Happy Saturday! I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! It’s time for my monthly reading wrap-up for March 2026!
I read a pretty good amount last month. Seven books! Seven! I’m so happy about that; I haven’t read that many books in one month in ages. I also blogged a fair amount as well, so I’m also satisfied with that.
Anyway, let’s just start talking about my StoryGraph statistics from last month!
March Reading 2026
I’m liking what I’ve been doing, so I’m going to continue starting off with my general statistics here first before getting into the more specific stuff. Everything was so much higher last month and I’m really happy about it.
I read 📚 7 books and 📑 3,763 pages in March, and my average star rating was ⭐ 4.04 stars. Also, the average length of the books I read was 📈 537 pages and my average time to finish a novel 🗓️ was 2 days.
😐 MOODS: I had more Moods than usual last month. For this past month, my Moods were Adventurous, Funny, Tense, Lighthearted, Reflective, Mysterious, Informative, Emotional, and Dark.
👢 PACE: The pacing of of the books that I read in March was 57% slow, 29% medium, and 14% fast.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Concerning my average Page Number per book, 71% of them were over 500 pages, and 29% of them between 300 and 499 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: Regarding the ratio here, the books I read were both fiction. As is my usual.
🎭 GENRES: The Genres I read in March were Manga, Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT+, Horror, and Comics.
📄 FORMAT: The Format was 86% print and 14% digital. So the majority of them were physical copies with one of them being an ebook.
📊 STAR RATINGS: I’ve already mentioned this above, but this is what it looks like on the graph. One novel I read I gave 3.75 stars (Brighter Than Nine), four novels I gave 4 stars (Don’t Let the Forest In and three omnibuses of One Piece), and two books I gave 4.25 stars (two omnibuses of One Piece).
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read less during the first half of the month compared to the second half. The highest peak of my reading was on the 28 with a bunch of One Piece, though the days surrounding it were also pretty high (also do to One Piece). Though not very high, my earliest reading spike in the month was the 4th.
So yeah, those were all of my reading stats from last month. I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out. I hope that April is just as wonderful.
For this month, I’ve already read A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson, and I’m planning on getting a review for it out soon. In regards to books that I want to read next, I’m planning on Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, and if I like it, the sequel to it as well. I’d also like to read The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu, and maybe No Gods No Kings by Demetria Paxton. I also want to get back into the Dresden Files still, and am hoping to do so in the next few weeks.
Anyway, as always, thank you for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my March reading in 2026. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!
“Your lack of belief is not proof of something’s lack of existence,” Madam Meng said. “What is real and what is myth? You will often find the truth somewhere in between.”
The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Chinese diaspora folklore in this sequel to the #1 Sunday Times bestseller Darker by Four! The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets the Chinese underworld, drawing inspiration from diaspora folklore, in this epic, sweeping contemporary fantasy duology from Jade Fire Gold author June CL Tan.
Rui has her life back together – or so it seems. Hailed as a hero, she’s finally on her way to becoming an important member of the Exorcist Guild. But she knows the Hybrid Revenants are still out there, and they’re planning something big. Something evil.
Ziziis trapped in the underworld. As his mortal body deteriorates, he realizes he can access the Fourth King’s memories, which may be the key to keeping the mortal realm safe. To save the girl he loves, he must defy fate – and escape Hell.
Yiran watches from the shadows, magicless once more. When he discovers a dark family secret that changes everything he thought he knew, his hunger for power tempts him toward a possible betrayal. And he must decide what he truly stands for – before it’s too late.
As the consequences of the past wreak havoc on the present, three lives bound by the threads of fate must weave a new destiny for themselves – and the realms.
My Review
“What is fate, if not the universe conspiring?” One mused, turning to the gleaming horizon. “As I once told you, Fate connects us through the past, present, and future. It does not care if you have faith in it or not. It simply is, and we are mere moments in its timeline.”
