Hey guys,
Last year was difficult for a lot of reasons but one saving grace was books and my anticipated releases and 2021 is shaping up to be another exciting one when it comes to all things bookish. There are so many amazing books coming out this year which I’m super excited for so I’ve compiled them all into a list. There are a mix of genres on the list, ranging from Y/A to Adult Contemporary, Romance, Dark Academia to name just a few. I might do a separate list for non-fiction so if that’s something you’re interested in, let me know!
Hopefully you guys find some great books to look forward to this year and some more titles to add to that ever growing TBR! While I’ve done my best to remember all the books I’m excited for this year, I’m sure there’s a few I’ve forgotten to add so I might add them as I go along. Forgive me if any of your faves aren’t on there haha. All links will take you to the Goodreads pages for the books in question.
Publication date: June 10th 2021
An incendiary and utterly compelling thriller with a shocking twist that delves deep into the heart of institutionalized racism, from an exceptional new YA voice. Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect.
Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students’ dark secrets to light. Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can’t escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. Head girl Chiamaka isn’t afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power. Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they’re planning much more than a high-school game…
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Ace of Spades is being pitched as Get Out meets Gossip Girl and I am SO here for it. I’ve followed the author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé over on Twitter for quite a while now and it’s been amazing to see her journey writing this novel and now it’s finally the year this incredible book will be out in the world. I can’t wait to get my hands on it and get obsessed because it’s so up my street. It’s such a lovely bonus when you get excited for a story and get to support a Muslim author at the same time.
Publication date: March 2nd 2021
Reena Manji doesn’t love her career, her single status, and most of all, her family inserting themselves into every detail of her life. But when caring for her precious sourdough starters, Reena can drown it all out. At least until her father moves his newest employee across the hall–with hopes that Reena will marry him.
But Nadim’s not like the other Muslim bachelors-du-jour that her parents have dug up. If the Captain America body and the British accent weren’t enough, the man appears to love eating her bread creations as much as she loves making them. She sure as hell would never marry a man who works for her father, but friendship with a neighbor is okay, right? And when Reena’s career takes a nosedive, Nadim happily agrees to fake an engagement so they can enter a couples video cooking contest to win the artisan bread course of her dreams.
As cooking at home together brings them closer, things turn physical, but Reena isn’t worried. She knows Nadim is keeping secrets, but it’s fine— secrets are always on the menu where her family is concerned. And her heart is protected… she’s not marrying the man. But even secrets kept for self preservation have a way of getting out, especially when meddling parents and gossiping families are involved.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Accidentally Engaged sounds like such a delightful rom-com with plenty of depth and food descriptions galore. It also has the ‘fake relationship’ trope which I’m a total sucker for, so I really hope this delivers on all the promised shenanigans which are sure to come.
Publication date: March 9th 2021
Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…
Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.
Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I’ve heard such amazing things about Talia Hibbert’s books and though I have yet to read the other two instalments in the series, Get a Life Chloe Brown and Take a Hint Dani Brown – I think this is the year I’m finally going to get round to reading them and this latest release sounds just as great. A lot of my trusted reviewers rave for these books so I have high hopes.
Publication date: August 3rd 2021
Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School.
Perched in the Catskill mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she’s returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students—girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds.
Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s history. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget.
It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway, and she’s already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is a so-called “method writer.” She’s eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. Given her history with the arcane, Felicity is the perfect resource.
And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway–and in herself.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
A Lesson in Vengeance looks like it’s going to be an absolutely amazing addition to the Dark Academia ‘genre’ – an elite boarding school in the mountains, old dormitories, whispers of the occult, sapphics and mystery? We truly love to see it and I’m so excited to see where this story goes. Whatever happens, I know it’s going to be dark and twisty which I love.
Publication date: May 4th 2021
Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents’ rules—even if it means sacrificing her dreams. When her parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, Karina expects some peace and quiet. Instead, one simple lie unravels everything.
Karina is my girlfriend.
Tutoring the school’s resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace Clyde does everything right—he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books (a week) if she goes along with his fake-dating facade. Though Karina agrees, she can’t help but start counting down the days until her parents come back.
