Anticipated Releases

This page will track my most anticipated new releases by year they come out, with a brief summary and little snippet as to why I want to read it. When the book does come out, I will write a short little summary of my thoughts and then link my review to those thoughts. The books are in chronological order.

2018

The Maze at Windermere by Gregory Blake Smith

Release Date: January 9th

The Maze at Windermere, a collection of adult historical fiction short stories, is one of my five "most most" anticipated new releases of this year. Each of these stories take place in Newport, Rhode Island, one of my favorite places, all throughout history. I've decided recently that 2018 will be the year of the short story, so I'm excited for this.

January 21st Update: This isn't a collection of short stories and I'm not quite sure how it got advertised as something it is clearly not. But even though it wasn't what I expected it to be, I still really liked it. It was a gripping story, with many different threads that Smith managed to pull off, and while I wasn't crazy about all 5 of the POVs that were covered in this relatively short novel, I still liked most of them. Smith is a hugely skilled writer, and I'm curious to see what he does next. My complete review is here, and I gave it an 8.5 out of 10.

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

Release Date: January 9th

Neal Shusterman is one of my longtime favorite writers, one of the few speculative fiction authors I will actually read anything by. Despite the fact that I have been burned out of YA, I'm still going to follow my favorite writers, which is why Thunderhead is on this list. While I still put Scythe, the first book to this duology, on my Best of 2016 list, I was underwhelmed by it and am hoping that Thunderhead redeems the first book for me. For those who don't know, the Arc of Scythe duology is YA dystopian/utopian series set in a world where death is eradicated, but in order to control the population a profession called Scythe is created. In this duology, we follow two teenagers in their Scythe journey. 

January 27th Update: This is the longest it's been in quite some time between a Neal Shusterman book coming out and me reading it. Normally, these are day of or one day later reads for me. Firstly, though, this isn't a duology. It's a trilogy. I don't know why I'm surprised, Shusterman has a habit of doing that. Readers of the Unwind series may remember that Unwind started as a standalone, was expanded into a trilogy, and then turned into a quartet. But that's neither here nor there. Anyway, Thunderhead is still not the savior I thought it would be. It's a damn good book, don't get me wrong, and I really enjoyed it, but... I don't know. It was harder for me to get into the characters, whereas in his other books I pretty much instantly loved them, and it took a bit more perseverance for me to read it in one sitting. At the same time, it's a good book once I did get into it and I highly recommend the series so far. Overall, Thunderhead gets an 8-8.5 out of 10, my lucky strike when it comes to new releases is still not broken, and my review is here.

Beautiful Star & Other Stories by Andrew Swanston

Release Date: January 11th

I know little about this collection of short stories except that it is adult historical fiction and that it's about history and the people impacted by the events of whatever time they live in, as opposed to them doing the impacting. It seems like it might be a hidden treasure, but I'm keeping my expectations low for it. Admittedly, I mostly want to read it because it promises to be about the sea in some way and I love that.

January 25th Update: This is going to be a good year, reading-wise at least. I can feel it. Anyway, we've got another hit on our hands with Beautiful Star & Other Stories, an actual short story collection (looking at you, The Maze at Windermere). Anyway, Beautiful Star & Other Stories is interesting and easy to read, and Swanston makes subjects I'm usually not interested in, like The English Civil War, interesting. There are a few more misses than hits, but the misses are more that the stories couldn't hold my attention than any fault of Swanston's. Overall, this is a solid, easy to read collection. The rest of my thoughts are here, and I gave it an 8 out of 10.

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

Release Date: January 25th

I'm not really sure why I'm so intrigued by this adult magical realism/historical fiction novel, about English merchants in the 1700s, one of whom sells his ship to a mermaid, but since the first time I heard about it I wanted it. I think it's because I like the ocean, and it seems like fun and inventive historical fiction, which I am all over. 

