My Most Anticipated Book Releases of 2020

Hello, Book Ravers! Happy 2020, which means New Year, New Books! Every since these books were announced, I have been so (im)patiently waiting for these new book releases, so I am so happy 2020 is finally here.

1. The Map From Here to There by Emery Lord: AHHH! The sequel to The Start of Me and You is almost here, and I am freaking out. I loved Paige and Max’s story, and I cannot wait to see how their story unfolds in this next book. GIMME GIMME GIMME!

Title: The Map From Here to There
Author: Emery Lord
Publication date: January 7, 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis

Acclaimed author Emery Lord crafts a gorgeous story of friendship and identity, daring to ask: What happens after happily ever after?

It’s senior year, and Paige Hancock is finally living her best life. She has a fun summer job, great friends, and a super charming boyfriend who totally gets her. But senior year also means big decisions. Weighing “the rest of her life,” Paige feels her anxiety begin to pervade every decision she makes. Everything is exactly how she always wanted it to be–how can she leave it all behind next year? In her head, she knows there is so much more to experience after high school. But in her heart, is it so terrible to want everything to stay the same forever?

Emery Lord’s award-winning storytelling shines with lovable characters and heartfelt exploration of life’s most important questions.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

2. The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski: I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Trilogy, and when I found out about The Midnight Lie, I knew I had to have it. Set in the Winner’s world, I’m so excited to see if we get a cameo from Kestrel and Arin. Please, book gods, let there be a cameo by these two! Plus the book comes out on my birthday, so the book fairies are giving me the best birthday present of the year.

Title: The Midnight Lie
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publication date: March 3, 2020
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Fierce Reads/Macmillan)
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis

Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society’s pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colors. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences.

Nirrim keeps her head down and a dangerous secret close to her chest.

But then she encounters Sid, a rakish traveler from far away who whispers rumors that the High Caste possesses magic. Sid tempts Nirrim to seek that magic for herself. But to do that, Nirrim must surrender her old life. She must place her trust in this sly stranger who asks, above all, not to be trusted.

Set in the world of the New York Times–bestselling Winner’s Trilogy, beloved author Marie Rutkoski returns with an epic LGBTQ romantic fantasy about learning to free ourselves from the lies others tell us—and the lies we tell ourselves.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

3. Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett: GIVE ME ALL THE JENN BENNETT BOOKS! If you aren’t new to my blog, you know I adore Jenn and her books so, so much. I love her quirky characters, the swoons, and Bennett’s realistic depiction of teens, sex positivity, and adolescent issues. When I first found out about Chasing Lucky, I may have screamed and immediately added the book to my TBR. There’s a family owned bookstore and a brooding boy . . . OHMYGOD just kill me with your addicting and musing words now, Jenn.

Title: Chasing Lucky
Author: Jenn Bennett
Publication date: April 7, 2020
Publisher: Simon Pulse (Simon Teen)
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis

In this coming-of-age romance perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen, a rule-abiding teen embraces her more rebellious side while falling for her ex-boyfriend’s arch-nemesis.

Josie Saint-Martin is well-versed in the art of concealment. Bullied as a child, she’s spent most of her life with her single mother, moving from city to city, covering up what she doesn’t want others to see, comfortable behind the lens of her favorite vintage camera . . .until Josie’s grandmother dies and they return to her mother’s historical New England hometown to run the family bookstore. There, Josie pulls off the ultimate camouflage: dating Adrian, the Harvard-bound son of the most influential man in town.

But her smokescreen is blown when Adrian breaks up with her during his high school graduation party, and Josie’s poorly executed act of revenge lands her big-time trouble—jail alongside the last person she’d want to share a mugshot with: the mysterious and brooding son of the boat mechanic next door, Lucky Karras.

Forced to spend the summer together in mandatory community service, Josie and Lucky become the talk of their coastal town—shamed, trolled, and publicly disgraced. The weird thing is, Josie starts to not mind, because the pair have more in common than she once thought. A lot more. But during a summer of secrets, in a town built on gossip, everything rises to the surface. Can Josie and Lucky swim past these obstacles, or will they both go down together?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

4. Beach Read by Emily Henry: OH, hi there new adult novel by one of my favorite young adult writers in the world. 2019 was the year I fell into an adult romance genre hole, and I’m so excited to see that Emily Henry is writing a book that will have me falling in even deeper. Give me the swoons, please! 