It’s been awhile since Darker By Four.So you can imagine how pumped I was when I saw that the sequel was releasing early this year. It was one of my most anticipated reads for March. I ended up enjoying Brighter Than Nine, just as I hoped I would. I love it when books that I look forward to end up being good.
First off, I really liked how the characters developed here. Rui was just as awesome as in the first book, even if her point-of-view chapters were a little slower in the first half of the book. Her personality is just as strong and fierce, and I was reminded why she was one of my top FMCs to follow in 2024.
We also got to see a lot of Zizi’s POV here in the sequel, which I was ecstatic about. He was one of my favorite characters in book one, and he was just as great here. His chapters were so fun and interesting. Yiran was also a much stronger character here, compared to the first book, and I loved seeing him grow. He honestly kind of pissed me off in Darker By Four, and while there was a little of that here, it wasn’t nearly as annoying, and he had a great character arc.
I loved seeing more of Ash as well, and was so happy that he got to have a few chapters. I love Ash. It was great seeing more of his perspective on things, like his mentor-student dynamic with Rui, and his brotherly relationship with Yiran. And I also liked Yuki, which I wasn’t sure that I would, since he came out of nowhere in the first novel. But he ended up being an interesting character.
“I see you’re intent on being difficult tonight, Cadet Lin.”
Rui shrugged. “Not any more than usual.”
“I need a coffee,” Ash groaned.
Seeing all of the mythology and lore and magic of Tan’s world get expanded upon from the first novel was also amazing. It’s probably my favorite thing about the book – I loved learning more about the underworld, and meeting the other Kings, and discovering the celestial realm.
The romance was also fantastic. Zizi and Rui’s protectiveness was just as great as in Darker By Four, even if the pining during their separation hurt my heart. And I really liked Yiran and Yuki’s relationship here, it was built up really well.
There were only a few things I didn’t really like about Brighter Than Nine. I disliked that the trio – Rui, Yiran, and Zizi – were split up for so much of the book. Their dynamic and banter were some of my favorite things about the first book. There wasn’t a lot of it in this novel, either, which was a little disappointing. One of my least favorite tropes also made a little appearance in the last quarter of the book, which was annoying, but even with it there was a satisfying resolution to everything.
The other thing that kind of annoyed me were a few lines of dialogue. They just kind of took me out a little. The one that comes to mind is when one of the characters starts talking about which parts of their relationship are trope-y, and similar stuff like that. I dunno, it just felt a little meta and it kind of bugged me.
It was magical. Her city. She would save it, no matter what it took. As they sped on, the noise and chaos seemed to fade. For a moment, everything seemed to slow, and she was able to catch her breath. It was just the wind and her and Zizi. And she found herself wishing that this quiet would last forever.
But other than those few things, I thought that Brighter Than Nine was a fantastic book. I even felt that it was better than the first one. The climax was also good, and I ended up liking the ending a lot.
So yeah, this was a great book. I definitely recommend it, especially to fans of June CL Tan’s other stuff, as well as enjoyers of other Asian fantasy, YA, and anime. This novel was a lot of fun.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I hope that everybody has an amazing day/night!
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
What I’m Currently Reading
✯✯ Well, this is a bit embarrassing, but you’ve caught me in between books. Oh well – hopefully I’ll start reading something by tomorrow. I’m definitely reading something this week, though. ✯✯
★★ I thought it was better than Darker By Four, but it wasn’t quite as good as I was hoping. I did like it, however. Also, both book covers are awesome. I’m still deliberating on whether I want to give it 3.5 or 3.75 stars. ★★
☆☆ I’m definitely gonna start the next arc in One Piece wihhin the next week, but I’m not sure if I’m reading it next-next. It’s absolutely on my immediate TBR, though. ☆☆
☆☆ This has been on my radar for a few years, and I’m thinking about reading it in the very near future. I’m still not completely sure about it, however. ☆☆
What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?
Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!
Hey all! It’s rather late, but Happy Wednesday nonetheless!
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.
