Must-Have Monday #167
Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.
2024 kicks off with FOUR books this week!
(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)
Blades & Ballet: Enemy of the Wind by Nathan R Maher, Emrys Dailey Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Brown MC
Published on: 2nd February 2024
Goodreads
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"The narghoulim comes! Snickity-snack-with jaws of steel and claws a'clack! Gnash-Gnaw- Bite-Thraw! Here it comes over the mountains, child. Here it comes over the mountains. The narghoulim comes! The narghoulim comes! Tumble down, scamper past. Find your love-enfold and clasp. Drippity-drop, the waterclock stops. There we go over the mountain, child. There we end over the mountains." - Finni nursery rhyme.
Vera's life was filled with a loving family, supportive friends and neighbors who cared for each other. All of that ended when a narghoulim devoured them, or as the finni say, "Taken over the mountain." Hunted by the revenant god, the only place safe for them is the city of Adalace, home of the chevalières - ballet-knights with the power to slay the titanic monsters. But after another close call from their ravenous pursuer, Vera refuses to settle for just survival, instead they enrolled in the Regal Ballet Academy to train in both dance and combat. With help from their friends, dedication, and a whole lot of luck, Vera must breach the Glass to claim their divine power before their sixteenth birthday or else all is lost. It's a race against time with a special prize for winning - the opportunity for vengeance!
"Blades & Ballet - Enemy of the Wind" is a dark fantasy novel with characters rich in diversity. It is a coming-of-age tale set in a unique world inspired by romantic ballets, filled with found family, the strength of friendship, and of finding one's place in the world.
The blurb’s a little confusing, but magic and ballet are a great combination, and I’m always intrigued by stories with non-human protagonists!
A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Published on: 2nd January 2024
Goodreads
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In this romantic fantasy of manners from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft, a magical dressmaker commissioned for a royal wedding finds herself embroiled in scandal when a gossip columnist draws attention to her undeniable chemistry with the groom.
Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.
But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous gossip columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.
Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.
This didn’t work for me, but mostly for very personal reasons unlikely to affect most readers. I think most people who are drawn to this blurb will love it!
Eye of a Little God by A.J. Steiger Genres: Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 2nd January 2024
Goodreads
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The Painted Man is here. I feel him in the darkness. He says, "If you let me in, I'll make the pain stop." God help me, I want to let him.
After losing his delivery job - the last thing binding him to an empty life - Eddie Luther, veteran and drifter, drives into the snowy woods with a bottle of sleeping pills. But instead of eternal silence, Eddie hears a whisper inside his damaged ear.
Help me.
He follows the call and finds a cryptic journal filled with loneliness and longing, a journal whose words seem written for him alone. Guided by the clues in its pages, he embarks on a journey into a shadowy world beneath the small town of Devil's Fork, Nebraska - a world where girls become cats, televisions whisper prophecies, and only those cast out of society can see and use magic . . .
Or maybe Eddie's sanity is slipping. All he knows for sure is that he's falling in love with someone he's never seen, someone who may be more than human - and who will change everything he thinks he knows about the world and his place in it.
‘What happens when your inner demon wants out?’ is an awesome tagline, and I’m intrigued by the sound of Devil’s Fork. And – falling in love with someone you’ve never seen? Magic that only works for outcasts? Yeah, I need to check this out!
Sky's End (Above the Black, #1) by Marc J Gregson Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 2nd January 2024
Goodreads
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Plummet into a kill-or-be-killed competition where a scrappy underdog hell-bent on revenge must claw his way to the top in this thrilling YA fantasy debut
Exiled to live as a Low, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But Meritocracy is a harsh and unforgiving rule on the floating island of Holmstead, and when his ailing mother is killed by monstrous gorgantauns, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle's clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades.
Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, gains a fresh recruit with Conrad. Now he must endure vigorous training, manipulative peers, and the Gauntlet—a brutal final test that yields riches and status to whichever skyship crew kills the most gorgantauns. Forced to serve in the lowest of stations and unseen by all, Conrad overhears whispers of rebellion in the dark. Conrad had never known anything existed below the toxic black clouds of the Skylands . . . until now.
Grab your copy of Book One of the Above the Black trilogy today! This action-packed series is reminiscent of Attack on Titan and The Hunger Games—a great pick for fans of Pierce Brown, Scott Westerfeld, and Veronica Roth.
I’ve been hearing lots of great things about this one, and if you’re looking for something action-packed – with sky-serpents! – then this might do it for you!
You can read the first 8 chapters for free here!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
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