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.
TWELVE books this week!
(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black bisexual MC, bisexual love interest, secondary F/F, queernorm world
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.
Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.
Then one of them is murdered.
It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.
If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.
We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.
Raven Scholar took me completely by surprise – I picked it up on a whim, expecting to be disappointed (I’m not very interested in tournament stories) but instead it CATAPAULTED onto my Best of Year list!!! Cannot rave about it enough, I need EVERYONE EVER to read it!!!
You can read the first chapter here!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
Kas of Veldenier is a Slayer, a travelling monster hunter for hire.
Claudia of Trulio is half-human, half-vampyric. Half monster.They should be nothing more than enemies. But when the long-lost remnant of the dragon Ombral turns up, and with it the possibility of unleashing the dragons to wreak havoc on Vil Tresar as they did long ago, Kas and Claudia’s paths converge. Through a shared desire to keep the dragons from returning, they embark on a quest to see the remnant destroyed. Along the way, they will encounter fearsome monsters as well as a burgeoning desire for each other. Can a monster and a monster slayer truly find love together?
Pursuing them from the shadows is Serisa, a vampyric who wishes to see the world burn. And she will need the remnant to make that wish a reality…
I am not usually interested in vampires, but I’ve heard so many great things about this book that I simply MUST give it a try!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: Middle Eastern-inspired cast & setting
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
Odd things shadow Naila Groenhart’s life.
Her touch can bring a flower to bloom and sometimes her eyes flash with gilded flames.
For as long as she can remember, she believed this power to be a figment of her imagination.
Until they find her.
Ruthless hunters.
Their prey? Her flames.When they lure her from Earth to an archaic world, everything she thought a lie turns out to be a dangerous truth.
Until a prince—an heir to the very people who see her power as their heritage—offers to help her find a way home. But this quest is a dangerous one, that may demand an unspeakable price.
With her hunters tailing her every move, Naila must decide what sacrifice she’s willing to make to find a way back. Especially since her presence put something long feared into motion… and ancient secrets, dormant for ages, are starting to stir.
Perfect for fans of plot-heavy, character-driven tales with a touch of romance, A Legend in the Sky launches a spellbinding New Adult epic fantasy series inspired by the ancient Middle East.
Middle Eastern-inspired High Fantasy?! Um, yes freaking PLEASE? And there is a DRAGON on that stunning cover, people!!!
(A Legend In the Sky is not Romantasy, I triple-checked. Allegedly there’s barely any romance at all, with the focus instead on found family and fem-friendship!)
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Trans MCs
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
Notes from a Regicide is a heartbreaking story of trans self-discovery with a rich relatability and a science-fictional twist from award-winning author Isaac Fellman.
When your parents die, you find out who they really were.
Griffon Keming’s second parents saved him from his abusive family. They taught him how to be trans, paid for his transition, and tried to love him as best they could. But Griffon’s new parents had troubles of their own – both were deeply scarred by the lives they lived before Griffon, the struggles they faced to become themselves, and the failed revolution that drove them from their homeland. When they died, they left an unfillable hole in his heart.
Griffon’s best clue to his parents’ lives is in his father’s journal, written from a jail cell while he awaited execution. Stained with blood, grief, and tears, these pages struggle to contain the love story of two artists on fire. With the journal in hand, Griffon hopes to pin down his relationship to these wonderful and strange people for whom time always seemed to be running out.
In Notes from a Regicide, a trans family saga set in a far-off, familiar future, Isaac Fellman goes beyond the concept of found family to examine how deeply we can be healed and hurt by those we choose to love.
Fellman has impressed me deeply with his previous books, and all the early reviews of this one have me expecting to be impressed again!
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC , queernorm world
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
The Lie That Binds Them is the thrilling conclusion to the Soulfire Saga, an epic fantasy series packed with adventure and intrigue, set in a world of ancient myth and dangerous magic.
The Eternity King, Caradan Diar, is dead. But a dread Queen rules in his place and a new age of darkness threatens to overwhelm Khalad.
Tyzanta - greatest of the free cities - has fallen to the Queen's armies. Worse, the leader of the rebellion, Bashar Vallant, is missing, presumed dead.
What hope remains rests with Katija Arvish and her allies. They alone know the truth behind the secrets that hold Khalad together. They alone can break the realm's shackles and deliver freedom to its people.
But to do so they must destroy an ancient god of unimaginable power.
In the end, the lie that binds them may be their only salvation.
