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.
THIRTEEN books for the first full week of Pride!
(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: Black cast
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
A woman journeys into a submerged world of gods and myth to save her home in this powerful historical fantasy that shines a light on the drowned Black towns of the American South.
“Our home began, as all things do, with a wish.”
Jane Edwards hasn’t spoken since she was eleven years old, when armed riders expelled her family from their hometown along with every other Black resident. Now, twelve years later, she’s found a haven in the all-Black town of Awenasa. But the construction of a dam promises to wash her home under the waters of the new lake.
Jane will do anything to save the community that sheltered her. So, when a man with uncanny abilities arrives in town asking strange questions, she wonders if he's might be the key. But as the stranger hints at gods and ancestral magic, Jane is captivated by a bigger mystery. She knows this man. Only the last time she saw him, he was dead. His body laid to rest in a rushing river.
Who is the stranger and what is he really doing in Awenasa? To find those answers, Jane will journey into a sunken world, a land of capricious gods and unsung myths, of salvation and dreams made real. But the flood waters are rising. To gain the miracle she desires, Jane will have to find her voice again and finally face the trauma of the past.
For more from Leslye Penelope, check out The Monsters We Defy.
Much mystery, much beauty, much magic! This sounds like it’s going to be utterly gorgeous, and I have so many questions that need answering!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Korean MCs
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
They'll do anything to outsmart each other. Anything, except fall in love.
In this delightful Korean contemporary fantasy, a fallen trickster god must pair up with a coffee-slinging, shapeshifting fox to track down a demon of darkness before it devours the mortal world.
Kim Hani - the once-terrible gumiho known as the Scarlet Fox - spends her days working at a café and trying not to let a certain customer irk her.
Seokga - a trickster god thrown from the heavens for his attempt at a coup - spends his days hunting demons and irking a particular gumiho.
When a demon of darkness escapes the underworld, and the Scarlet Fox emerges from hiding before quickly vanishing, Seokga is offered a chance at redemption: kill them both, and his sins will be forgiven.
But Hani is prepared to do anything to prevent Seokga from bringing her to justice, even trick her way into his investigation. Anything, that is - except fall in love . . .
I have a soft spot for ancient magical beings working in coffee shops, I don’t know why. I’m not usually into romance, which is clearly going to be a major part of the book, but this sounds kinda cute and very fun, and I’m going to cross my fingers for some interesting worldbuilding!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Mesoamerican-coded setting and cast, blind MC, bisexual MC
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
The interwoven destinies of the people of Meridian will finally be determined in this stunning conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky trilogy.
Even the sea cannot stay calm before the storm. —Teek saying
Serapio, avatar of the Crow God Reborn and the newly crowned Carrion King, rules Tova. But his enemies gather both on distant shores and within his own city as the matrons of the clans scheme to destroy him. And deep in the alleys of the Maw, a new prophecy is whispered, this one from the Coyote God. It promises Serapio certain doom if its terrible dictates are not fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Xiala is thrust back amongst her people as war comes first to the island of Teek. With their way of life and their magic under threat, she is their last best hope. But the sea won’t talk to her the way it used to, and doubts riddle her mind. She will have to sacrifice the things that matter most to unleash her powers and become the queen they were promised.
And in the far northern wastelands, Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, seeks a way to save Tova from the visions of fire that engulf her dreams. But another presence has begun stalking her nightmares, and the Jaguar God is on the hunt.
I definitely need to reread the previous books before diving into the finale, but IT’S THE FINALE OF BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY, LET’S BE EXCITED!!!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
Every night, a Moon shines down on the Impossible City…
New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire takes us back to the world of the award-winning Alchemical Journeys series in this action-packed follow-up to Middlegame and Seasonal Fears .
All across the world, people look up at the moon and dream of gods. Gods of knowledge and wisdom, gods of tides and longevity. Over time, some of these moon gods incarnated into the human world alongside the other manifest natural concepts. Their job is to cross the sky above the Impossible City―the heart of all creation―to keep it connected to reality.
And someone is killing them.
There are so many of them that it's easy for a few disappearances to slip through the cracks. But they aren't limitless.
