Must-Have Monday #238
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.
SEVEN books this week!
(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)
Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: West African cast and setting
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads
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Award-winning author Tochi Onyebuchi’s new standalone novel is hardboiled fantasy Raymond Chandler meets P. Djèlí Clark in a postcolonial West Africa
Fortune always left whatever room I walked into, which is why I don’t leave my place much these days.
Veteran and private eye Boubacar doesn’t need much—least of all trouble—but trouble always seems to find him. Work has dried up, and he’d rather be left alone to deal with his bills as the Harmattan rolls in to coat the city in dust, but Bouba is a down on his luck deux fois, suspended between two cultures and two worlds.
When a bleeding woman stumbles onto his doorway, only to vanish just as quickly, Bouba reluctantly finds himself enmeshed in the secrets of a city boiling on the brink of violence. The French occupiers are keen to keep the peace at any cost, and the indigenous dugulen have long been shattered into restless factions vying for a chance to reclaim their lost heritage and abilities. As each hardwon clue reveals horrifying new truths, Bouba may have to carve out parts of himself he’s long kept hidden, and decide what he’s willing to offer next.
From the visionary author of Riot Baby and Goliath, Harmattan Season is a gripping fantasy noir in the tradition of Chandler, Hammond, and Christie that will have you by the throat—both dryly funny and unforgettably evocative.
I’ve been majorly impressed with Onyebuchi’s books in the past (War Girls! Riot Baby!) and I’ve been hearing lots of love for this one from early readers!
You can read the first four chapters here!
Kitemaster by Jim C. Hines Genres: Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy
Representation: Brown (?) MC
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads
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"Providing a cozier fantasy experience that’s both familiar and distinct, Hines’s latest is recommended for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone."—Library Journal
Nial Sarnin is twenty-one—far too young to have lost her beloved husband, Jika. One year after his death, Nial prepares to fly a kite sewn from his wedding shirt, believing it will carry Jika’s spirit to the stars.
But instead of drifting gently skyward, the spirit kite moves under Nial’s direct control, revealing her as a Kitemaster—a rare gift in a world forever ruled by winds and magic.
Her newfound powers attract Captain Wolf of the kiteship Midnight Rain. With runaway Prince Vikaan, Wolf seeks to thwart Queen Kavaya’s ruthless ambition to dominate the skies and conquer all neighboring kingdoms.
Nial may hold the key to stopping Kavaya’s brutal reign and saving countless lives—including those she loves most—but only if she learns to master her extraordinary gift in time.
Every gust of wind promises hope, renewal, and a chance to reshape a world teetering on the brink in this inspiring tale of loss, resilience, and transformation.
Award-winning author Jim C. Hines delivers a deeply personal epic in Kitemaster, a labor of love written over twenty years.
Listen, any time I hear a book is a long-term labour of love of the author’s, it gets my attention. A story someone cared about that much has to be special. And it’s been a few years since I last read a Hines book, but I immensely enjoyed the ones I read! So I have high hopes for Kitemaster!
The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Biracial secondary character (spouse), secondary F/F, secondary Black character, secondary Desi character
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads
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Two parents and their recently-bitten-werewolf daughter try to fit into a privileged New England society of magic aristocracy. But deadly terrors await them – ancient prophecies, remorseless magical trials, hidden conspiracies and the PTA bake sale.
When Vivian’s kindergartner, Aria, gets bitten by a werewolf, she is rapidly inducted into the hidden community of magical schools. Reeling from their sudden move, Vivian finds herself having to pick the right sacrificial dagger for Aria, keep stocked up on chew toys and play PTA politics with sirens and chthonic nymphs and people who literally can set her hair on fire.
As Vivian careens from hellhounds in the school corridors and demons at the talent show, she races to keep up with all the arcane secrets of her new society – shops only accessible by magic portal, the brutal Trials to enter high school, and the eternal inferno that is the parents’ WhatsApp group.
And looming over everything is a prophecy of doom that sounds suspiciously like it’s about Aria. Vivian might be facing the end of days, just as soon as she can get her daughter dressed and out of the door…
I got to read this one early, and I absolutely ADORED it – instant new fave. Magic school from the POV of a very stressed non-magical parent! With tons of Feels, giggles, and really fun magic! Strongly recommended!
You can read an excerpt here!
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian Genres: Adult, Nonfiction, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads
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“An antidote to the loneliness of our species.”—ROBIN WALL KIMMERER
“A master class in how to love the world.”—MARGARET RENKL
A thrilling book about the abounding queerness of the natural world that challenges our expectations of what is normal, beautiful, and possible.
Growing up, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian felt most at home in the swamps and culverts near her house in the Hudson Valley. A child who frequently felt out of place, too much of one thing or not enough of another, she found acceptance in these settings, among other amphibious beings. In snakes, snails, and, above all, fungi, she saw her own developing identities as a queer, neurodivergent person reflected back at her—and in them, too, she found a personal path to a life of science.
