#my actual next book is the latest wayward children seanan mcguire novella

[starrlikesbooks]

This was super hard, but here are the 20 books I’m looking forward to this most this year!

Check under the cut for more about each one ✌

1. Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire is the latest book in the Wayward Children series- a series of novellas about kids finding doorways to other lands and then being forced back to our world- and it specifically picks up on the thread of the first one and focuses on the characters and context of the second book, which is my favorite so far. I’m so excited to go back to Jack and Jill!

2. The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson is the final book in the Truly, Devious trilogy, a mystery series spanning time periods AND mysteries. Both of the others were compelling, twisting, and left me full of questions and wanting more, so I am both sad to see the series end and about to explode waiting for it to finally be in my hands.

3. Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans is a magical story of identity and queer kid friendship, and I know its going to make me want to cry. It’s been compared to Ghibli, there are witches, it seems very tender and gentle, and I’m already in love with it.

4. The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller is a super morally gray (and worse) story of murder, ambition, and romance. The author pitches this as “a Slytherin romance”, which I take to mean that this is going to be full of powerful characters, tension, and grit.

5. When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey is a “dark, witchy” comedy about a group of best friends dealing with the consequences of their magic causing the death of a boy on prom night. Magic for Liars was so good, I can’t wait for a magical YA by Gailey.

6. Chosen Ones is Veronica Roth’s first adult novel. I loved Divergent when I was younger, but what makes me really excited was how much I loved the Carve the Mark duology. This book looks like it’ll be just as good as those- maybe better. And it’s a prophecy story 😍

7. The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopolus is pitched as The Raven Cycle meets Simson vs the Homosapien Agenda, which I assume means that it’s TRC except even gayer. Oh, and there’s dark magic involved.

8. The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska (ignore the typo in graphic please) is a retelling of a Scottish fairy tale ballad, which involves a girl rescuer falling in love with an evil queen. Literally, I can die now.

9. A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow takes place in a world where sirens exist, but are oppressed. It centers on a black girl in Oregon who’s secretly a siren, watching the world change and true colors come out as a celebrity reveals herself as a siren.

10. Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters is folky magic centered around a girl and her dead father’s fiddle which can call to ghosts. There’s murder, sapphic characters, and bluegrass. Sign me up!

11. Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar is an epic fantasy story that’s pitched as Stardust mixed with Hindu mythology. I literally cannot think of anything better than that. Oh, and there’s magic court politics *swoon*

12. As the Shadow Rises by Katy Rose Pool is the next book in the Age of Darkness series. Remember me freaking out will I live-blogged reading There Will Come a Darkness? This is the sequel! And it’s gonna be gayer. (I’m silently weeping thinking of getting to read more about my boy)

13. The Other Side of the Sky by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner is the first in a duology. Not much is known about this one except it’s SFF, the world is Ghibli inspired, there’s a goddess, and there’s a prophecy. I’ll be honest, I’m on the fence about this one, solely because one of my most hated books is by this writing duo. But I’m allowing myself to hope! Because each of those things sounds really promising.

14. Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia & Anna-Marie McLemore is about two best friends (one made of stardust) who enter a pageant and talent show to try to save the other’s family diner and change their destinies. It’s magical realism, and it’s apparently queer!

15. Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald is a fantasy quest/coming of age that sounds so good. From the official blurb: “About a queer, self-absorbed socialite, who accidentally kills the one person in her city who can create water–water that’s sourced from the blood of its citizens using a powerful magic–and who must now journey to discover the origins of magic, and take it for herself, before everyone in her city dies of thirst.”

16. We Were Restless Things by Cole Nagamatsu, first of all, has an amazing name, and second of all is made for “fans of Maggie Stiefvater and Neil Gaiman”, so it’s made for me. The plot is about a boy drowning to death in a forest, miles way from any body of water, and his friends, attempting to unravel the mystery of it, stumbling upon the sentience of the forest. I will literally sell all my clothes for this book.

17. Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker is actually by Seanan McGuire, and is the story interwoven through Middlegame via fake excerpts. Middlegame was my favorite book of 2019, and I absolutely love the trend of writing the fake books referenced in other books, so I am ABOUT this.

18. Jade Fire Gold by June C. L. Tan is an epic fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore. It’s about a girl trying to save her grandmother from a cult forming a tense alliance with exiled prince. It’s full of family and revenge- oh, and that girl can steal souls. It’s set to be published in the fall.

19. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn is a modern King Arthur retelling mixed with Southern Black Girl Magic. I literally need no other reason to be hyped af about this book. It’s set for a summer release.

20. Smash It! by Francina Simone not only sounds great, but it’s super satisfying to know it’ll exist soon, because I made a joke months ago asking if there were any high school Othello retellings. Here it is, world! I’ll be real, I’m not 100% on the specific plot, but there’s a high school musical, it’s tagged LGBT on goodreads, and, again, it’s a ya high school retelling of Othello. The release is set for the fall.