T-minus twenty-eight days until everything returns to normal—but what if Karina no longer wants it to?
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
This entire premise just sounds so good I can’t get enough, plus it’s written and features a Bangladeshi MC so I’m even more excited to read it. I want to read more books with Bengali characters so the exciting plot coupled with the rep really excites me.
Publication date: February 2nd 2021
Charlie Vega is a lot of things. Smart. Funny. Artistic. Ambitious. Fat.
People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. Charlie wants a good relationship with her body, but it’s hard, and her mom leaving a billion weight loss shakes on her dresser doesn’t help. The world and everyone in it have ideas about what she should look like: thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired. Be smaller. Be whiter. Be quieter.
But there’s one person who’s always in Charlie’s corner: her best friend Amelia. Slim. Popular. Athletic. Totally dope. So when Charlie starts a tentative relationship with cute classmate Brian, the first worthwhile guy to notice her, everything is perfect until she learns one thing–he asked Amelia out first. So is she his second choice or what? Does he even really see her? UGHHH. Everything is now officially a MESS.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I haven’t read many Y/A Contemporaries with a protagonist like Charlie Vega and honestly this whole synopsis – minus the boy issues – is so relatable to my own experiences in life. I just know this is going to be a book which I won’t be able to put down because of the friendship rep, the romance and also provide some depth as Charlie navigates her identity and her relationship with her body.
Publication date: April 6th 2021
Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.
Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.
As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.
The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
So I was lucky enough to get an ARC of House of Hollow from the publishers and read it recently and I was blown away. This book is honestly just as dark and delightfully creepy as the synopsis promises and more. Like just when you think you’ve got it figured out, Krystal Sutherland throws another curveball and you’re just along for the ride once more. A dark fairytale with elements of folklore and contemporary glimmer, this is one to watch out for. I can’t wait to get a finished copy because that cover is gorgeous.
Publication date: August 3rd 2021
Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.
They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Another addition to the Dark Academia ‘genre’, How We Fall Apart sounds like a compelling contemporary thriller and I’m already curious to find out the truth behind Jamie’s death, who The Proctor is and what secrets they’re all keeping. August 3rd seems to be a promising day with a few of these releases being on that day and I can’t wait.
Publication date: May 11th 2021
Reeling from betrayal at the hands of the Whispers, Renata Convida is a girl on the run. With few options and fewer allies, she’s reluctantly joined forces with none other than Prince Castian, her most infuriating and intriguing enemy. They’re united by lofty goals: find the fabled Knife of Memory, kill the ruthless King Fernando, and bring peace to the nation. Together, Ren and Castian have a chance to save everything, if only they can set aside their complex and intense feelings for each other.
With the king’s forces on their heels at every turn, their quest across Puerto Leones and beyond leaves little room for mistakes. But the greatest danger is within Ren. The Gray, her fortress of stolen memories, has begun to crumble, threatening her grip on reality. She’ll have to control her magics–and her mind–to unlock her power and protect the Moria people once and for all.
For years, she was wielded as weapon. Now it’s her time to fight back.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Incendiary – the first instalment in this duology (?) was one of my favourite books of 2020 so I’m beyond excited to see where Zoraida Córdova takes Renata and Prince Castian next. Judging by the authors comments via goodreads, it’s ‘highkey romantic, with much action and much soulful glances’. I don’t know about you but if I wasn’t sold before, then I definitely am now.
Publication date: May 18th 2021
There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris.
Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover…
What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor.
Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for.
But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Made in Korea sounds like such a cute Y/A contemporary and I love the whole competition element and the undeniable romance which is sure to occur. It sounds charming and fun and I think we all need books like this one in our lives.
Publication date: May 25th 2021
Janna Yusuf is so excited for the weekend: her brother Muhammad’s getting married, and she’s reuniting with her mom, whom she’s missed the whole summer. And Nuah’s arriving for the weekend too. Sweet, constant Nuah.
