Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: Hawaiian MC
Published on: 11th November 2025
Goodreads
In this spellbinding fantasy debut set in a future where language magic reigns, a young Hawaiian woman must solve a murder to clear her name.
Kea Petrova is dealing with more than her fair share of trouble.At just twenty-five years old, she’s the youngest of five Hawaiian clan leaders living on the Homestead in outer Los Angeles. Nearly 200 years ago, when a catastrophic flood submerged the Hawaiian islands and unleashed magic into the world, these clans forged a treaty with the city, establishing a new Hawaiian homeland. But that treaty is about to expire.
Kea struggles to keep her small clan afloat, scraping together rent each month through odd jobs and selling her own crafted Hawaiian language spells. While her talent for language magic is her saving grace, she feels like a shadow of those who came before her. Just when she thinks things can’t get any more complicated, the murder of Angelo Reyes—LA’s most prominent Filipino activist—turns her world upside-down.
Angelo was killed by a death spell—something that, due to the properties of each school of language magic, can only exist in Hawaiian. With independent spellsmithing being technically illegal, Kea quickly becomes the prime suspect, known for her spellwork on the Homestead. To clear her name, she must unravel the mystery behind Angelo’s murder and confront LA’s most powerful (and dangerous) players, each wielding their own type of magic. The clock is ticking—can Kea save herself, her clan, and the Homestead before it’s too late?
HI YES I ADORE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!
In ascending order: 200 years in the future! 200 years in a future with magic! What is that going to look like???
Hawaiian! We so rarely get Hawaiian ANYTHING in SFF (and what might a future!Hawaiian culture look like without Hawaii?)
And then obviously: LANGUAGE MAGIC LANGUAGE MAGIC LANGUAGE MAGIC!!!
Spells that can only exist in certain languages is SUCH A COOL IDEA, and what is spellsmithing, and do spells reflect anything about the language they’re in or is it random what magic exists with what language???
I DON’T KNOW BUT I’M INCREDIBLY EXCITED TO FIND OUT!
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