be coming of age right when a Great War is brewing in Europe.…
- Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith (set to be released March 5)
With so many great new books coming out by my favorite authors, it can be tempting to stick to familiar names when picking my to-read list for the next year. But then something like this comes along to convince me to take a chance on something new! Crystal Smith’s debut novel Bloodleaf is a particularly dark re-telling of the classic fairy-tale “The Goose Girl.” Like the original tale, the story features a princess who is usurped by a devious lady-in-waiting and forced to build a new identity among the peasantry. But this version also has ghosts and blood-magic.
- Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (set to be released March 5)
Children of Blood and Bone was one of the biggest YA novels to make a splash in 2018. Now, the Legacy of Orïsha continues with Children of Virtue and Vengeance. At the end of the first book, Zélie and her friends succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha, after the maji had been persecuted and nearly eliminated a generation before. But her allies aren’t the only ones with newfound powers—her enemies now have magic, too. Zélie must figure out how to unite her kingdom, before it plunges into civil war.
- The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynne Herman (set to be released April 2)
This one’s another debut, by a new author I’ve long been following on Twitter. This book had me by its title and cover alone, but the premise is right up my alley. It’s hard enough being the new kid at school without all the attention that comes from being a newly returned descendant of one of the town’s original founders. But when Violet Saunders meets the kids from the other founding families, she learns of a secret pact that the founders made with the monster that lives in the woods. When dead bodies start appearing in the forest, it may be up to Violet and the other founder kids to set things right.
- Descendant of the Crane by Joan He (set to be released April 2)
One more debut! After reading Forest of a Thousand Lanterns this year, I’ve been in the mood for some more Chinese-inspired fantasy, and this looks like the perfect book to scratch that itch. Princess Hesina has power thrust upon her when her father is murdered and she inherits the throne. In a dangerous and illegal move, she turns to a sooth-sayer for answers, then asks a criminal for help. With lies and secrets all around her, can Hesina uncover the truth without destroying her kingdom? Reviewers are calling this book “the Chinese Game of Thrones.”
- Amnesty by Lara Donnelly (set to be released April 16)
Last year, I had Armistice, the second book in the Amberlough Dossier on my list. Now this spy thriller fantasy series is coming to a close with Amnesty. When we last left off, the fascist regime of the Ospies had taken over Amberlough and our heroes were left in exile, fighting back through small acts of terrorism and meddling in international affairs. They appear to have been successful, since Amnesty begins after a revolution has ousted the Ospies from power. Caught up in the turmoil is double-agent Cyril DePaul. Amberlough’s new leaders want to punish Cyril for his involvement with the Ospies, but Aristide and Lillian know where his loyalty truly lies.
- Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (set to be released June 4)
I’m hoping to read more mystery in 2019, and since this one also happens to involve magic and twins, it’s definitely going on my list. Ivy Gamble has turned away from her magic to focus on her career as a private investigator. But she soon becomes tangled up again in her old life when she is hired to investigate a murder at the school where her magically gifted twin sister teaches.
- The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh (set to be released October 8)
What could be more perfect for October than a fresh new vampire romance? The Beautiful is the start of a new series set in nineteenth-century New Orleans. After being forced to flee from Paris, Celine Rousseau is taken in by the Ursuline convent and falls in love with the glitzy underworld of New Orleans. Among the city’s chief allures is the handsome Sèbastien Saint Germain. But when one of the other girls at the convent is found dead, Celine fears that the man she’s attracted to may be a killer. The bodies continue to pile up, and Celine is determined to uncover the murderer’s identity, no matter what it costs.
What’s on your reading list for 2019? Are there any new releases you think I’d like that aren’t on this list? Let me know in the comments!
The first book in my Southern Gothic family saga series releases next week. The series spans 1904-1929, but the first one is set during the winter of 1904-1905. The first three books release in 2019.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43369346-perilous-confessions