Instead of the final Pride post that I had planned for this month, we’re here with part two of an exciting list of new releases this year! Part one is here, and out of the 13 books that I preordered, I read 8. The post I was originally supposed to drop today was one that I’ve been trying to share for literally forever now, but every time I sit down to write it, I end up putting it back in my drafts. I’ve talked about my vampire story a bit now, and the post is meant to be a journey through each of the MC’s eight lovers that he has over the course of 2000 years, but given that I’ve only written one of them (at the time of drafting this post, maybe I’ve started the second one now!) and I have to do extensive research before I begin each one, I don’t actually know a whole lot about them, and I don’t feel like doing all of the research at once. Thus, here we are, with my sticking Andrew’s post back in my drafts for the fourth time and wrapping up Pride early so we can talk about new releases instead. At least I can confirm a solid four of these are queer? I was also reminded to do this list by this week’s That Artsy Reader Girl topic!

Honestly, if Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell doesn’t have a lot of gay joy in it, I’m gonna be pissed. My friend was recently rereading Carry On because she hadn’t read the second one, and she was so amped to get into Wayward Son because it finally meant Simon & Baz together only to discover that NOPE, they ain’t. So gonna be real up front here, I’m already unhappy with this series, and I’m gonna be straight up mad if this continues on the miscommunication train. I am still excited to read it, though, and let’s be real, I’m probably going to read it almost immediately after receiving.

Y’all, Sarah Henning BLEW ME AWAY with The Princess Will Save You, I have never preordered a book so fast. I don’t think I’d even finished reading the first one before I preordered The Queen Will Betray You, which, like, yeah, kind of my MO at this point, but I think I wasn’t even halfway done with it yet? All I know is that this is going to wreck me, and I am so hyped. The retelling vibes in the first one were off the charts, and that we get to see a continuation of that is wowwowWOW, particularly because this one is definitely going to do what Rowell won’t and actually give me romance.

Out of all of the books on this list, I think I’ve had The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad preordered for the longest. And when I honest to Satan say that I have zero idea what this book is about, I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. I loved The Candle & the Flame so much that I preordered Azad’s second book even before this truly phenomenal cover came out. AND SPEAKING OF HOLY MAGIC THAT COVER. Have you ever seen something more beautiful in your entire life? The answer is no, don’t even try to fight me. It’s so gorgeous, and I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m also hella curious what this is actually about, but I also don’t want to know now because going blind into stories is my favorite, and I’m so ready to be swept away by this one!

You had to know A Psalm of Storms & Silence by Roseanne A. Brown was going to be on this list after that incredible debut. A Song of Wraiths and Ruin was, hilariously, a title buy for me because that formula–a blank of blank and blank–has never let me down, and I think I’ve liked literally every book titled like that, so I knew this was going to be great. But five star holy shit must preorder the sequel immediately and will die that it doesn’t come out right this second great? THANK YOU! I’d really like to reread ASOWAR before this one, but I don’t know that I’ll have the time, and I read it recently enough (February) that I mostly remember everything, so we’ll see.

Wait, can we just–I think I’ve talked about Katy Rose Pool’s fantasy trilogy, The Age of Darkness, AT LEAST once a week on the blog for this entire year. Like, for real. It’s gotten to the point where even I’m annoyed at myself, but I just cannot stop. This series is amazing, and I’m rereading the entire thing this autumn so I can write an insane review for it in which I just scream repeatedly into the void. However, because I’m me, I forgot to preorder Into the Dying Light. NO LIE. I’m just sitting here keysmashing about Jude & Anton while never actually preordering the finale like some kind of loon. I only remembered when I went to write this list, and I was double checking what I’d preordered for the second half of the year and was like waaaaaaait WHAT. Anyway, this is my most anticipated book for the second half of the year, perhaps just even of the year, and I will be a shell of my former self when it releases.

Lol @ Margaret Rogerson just casually dropping in to be like “oh hey I have a book out in a couple months whoops” and all of us scrambling to preorder Vespertine, that’s the way to do it to get everyone hyped. This is another book that I have absolutely no clue what it’s about, and I don’t care! It’s Margaret Rogerson, I’m going to love it, end of story. And it’s got another badass woman with a sword on it, so that makes the likelihood of success even more stellar!

When Margaret Owen dropped the cover for Little Thieves, I went full feral and was just “cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool” all over the place because I AM NOT FINE. There’s just so many things–the nod to Hecate, Cernunnos, a little crescent moon Lilith action, I cannot. Even if none of those things end up being true, they’ll still be the vibe I’m getting, and I’m here for it. I’ve mostly ignored all of Owen’s little spoilers about this when she puts up lines from the book, but I have looked at every single piece of artwork in depth, and I’m gonna die. This will be the end of me, if I’ve somehow survived beyond Pool and Rogerson.

I liked Kingdom of the Wicked, but not in a way that made me go crazy, so preordering Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco was mostly so that I’ll remember it’s happening. I’m excited about it, but I may also leave it for a bit before I remember to read it. Although, it does come out in October, and it is about the princes of hell, sooooo probably a good idea to read it for Halloween. It’ll probably be good and hold my attention in a way that’ll make me want to flail, but will also probably be a four star.

Are any of us ready for Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan? Absolutely not. This took so long to go up for preorder, though it’s also possible that I was just being insane because I probably checked every couple of weeks after finishing the second one, although I’m now seeing that the second one came out in 2019, and I read it in 2020, so like? Anyway. I’m not even going to pretend that this isn’t going to do anything but absolutely decimate me, and yes, of course I’m going to reread the first two beforehand, I want maximum self-destruction.

Another case of no idea what this book is about! All I know about All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman is that Foody is 10000% an auto-buy for me until the end of time, I didn’t mind Herman’s writing in The Devouring Gray, and anything with villain in the title is immediately going to be a heck yes please. Also, THAT COVER. AOUV just has so much going for it, and I’m so hyped to finally see what it’s got in store for me.

Shea Ernshaw is probably the person I follow the closest on Instagram, and that is a solid 50/50 on aesthetic & books. Her stories are just so peaceful and relaxing, and I love seeing what she’s up to because it always feels pretty similar to my chaotic writing life. Her books have been knockout five stars for me each time, too, so I preordered A History of Wild Places as soon as it was available, and I’m just hovering over my mouse waiting for her other two to go up for preorder. Also hella stoked that this is releasing during the winter because her books always give me major walk in the trees in the middle of the night while it’s freezing cold out vibes, and I need that.

What is your most anticipated book for the second half of the year?