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.
This week is packed, with ELEVEN books this week!
(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Asexual sapphic MC, asexual sapphic love interest
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance—from the perspective of the monster—by Nebula Award-winning debut author John Wiswell
Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love.
Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.
However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way.
Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she’s about to confess, Homily reveals why she’s in the area: she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?
Eating her girlfriend isn’t an option. Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.
And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.
My newest favourite!!! This book is SO MUCH: ridiculously funny, intensely heartfelt, gross, cosy, horrifying, delightful – all while accurately representing how difficult it is to eat spaghetti neatly! In a word: PERFECTION!
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Middle-Eastern MCs
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
A stunning debut novel and an impressive feat of storytelling that pulls together mythology, magic, and ancient legend in the gripping story of a mother’s struggle to save her only daughter
Nadine is a jinn tasked with one job: telling the stories of the dead. She rises every morning to gather pomegranate seeds—the souls of the dead—that have fallen during the night. With her daughter Layala at her side, she eats the seeds and tells their stories. Only then can the departed pass through the final gate of death.
But when the seeds stop falling, Nadine knows something is terribly wrong. All her worst fears are confirmed when she is visited by Kamuna, Death herself and ruler of the underworld, who reveals her desire for someone to replace her: it is Layala she wants.
Nadine will do whatever it takes to keep her daughter safe, but Kamuna has little patience and a ruthless drive to get what she has come for. Layala’s fate, meanwhile, hangs in the balance.
Rooted in Middle Eastern mythology, Rania Hanna deftly weaves subtle, yet breathtaking, magic through this vivid and compelling story that has at its heart the universal human desire to, somehow, outmaneuver death.
I love how strange and unfamiliar this story sounds – like something completely new to me. And unfamiliar = exciting! I want more books drawing from mythologies and influences I don’t know much about, and Jinn Daughter definitely qualifies!
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Ace-spectrum MC, major transmasc character, major bisexual character
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
In a holy city where sins and blessings can be revealed through consecrated touch, Csilla - born without a soul - is worthless to the Church that raised her. But when a series of murders corrodes the magic that keeps the city safe, the Church elders see a use for her flaw: she can assassinate their prime suspect, a heretic with divine heritage, without the stain of sin.
The heretic, however, makes a counter-offer: clear his name and catch the real killer, without becoming a target herself, and he'll use his power to get her a soul. When their investigation catches the attention of Ilan, a ruthless Church Inquisitor demoted for his failure to solve the case, he reluctantly offers his help in order to earn back his position. He’ll bring in the murderer— or failing that, Csilla and the heretic. But as the death toll rises and their hunt pits them against the Faith, Csilla will find that salvation comes at the cost of everything she believes in.
This was pitched to me way back as ‘Queer gothic fantasy with an ace healer, transmasc priest, and chaotic bisexual angel hunting a serial killer in fantasy Vatican’ and that remains ALL I NEED TO HEAR!!!
Genres: Fantasy, Sci Fi
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Ann Leckie is a modern master of the SFF genre, forever changing its landscape with her groundbreaking ideas and powerful voice. Now, available for the first time comes the complete collection of Leckie's short fiction, including a brand new novelette, Lake of Souls.
Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe.
Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower.
Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls.
And so much more, in this masterfully wide-ranging and immersive short fiction collection from award-winning author Ann Leckie.
I like the sound of returning to the Raven’s Tower and Imperial Radch worlds! But will there be shorts set in new places? I don’t mind either way – I’d be happy to check out brand new stuff of Leckie’s, but equally happy if every story is set in universes we already know!
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual gender-nonconforming MC and love interest
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
Their love transcends every boundary. Can it cheat death?
Orphia dreams of something more than the warrior crafts she's been forced to learn. Hidden away on a far-flung island, her blood sings with poetry and her words can move flowers to bloom and forests to grow ... but her father, the sun god Apollo, has forbidden her this art.
A chance meeting with a young shield-maker, Eurydicius, gives her the courage to use her voice. After wielding all her gifts to defeat one final champion, Orphia draws the scrutiny of the gods. Performing her poetry, she wins the protection of the goddesses of the arts: the powerful Muses, who welcome her to their sanctuary on Mount Parnassus. Orphia learns to hone her talents, crafting words of magic infused with history, love and tragedy.
When Eurydicius joins her, Orphia struggles with her desire for fame and her budding love. As her bond with the gentle shield-maker grows, she joins the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece. Facing dragons, sirens and ruthless warriors on the voyage, Orphia earns unparalleled fame, but she longs to return to Eurydicius.
Yet she has a darker journey to make - one which will see her fight for her love with all the power of her poetry.
I pounced on this when it was released in Australia last year, but ended up not finishing it. (Not because it was bad? I just drifted away from it.)I fully intend to give it another go now, though, in honour of its US publication!
Genres: Horror
Representation: Autistic MCs
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
Deep in the recesses of our minds are twisted realities that so closely mirror our own. In these pages, our nightmares are laid bare, made to manifest. There is no waking up; there is no going back once you fall into the tapestry of terrors that await. Are you ready? From courteous neighbors gone awry to the burning brightness of everlasting daylight comes Spectrum: An Autistic Horror Anthology reflective of the vast array of neurodivergent artists in our community and the things that keep them up in the night, the things they can’t look away from.
Don’t Blink.