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

Release Date: February 6th

What is this women's historical fiction doing on this list? Well, I've never read a novel about Cuba before, and I've recently developed a slight interest in Caribbean, and especially Cuban, history. This book is about a privileged Cuban woman forced to deal with political unrest and eventual revolution in Cuba in the 1950s, causing her to flee with her family. I get the impression the story is told by both her granddaughter and her, which isn't my favorite way of telling a story, but I'm trying to keep an open mind. My other reason for wanting to read this book is that when I was a child, one of my favorite books was Esperanza Rising, about a young and privileged girl who sneaks out of Mexico with her mother after the murder of her father by bandits in the 1930s (I think). I also love the title of the book, so I will definitely be picking this one up.

The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson

Release Date: February 8th

So even though Goodreads says that this book comes out February 8th, it's also UK publishing and there's very little about this book even on UK websites like Book Depository, so I have no real idea when it will come out, which I hate because I really, really want to read it. This novel is an adult historical fiction about a little known period in Icelandic history when many people from the island were taken captive as slaves by Barbary pirates in the 1600s. It's supposed to geared towards Hannah Kent fans, which is great because I always need more of her writing in my life.

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Release Date: February 13th

This is a later addition to the group, but I only recently heard about this novel and thought it was too good to pass up. I want to read more internationally, and books about Africa very rarely make my want-to-read list. So this is a novel heavily based in Nigerian legends as well as Emezi's personal experiences and is also about split personality disorder or perhaps schizophrenia, and promises to have an exceptionally gorgeous writing style. It intrigues me.

Shatter by Aprilynne Pike

Release Date: February 13th

Aprilynne Pike is not one of my favorite writers and I only gave Glitter a 7.5 out of 10. At the same time, this is only a duology, and for some reason I really like the idea of it so I am actually excited to continue on with it. For those who don't know, Shatter is the second book of the Glitter duology, which is a YA science fiction series with some dystopian, fantasy, and historical fiction elements, being about a corporation who buys Versailles from the bankrupt French government in the future, and a girl who sells a street drug called glitter. Yes, it's trashy as all hell, not very well-written, but the first book was a lot of fun so I'm really looking forward to the second book.

The Heart Is A Burial Ground by Tamara Colchester

Release Date: March 8th

For some reason, this book is by far my most anticipated release of 2018. I really, really want to read it, which is funny because there is very little about it online, and it's a UK publication which means I had to preorder it through Book Depository, so it probably won't get to my house on its actual release date. Regardless, it's a adult historical fiction novel about mothers and daughters, taking place in three different countries- France, Italy, and the Channel islands, and throughout the decades, from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Losing Leah by Tiffany King

Release Date: March 20th

Losing Leah is one of the few thrillers on this list, because I usually like to find thrillers organically through Goodreads Deals. Anyway, it's a adult thriller about twin sisters, and one of them is taken by a demented captor called "Mother". It seems interesting and original and I'd really like to read it. I doubt it would be the best book I've ever read, or that I'll even like it all that much, but it would probably still be fun and dark.

Bury What We Cannot Take by Kirstin Chen

Release Date: March 20th

I am making a concerted effort to read more internationally, and Bury What We Cannot Take intrigues me as it is about Maoist China. I admit, Chinese (Asian in general) history is not my forte, nor has it ever really interested me, but communism is always fascinating to read about, and, story-wise, it seems to have the most in common with books like Between Shades of Grey and other Stalinist Russia books following the plight of government dissenters. It's an adult/coming of age historical fiction novel set after Mao's revolution, and is about a family trying to leave China to get to British-controlled Hong Kong. There is also a little bit of Sophie's Choice going on, so I'm interested to see what's going to happen.

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhorn

Release Date: March 27th

I have so little patience for the myth of Anastasia that I could barely make it through that Don Bluth movie the first and only time I've watched it. And yet, I Was Anastasia is on this list because, well, it seemed interesting, and I've already established at this point that I will likely read anything that mentions the Romanovs even in passing. So, I Was Anastasia, which is a dual narrative adult historical fiction following Anastasia Romanova and her most famous impostor, Anna Anderson. This should be an interesting story.

