July’s New Book Releases I’m Excited For

As always I’m super excited for the books releasing next month! Making these lists always makes me realise how much more I have to read, it’s never ending! We’re got superheroes, we’ve got ‘eat the rich’ vibes, we’ve got big, chonky fantasies, we’ve got robots, we’ve got an amazing amount of representation! Some of these books are my most anticipated of the year, and I hope you can find something new and exciting too!

July 6th

Weapon UwU Vol 1: Godkillers by SJ Whitby

Young Adult Contemporary

Weapon UwU – who’d expect us to be a team of deadly mutant assassins with a name like that?

The Team:
– a trans boy ready for his glow-up into a leading man
– an undead sweetheart with a bellyful of acid
– a furious firebreathing girl
– a hive mind of very polite spiders
– an over-it aroace woman who knows how scared you are of her
– a group of increasingly unhinged clones

The Misson:
To cross into a parallel universe and kill a mutant as powerful as a god, then clean up any mess

The Complications:
Okay so yikes this has spiralled out of control and now there may be some other terrifying new threats to deal with! We’re on it though, I promise. Weapon UwU!

Why I’m excited to read this: This book is a side project to the Cute Mutants series and I’m so excited to spend more time with these characters! I was so intrigued by all of the secondary characters and now it’s their time to shine! These books are amazing if you need queer superheroes in your life.

The Very Nice Box by Eve Gleichman

Adult Contemporary

Ava Simon designs storage boxes for STÄDA, a slick Brooklyn-based furniture company. She’s hard-working, obsessive, and heartbroken from a tragedy that killed her girlfriend and upended her life. It’s been years since she’s let anyone in.

But when Ava’s new boss—the young and magnetic Mat Putnam—offers Ava a ride home one afternoon, an unlikely relationship blossoms. Ava remembers how rewarding it can be to open up—and, despite her instincts, she becomes enamored. But Mat isn’t who he claims to be, and the romance takes a sharp turn.

The Very Nice Box is a funny, suspenseful debut—with a shocking twist. It’s at once a send-up of male entitlement and a big-hearted account of grief, friendship, and trust.

Why I’m excited to read this book: This book looks really interesting to me. It has the set up of a romance book but I think it’s going to be delving into abusive relationships, manipulation, and entitlement, I’m super interested to see how it handles that!

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

Young Adult Fantasy

Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.

Raikama has dark magic of her own, and she banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and, on her journey, uncovers a conspiracy to overtake the throne—a conspiracy more twisted and deceitful, more cunning and complex, than even Raikama’s betrayal. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to contain—no matter what it costs her.

Why I’m excited to read this: This one is a reimagining of The Wild Swans, and although I’m not super familiar with that fairy-tale I am hyped! I’ve also heard this features a ‘mercurial dragon’ and I am very into that.

It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts

Young Adult Fantasy

ALKA CHELRAZI IS ON A MISSION:
1. Infiltrate Blackwater Academy
2. Win the Great Game
3. Burn Wizard society to the ground

As a child, Alka witnessed her parents’ brutal murder at the hands of Wizards before she was taken in by an underground rebel group.

Now, Alka is deep undercover at the most prestigious school of magic in the Republic: Blackwater Academy, a place where status is everything, where decadent galas end in blood-splattered duels, where every student has their own agenda. To survive, Alka will have to lie, cheat, kill, and use every trick in her spy’s toolkit. And for the first time in her life, the fiercely independent Alka will have to make friends in order to recruit the misfits and the outcasts into her motley rebellion.

But even as she draws closer to victory — to vengeance — she sinks deeper into danger as suspicious professors and murderous rivals seek the traitor in their midst, and dark revelations unravel her resolve. Can Alka destroy the twisted game…without becoming a part of it?

Why I’m excited to read this: It Ends in Fire features a dark, magical school and a bisexual main character and I love that so much!

What We Devour by Linsey Miller

Young Adult Fantasy

Lorena Adler has a secret—she holds the power of the banished gods, the Noble and the Vile, inside her. She has spent her entire life hiding from the world and her past. She’s content to spend her days as an undertaker in a small town, marry her best friend, Julian, and live an unfulfilling life so long as no one uncovers her true nature.

But when the notoriously bloodthirsty and equally Vile crown prince comes to arrest Julian’s father, he immediately recognizes Lorena for what she is. So she makes a deal—a fair trial for her betrothed’s father in exchange for her service to the crown.

The prince is desperate for her help. He’s spent years trying to repair the weakening Door that holds back the Vile…and he’s losing the battle. As Lorena learns more about the Door and the horrifying price it takes to keep it closed, she’ll have to embrace both parts of herself to survive.

Why I’m excited to read this: We’ve got an ace main character, we’ve got political intrigue, we’ve got ‘eat the rich’ energy, yes please.

There’s Magic Between Us by Jillian Maria

Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy

A diehard city girl, 16-year-old Lydia Barnes is reluctant to spend a week in her grandma’s small town. But hidden beneath Fairbrooke’s exterior of shoddy diners and empty farms, there’s a forest that calls to her. In it, she meets Eden: blunt, focused, and fascinating. She claims to be hunting fae treasure, and while Lydia laughs it off at first, it quickly becomes obvious that Eden’s not joking—magic is real.