This week’s book is:
Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan! 🗡️✨
One of my most anticipated books of 2026, and one of my top two anticipated sequels of the first half of the year! (The other being the new Murderbot Diaries book.) I’m so excited for this book!
The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Chinese diaspora folklore in this sequel to the #1 Sunday Times bestseller Darker by Four! The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets the Chinese underworld, drawing inspiration from diaspora folklore, in this epic, sweeping contemporary fantasy duology from Jade Fire Gold author June CL Tan.
Rui has her life back together – or so it seems. Hailed as a hero, she’s finally on her way to becoming an important member of the Exorcist Guild. But she knows the Hybrid Revenants are still out there, and they’re planning something big. Something evil.
Ziziis trapped in the underworld. As his mortal body deteriorates, he realizes he can access the Fourth King’s memories, which may be the key to keeping the mortal realm safe. To save the girl he loves, he must defy fate – and escape Hell.
Yiran watches from the shadows, magicless once more. When he discovers a dark family secret that changes everything he thought he knew, his hunger for power tempts him toward a possible betrayal. And he must decide what he truly stands for – before it’s too late.
As the consequences of the past wreak havoc on the present, three lives bound by the threads of fate must weave a new destiny for themselves – and the realms.
Are you looking forward to Brighter Than Nine? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?
As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!
It’s that time of the month again! Time for one of my favorite posts.
Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.
February has one birthstone – Amethyst. Which means it’s time for purple book covers! I love purple!
Rules: 📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ) and link back to her so she can check out your post. 📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone. 📚 HAVE FUN! 📚 Nominate people if you want!
Darker By Four by June CL Tan
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Hollow by Karina Halle
The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi
The Captive Kingdom by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Crown by Kiera Cass
What are your favorite books with purple book covers? If you participated in Birthstone Books, which books did you choose this February?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have the most amazing day/night!
Here I am. Doing my due diligence with posting my September reading wrap-up for 2024 at a reasonable time in October. By which I mean within the first week. Yay!
I’m very happy with the reading I was able to do last month, and not just because I read (and finished) more books than I did in August. It just felt like I read a good amount of novels and that feeling is good enough for me. And I enjoyed all the books that I read in September, too, which is the best part about it.
But yeah, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month!
September Reading 2024
I read 5 books and 2,299 pages
😐 MOODS: The reading Moods for September were fewer than in August, but there were still five of them. Adventurous was of course the biggest chunk of the pie chart. The second biggest slice is Lighthearted, which I’m not sure has happened before. The other three Moods were Tense, Mysterious and Funny.
👢 PACE: My books from last month were mostly fast paced, but around a quarter of them were slow paced.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 240 and 672 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction in September. As is my usual.
🎭 GENRES: There were less Genres in September than there were in August. Fantasy was the Genre I read there most of, which is always the case. The other four genres were Young Adult, Manga, Middle Grade and LGBT+. (BTW, in case you were wondering, the genre vs. demographic thing still bugs me.)
📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As it always is.) Almost all the books I read were physical copies, but one novel was digital.
⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.35. The ratings I gave were between 3.35 stars and 5.0 stars, so yeah.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a lot during the last two thirds of September. My biggest reading spike of the month was the 23rd, though my reading on the 19th and the 20th were nearly as high. I also read books between the 11th and the 17th, as well as between the 26th and the 28th.
So yeah, I’m pretty satisfied with the stuff I read during September. It was a good month for me this year – and not just because a new Legend of Zelda game came out. The books that I did read, I liked, which is unfortunately something that doesn’t always happen.
I’m not sure what my reading is gonna look like for October this time. I think it’s gonna be more than last month, though, even though I’ve hardly read at all this past week. (Sorry, whenever a new Zelda game comes out, it usually takes up most of my attention for at least a week. That’s just how it is and I’m totally fine with it! 😁🎮) It’s ’cause I have plans to read specific books this month, and there are more of them than what I read in September. So that’s why. But we’ll see what ends up happening.
Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my September reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an wonderful day/night!
The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Chinese diaspora folklore in Darker by Four, the first in an epic contemporary fantasy duology from Jade Fire Gold author June Tan.