'The Darkness Before Them brims with magic, monsters and intrigue, and the depth of the world is wonderfully, enthrallingly complex . . . a delight' Ben Galley
'Full of action, heart, betrayal, and set in a dark, engaging world, The Darkness Before Them continues Ward's ability to deliver doorstopper dark fantasy that you just can't put down' Grimdark Magazine
NO IDEA HOW IT’S ALL GOING TO END AND NOT EVEN A TINY BIT READY!
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
Ferocious and vulnerable poems about redefining acts of creation, destruction, deconstruction, and recreation, from a singular Indigiqueer point of view
a body more tolerable is a collection of powerful and haunting poems full of mythos, fairy tales, allusion, and magic. Divided into three parts, the book takes an intimate exploration of Indigenous grief, trans identity, and frustrated desires in ways that reject perception. Author jaye simpson conjures up dazzling multiverses throughout their mythic journey as they dance and run wild in their own manifestation of girlhood.
In these visceral poems, teeth gleam, graze skin, or sink into flesh, becoming bloodied and exposing the animalistic hunger that lies within. Pulsating with yearning and possibility, a body more tolerable is a book that resists typical notions of physicality and sex to dream of a world more divine.
I don’t read a lot of poetry – I generally feel too dumb for it, honestly! – but I’d really like to give this collection a go.
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Representation: West African cast & setting, queernorm setting
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
From the National Book Award finalist and author of Pet comes a novel set in a magical West African world, about a teen girl who must save her missing twin while learning to navigate her own terrifying new powers.
Somadina and her twin brother, Jayaike, are practically the same person: they finish each other's sentences and make each other whole. When the twins come of age, their magical gifts begin to develop, but while Jayaike's powers enchant, Somadina's cause fear to ripple through her town.
Always an outsider, Somadina now faces blatant--and dangerous--hostility. And things go from bad to worse when her brother—the one person she trusted—vanishes. Somadina knows that no matter the dangers, she must track him down. Even if it means entering the Sacred Forest. Even if it means grueling, otherworldly travel she may not survive. Even if it means finding the hidden places where those closest to the spirit world don't dare to go. Does Somadina have the strength --within both her body and her soul -- for the trying journey ahead?
National Book Award finalist Akwaeke Emezi masterfully weaves a tale of family, identity, and the power of the past, in a world where the extraordinary is ordinary.
It’s AKWAEKE EMEZI, what more needs to be said? It’s Akwaeke Emezi WRITING FANTASY AGAIN, if you don’t have this preordered already go do that now. Now!!!
You can read an excerpt here!
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Black trans bi/pansexual MC, queernorm world
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
WHEN THE WORLD BURNS, ASH WILL RISE.
The explosive sequel to instant New York Times bestselling YA debut Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender.
The hardcover edition features a beautiful jacket with silver foil, a case stamp, an in-world map and illustrated endpapers.
Ever since he rose up against his father and saved New Anglia from destruction, Ash has been struggling to adapt to his new life. He has nightmares every night, haunted by strange black orbs and his screaming dead mother. Ash is sure she’s trying to warn him that the world is still in danger, and becomes determined to find a way to speak to her again―but communicating with the dead isn’t easy, even for an alchemist as powerful as Ash.
The sequel to Infinity Alchemist! Which was written to work as a standalone, but here we are getting more VERY QUEER ALCHEMISTS!
Genres: Fantasy, MG
Representation: West African-inspired cast and setting
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
In her stunning literary debut, Mia Araujo presents a gorgeous reimagining of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, spinning a new story that is accompanied by arresting, ethereal illustrations about twin sisters and how one must venture outside the safety of their home, into the wilderness, in order to find herself and true happiness.
Afia has always felt like half of a whole. Her twin sister, Aya, is perfectly happy with fulfilling their family's expectations of them. But Afia dreams of exploring the world beyond her secluded cliffside home of Dafra. She dreams of adventure.
When she meets a charming shape-shifter named Bakame, who dazzles her with promises of a magical land called Ijabu, Afia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. Although it will mean leaving everything she has ever known behind, including her beloved sister, Afia follows Bakame into the forbidden forests surrounding Dafra, from which no one has ever returned.
Filled with magical sights, a charismatic Queen and her intriguing court, Ijabu is everything that Afia has ever dreamed of. But she soon discovers that nothing is as it seems, and this fantasy world demands a terrible price. With the help of a mysterious trickster, Afia must evade the Queen's hunters and the lost dreamers of Ijabu, who wish to pull her deeper into their web.