Lydia joins the treasure hunt, thrilled by all the things it offers her. Things like endless places in the forest to explore and a friendship with Eden that threatens to blossom into something more. But even as she throws herself into her new adventure, some questions linger. Why did her mom keep magic a secret? Why do most of the townspeople act like the forest is evil? It seems that, as much as Lydia would like to pretend otherwise, not everything in Fairbrooke is as bright and easy as a new crush… 

Why I’m excited to read this: This one is a sweet, lovely sapphic romance mixed up with faerie shenanigans! I love mysteries and a magic forest!

The Empire’s Ruin by Brian Staveley

Adult Fantasy

The Annurian Empire is disintegrating. The advantages it used for millennia have fallen to ruin. The ranks of the Kettral have been decimated from within, and the kenta gates, granting instantaneous travel across the vast lands of the empire, can no longer be used.

In order to save the empire, one of the surviving Kettral must voyage beyond the edge of the known world through a land that warps and poisons all living things to find the nesting ground of the giant war hawks. Meanwhile, a monk turned con-artist may hold the secret to the kenta gates.

But time is running out. Deep within the southern reaches of the empire and ancient god-like race has begun to stir.

What they discover will change them and the Annurian Empire forever. If they can survive.

Why I’m excited to read this: A new epic fantasy series! The characters have been described as ‘a priest of the goddess of love with a dark and bloody past, a thief turned monk turned con-artist, and a red-haired soldier with a penchant for blowing shit up…’ and that sounds fantastic.

We Have Always Been Here by Lena Nguyen

Adult Sci-Fi Thriller

Misanthropic psychologist Dr. Grace Park is placed on the Deucalion, a survey ship headed to an icy planet in an unexplored galaxy. Her purpose is to observe the thirteen human crew members aboard the ship–all specialists in their own fields–as they assess the colonization potential of the planet, Eos. But frictions develop as Park befriends the androids of the ship, preferring their company over the baffling complexity of humans, while the rest of the crew treats them with suspicion and even outright hostility.

Shortly after landing, the crew finds themselves trapped on the ship by a radiation storm, with no means of communication or escape until it passes–and that’s when things begin to fall apart. Park’s patients are falling prey to waking nightmares of helpless, tongueless insanity. The androids are behaving strangely. There are no windows aboard the ship. Paranoia is closing in, and soon Park is forced to confront the fact that nothing–neither her crew, nor their mission, nor the mysterious Eos itself–is as it seems.

Why I’m excited to read this: I have been so into sci-fi thrillers recently and this sounds fantastic! Mix that in with some claustrophobic horror and I am literally drooling.

July 13th

XOXO by Axie Oh

Young Adult Contemporary

Cello prodigy Jenny has one goal: to get into a prestigious music conservatory. When she meets mysterious, handsome Jaewoo in her uncle’s Los Angeles karaoke bar, it’s clear he’s the kind of boy who would uproot her careful plans. But in a moment of spontaneity, she allows him to pull her out of her comfort zone for one unforgettable night of adventure…before he disappears without a word.

Three months later, when Jenny and her mother arrive in South Korea to take care of her ailing grandmother, she’s shocked to discover that Jaewoo is a student at the same elite arts academy where she’s enrolled for the semester. And he’s not just any student. He’s a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world—and he’s strictly forbidden from dating.

When a relationship means throwing Jenny’s life off the path she’s spent years mapping out, she’ll have to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love.

Why I’m excited to read this book: I don’t really listen to much K-pop but there’s something about the secret, band member, dating trope which I really love so I can’t wait for this.

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

Young Adult Horror

Jake Livingston is one of the only Black kids at St. Clair Prep, one of the others being his infinitely more popular older brother. It’s hard enough fitting in but to make matters worse and definitely more complicated, Jake can see the dead. In fact he sees the dead around him all the time. Most are harmless. Stuck in their death loops as they relive their deaths over and over again, they don’t interact often with people. But then Jake meets Sawyer. A troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school last year before taking his own life. Now a powerful, vengeful ghost, he has plans for his afterlife–plans that include Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about ghosts and the rules to life itself go out the window as Sawyer begins haunting him and bodies turn up in his neighborhood. High school soon becomes a survival game–one Jake is not sure he’s going to win.

Why I’m excited to read this: I am loving young adult horror at the moment, and I’m excited to read one with a black, queer, boy main character.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Adult Sci-Fi

It’s been centuries since the robots of Earth gained self-awareness and laid down their tools.
Centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again.
Centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
They’re going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers’ new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

Why I’m excited to read this: I love Becky Chambers as an author, she’s so good at writing these sort of soft, thoughtful sci-fi, and this book is no different! With a non-binary main character and a helpful robot I can’t wait for this to release

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

Adult Horror

In horror movies, the final girl is the one who’s left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?

Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she’s not alone. For more than a decade she’s been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette’s worst fears are realized–someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up. 

Why I’m excited to read this: Grady hendrix is known for campy horror premises that actually turn into amazingly frightening stories. I love the idea of a Final Girls Support Group being hunted down by a killer and I can’t wait to find out how it’ll turn out.

The Freedom Race by Lucinda Roy

Adult Sci-Fi

In the aftermath of a cataclysmic civil war known as the Sequel, ideological divisions among the states have hardened. In the Homestead Territories, an alliance of plantation-inspired holdings, Black labor is imported from the Cradle, and Biracial “Muleseeds” are bred.

Raised in captivity on Planting 437, kitchen-seed Jellybean “Ji-ji” Lottermule knows there is only one way fto escape. She must enter the annual Freedom Race as a runner.

Ji-ji and her friends must exhume a survival story rooted in the collective memory of a kidnapped people and conjure the voices of the dead to light their way home.

Why I’m excited to read this: I think this is going to be a tough read that uses speculative fiction to analyse issues of racism, slavery, and resistance. I love these types of political sci-fi books so I’m really excited.

July 20th

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Adult Fantasy

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.

Why I’m excited to read this: This is one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I’m certain I’m going to be rating it five stars. Described as Song of Achilles meets Mulan, and a ‘lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty’ I couldn’t be more excited.

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

Young Adult Fantasy

Natasha’s sister is missing.

Her car was found abandoned on the edge of a local nature preserve known as the Bend, but as the case goes cold, Natasha’s loss turns to burning anger.

She’ll do anything to find answers.

Della’s family has channeled magic from the Bend for generations, providing spells for the desperate. But when Natasha appears on her doorstep, Della knows it will take more than simple potions to help her.

But Della has her own secrets to hide.

Because Della thinks she knows the beast who’s responsible for the disappearance — her own mother, who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong.

Natasha is angry. Della has little to lose.

They are each other’s only hope.

Why I’m excited to read this: This is a southern gothic story, with sapphics. I don’t think I need to say anything more.

The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente

Adult Science Fiction

The future is blue. Endless blue…except for a few small places that float across the hot, drowned world left behind by long-gone fossil fuel-guzzlers. One of those patches is a magical place called Garbagetown.

Tetley Abednego is the most beloved girl in Garbagetown, but she’s the only one who knows it. She’s the only one who knows a lot of things: that Garbagetown is the most wonderful place in the world, that it’s full of hope, that you can love someone and 66% hate them all at the same time.

But Earth is a terrible mess, hope is a fragile thing, and a lot of people are very angry with her. Then Tetley discovers a new friend, a terrible secret, and more to her world than she ever expected. 

Why I’m excited to read this: This book is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the ice caps melted and the world is covered in water. I’m really excited by speculative fiction that tackles climate change issues so I can’t wait.

These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan

Young Adult Fantasy

From New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan, Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses in this sexy, action-packed fantasy about a girl who is caught between two treacherous faerie courts and their dangerously seductive princes.

Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them, even if that means starving on the street. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she’ll do whatever it takes to get her back—including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the Seelie court.

Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie’s only choice is to pose as a potential bride for Prince Ronan, and she soon finds herself falling for him. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. As Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she struggles to resist his seductive charm.

Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty. And with her heart.

Why I’m excited to read this: I have a soft spot for fantasies with hot fairies in so of course I’m looking forward to this book.

The Shattered Crown of Blood and Gold by Rosie Forest

New Adult Fantasy Romance

On the night of her Claiming ceremony, 19 year old Kassya Sylthana is gifted her family’s Magyck, and officially named heir to the Aelvalian throne. However, when rebel forces attack, she’s forced to flee the castle with a man she only just met, leaving her mother and home behind.

Together, the duo navigate the land of Aelvale, and she realises that the world is a very different place from what she had thought.

How many truths will she have to uncover, and how far will she have to go to take back her Kingdom?

Why I’m excited to read this: Fantasy romance is my jam and this one looks like so much fun! I’ve also heard there’s bi, sapphic, and achillean rep here!

July 27th

Once Stolen by D.N. Bryn

Adult Fantasy

No one with half a brain would rob the jungle’s most notorious energy cartel. The vibrations of their power-producing stones are the only thing that calms the mer-snake Cacao’s agonizing sensory condition though—and after being banished from his homeland swamps for similar thefts, he’s desperate.

When his attempt fails stunningly, a chaotic escape leaves him chained to a cartel prisoner: a self-proclaimed hero with a hidden stash of ignits so large, Cacao would never need to steal again. He’s determined to get his hands on it, even if it means guiding her home straight through the mist-laden and monster-filled swamp that exhaled him, with scheming poachers and a desperate cartel leader on their tail.

But the selfish and the self-righteous can only flee together for so long before something snaps…

Why I’m excited to read this: Look, you say autistic main character with a non-binary love interest and I slam that TBR button. I am hyped.

I’m sure there’s loads of books I missed off so what are you most looking forward to releasing in July? Which of these books looks interesting to you?