A vengeful girl. A hollow boy. A missing god.
Rui has one goal in mind—honing her magic to avenge her mother’s death.
Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet—had he been born with magic.
Nikai is a Reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell. When his master disappears, the underworld begins to crumble…and the human world will be next if the King is not found.
When an accident causes Rui’s power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs. That is, until Rui discovers she might hold the key to the missing death god and strikes a dangerous bargain with another King.
As darkness takes over, three paths intersect in the shadows. And three lives bound by fate must rise against destiny before the barrier between worlds falls and all Hell breaks loose—literally.
Perfect for fans of This Savage Song and Only a Monster, Darker by Four will pull readers into a world of love and desperation and revenge—a world where every deal has a catch, no secret stays buried, and no one is exactly who they say they are.
My Review
Yiran turned from the road. “Why is it that when something bad happens, it’s always the three of us?”
“The hell would I know,” Zizi muttered.
So I found Darker by Four to be… Pretty good. It wasn’t my favorite book of the year by any means, but it wasn’t even close to the worst one. I actually enjoyed most aspects of it. Since it was on my second quarter of anticipated books of 2024, I’m especially happy. Particularly after how The Lost Story and The Girl With No Reflection went for me.
Anyway, the things I primarily liked were (some of) the characters, parts of the plot, some of the world building and the writing. But I also disliked parts of these same aspects of the novel. It’s a little complicated, I guess.
I ended up really liking Rui, which surprised me since I thought I wouldn’t. I’m very picky about the female lead characters that I read about, because most of the time I find that people don’t write them well (regardless of what gender the author is). But I actually really enjoyed her story and character arc, and found her to be decently written.
My least favorite character – and one of the other leads – was Yiran. There were just some things about him that I couldn’t stand, and aspects of his personality and decisions he made annoyed me often. But it seems like most of his stuff was merely building up his character arc for the sequel, so maybe he’ll be more tolerable then.
Nikai is a character that I don’t really have any feelings for. He appeared fairly infrequently and usually only when the plot needed to happen, so he felt more like a plot device sometimes rather than a character. So yeah, I don’t really know what to think about him.
Honestly, Zizi felt more like a main character than Nikai did. He was also one of my favorites and I enjoyed his personality and sass. The eccentric , sassy genius with a secret heart of gold is a character archetype I never get tired of following. His relationship with Rui was also something I loved following.
“You’re not wearing pajamas,” Rui burst out.
“How good of you to notice,” Zizi said.
The romance here was hit or miss for me. As I mentioned above, I really enjoyed what Rui and Zizi had going on. Their banter was great, and everything about their friendship and evolving romance felt very natural. I thought they were a good couple. And there was no love triangle BS going on here, which was something I was concerned about for a time while reading.
I didn’t like the romance between Yiran and Yuki though. Like, it literally came out of nowhere, and was one of the least natural things I’ve read in a while. I’m sure it was put here to set up the other half of the duology, but it still felt like it didn’t really belong here.
Zizi was cradling her face in his hands, gently wiping her tears. “That’s the difference between you and me, Rui,” he said, voice rough. “You want to save the world and the innumerable fools in it, whether they deserve a chance or not. But I— I would give up this entire world for a single breath to leave your lips again. And I don’t need you to feel the same way about me to do it. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The plot was pretty okay and I enjoyed it well enough. Tan clearly wore her inspirations on her sleeve – like certain anime, xianxia, and other eastern influences – but I didn’t find it to be a bad thing. I liked getting the references, haha. I always enjoy reading how an author turns a story with a lot of common and well used tropes to their own. I also predicted most of the twists waayyy ahead of time (like within the first ten chapters early), which was a bit disappointing, but I ultimately didn’t mind too much.
My favorite thing about Darker by Four, however, was definitely the writing itself. There are enough descriptions where you can imagine everything well enough, but there aren’t so many that they’re cluttering up the novel and making it drag. The dialogue also felt very natural and snappy. I liked reading how the characters interacted.
