Must-Have Monday #38!

Posted 7th June 2021 by Sia in Must-Have Mondays / 2 Comments

We have SIX releases-of-interest this week, ranging from portal-jumping to Indian princesses to Jewish golems traversing the world!

Into the Lightning Gate (Gates Saga #1) by Robert Roth
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Gay MC, M/M or mlm, minor nonbinary characters
Published on: 7th June 2021
Goodreads

"An intriguing, well-constructed thriller about a tech whiz on a journey of discovery.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Into the Lightning Gate is a strong setup for the coming series.” —Foreword Clarion Reviews

What happens when you find out everything you know is a lie?

Cameron Maddock always knew he was different somehow. Not just for the obvious reasons, either, but in ways he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Still, he was at the top of his game, and life was good.

But Cam discovers just how different he really is when an ordinary day turns into a nasty encounter with an otherworldly foe. Suddenly, he’s running for his life in a high-stakes, interdimensional game of cat and mouse that leads him to places he’s never even imagined. And after a pair of mysterious new companions miraculously come to his aid, Cam discovers that he’s at the center of a cosmic conspiracy that shakes the foundations of everything he knows.

Don’t miss this fun, fast-paced, sci-fi action thriller that will keep you guessing right up until the explosive ending!

I stumbled across this one somewhere by complete accident, and I’m not sure what to expect – I haven’t seen many reviews for it. But it sounds…potentially interesting??? And it’s out today!

The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Published on: 8th June 2021
Goodreads

In the distant future somewhere in the galaxy, a society has emerged where everyone has multiple bodies, cybernetics has abolished privacy, and individual and family success within the rigid social system is reliant upon instantaneous social approbation.
Young Fift is an only child of the staid gender, struggling to maintain their position in the system while developing an intriguing friendship with the poorly-publicized bioengineer Shria–somewhat controversial, since Shria is bail-gendered.
In time, Fift and Shria unintentionally wind up at the center of a scandalous art spectacle which turns into the early stages of a multi-layered revolution against their strict societal system. Suddenly they become celebrities and involuntary standard-bearers for the upheaval.
Fift is torn between the survival of Shria and the success of their family cohort; staying true to their feelings and caving under societal pressure. Whatever Fift decides will make a disproportionately huge impact on the future of the world. What’s a young staid to do when the whole world is watching?

I loved this, I still love it, and if you want wildly original sci-fi with literally out-of-this-world worldbuilding??? Especially with neo-genders and with whimsy mixed into your revolution??? YOU WILL LOVE IT TOO.

The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms, #1) by Tasha Suri
Genres: High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Southeast Asian-coded cast, F/F or wlw
Published on: 8th June 2021
Goodreads

Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess's traitor brother.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

One of the most-hyped books of the year, and deservedly so. Hoping to have my review for this one up tomorrow for its release day!

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Genres: High Fantasy
Representation: Hungarian-coded cast, half-Jewish MC, disabled love interest, minor F/F or wlw
Published on: 8th June 2021
Goodreads

In the vein of Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestseller Spinning Silver and Katherine Arden’s national bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale, this unforgettable debut— inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology—follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant.

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.

As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

My review of this one went up yesterday, but the tl;dr version is that I consider The Wolf and the Woodsman absolutely unmissable. It’s dark, it’s gorgeous, it’s vicious, it has a tormented prince kneeling to the wolf-girl who loves to torment him, and it’s brilliant. YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

The Hidden Palace (The Golem and the Jinni, #2) by Helene Wecker
Genres: Historical Fantasy
Representation: Ethnically Jewish MC, Arabic MC
Published on: 8th June 2021
Goodreads

In this enthralling historical epic, set in New York City and the Middle East in the years leading to World War I— the long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Golem and the Jinni—Helene Wecker revisits her beloved characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in a rapidly changing human world.

Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, able to hear the thoughts and longings of the people around her and compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a perpetually restless and free-spirited creature of fire, imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they’ll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and pretend to be human—just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Having encountered each other under calamitous circumstances, Chava and Ahmad’s lives are now entwined—but they’re not yet certain of what they mean to each other. 

Each has unwittingly affected the humans around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets a tempestuous female jinni who’s been banished from her tribe. Back in New York, in a tenement on the Lower East Side, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yossele—not knowing that she’s about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector.

Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of World War I, The Hidden Palace follows these lives and others as they collide and interleave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apart—especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?

I reread The Golem and the Jinni earlier this year to prepare myself, and I am READY!

Girls at the Edge of the World by Laura Brooke Robson
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MCs, F/F or wlw
Published on: 8th June 2021
Goodreads

Set in a world on the edge of an apocalyptic flood, this heart-stoppingly romantic fantasy debut is perfect for fans of Rachel Hartman and Rae Carson.

In a world bound for an epic flood, only a chosen few are guaranteed safe passage into the new world once the waters recede. The Kostrovian royal court will be saved, of course, along with their guards. But the fate of the court's Royal Flyers, a lauded fleet of aerial silk performers, is less certain. Hell-bent on survival, Principal Flyer, Natasha Koskinen, will do anything to save the Flyers, who are the only family she's ever known. Even if anything means molding herself into the type of girl who could be courted by Prince Nikolai. But unbeknownst to Natasha, her newest recruit, Ella Neves, is driven less by her desire to survive the floods than her thirst for revenge. And Ella's mission could put everything Natasha has worked for in peril.

As the oceans rise, so too does an undeniable spark between the two flyers. With the end of the world looming, and dark secrets about the Kostrovian court coming to light, Ella and Natasha can either give in to despair . . . or find a new reason to live.

I’ve been looking forward to Girls at the Edge of the World for ages, even if I’m still kind of unclear on what exactly it’s about. It just sounds so awesome I’m excited anyway???

That’s it for this week! Did I miss any new releases you’re looking forward to? Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

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