West by Carys Davies

Release Date: April 24th

If I were to create a list of my "most most anticipated releases", one might be shocked by the books on that list. For one, the choices that may seem obvious- Neal Shusterman's Thunderhead, Dot Hutchinson's The Summer Children, even Ariel Lawhorn's I Was Anastasia- are pushed aside in favor of more obscure choices, like The Maze at Windermere, or The Heart Is A Burial Ground, or, most shockingly, this novel. I've been going through a Wild West phase, which mostly means I've been really intrigued by the Western genre as a whole and that may or may not have anything to do with the fact that cowboys are hot. West is a adult historical novella following both a widower as he ventures into the American West and the daughter he behind in the early 1800s. Davies' collection of short stories, The Redemption of Galen Pike, also really intrigues me, so if this book works for me I might check that one out. Downside, this does have the potential to be Shot-Blue pretentious, but still, I really want to give it a shot.

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

Release Date: May 3rd or May 8th

Not quite sure what day this novel is coming out, but whenever it does I will read it. It seems to be a dark and sexy psychological thriller, and is apparently along the same lines as a Gillian Flynn novel. Thrillers are always very hit or miss for me, so we'll see how I feel about it. Our Kind of Cruelty, by the way, is about two people, Verity and Mike, who are hopelessly obsessed with one another, but Verity ends up marrying someone else, and Mike is convinced that she can't be serious about him. I figure I've got a 50-50 chance about whether or not I'll like it.

The Summer Children by Dot Hutchinson

Release Date: May 22nd

Despite being underwhelmed by The Roses of May, I'm still going to read The Summer Children because I need to finish this series, and I love that they all have matching covers. Of all the plot-lines, this one interests me the least but it also seems the least like it has anything to do with The Butterfly Garden so I still want to read it. Hopefully, it will be better than The Roses of May. This book is an adult police-procedural-kinda/thriller about an abused boy whose parent were killed by "an angel", and other children who had the same thing happen to them. 

The Story Keeper by Anne Mazzola

Release Date: July 26th
Fun Fact: this novel comes out the day before my birthday. It is another atmospheric historical mystery, advertised as being perfect for those who loved The Good People. In case you can't tell, I'm not a big historical mystery fan, but I am a sucker for any book compared to Hannah Kent's phenomenal books. It is an adult historical fiction novel that takes place on The Isle of Skye, one of the British Isles, and is about dead and missing girls and Skye folklore in the mid 1800s. This is another British book, which means I probably won't get it right when it comes out, since I'll be ordering through Book Depository, but when it does I'll be sure to read it. It seems like a nice summer historical fiction read.

Rust and Stardust by T Greenwood

Release Date: August 7th

This is my last "most most" anticipated release and of course it has to come out in August. It's an adult fictionalized version of the true story that inspired Lolita, about an 11 year old girl who spent 2 years in the captivity of a 52 year old man who pretended to be an FBI agent. I cannot freaking wait. This is ironic, because this novel is also the one I am least likely to like out of all of them, besides Shatter or Losing Leah.

2017

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein
Release Date: May 2nd
This book is a historical mystery in the same vein of many of Elizabeth Wein's books and follows Julie as she investigates the mystery of who attacked her with the help of two new friends. Knowing Elizabeth Wein's work it will likely feature a strong female friendship, which isn't admittedly my favorite thing ever but hey, that's the same thing Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire are both about and I liked both those books just fine. It also stars Verity who was my favorite character in Code Name Verity so that's pretty cool.
May 15th Update: My tastes appear to have changed since reading any of Elizabeth Wein's work because I did not like the writing all that much, and it especially stuck out to me here since it lacked the journal framing device both Verity and Rose had to make the writing at least a little bit excusable. Also, I was not as crazy about the friendship in here (it felt a bit too instant) or Julie's voice. I gave it a 6 out of 10, and here's my review for the rest of my thoughts.

Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott
Release Date: May 19th
This book is a contemporary thriller following a girl named Domino (ignoring the stupid name) who ends up in some mysterious old (probably whorehouse) home run by a woman named Madam Karina. There's also a love story element in there and that's literally all I know about it. I forget how I stumbled across this book in the first place but it intrigued me so much, I put it on the list because why not? I love dark books and this promises to be one of them. I'm excited.
May 19th Update: Ho boy, where to begin. I mean, this was one of the most fun books I've read this year, maybe ever. That doesn't mean it's good, quite the opposite in fact, but it's not bad enough to hate. In fact, I actually recommend it highly. Confused? Check out my review for it. I gave it a 4-4.5 out of 10 because really, it doesn't deserve any higher than that without compromising my dignity as a reviewer.