In the name of the moon, the lunar divinities must uncover the roots of the plot and thwart the true goal of those behind these attacks―control of the Impossible City itself.
I am behind on this series, but clearly I need to hurry up and finish book two beacuse I’ve been hearing AMAZING things about Tidal Creatures!!!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
The Crew
A hulked-out wrath demon who eats gamer rage and loves cats, a shapeshifting lust demon who enjoys their food a bit too much, and a void demon who doesn’t see the point of any of this. They’re not the sort of mercenaries you'd hire on purpose, but Bex wouldn’t trust her life to anyone else.Ever since the ancient Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh decided death wasn’t for him, killed the gods, and conquered the afterlife, times have been rough for a free demon. But the denizens of the Nine Hells aren’t the quitting sort, and Bex and her team have been choking a living out of the Eternal King’s lackeys for years. It’s not honest work, but when Heaven itself declares you a non-person, you smash-and-grab what you can get.
This next gig looks like more of the same…until Bex meets the client.
The Job
Adrian Blackwood is a witch with a problem. His family has skirted the edges of King Gilgamesh’s ire for centuries, but thanks to a decision he made as a child, Adrian is personally responsible for putting his entire coven in Heaven’s crosshairs.Determined to set things right, Adrian drags his broom, caldron, and talking cat thousands of miles across the country to Seattle where he can fight the Eternal King’s warlocks without bringing the rest of his family into the fray. But witchcraft--like all crafts--takes time, and if the warlocks catch him before his spells are ready, he’s dead. So Adrian does what any professional witch would do and hires a team of mercenaries to keep the warlocks off his back. He didn’t expect to get demons, but when you’re already on the killing-edge of Heaven’s bad side, what’s a bit more fuel on the fire?
Sometimes you get more than you paid for.
Neither Adrian nor Bex knew what to expect when they signed their contract, but witch-plus-demon turns out to be a match made in the Hells. With this much chaos at their fingertips, even impossible dreams can come back into reach, because Bex wasn’t always a mercenary. She used to be the Eternal King's biggest nightmare, and now that she’s got a witch in her corner, it’s time to put the old magics back on the field and show Adrian Blackwood just how much Hell he’s hired.A new, action-packed Urban Fantasy from the author of NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST and MINIMUM-WAGE MAGIC!
A new series from Rachel Aaron! I an enough of a nerd to be delighted by the whole Gilgamesh thing, and I’ve read enough of Aaron’s books to be sure this will be a VERY good time! (Also I have been promised a sentient witch’s broomstick, and honestly that’s all I need to hear!)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
Banished from their small, floating village for forbidden magic, can two sisters work together before the harsh crystalline wilderness kills them—or they kill each other?
Elodie—desperate to become the village’s next priestess—hopes to atone for their mother’s magical destruction, still haunting her family after twenty years. Loxy, her younger sister, wants nothing more than to find their mother, banished long ago for the same magic Loxy now hides. Though they are bound by blood, the sisters live in constant contention, always arguing about Loxy’s magic and the danger it poses to their lives in the village.
But when a meteor shower full of divine power grants Elodie magic of her own and gives Loxy new power, the two are cast out of their isolated, floating village, just like their mother before them, and into the crystalline wilderness full of dangerous beasts, deadly landscapes, and vicious people. They are destitute and alone when a voice calls to them, one steeped in the very source of their magic… along with a mysterious person who claims they know how to fix everything. With nowhere else to go, Loxy embraces the help and sets out to find the mother she’s certain still lives, and Elodie reluctantly follows.
But with every step, each sister’s hopes for the future deepen the rift between them. When they are finally confronted with the answers to all their questions, the sisters must learn to work together or lose each other—and perhaps their very humanity—forever.
Sea of Broken Glass is an adult fantasy starring two LGBT+ sisters and is filled with an exploration of family dynamics, deconstruction, and the restoration of things that are broken.
Okay, I genuinely can’t wait to see what a crystalline wilderness looks like! And queer sisters off on a quest that might cost them their humanity??? I massively want to see where this goes!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MCs
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
Mermaids, sea witches, selkies, ahoy! Dive into ten tales of sapphic romantasy.