The last time she saw him, Janna wasn’t ready to reciprocate his feelings for her. But things are different now. She’s finished high school, ready for college…and ready for Nuah. It’s time for Janna’s (carefully planned) summer of love to begin—starting right at the wedding. But it wouldn’t be a wedding if everything went according to plan. Muhammad’s party choices aren’t in line with his fiancée’s taste at all, Janna’s dad is acting strange, and her mom is spending more time with an old friend (and maybe love interest?) than Janna.And Nuah’s treating her differently.
Just when things couldn’t get more complicated, two newcomers—the dreamy Haytham and brooding Layth—have Janna more confused than ever about what her misfit heart really wants.Janna’s summer of love is turning out to be super crowded and painfully unpredictable.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Misfit in Love is the sequel to Saints and Misfits, and I’m so excited for this one. In my experience, S.K. Ali writes some of the most well developed and relatable Muslim characters in her books which is why I like her work so much and I’m sure this one will be no different. I’m looking forward to seeing where this book goes and where Jannah’s heart takes her.
Publication date: February 4th 2021
Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists – he a photographer, she a dancer – trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
This is another book I was fortunate enough to get an ARC of and I absolutely loved. If you’re looking for a book with twenty something protagonists who are deeply relatable with touching, beautiful prose and explorations of race and gender, then look no further, Open Water is a revelatory piece of work. Plus it’s like a love letter to London summertimes and I felt every moment of it so deeply.
Publication date: January 19th 2021
“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa–a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.
Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks–alone, except for her fox companion–searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Remote Control is a book that’s recently come to my attention and I’m so glad about that, doesn’t it sound incredible? The synopsis is intriguing but doesn’t give too much away either which I appreciate, this is one I can’t wait to dive into and see where it goes. There are so many questions and I can’t wait to get the answers and follow Fatima / Sankofa on her journey.
Publication date: July 20th 2021
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.
After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I saw this book pitched as Mulan x The Song of Achilles and that’s all I needed to read to know this was going to be on my TBR. The synopsis sounds amazing, it’s by an Asian Australian author and it sounds like it’s going to absolutely devastate me so I’m VERY excited. Judging from other readers reviews, this is a stunning novel and I recently got an ARC so rest assured I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops once I read this!
Publication date: June 1st 2021
Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society―she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.
But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I’m definitely one of those readers who studied Gatsby in school and has been hardcore into it ever since, so when I saw that Nghi Vo was writing this incredible Gatsby retelling and making Jordan Baker the protagonist? I was sold. This looks like it’s going to be so lush and stunning, and the cover? perfection.
Publication date: March 16th 2021
Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can’t give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiance.
Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend’s little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy’s matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather’s will. If only he hadn’t broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago…
Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren’t about to follow the rules of this engagement.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Another amazing ‘fake dating x marriage of convenience’ story and it features South Asian characters and is written by a South Asian author? I’m so down. I’m sure this story will provide all the hijinks, great chemistry and angst that one may expect and more!
Publication date: May 4th 2021 – Cover to be revealed!
The stunning finale to the Chronicles of the Bitch Queen trilogy where the queen of a divided land must unite her people against the enemies who threaten to tear her country apart. K. S. Villoso is a “powerful new voice in fantasy.” (Kameron Hurley)
Queen Talyien is finally home, but dangers she never imagined await her in the shadowed halls of her father’s castle.
War is on the horizon. Her son has been stolen from her, her warlords despise her, and across the sea, a cursed prince threatens her nation with invasion in order to win her hand.
Worse yet, her father’s ancient secrets are dangerous enough to bring Jin Sayeng to ruin. Dark magic tears rifts in the sky, preparing to rain down madness, chaos, and the possibility of setting her nation aflame.
Bearing the brunt of the past and uncertain about her future, Talyien will need to decide between fleeing her shadows or embracing them before the whole world becomes an inferno.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng is definitely top of the list when it comes to my most anticipated books of the year because the first two books were absolutely epic in their scope and I was so emotionally invested. I honestly can’t wait to see where K.S. Villoso concludes Talyiens journey – all I know is I’m prepared to get my heart crushed, if Tali or Khine die, I will actually cry.
Publication date: January 26th 2021
Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can’t imagine working anywhere else. But lately it’s been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who’s fresh off a journalism master’s program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.