The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison
Release Date: May 23rd
This is the sequel to The Butterfly Garden, one of my favorite books of last year, and is about a serial killer who slits his victims throats and surrounds them by flowers. Hell yes. I was going to read this book no matter what, but knowing what it's about makes me all the more excited for it.
May 28th Update: I'm sorry to say, ladies and gentlemen, but this book isn't nearly as good as I wanted it to be. It tried to hard to be both a companion novel and a sequel and in doing that ended up failing at both. Because I still like Hutchison's writing and ideas, I gave it a 7 out of 10, higher than it probably deserved, but my hopes for the next book have dimmed considerably and made it go down on my list of priorities for 2018. I will still read it, though. Here's my review for The Roses of May.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Release Date: June 27th
This book is about a Grand Tour around Europe in the 1700s, following a young lord named Monty, who is kind of a cad, as he traipses around Europe in a kind of last hurrah before assuming his duties as the heir to a lordship. There's also some LGBT elements with Monty's crush on his best friend Percy. And, being a history nerd, this is by far my most anticipated release of 2017. I love everything about the summary- the possible mystery elements, the hedonistic travels around Europe, the LGBT elements, the fact that it isn't about WWII, everything. I can't wait.
July 17th Update: It's time for Laura's Unpopular Opinions! This time, let's tackle one of the most widely beloved historical fiction novels to come out in the last 2 years, even more so than books written by authors who actually deserve it. The first 100 pages were great, then we got into the alchemy parts and, eh, not so much anymore. I'm not really going to say much else about it except to link my review and give my rating of 6 out of 10.

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka
Release Date: August 1st
This is a contemporary thriller about a high school girl named Lucinda who is found murdered, and her murder's effect on the town. And that's about all I know about it. I think I found out about this book through BooksandLala, my go to new release source for thrillers because of her amazingly detailed videos. The book intrigued me because it seemed kind of Twin Peaks-y and if there's one thing I love, it's Twin Peaks. I know it's gotten kind of not so great reviews, but I'm still intrigued by it, though I doubt I'm going to love it
August 18th Update: I did not expect to like this book. I was expecting the opposite in fact, but wow, Kukafka can write. This is not a typical thriller in the sense of thrillers, but it is a fascinating character study and has an almost fairy-tale, snow-globe kind of vibe. I did only give it a 7-7.5 out of 10 or 3 stars because I didn't really like the ending, but this is the closest any new release has come to a full 4 stars this year. Here's my review.

The Rattled Bones by SM Parker
Release Date: August 22nd
The Rattled Bones is a paranormal-seeming thriller about a girl who sees ghosts on this mysterious abandoned island with many secrets surrounding it, including a state-forced eviction. This was another BooksandLala discovery, I was looking for mystical, Twin Peaks-esque books when I saw her talk about it and was intrigued enough to check it out. I've been trying to take risks with the kinds of books I pick up because that has worked in my favor before, so hopefully I'll like this.
September 11th Update: Sometimes, taking risks pays off. And sometimes, you get The Rattled Bones. This is hands down one of the worst written books I've ever read, with not so great characters and really, the only redeeming thing about it is the Nancy Drew-esque plot. Do I recommend it? Not in the slightest. It got a astonishingly low score of 2.5 out of 10 and in case you want to read more of my musings on how bad the writing is, here's my review.

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo
Release Date: September 26th
This is not a book, but rather a collection of short stories that take place in the Grishaverse, a fantasy universe I really love. I'm not interested in fantasy at all, but I really like Bardugo's writing and her world of Grisha and am looking forward to going back into the world of the Grisha, hoping that it will lend me some insight on the history of the world and also that it has those Darkling short stories Kindle exclusive short stories I never bothered to buy. Also, it's illustrated, which is awesome.
September 30th Update: Another one of Laura's Unpopular Opinions! This time, let's look at a book that I was hoping would be a bunch of stories that would give us insight on the Grisha universe, but instead ended up being a bunch of run of the mill fairy tale retellings that all had basically the same twist at the end making them predictable. Kind of like A Monster Calls lite. It got a disappointing 5 out of 10 from me, and this is my review.