Separated by land and sea, two lovers ache with yearning. Can a human and a mermaid really make a life together? Elsewhere, a selkie despairs, trapped in an arranged marriage, only for her fated heart mate to pull her in with a sweet song. Across the sea, two pirate lovers-turned-sworn-enemies must work together against a foe trying to steal a goddess's power. On a seductive island, a swordfish shifter and a human crash together and come apart. Can they piece together their shattered supernatural connection?
This gender and identity-inclusive sapphic collection features ten pearl-sized ocean-themed stories of love and adventure on the high seas.
Stories by SD Simper, Elliot Ason, Erin Branch, Ali Williams, Aoibh Wood, Theresa Tyree, Rosemarie Dillon, Erin Casey, Julie Brydon, and Evelyn Shine
Pirates and selkies and a SWORDFISH SHAPESHIFTER?! SIA NEEDS!
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black sapphic MC
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
This epic, dazzling tale based on true events illuminates a woman of color’s rise to power as one of the few purported female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and the forbidden love story that will shape the course of history.
In the tumultuous town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo, Jacquotte Delahaye is an unknown but up-and-coming shipwright. Her dreams are bold but her ambitions are bound by the confines of her life with her self-seeking French father. When her way of life and the delicate balance of power in the town are threatened, she is forced to flee her home and become a woman on the run along with a motley crew of refugees, including a mysterious young woman named Teresa.
Jacquotte and her band become indentured servants to the infamous Blackhand, a ruthless pirate captain who rules his ship with an iron fist. As they struggle to survive his brutality, Jacquotte finds herself unable to resist Teresa despite their differences. When Blackhand hatches a dangerous scheme to steal a Portuguese shipment of jewels, Jacquotte must rely on her wits, resourcefulness, and friends to survive. But she discovers there is a grander, darker scheme of treachery at play, and she ultimately must decide what price she is willing to pay to secure a better future for them all.
An unforgettable tale told in three parts, The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a thrilling, buccaneering escapade filled with siege and battle, and is also a tender exploration of friendship, love, and the search for freedom and home.
How come I never learned THIS kind of history in school??? Nevermind, I’ll just have to DEVOUR THE NOVELIZATION instead!
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
November 1999. North Dana, Massachusetts.
Nesbit Nuñez discovers the partially devoured body of Bastion Attia: star quarterback, secret witch, and Nesbit’s even-more-secret boyfriend.No one knew why brilliant, gentle Bastion lived his life by a seemingly arcane set of rules, including a strange manner of speech and an inability to say his own name.
Now the remaining members of North Coven—Nesbit, Dove, Drea, and Brandy—vow to get answers. Nothing can prepare them for what they uncover: Bastion had been locked in a terrifying battle of wits and wills with something living deep beneath an ancient mausoleum in the localcemetery.
North Coven must confront the red-gloved monster that took piece after piece of Bastion, that he fought until his last breath. Not knowing that Bastion left behind the key to its destruction . . .
Now, Conjurers is a wildly original, spine-chilling YA debut about queer found family and a love that outlasts death.
I’ve heard only great things about this, and I’m intrigued. Apparently there’ll be queer found family and properly scary monsters, so I very much plan on taking a peek!
Genres: Horror, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Trans MC (of colour?)
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
"Cerilli delivers a stunning debut in this gripping paranormal horror novel about queer teens growing up in a community that doesn’t accept them and the insidious danger of apathy."—STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly
"A horrifyingly honest tale, Lockjaw will keep you guessing with its creative storytelling, while its full-bodied characters will keep you reading as they band together to kill the monster haunting their town." —STARRED REVIEW, BookPage
"Experimental, metaphorical, and poetic, this quiet novel is for thoughtful readers not averse to horror themes." —Booklist
"Cerilli does a masterful job of creating a memorable setting. . . . It is hard to believe that Lockjaw is Matteo L. Cerilli’s debut novel. Readers will look forward to many more to come! Highly recommended." —CM: Canadian Review of Materials
Death is neither the beginning nor the end for the children of Bridlington in this debut trans YA horror book for fans of Rory Power and Danielle Vega.
