Ever since seeing Lay’s What’s on my Netgalley TBR post, I figured I should do one too! I currently have 18 ARCs to read — but that number includes a number of unsolicited ARCs and widgets! I’ve already cut down the 18 ARCs from a larger number — my emails are a frightening place indeed. I’m still undecided if I want to click on some of these widgets yet, so I figured I’d share my TBR list today, and gather opinions. As usual, this is going to be a lengthy post, so grab a cup of tea and get cozy!
Book of Night by Holly Black
I’ve yet to read a book by Holly Black, but I know a number of people who enjoyed the The Folk of the Air trilogy! I’ve been meaning to read more fantasy, and seeing Book of Night compared to The Night Circus and Ninth House (which I’m currently reading) definitely has piqued my interest. It’s coming out on May 3rd, and I’m definitely going to try to read it this week or next.
In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.
Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.
Links for Book of Night: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Noh Family by Grace K. Shim
The synopsis for The Noh Family reminds me a little bit of You Have a Match meets The Princess Diaries and Tokyo Ever After, so I’m pretty excited for it! It comes out early next month, so I’m not sure if I’ll have time to read it before then. This might be a book that I’ll have to wait to read after publication date!
When her friends gift her a 23-and-Me test as a gag, high school senior Chloe Kang doesn’t think much of trying it out. She doesn’t believe anything will come of it–she’s an only child, her mother is an orphan, and her father died in Seoul before she was even born, and before her mother moved to Oklahoma. It’s been just Chloe and her mom her whole life. But the DNA test reveals something Chloe never expected–she’s got a whole extended family from her father’s side half a world away in Korea. Her father’s family are owners of a famous high-end department store, and are among the richest families in Seoul. When they learn she exists, they are excited to meet her. Her mother has huge reservations, she hasn’t had a great relationship with her husband’s family, which is why she’s kept them secret, but she can’t stop Chloe from traveling to Seoul to spend two weeks getting to know the Noh family.
Chloe is whisked into the lap of luxury, but something feels wrong. Chloe wants to shake it off–she’s busy enjoying the delights of Seoul with new friend Miso Dan, the daughter of one of her mother’s grade school friends. And as an aspiring fashion designer, she’s loving the couture clothes her department store owning family gives her access to. But soon Chloe will discover the reason why her mother never told her about her dad’s family, and why the Nohs wanted her in Seoul in the first place. Could joining the Noh family be worse than having no family at all?
Links for The Noh Family: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall
I’m always down for a cute, lighthearted rom-com, and The Wedding Season sounds exactly up my alley! I can’t wait to follow Freya’s journey, and read her happily ever after!
Freya Scott is getting married. Her wedding to Matthew, her long-term boyfriend, is the first of eight in her calendar this year, and as someone who prides herself on being meticulously organized, Freya is intent on making it the perfect day to remember.
But when Matthew calls things off hours before they walk down the aisle, Freya’s entire life plan goes up in smoke. Humiliated and heartbroken, the last thing she wants is to attend a summer of other peoples’ nuptials on her own.
Fortunately, her friends have an idea: together they devise a series of outrageous challenges for Freya to complete at each event, designed to distract her from Matthew and what might have been. From getting stuck in an old church bathroom and needing to be rescued by the vicar to making out with a barman at a French chateau, Freya realizes that despite herself, she might just be having fun.
By the time the final wedding arrives, she will discover that the road to a happy ending sometimes has unexpected detours, that “I do” is only the beginning––and that perhaps her own love story isn’t over just yet.
Links for The Wedding Season: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
By now, I think I’m the last person on the planet to read The Wolf and the Woodsman. It’s been sitting on my TBR cart for probably over a year now, and yet. I really do want to get to Juniper and Thorn (and also The Wolf and the Woodsman) before publication date, and luckily I’ve still got two months to check both books off my list!
A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites.
Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their wizard father in a city shifting from magic to industry. As Oblya’s last true witches, she and her sisters are little more than a tourist trap as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate her tyrannical, xenophobic father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world. But at night, Marlinchen and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city’s amenities and revel in its thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theater, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart.