I did find some of the descriptions themselves to be a little lacking, though. I didn’t like how the author described a couple of things, particularly faces. Just… the words used just didn’t feel like they worked too well. Other than that though, everything else was pretty alright.
“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?”
“She means everything.” Zizi had spoken so bluntly it could only be the truth.
So yeah, all in all, I thought that Darker by Four was pretty okay. And the ending was interesting enough that I’m actually interested in reading the sequel to see how everything ends. Against all odds, I’m a little invested in these characters and how their stories will end.
I recommend this to people who enjoy Asian fantasy, YA, and anime. I think it works as a good read for anytime of the year – no particular seasonal vibes stuck out to me.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I hope that everybody has an amazing day/night!
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
Unsouled by Will Wight: This has been on my radar for a year and a half maybe? Not sure. I’ve heard good things about the author’s writing, though. So maybe I’ll read it.
What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?
Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a fantastic day/night!
Happy Wednesday everyone! What’s everybody been reading lately?
WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
CURRENT FEELS: 🥱😒 (bored and annoyed – there’s something about the way this story is told (and how slow it’s being told) that’s getting to me; I’m probably going to DNF it)
Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie: This has been on my radar since it came out this April. It’s kind of been floating in the back of my mind, but it’s also been a bit forgotten about. It’s also gotten a little lost in the shuffle of new releases that have been on my TBR lately. Nonetheless, I’m still interested in reading it!
Darker by Four by June C.L. Tan: This has also been on my radar since April – no, since March (it was actually on my second list of anticipated new books of 2024 that I posted this year). Actually, basically the same reasons for not reading it yet as Lake of Souls apply. I’m thinking I’ll read this after that one though.
Noragami: Stray Stories by Adachitoka: I’m gonna read this this week definitely, though I’m not sure if it’ll be before or after the other two books. Depends when I get ahold of it, I guess. I’ve followed and loved this series for like seven years, and I’m looking forward to the final volume at the end of the year, though I’ll be sad to see it finally end. (Yes, I know the ending has already been out for months. But I’ve managed to stay unspoiled and I want to keep it that way until I have the physical copy in my hands in December!)
What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?
Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a fantastic day/night!
Happy Monday (and April Fools Day) everybody! I’m super early with this post this time. It’s April 1st – you don’t get any earlier in the month than that! So yeah, second quarter SFF releases let’s gooooo!
It’s time to do that thing I’ve done every quarteragain. I’m gonna go over the books that are coming out over the next three months that interest me the most. And they’re pretty much only gonna be science fiction and fantasy. Because that’s mostly what I read.
Anyway, this time I have a list of eight books that I’m interested in. Eight. Never have I had a number so high on one of these. (…I think.) But yeah, you know the drill; I’m only interested in these books – there’s no guarantee that I’m gonna read all of them. We’ll see.
RELEASING: April 2nd
A skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
RELEASING: April 2nd
A seductively twisted romance about loyalty, fate, the lengths we go to hide the darkest parts of ourselves… and the people who love those parts most of all.
Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she’s just inherited — to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement — Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead.
Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family’s property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can’t really live, either. Not while he’s bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There’s only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line.
He needs to kill Wyatt.
With Wyatt’s parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter — the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who’s sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.
RELEASING: April 2nd
The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Chinese diaspora folklore in Darker by Four, the first in an epic contemporary fantasy duology from Jade Fire Gold author June Tan.
A vengeful girl. A hollow boy. A missing god.
Rui has one goal in mind—honing her magic to avenge her mother’s death.
Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet—had he been born with magic.
Nikai is a Reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell. When his master disappears, the underworld begins to crumble…and the human world will be next if the King is not found.
When an accident causes Rui’s power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs. That is, until Rui discovers she might hold the key to the missing death god and strikes a dangerous bargain with another King.
As darkness takes over, three paths intersect in the shadows. And three lives bound by fate must rise against destiny before the barrier between worlds falls and all Hell breaks loose—literally.