In Forest Euphoria, Kaishian shows us this making of a scientist and introduces readers to the queerness of all the life around us. Fungal species, we learn, commonly encompass more than two biological sexes—and some as many as twenty-three thousand. Some intersex slugs mutually fire calcium carbonate “love darts” at each other during courtship. Glass eels are sexually undetermined until their last year of life, a mystery that scientists once dubbed “the eel question.” Nature, Kaishian shows us, is filled with the unusual, the overlooked, and the marginalized—and they have lessons for us all.
Wide-ranging, richly observant, and full of surprises, Forest Euphoria will open your eyes and change how you look at the world.
I’m always here for queer nature! Memoir+nonfic seems to be becoming a thing, maybe? (Thinking of How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler, or Below the Edge of Darkness by Edith Widder Ph.D.) I do not disapprove in the slightest!
Costumes for Time Travelers by A.R. Capetta Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: NB/M
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads
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Calisto and Fawkes are drawn to each other for the first time, again, as they travel from when to when to take on a threat to all they hold dear in this lyrical and playful fantasy from award-winning author A. R. Capetta.
Anyone who has hiked through time knows the town of Pocket. It’s the place travelers first reach after they stumble away from their hometime, passing through on their way to any other when. To Calisto, Pocket is home. They love their grandmother’s shop, which is filled with clothes from every era that are used to make costumes for time travelers. Calisto has no intention of traveling—it’s too dangerous. For Fawkes, traveling is life. He put on time boots when he was young and has been stumbling through eras ever since. When he floats into Pocket, Calisto meets him for the first time, though Fawkes has seen Calisto—in glimpses of what hasn’t happened yet. He’s also seen the villains chasing them both. Now Calisto and Fawkes must rush—from Shakespeare’s London to ancient Crete to California on the eve of a millennium—to save Pocket, and travelers, from being erased. From the Lambda Literary Award–winning author of The Heartbreak Bakery comes a fairy-tale romance that weaves in and out of time, from kiss to kiss and costume to costume.
AHHHH NEW CAPETTA BOOK!!! About a market that DRESSES TIME-TRAVELLERS!!! That is an amazing premise, and Capetta’s prose is always gorgeous. GIMME!
You can read an excerpt here (under the book cover where it says ‘read an excerpt’)!
These Vengeful Gods by Gabe Cole Novoa Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads
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ALL GODS MUST DIE in this searingly relevant YA from award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Bargain and Most Ardently. In a world bound by violence, a teen descended from the god of Death must keep their true identity a secret as they fight their way through a gladiator-style competition towards victory and rebellion against the gods who murdered their family.
Years ago, the descendants of the god of Death were murdered. The few that remain are in hiding, including Crow, a teen who survived the genocide and hides their magic to stay alive. After fleeing their village, Crow now lives with their uncles in the lowest part of the the Shallows.
Life in the Shallows is tough, but Crow’s even tougher. Hiding their magic has made Crow resourceful, cunning, and unbeatable -- which comes in handy as a fighter in the city's lucrative underground fighting ring.
Then, Crow's uncles are arrested for harboring Deathchildren.
With fists tightly clenched, Crow vows to set their uncles free. But to do that, they’re going to need to enter a world that threatens Crow’s very existence. Carefully navigating the politics of the wealthy and powerful, they enter the Tournament of the Gods -- a gladiator-style competition where the winner is granted a favor. As they battle their way towards the winner’s circle, Crow plans to ask the gods for their uncles’ freedom as their reward.
But in a city of gods and magic, you don’t ask for what you want.
You take it.
A nonbinary descendant of Death out to save their family? I’m listening!
You can read an excerpt here (under the book cover where it says ‘read an excerpt’)!
Divine Blessings (The Divine Trilogy #1) by K.R. Thompson Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: F/F
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads
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Forbidden love. Divine powers. A vengeance that could tear the world apart.
Nsiria had always felt different—wishing she could learn to read instead of becoming her father’s perfect little noblewoman. After a forbidden kiss, Nsiria finds herself alone—exiled by her father to a foreign city.
Elara knows what it’s like to be alone. While mourning her mother’s death, she stumbles upon Nsiria. They find a home together in “the grove,” a refuge for the city’s outcasts. Soon, Nsiria’s renewed attempts at teaching herself to read catch the eye of the deity of wisdom, and she is granted powers that can finally make her dream of learning a reality. But her growing feelings for Elara could distract her from the path of knowledge.
When tragedy strikes and Nsiria believes Elara is dead, rage and grief consume her. She vows to exact revenge on the man responsible for her loss. But the path toward his destruction may be the path toward her own, for more than one of the seven deities have set their sights on her.
Haven’t heard much about this one, but it sounds like it could be fun!
Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!
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