As Marlinchen’s late-night trysts grow more fervent and frequent, so does the threat of her father’s rage and magic. And while Oblya flourishes with culture and bustles with enterprise, a monster lurks in its midst, borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power. Caught between history and progress and blood and desire, Marlinchen must draw upon her own magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it.
Links for Juniper and Thorn: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean
I read and adored Tokyo Ever After last year, and I cannot wait for the sequel, especially since Tokyo Ever After left me wanting more of Izumi’s story. I did think there were a lot of loose ends that needed tying up, so I’m hopeful that Tokyo Dreaming will do just that!
When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true.
Only…
Her parents’ engagement hits a brick wall. The Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage citing concerns about Izumi and her mother’s lack of pedigree. And on top of it all, her bodyguard turned boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship. At the threat of everything falling apart, Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to help win over the council. Which means upping her newly acquired princess game.
But at what cost? Izumi will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?
Links for Tokyo Dreaming: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Youngblood by Sasha Laurens
I never got into the vampire hype back in the 2000s, but the synopsis of Youngblood really piqued my interest! I mean, sapphic vampires at a boarding school? Dark academia meets The Vampire Diaries is definitely something that sounds right up my alley.
Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change.
Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well.
When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on.
Links for Youngblood: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor
I’m definitely interested in anything titled the same thing as a Taylor Swift song! My friend Drew read an ARC of this a couple months ago and really loved it, so I cannot wait to get around to reading this one.
Growing up homeschooled in Berkeley, California, Beatrice Quinn is a statistical genius who has dreamed her whole life of discovering new mathematical challenges at a school like Oxford University. She always thought the hardest part would be getting in, not convincing her parents to let her go. But while math has always made sense to Beatrice, making friends is a problem she hasn’t been able to solve, so her parents are worried about sending her halfway across the world. The compromise: the Connecticut Shakespearean Summer Academy and a detailed list of teenage milestones to check off. She has six weeks to show her parents she can pull off the role of “normal” teenager and won’t spend the rest of her life hiding in a library.
Unfortunately, hearts and hormones don’t follow any rules, and there is no equation for teenage interactions. When she’s adopted by a group of eclectic theater kids, and immediately makes an enemy of the popular—and, annoyingly gorgeous—British son of the camp founders, she realizes that relationships are trickier than calculus. With her future on the line, this girl genius stumbles through illicit parties, double dog dares, and more than your fair share of Shakespeare. But before the final curtain falls, will Beatrice realize that there’s more to life than she can find in the pages of a book?
Links for Long Story Short: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Love Times Infinity by Lane Clarke
I’ve heard really good things about Love Times Infinity, and I cannot wait to read it! I’m already excited to read about Michie and her journey of self-discovery, and growth. And the cover is just gorgeous!
High school junior Michie is struggling to define who she is for her scholarship essays, her big shot at making it into Brown as a first-generation college student. The prompts would be hard for anyone, but Michie’s been estranged from her mother since she was seven and her concept of family has long felt murky.
Enter new kid and basketball superstar Derek de la Rosa. He is very cute, very talented, and very much has his eye on Michie, no matter how invisible she believes herself to be.
When Michie’s mother unexpectedly reaches out to make amends, and with her scholarship deadlines looming, Michie must choose whether to reopen old wounds or close the door on her past. And as she spends more time with Derek, she’ll have to decide how much of her heart she is willing to share. Because while Michie may not know who she is, she’s starting to realize who she wants to become, if only she can take a chance on Derek, on herself, and on her future.
Links for Love Times Infinity: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
This is one that I’ve been meaning to read forever — I definitely failed at reading it for the Animal Crossing readathon, but in my defense, a good friend of mine and I have been planning on buddy reading it! I’m still waiting for them to finish a couple books first before we get to dive into this one, but I’ve got high hopes!
It started with their ancestor Oanh who dared to leave her marriage for true love—so a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons.
Oanh’s current descendant Mai Nguyen knows this curse well. She’s divorced, and after an explosive disagreement a decade ago, she’s estranged from her younger sisters, Minh Pham (the middle and the mediator) and Khuyen Lam (the youngest who swears she just runs humble coffee shops and nail salons, not Little Saigon’s underground). Though Mai’s three adult daughters, Priscilla, Thuy, and Thao, are successful in their careers (one of them is John Cho’s dermatologist!), the same can’t be said for their love life. Mai is convinced they might drive her to an early grave.