Title: Beach Read
Author: Emily Henry
Publication date: May 19, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. But as the summer stretches on, January discovers a gaping plot hole in the story she’s been telling herself about her own life, and begins to wonder what other things she might have gotten wrong, including her ideas about the man next door.

Goodreads | Amazon| Barnes & Noble

5. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust: HOLY MOLY this cover is gorgeous. When cover love strikes, you better believe I am looking up the synopsis of the book. I am in need of a deeply rooted fairy tale-esque novel, and this book checks all my boxes: magic, mystery, and curses.

Title: Girl, Serpent, Thorn
Author: Melissa Bashardoust
Publication date: May 12, 2020
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genres: Fantasy, Young adult, Retelling

Synopsis

A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse…

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Review & Favorite Quotes of Hello Girls

 

Title: Hello Girls
Authors: Brittany Cavallaro & Emily Henry
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: August 6th 2019
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Best friends are forged by fire. For Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, that fire happened the night they met outside the police station—both deciding whether to turn their families in.

Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them.

Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and generations of barely getting by.

One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can’t wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. All they need is three grand, fast. And really, a stolen convertible to take them from Michigan to Las Vegas can’t hurt.

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“Am I hallucinating?” Lucille asked. “Are we even on earth or, like, on Tatooine? Is this . . . suburban Tatooine?”
“No,” Winona said in a hushed voice. “It’s a truck stop.”—Hello Girls

WHOA! You guys, Hello Girls threw me through so many loops and unexpected turns. I cannot even count how many times my eyes went wide, my mouth awed, and I kept thinking, “this is so dark.” The two main characters, Lucille and Winona, are total opposites to any outsider, but their friendship is the only thing that is firm and good in their lives. Both characters have faced some traumatic abuse from the men in their families, which, at one point, becomes too much and they both plan an escape from their cruel worlds.

“You absolutely amaze me, Winona Olsen,” Lucille said. “You terrify me, but you amaze me too.”—Hello Girls

As a heavily action-packed story, these fierce girls literally and figuratively drive on unknown roads to escape their pasts; they naively create plans that often end in disappointment, but damn, they never stop trying. The pages of Hello Girls are salted with dark humor which provides the most refreshing opportunity for the characters to be themselves. Their road trip doesn’t hold the best laid out plans, but I love how their minds are constantly in sync and in survival mode.

“Why did people lie? With their words, with their voices, with their bodies, with their beautiful houses and beautiful clothes and sometimes even their faces? Why couldn’t everyone just be what they were?”—Hello Girls

In the end, Hello Girls is a testament to survival, self-acceptance, and the incredible strength found in female friendships. Lucille and Winona are trailblazers writing their own stories, finding their own freedom, and hopefully just a smidge of a happy ending.

“How do I make myself cry?”
“I don’t know!” Lucille said. “How does Jennifer Lawrence do it?”
“Probably just thinks about Hollywood pay discrepancies?” Winona said.—Hello Girls

WIN a 1 of 5 copies of Hello Girls (USA only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Brittany Cavallaro is a poet, fiction writer, and old school Sherlockian. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Charlotte Holmes novels from HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books, including A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE, THE LAST OF AUGUST, and THE CASE FOR JAMIE. She’s also the author of the poetry collection GIRL-KING (University of Akron) and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She earned her BA in literature from Middlebury College and her MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Michigan with her husband, cat, dog, and collection of deerstalker caps.

 

Emily Henry is the author of The Love That Split the World and A Million Junes. She is a full-time writer, proofreader, and donut connoisseur. She studied creative writing at Hope College and the New York Center for Art & Media Studies, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. She tweets @EmilyHenryWrite.