I am autistic, and I do not know what autistic horror entails specifically – although I have enjoyed both horror written by autistic authors and horror with autistic MCs before, what makes autistic horror distinct from other horror? I don’t know, but I’m eager to find out!
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
A singular, stunning debut that transcends and transfigures genre—at once a bold retelling of biblical tales and an unforgettable contemporary coming-of-age story, connected in collapsing time across millennia.
There are few love stories in the holy books. Love is what ruins. Love is what costs. Love is a flaming sword at our backs, a garden left to ruin and to wild.
In Dayspring, Anthony Oliveira brings to vibrant, glorious life the gospel according to the disciple Christ loved—his companion in the days before the crucifixion, the only instrument that remembers with fidelity his sound.
Sacred, profane, and rich with explicit desire and a poetic attention to form, Dayspring weaves electric and heart-wrenching stories of passion, grief, destruction, and survival into a narrative unmoored in space and time, one that re-examines and re-frames great and doomed figures from scripture and history, even as it casts its keen eye on the trials of modern life.
Seamlessly blending fiction, memoir, and verse in the exhilarating tradition of Anne Carson and Madeline Miller, Dayspring is an immersive, mesmerizing work, one that wrenches beauty from cataclysm and finds bliss in apocalypse.
Despite not being super sure exactly what this book is about, I’ve been looking forward to it since the pub deal was announced! You queer Biblical stuff, I am there by default!
Genres: Horror
Representation: Black MCs
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
Be warned, dear reader: The Black girls survive in this one.
Celebrating a new generation of bestselling and acclaimed Black writers, The Black Girl Survives in This One makes space for Black girls in horror. Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle spirits, and face down death. Prepare to be terrified and left breathless by the pieces in this anthology.
The bestselling and acclaimed authors include Erin E. Adams, Monica Brashears, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Desiree S. Evans, Saraciea J. Fennell, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Daka Hermon, Justina Ireland, L. L. McKinney, Brittney Morris, Maritza & Maika Moulite, Eden Royce, and Vincent Tirado, with a foreword by Tananarive Due.
Okay, so when I first heard about this anthology, I thought it was a collection of horror stories where the reader could go in knowing the Black girls survive – whatever other scary stuff was in there, you wouldn’t have to worry about THAT, at least.
But taking a closer look…it kinda sounds like the Black girls might be the scary ones??? Either in a scary-to-the-monsters way, or monstrous themselves??? Which sounds FREAKING EPIC??? I need this immediately!!!
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Chinese cast and setting, Bisexual MCs
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
EVEN GODS NEED TO FORGET.
A girl who lost her magic. The boy who found it. And a city having one Hell of a time . . .
As an Exorcist-in-training, Rui is tasked with purging the city of Revenants, souls of the dead who have returned to feast on the energy of the living. For Rui, the fight is personal - a Revenant murdered her mother, and she wants revenge.
But Rui's first encounter with a Revenant is nothing like she expects. And when she is nearly killed protecting Yiran, the spoiled, magicless youngest son of one of the most powerful families in the Exorcist Guild, Rui uses a volatile spell to transfer her magic to him.
The pair soon realise that the spell cannot be undone. And as Revenants overrun the city and Rui's hope of revenge fades, Rui is willing to do whatever it takes to regain her magic. Even if that means making a deal with a shadowy stranger to track down a god who does not wish to be found . . .
A sparkling urban fantasy with an achingly slow burn romance at its heart, Darker By Four is the perfect book for fans of Legendborn and The Mortal Instruments , as well as anyone looking to immerse themselves in a shadowy world brimming with magic.
I have seen no mentions of a love triangle, which is reassuring (I only like them if they end in polyamory), as everything else about this sounds great! And the early reviews have been GLOWING – I’m looking forward to getting to check it out myself!
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
The western wood is where Ro’s father built their garden, taught her to forage, and told her tales of the faeries who live there—how to summon them, how to protect herself, and warnings of what they are capable of. Now, her father is gone, the garden has withered, and their family is struggling. Her mother and sister want to move into town, but Ro doesn't want to give up the memories of her father and his stories—or the charming village girl who shares Ro's love of the trees. And the forest isn’t ready to let her go either.
One winter night, on her way home from foraging, Ro encounters a fox being attacked by a bear. She fights the bear to save the fox’s life, only to see the bear turn into a boy after her sister shoots him with an arrow. When the boy wakes, he has no memory of who he is—all he knows is Ro’s name and that he has to kill the fox.
Ro never believed in the faeries from her father’s stories, but she can’t deny the magic surrounding her and that both the boy and the fox are victims of a faerie curse. She’ll have to remember everything her father taught her in order to extract herself from this deadly game and keep her precious fox out of harm’s way.
Between the blurb and the cover, this has a wonderful fairytale feel to it, which I like a lot! And I admit to being curious about that fox…
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Horror
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads
A seductively twisted romance about loyalty, fate, the lengths we go to hide the darkest parts of ourselves . . . and the people who love those parts most of all.
Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she's just inherited -- to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement -- Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead.
Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family's property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can't really live, either. Not while he's bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There's only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line.
He needs to kill Wyatt.With Wyatt's parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter -- the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who's sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.
I have heard so many amazing things about this book that I had to include it. Dark creepiness and all the fucked-up feels one could ask for (allegedly)! I am very hopeful for it!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
Thanks for this post! I ended up pre-ordering The Faithful Dark because of it. 🙂
I am honoured! And hope we both love it 😀