Perfect for fans of This Savage Song and Only a Monster, Darker by Four will pull readers into a world of love and desperation and revenge—a world where every deal has a catch, no secret stays buried, and no one is exactly who they say they are.
RELEASING: April 16th
She has power over death. He has power over her. When two enemies strike a dangerous bargain, will they end a war… or ignite one?
Heroes die, cowards live. Daughter of a conquered world, Ruying hates the invaders who descended from the heavens long before she was born and defeated the magic of her people with technologies unlike anything her world had ever seen.
Blessed by Death, born with the ability to pull the life right out of mortal bodies, Ruying shouldn’t have to fear these foreign invaders, but she does. Especially because she wants to keep herself and her family safe.
When Ruying’s Gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again. But to accept this bargain, she must use the powers she has always feared, powers that will shave years off her own existence.
Can Ruying trust this prince, whose promises of a better world make her heart ache and whose smiles make her pulse beat faster? Are the evils of this agreement really in the service of a much greater good? Or will she betray her entire nation by protecting those she loves the most?
RELEASING: April 30th
When her best friend is sacrificed to the devil, she’ll go to hell and back for him.
Plain, poor, plus-size, and autistic, Alesta grew up trying to convince her beauty-obsessed kingdom that she’s too useful to be sacrificed. Their god blessed their island Soladisa as a haven for his followers, but to keep the devil at bay, the church sends a child sacrifice to hell’s entrance every season―often poor or plain girls just like Alesta.
With a head full of ideas for inventions, Alesta knows her best shot at making it to adulthood is to design something impressive for the festival exhibition so she might win a spot in the university―acceptance could guarantee her safety. But Alesta’s flying machine demonstration goes awry, a failure that will surely mean death. What happens is worse: Her best friend and heir to the throne, Kyrian, takes the blame expecting leniency but ends up sacrificed in her place.
To stop the sacrifices forever, Alesta plans to kill the monster that killed her friend. Prepared to save her kingdom or die trying, she travels to the depths of hell only to find Kyrian―alive, but monstrously transformed.
There is no escaping hell or their growing feelings for one another, and the deeper they descend into hell, the closer they come to uncovering a truth about the sacrifices that threatens to invoke the wrath of not only monsters but the gods as well.
RELEASING: May 7th
In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.
Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.
Then an enemy’s iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother’s killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.’s most influential politicians.
As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it’s hard to tell who to trust… Herself included.
The Poisons We Drink is a potent YA debut about a world where love potions are weaponized against hate and prejudice, sisterhood is unbreakable, and self-love is life and death.
RELEASING: June 4th
In this queer reimagining of an Arthurian legend, Knights of the Round Table Lancelot and Tristan set out on a quest to find the missing magician Merlin but instead discover an unexpected romance perfect for fans of The Prince and the Dressmaker and Squire.
When Merlin goes missing and Camelot falls under attack, King Arthur sends his estranged half-sister, Morgan le Fay, and esteemed Knights of the Round Table, Tristan and Lancelot, to find him. As the reluctant trio travels through Albion saving towns from treacherous foes and battling fae, their bonds deepen, and sparks fly between the two knights. Before they can sort through their complicated feelings, an unexpected dark force appears, bringing what just might be the end of Camelot.
From debut author James Persichetti and new talent L.S. Biehler, Tristan and Lancelot: A Tale of Two Knights will sweep readers away with an epic quest and a love story for the ages.
RELEASING: June 18th
Mulan meets Iron Widow in this thrilling silkpunk fantasy about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy and enter the famed and dangerous Engineer’s Guild trials to unravel the mystery of her father’s murder.
Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune.
Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own.
The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?
So yeah, these are all of the books coming out in the next three months that I’m interested in possibly reading. What books are coming out soon that you’re looking forward to? Do we share some of the same ones?
Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night! I also hope that everyone who celebrates had a great Easter yesterday – and here’s a late Happy Easter!! 🐇🐥🥚🧺