Desperate for guidance, she consults Auntie Hua, her trusted psychic in Hawaii, who delivers an unexpected prediction: this year, her family will witness a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son. This prophecy will reunite estranged mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousins—for better or for worse.
Links for The Fortunes of Jaded Women: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
I have to say, I’m pretty excited for this one. We all know that I’ve been on a Bridgerton kick, so I’m excited to have a regency era ARC! I really enjoyed Alexis Hall’s Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, and have heard really good things about this one.
When Viola Caroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood.
Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become.
As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.
Links for A Lady for a Duke: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Bet on It by Jodie Slaughter
I’m obsessed with this purple cover, and while I’ve been a little burnt out on reading romance lately, I’m so excited to read Bet on It! The premise is so interesting, and I’ve been eyeing that Talia Hibbert blurb. I trust Talia Hibbert implicitly, so I’m sure I’ll love this one!
The first time Aja Owens encounters the man of her dreams, she’s having a panic attack in the frozen foods section of the Piggly Wiggly. The second time, he’s being introduced to her as her favorite bingo buddy’s semi-estranged grandson. From there, all it takes is one game for her to realize that he’s definitely going to be a problem. And if there’s anything she already has a surplus of, it’s problems.
In Walker Abbott’s mind, there are only two worthwhile things in Greenbelt, South Carolina. The peach cobbler at his old favorite diner and his ailing grandmother. Dragging himself back after more than a decade away, he’s counting down the days until Gram heals and he can get back to his real life. Far away from the trauma inside of those city limits. Just when he thinks his plan is solid, enter Aja to shake everything up.
A hastily made bingo-based sex pact is supposed to keep this…thing between them from getting out of hand. Especially when submitting to their feelings means disrupting their carefully balanced lives. But emotions are just like bingo callers—they refuse to be ignored.
Links for Bet on It: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | IndieBound
Fraternity by Andy Mientus
This one feels a little bit like a fever dream. Not because of the plot of the book, but because of the author — who was in two of my favorite musicals, Spring Awakening and also Les Misérables. I have to admit, I requested this book mostly because of Andy Mientus. I’m so intrigued to read what he’s written!
In the fall of 1991, Zooey Orson transfers to the Blackfriars School for Boys hoping for a fresh start following a scandal at his last school. However, he quickly learns that he isn’t the only student keeping a secret. Before he knows it, he’s fallen in with a group of boys who all share the same secret, one which they can only express openly within the safety of the clandestine gatherings of the Vicious Circle––the covert club for gay students going back decades. But when the boys unwittingly happen upon the headmaster’s copy of an arcane occult text, they unleash an eldritch secret so terrible, it threatens to consume them all.
A queer paranormal story set during the still-raging AIDS crisis, Fraternity examines a time not so long ago when a secret brotherhood lurked in the shadows. What would Zooey and his friends do to protect their found family?
Links for Fraternity: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | IndieBound
These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall
I’m not one for horror; in fact, I’m the last person to actively seek it out. But I was so interested in this synopsis and plot that I couldn’t help requesting it! I’ll have to be sure to read this in the daytime.
Helen Vaughan doesn’t know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven’t spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she’s shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she’ll be left with nothing.
There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen’s dreams—and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night?And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick?
With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can.
Links for These Fleeting Shadows: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Coven by Jennifer Dugan
By now, you’re probably thinking, Cossette, why do you have so many horror/paranormal ARCs if you don’t like either genre, and I honestly don’t have an answer for you. I am trying to branch out into different genres more, so there’s that! And Coven is a graphic novel, which I’ve been meaning to read more of!
Emsy has always lived in sunny California, and she’d much rather spend her days surfing with her friends or hanging out with her girlfriend than honing her powers as a fire elemental. But when members of her family’s coven back east are murdered under mysterious circumstances that can only be the result of powerful witchcraft, her family must suddenly return to dreary upstate New York. There, Emsy will have to master her neglected craft in order to find the killer . . . before her family becomes their next target.