TOUR SCHEDULE

Note: Thank you to the The Fantastic Flying Book Club for having me on this blog tour. And a huge thank you to Harper Teen for providing me an e-ARC to read and review for free in exchange for an honest review. All statements and opinions are my own. Please note that all quoted material is not final and may change in the final publication of the book.

Waiting on Wednesday: Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that highlights pre-publication/upcoming releases that readers cannot wait to get their hands on. It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Title: Hello Girls
Author: Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry
Publication date: August 6, 2019
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis

Best friends are forged by fire. For Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, that fire happened the night they met outside the police station—both deciding whether to turn their families in.

Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them.

Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and generations of barely getting by.

One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can’t wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. All they need is three grand, fast. And really, a stolen convertible to take them from Michigan to Las Vegas can’t hurt.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

If It’s Not a Rant, It’s a Rave: Review of When the Sky Fell On Splendor by Emily Henry

Title: When the Sky Fell on Splendor
Author:  Emily Henry
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: March 12, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

Almost everyone in the small town of Splendor, Ohio, was affected when the local steel mill exploded. If you weren’t a casualty of the accident yourself, chances are a loved one was. That’s the case for seventeen-year-old Franny, who, five years after the explosion, still has to stand by and do nothing as her brother lies in a coma.

In the wake of the tragedy, Franny found solace in a group of friends whose experiences mirrored her own. The group calls themselves The Ordinary, and they spend their free time investigating local ghost stories and legends, filming their exploits for their small following of YouTube fans. It’s silly, it’s fun, and it keeps them from dwelling on the sadness that surrounds them.

Until one evening, when the strange and dangerous thing they film isn’t fiction–it’s a bright light, something massive hurdling toward them from the sky. And when it crashes and the teens go to investigate…everything changes.

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You guys, where do I even start. Emily Henry wrote one of my favorite books in the world, A Million Junes, and I could not wait until her next book to knock me off my feet. And here it is–When the Sky Fell on Splendor–another Henry book that takes the strong elements of the contemporary genre and splashes in frames of science fiction and fantasy. As supernatural elements are spread throughout the pages, the characters are thrown into strange phenomenons as they are dealing with cracked remnants of grief etched by loss.

When the Sky Fell on Splendor is a constant page-turner illuminated with small-town, Midwestern vibes, the disarray of a tragic event, and a group of teenage misfits. About five years ago a local steel mill explosion failed to spare well-loved neighbors, family members, and local heroes. Each character is internally processing the events that rattled their lives, and as summer unfolds their lives are suddenly changed again when they witness the crash of an unidentified flying object.

I really enjoyed When the Sky Fell on Splendor because the book focuses a lot on friendships and love. The book has the atmosphere and nostalgia of 1980’s movies, bringing in a close-knit group of friends (and a cute dog) who often engage in the exploring legends and unexplained events. Each of these teens are going through the motions of grief, loss, growing up, and self-acceptance. Overall, I loved getting lost in this story of amazing weirdos who one night are tossed into an eerie, unexplained event of bright lights, a glowing humanoid, special powers, and “what the hell is going on with the cows?”  

Note: Thank you to good friend Emma at Miss Print for gifting me an early copy of this book. 

Top 5 Tuesday: Books with Magic

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Bionic Book Worm. 

Today’s topic: Top 5 Books with Magic

Feel free to click on the photograph to be linked to the book’s/series’ Goodread’s page.

What are your top books with magic?

Waiting on Wednesday: When the Sky Fell on Splendor by Emily Henry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that highlights pre-publication/upcoming releases that readers cannot wait to get their hands on. It is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Title: When the Sky Fell on Splendor
Author: Emily Henry
Publication date: March 12, 2018
Publisher: Razorbill
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Synopsis

The Serpent King meets Stranger Things in Emily Henry’s gripping novel about a group of friends in a small town who find themselves dealing with unexpected powers after a cosmic event.

Almost everyone in the small town of Splendor, Ohio, was affected when the local steel mill exploded. If you weren’t a casualty of the accident yourself, chances are a loved one was. That’s the case for seventeen-year-old Franny, who, five years after the explosion, still has to stand by and do nothing as her brother lies in a coma. 