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Release Date: October 3rd
Manhattan Beach is an adult historical fiction novel taking place during the Great Depression and also World War II and is about gangsters and female divers and a girl who just wants to find her father. I have never read Egan prior to this book, though A Visit From the Good Squad has been on my list for over a year now. Manhattan Beach seems like the perfect place to start, though, because I love historical fiction and I love organized crime and it also seems different from most WWII historical fiction. It also reminds me a bit of Radio Days, one of my favorite movies ever, so I want to read it.
October 14th Update: Um. Okay. This is a mess of a book. I didn't hate it, per say, but it's not very good. It's very confused and jumbled together, with characters coming and going with little to no detail on who they are and why I should care, as well as random jumps from POV to POV with little to no warning. I wished Egan had picked one thing to focus on instead of a million, more specifically I wished she just chose to write about organized crime. It got a 4.5 out of 10, and here's my review for more of my thoughts on it.

Things I'm Seeing Without You by Peter Bognanni
Release Date: October 3rd
This book is YA contemporary about a girl, Tess Fowler, who is reeling from the suicide of the boy she loved. So she drops out of high school and joins her father's funeral planning business. This is a relatively new addition to the list as I just read The House of Tomorrow in February and really liked it and this is Bognanni's sophomore novel and it's about a funeral home so I'm hoping that the John Green and All the Bright Places comparisons are just surface level. Because I really want to like Peter Bognanni as an author.
October 11th Update: I refuse to believe that The House of Tomorrow and this book were written by the same person. Nope, not possible. This book is exactly what I was worried it would be. And even a little worse, because the book lacks a real direction as to where the plot was going to go- is it a funeral home book? Is it about grief? Familial relationships? It's not as bad as it could have been, and I did give it a 5 out of 10, but I think this is the last you'll hear of Bognanni on this blog. Oh, and here's my review.

The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz
Release Date: October 17th
The Midnight Dance is about a ballet dancer who lives at a mysterious ballet finishing school in Italy. I get the impression that it's kind of like Violet Grenade in that it's a contemporary thriller with what seems like fantasy elements thrown in? It's been on my radar since I first heard about it from another Booktuber, HaileyinBookland, who I admittedly just follow because I like her personality and not actually for her book recommendations. Because I love thrillers and I love ballet and I love Italy, this was an easy book to get behind.
October 29th Update: Did you know this book is historical fiction? Yeah, that makes two of us. I mean, it's not really historical fiction, it's more along the same lines as books like (my beloved) Marina and Broken Dolls, but doesn't go as far as those books to fall in the outright horror category. There's some fantasy elements that made me think that perhaps this book is steampunk, but it's not fantastical enough to really make it work. I gave it a 4.5 out of 10, because in the end I didn't hate this book, but I didn't like it very much either. My full review is here. 

The Revolution of Marina M by Janet Fitch
Release Date: November 7th
The Revolution of Marina M is an adult historical fiction about a privileged young woman who joins the Bolsheviks in order to break free of her comfortable life. And it is with great trepidation that I put it on my list, because it's over 800 pages, it seems like textbook women's historical fiction, and also Marina M seems like a character I would hate. But at the same time, how could I not put it on this list? It's Russian historical fiction, seemingly in the same vein as Sashenka, which I did like, and also I just want some historical fiction in my life because I miss it. We'll see how I feel about it when it comes out.
December 15th Update: It took me over a month actually get around to this because I've had a busy couple of months and also it's over 800 pages. And it felt every word of those 800 pages because the writing is so overwrought. I was wrong about it being women's historical fiction- in fact, that might be an insult to women's historical fiction since this is far more melodramatic and sex-laden than most books that fall under that subgenre. I was, however, right about Marina being a heroine I would hate. Or, I didn't hate her, it was more like I found her annoying beyond belief. I doubt I'll be continuing with Marina's story (yes, this behemoth is getting a sequel!), and I gave the book a 4 out of 10. Here's my review.