Links for Coven: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron
I absolutely adored This Poison Heart last year, so you can only imagine my excitement when I got the NetGalley approval email for This Wicked Fate. This Poison Heart ended on such a cliffhanger, and I need to know how it ends now.
Briseis has one chance to save her mother, but she’ll need to do the impossible: find the last fragment of the deadly Absyrtus Heart. If she is to locate the missing piece, she must turn to the blood relatives she’s never known, learn about their secret powers, and take her place in their ancient lineage. Briseis is not the only one who wants the Heart, and her enemies will stop at nothing to fulfill their own ruthless plans. The fates tell of a truly dangerous journey, one that could end in more heartache, more death. Bolstered by the sisterhood of ancient magic, can Briseis harness her power to save the people she loves most?
Links for This Wicked Fate: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
I’m not one for science fiction, but I was definitely drawn by this synopsis! I really enjoy reading short stories, and I find them an easy way to get out of a reading slump. I know this book is already out, but I’m determined to read it before the month ends!
Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts—as a means of self-conception—could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether human, A.I., or other, your life and sentience was dictated by those who’d convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate.
That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free.
Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it’s like to live in such a totalitarian existence…and what it takes to get out of it. Building off the traditions of speculative writers such as Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor—and filled with the artistic genius and powerful themes that have made Monáe a worldwide icon in the first place—The Memory Librarian serves readers tales grounded in the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, but also reaching through to the worlds of memory and time within, and the stakes and power that exists there.
Links for The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Not Exactly What I Had in Mind by Kate Brook
When I saw the email in my inbox comparing this to The Flatshare, I knew I had to read it! I’m always on the lookout for coming-of-age-in-your-20s-and-30s stories, and I’ve got really high hopes for this one.
Hazel and Alfie have just moved in together as roommates. They’ve also just slept together, which was either a catastrophic mistake or the best decision of their lives–they aren’t quite sure yet. Whatever happens, they need to find a way to keep living together without too much drama or awkwardness, since neither of them can afford to move out of the apartment.
Then Hazel’s sister, Emily, and her wife, Daria, come for a visit, and Hazel’s and Alfie’s feelings about each other are pushed to the side in the whirlwind of their arrival. Recently returned from abroad, Emily and Daria are excited for a new life in a new town, and ready to start a family of their own.
As the lives of Hazel, Alfie, Emily, and Daria collide, a complicated chain of events begins to bind them all together, bringing joy and heartache, hope and anxiety, and reshaping their relationships in ways that no one quite predicted.
Links for Not Exactly What I Had in Mind: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Beasts of Ruin by Ayana Gray
I’m so glad to have an ARC of this one, especially considering the way things ended in Beasts of Prey. I have no idea what’s going to happen in Beasts of Ruin, and I couldn’t be more excited to dive in.
Koffi has saved her city and the boy she loves, but at a terrible price. Now a servant to the cunning god of death, she must use her newfound power to further his continental conquest, or risk the safety of her home and loved ones. As she reluctantly learns to survive amidst unexpected friends and foes, she will also have to choose between the life—and love—she once had, or the one she could have, if she truly embraces her dangerous gifts.
Cast out from the only home he’s ever known, Ekon is forced to strike new and unconventional alliances to find and rescue Koffi before it’s too late. But as he gets closer to the realm of death each day, so too does he draw nearer to a terrible truth—one that could cost everything.
Koffi and Ekon—separated by land, sea, and gods—will have to risk everything to reunite again. But the longer they’re kept apart, the more each of their loyalties are tested. Soon, both may have to reckon with changing hearts—and maybe, changing destinies.
Links for Beasts of Ruin: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
So there you have it, friends! Have you read any ARCs from this list? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
I also have an arc of Love Times Infinity, i can’t wait to start it too! Great post 😀
happy reading! hope you enjoy! x
SCREAMING BECAUSE YOU HAVE THESE FLEETING SHADOWS. I didn’t know it was up for request yet, gotta go do that asap as I love Kate’s books!
I also have Juniper & Thorn (I started it but needed to set it aside for a time when I’m in the mood for lyrical & atmospheric – it’s beautiful though) and loved Tokyo Dreaming. Happy reading!
ahh!! i haven’t read any of kate’s books before so i’m excited! happy reading to you too, friend! 🤍