Now, Afia must find the courage to survive while standing on her own--or risking losing herself completely to the wonders of Ijabu.
Debut author-illustrator Mia Araujo weaves an extraordinarily luminous and beautiful story, inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, about what it takes to find your true self, even if it means facing your deepest fears.
"Nothing short of an amazing adventure into a fantastic world, Mia Araujo has crafted a beautiful narrative, made all the more incredible by stunning visuals that overflow with heart and soul." -- David F. Walker, Eisner-award winning author of Bitter Root and The Second Chance of Darius Logan
Araujo is a writer AND an artist, and the illustrations she’s shared for her debut have had me SWOONING. I am so, so excited to finally get to read this tomorrow!
(Also let’s please encourage publishers to keep giving us illustrated novels, make that a thing!!!)
Genres: Fantasy, MG
Representation: Desi-inspired cast and setting, disabled brown MC
Published on: 15th April 2025
Goodreads
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief meets One Thousand and One Nights in this thrilling middle grade fantasy from Rick Riordan Presents author Sarwat Chadda about a girl with the magical power to control the elements with her song.
In a land ruled by fierce winged warriors known as eagle garudas, twelve-year-old Nargis is just a poor, lowly human, a Worm who hates the garudas that killed her parents. But even though she can’t fly—and her childhood attempt left her walking with a crutch—she is far from powerless. Nargis is a spirit able to coax small bits of wind, water, fire, and earth to do her bidding through song…well, sometimes.
When Nargis loses control of her power in a high-stakes kite fight, she is exiled. Cast into the desert, she discovers Mistral, an injured boy who turns out to be an eagle garuda, the prince of her enemies! He’s on a mission to take back his throne from a terrible vulture garuda. In spite of their mutual distrust, the two have no choice but to forge an unlikely alliance if they want to escape the desert alive.
And as Nargis and Mistral battle dangerous assassins, befriend crafty sky pirates, and sneak into the mysterious sky castle of Alamut, Nargis discovers she carries a family secret, one that could bring Monsoon’s rains back to the desert, but only if she’s willing to risk her life in the bargain…
Disability rep and song-magic? Plus garudas? SOLD!
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 17th April 2025
Goodreads
As the world falls apart around them, piece by piece, Abigail Fuller spends humanity's final days looking after her husband David.
But that's not true, not really. Abigail isn't David's wife. She's not even human. She's a replacement, built in the image of the real Abigail, who died sixteen years ago.
When the law changes in three weeks, Abigail won't need to be David's wife any longer. She won't need to be a woman, or a human, if she doesn't want to be. She's going to be able to find out exactly who she is.
But if she's not Abigail Fuller, who is she?
Both tender and powerful, Some Body Like Me explores the boundaries of sexuality and the indefinable human capacity for love at the end of the world. Perfect for fans of Emily St John Mandel, Kazuo Ishiguro and Sequoia Nagamatsu.
I suspect I will find this one’s themes too uncomfortable to read it myself, but I still wanted to include it here!
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: M/M
Published on: 20th April 2025
Goodreads
“Kiss me.”
“It’d hurt.”
“It hurts when you don’t kiss me.”Theo Fairgood is still the golden boy, even if he doesn’t have a heartbeat these days.
Kade Renfield is still trouble, even if he’s too busy getting his blood sucked to cause much havoc.
It’s a new year, and things are looking up. The boys are on track to solve the mystery of Theo’s transformation and the strange link tying them together. What’s more, they’ve grown reluctantly fond of each other since the horrifying events of last year, and they’re getting worse at hiding it. For the first time in their lives, they have somebody they can truly be themselves around. The walls both boys built around themselves are crumbling down.
Then tragedy strikes. Theo’s walls fly right back up, more determined than ever to uncover his sire and take him down once and for all. But to figure out who his sire is, they’ll have to decide who they can trust. Enemies lurk in the shadows. Old friends lend a hand or hack it off at the wrist.
In the midst of this new chaos, Kade finds himself plagued by visions of the last people locked into this burning ritual. It’s a strangely familiar story, and it doesn’t have a happy ending.
It wasn’t an accident that Theo was turned into a vampire. It’s not a coincidence that his touch burns Kade. This story started a long time ago, and the next chapter might destroy them both...
The sequel to March’s Blood Tethered! Which I’m currently reading and enjoying. (And thus had to copy THIS instalment’s blurb without reading it. Always tricky!)
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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