Chuck Warren died tragically at the old abandoned mill, but Paz Espino knows it was no accident — there's a monster under the town, and she's determined to kill it before anyone else gets hurt. She'll need the help of her crew — inseparable friends, bound by a childhood pact stronger than diamonds, distance or death — to hunt it down. But she's up against a greater force of evil than she ever could have imagined.
With shifting timeframes and multiple perspectives, Lockjaw is a small-town ghost story, where monsters living and dead haunt the streets, the homes and the minds of the inhabitants. For readers of Wilder Girls and The Haunted, this trans YA horror book by an incredible debut author will grab you and never let you go.
I’ve been seeing so much love for this, and lots of praise for its take on small-town horror particularly. But the selling point for me is definitely a girl who refuses to let things go and/or politely pretend there isn’t a problem when there is one. Give me all the confrontational girls!
Genres: Horror, YA
Representation: Latine/Latinx MC/s, queer MC/s
Published on: 4th June 2024
Goodreads
Four friends, three days, two lovers, and one very haunted theme park
On a stormy Halloween weekend, Ray enlists his best friends Joaquin, Sofia, and Isabella to help him make a documentary of Malicia, the abandoned theme park off the coast of the Dominican Republic where his mother and brother died in a mass killing thirteen years ago.
But what should be an easy weekend trip quickly turns into something darker because all four friends have come to Malicia for their own reasons:
Ray has come to Malicia to find out the truth of the massacre that destroyed his family. Isabella has come to make art out of Ray’s tragedy for her own personal gain. Sofia has come to support her friends in one last adventure before she goes to med school. Joaquin already knows the truth of the Malicia Massacre and he has come to betray his crush Ray to the evil that made the park possible.
With an impending hurricane and horrors around every corner, they all struggle to face the deadly storm and their own inner demons. But the deadliest evil of all is the ancient malignant presence on the island.
Plenty of queer YA horror this week! Most of the reviews I saw were very positive of Santos’ latest, and apparently it’s going to feature Dominican mythology, which, yes PLEASE!
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Aroace MC, queerplatonic relationships, major nonbinary character
Published on: 6th June 2024
Goodreads
Interstellar fugitive Idrian Delaciel will die by inches, and Remy Canta will laugh as he goes.
Five years ago, Idrian ordered a withering—a death curse—cast on Remy's brother that cost him his life, and Remy hasn't been the same since. Now Remy finally has the materials he needs to return the favour, but he has one major problem. When he casts the withering, it rebounds onto him.
The implications are unthinkable: Remy is fatebound to his brother's killer.
Even worse, the only way to slow the curse for long enough to find a cure is to join forces with Idrian and his criminal crew. But when he gets there, Remy discovers there are more than just their lives at stake.
Idrian is the sole provider of life-saving supplies to tens of thousands of innocents, and when he dies, they'll die with him. Caught up in perilous heists and a race against time, Remy finds himself truly living for the first time since his brother died.
Too bad for Remy—the only way to stop a withering is to kill the witherer.
Winter's Orbit meets The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet in this story of loss, power, and privilege with a queerplatonic hate to love story at its heart.
I got to read this one early, and I loved it; platonic soulmates, messy ethical questions, and fabulous characters! Expect my review shortly, but seriously, consider this one strongly recommended!
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Representation: South Asian-inspired setting
Published on: 6th June 2024
Goodreads
Dancer. Warrior. Executioner.
Deep in the desert a storm is brewing.
Under the blazing sun, an elite troupe of dancers are trained to harness their magic. They are the queen’s most formidable assassins. Aasira has one of the rarest talents – for she is a flame-wielder. Feared by all and envied by some, she uses her power to execute enemies of the crown.
Aasira’s greatest wish is to serve her queen. But on the eve of her graduation, with tensions rising among the dancers and secrets stirring in the shifting sand dunes, she begins to question whether she was truly born to kill…
An epic story about truth, loyalty and betrayal.
The ebook of this is out this week in the US (with the paper edition next week) but the UK gets paper and digital this Thursday! I’ve heard mixed opinions on this one, but dance-magic is always going to be a sure way to get me to check out your book.
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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