In the wake of the tragedy, Franny found solace in a group of friends whose experiences mirrored her own. The group calls themselves The Ordinary, and they spend their free time investigating local ghost stories and legends, filming their exploits for their small following of YouTube fans. It’s silly, it’s fun, and it keeps them from dwelling on the sadness that surrounds them.

Until one evening, when the strange and dangerous thing they film isn’t fiction–it’s a bright light, something massive hurdling toward them from the sky. And when it crashes and the teens go to investigate…everything changes.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Top 5 Tuesday: Books You Read as an ARC

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Bionic Book Worm. 

Today’s topic: Top 5 Books You Read as an ARC

Click on my photographs to be linked to my review or the book’s Goodreads page.

This was one of the first ARCs I ever owned. I won it from a Twitter giveaway hosted by Fierce Reads. I love this trilogy and I am hoping to reread it again before the end of the year. 

A Million Junes was my favorite book of 2017 and I haven’t stopped raving about it since.

I adored this retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I’m so excited for Meagan Spooner’s Robin Hood retelling called Sherwood. Is it 2019, yet?

If there is one contemporary writer I highly recommend to readers it’s Emma Mills. Her books are always so swoony and realistic. Definitely give Foolish Hearts a read–the Froot Loops will make sense after you read the book, lol. 

I was so lucky to receive a manuscript ARC of Legendary from Flatiron Books. I love the world of Caraval, and this book did not disappoint. 

What are some of your favorite books you read as an ARC?

Top 5 Tuesday: Books I Want to Reread

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Bionic Book Worm. 

Today’s topic: Top 5 Books I Want to Reread

Click on my photographs to be linked to my review or the book’s Goodreads page.

Before I started blogging, I remember reading Fangirl and loving it. I adored the romance aspect and I was ecstatic that it took place in a college setting.

I was so afraid that I wasn’t going to love this book as much as everyone else raved about it. But I am so glad I pushed myself to read it last year, and I’m excited to give Scorpio Races a reread this autumn (it’s definitely an autumnal read). 

Fantasy is one of my favorite genres to read, and The Storyspinner did not disappoint in that category. I read this book a few years ago, and I would love to dive back into it someday. 

This fall I am planning to reread a few of my favorite witchy and horror books. Practical Magic is one of my favorite movies, and I am looking forward to diving back into the book again (it’s probably been over 10 years since I read it) and possibly doing a comparison post on the differences between the book and the movie.

You probably know by now, because I never shut up about it, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE A Million Junes by Emily Henry. And when I finally do a reread, I cannot wait to swoon and laugh and cry; this book has all the feels!

What are some books you want to reread?

Top 5 Tuesday: Character Driven Books

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created and hosted by The Bionic Book Worm. 

Today’s topic: Top 5 Character Driven Books

Click on my photographs to be linked to my review or the book’s Goodreads page.

I love the main character Mim so much in Mosquitoland. She is feisty, honest, and holds nothing back. 

Obviously, Alice drives this story and plot to the very last page. 

I adore the The Winner’s Trilogy (it’s probably my favorite trilogy EVER), and Kestrel and Arin are the two main forces that drive this fantasy with so much soul and longing and heartache…GAH I love their journey so much. 

JUNE…in a story filled with grief and loss,  Jack “June” O’Donnell IV provides the much needed humor to make this novel so heartfelt and comforting. With June’s quick wit and humor, this book is like receiving the most welcoming hug and a much-needed cry to get through any sorrowful situation.

As a bildugroman, Jane Eyre speaks through the pages, allowing her reader to follow her progressive footsteps to being an orphan then a governess and then to a Victorian woman with financial means to support herself. Through every page, Jane is fierce and bold, and she never gives up on doing what she feels is right.

What are some of your favorite character driven books?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2017 (so far)

HOSTED by The Broke and the Bookish

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This week’s topic is…

Top Ten Favorite Books of 2017 (so far)

(CLICK ON THE BOOK COVER TO BE LINKED TO ITS GOODREADS’ PAGE or MY REVIEW)

What are some of your favorite books of 2017? Which books of 2017 would you highly recommend that I read?