When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it’s this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it’s not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle and climbs podcast charts.
As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other. In an industry that values truth, getting caught could mean the end of more than just their careers.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
It seems like 2021 is the year of the ‘fake relationship’ trope but I love how The Ex-Talk flips this on its head – two characters who hate each other have to pretend to be exes and I just know there’s going to be some delicious tension and complications.
Publication date: April 6th 2021
Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years.
The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.
When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all.
As Nami works with a team of rebels to bring down Ophelia and save the humans under her imprisonment, she is forced to reckon with her past, her future, and what it is that truly makes us human.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I love Akemi Dawn Bowman’s writing and the other novels I’ve read from her have been contemporary novels so I’m really excited for this Sci fi/ fantasy tale. I can’t wait to see where this story goes, I haven’t read a good dystopian novel in such a long time and this one sounds super promising.
Publication date: April 6th 2021
Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won’t hire her.
Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag named him one of the city’s hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Taking a gamble in an effort to attract more millennials to the faith, the executive board hired Ethan because of his nontraditional background. Unfortunately, his shul is low on both funds and congregants. The board gives him three months to turn things around or else they’ll close the doors of his synagogue for good.
Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems–until they discover a new one–their growing attraction to each other. They’ve built the syllabus for love’s latest experiment, but neither of them expected they’d be the ones putting it to the test.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I haven’t read Rosie Danan’s other hit book The Roommate yet – but from all the rave reviews of that one and this synopsis, I know I just have to read this. I feel like this plot is quite unique as well so I’m excited to see this premise explored plus romance and burgeoning attraction between two people who never expected to fall for each other? Yup that’s the stuff we like.
Publication date: June 10th 2021
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.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I absolutely loved The Books of Ambha duology so when I saw that Tasha Suri was coming out with another amazing fantasy series, I knew I had to add it to my TBR immediately. I just know that the morally grey characters, worldbuilding and exploration of colonialism, empire and power will be northing short of incredible. Plus brown skinned woman wearing sari on the cover? My South Asian heart is living.
Publication date: May 4th 2021
Cee awoke on an abandoned island three years ago. With no idea of how she was marooned, she only has a rickety house, an old android, and a single memory: she has a sister, and Cee needs to find her.
STEM prodigy Kasey wants escape from the science and home she once trusted. The eco-cities—Earth’s last unpolluted place—are meant to be sanctuary for those committed to planetary protection, but they’re populated by people willing to do anything for refuge, even lie. Now, she’ll have to decide if she’s ready to use science to help humanity, even though it failed the people who mattered most.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
Okay if the fact that Joan He wrote this wasn’t enough and trust me, her writing is A+, this cover alone was enough to make me add it to my TBR. Another exciting sci fi / fantasy in 2021, yes thank you. Sci-fi is a genre I don’t normally read so I’m looking forward to get into it plus I can’t wait to read Joan He’s writing again because Descendant of the Crane was amazing and deserves more love.
Publication date: June 1st 2021
Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she’s thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust.
Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW.
It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
As someone who wants to get into publishing myself, as a woman of colour, I fully understand how much of a inclusivity issue the industry has and it can be daunting. I appreciate how the novel delves into this so clearly and entwines it with a psychological thriller. I have a feeling this is one of those books where there’s a lot more than meets the eye and I can’t wait to dive right in. I have an ARC of this so I’ll definitely be reading and reviewing over the summer.
Publication date: March 23rd 2021
Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.
Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet’s edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.
Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren’t for sale.
Why I’m looking forward to this book:
I mean if the cover alone wasn’t enough, the premise sounds absolutely incredible. I just know it will be full of political machinations, power struggles and complex character arcs. Orbit Books sent me an ARC of this novel and I’m literally stopping myself from reading it immediately so I can savour it a little more come March.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my most anticipated books for 2021 and found some new ones to add to your TBR! Let me know if there any other 2021 releases I should be adding to my TBR – I’m always looking for recommendations so let me know in the comments!
Until next time,
Rums x
Rums the Reader 
what a great list, many of them are also on my most-anticipated-radar but now I’ve got some new ones to add to my tbr