SPRING 2023 ANTICIPATED RELEASES

There are so many interesting releases coming out in 2023. In this list, I have my Spring 2023 anticipated books (which includes the months of March, April and May). 

MARCH 

1.  Clytemnestra by Constanza Casati ~ March 2, 2023

Clytemnestra is a Greek mythology retelling about the wife of Agamemnon where she is the protagonist and it is written through her eyes. Greek mythology retellings are a hit or miss for me but I haven't read a retelling about her so I am excited to try this one. 

2. The Faithless by C.L. Clark ~ March 7, 2023

The Faithless is the sequel to The Unbroken which is an adult fantasy series. I loved the first one when I read it and I am excited to read more from this world. 

3. The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten ~ March 7, 2023

I don't know too much about this one but I do know that it is the first book in a fantasy series. I loved For The Wolf by Hannah Whitten so I am excited to read more from her. 

4. Ravensong by Cayla Fay ~ March 14, 2023

This is said to include Irish mythology and is about a demigod girl who defends the mortal world against monsters. It's compared to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it already has great ratings from people who got ARCs so I am excited to read it myself. 

5. The Love Wager by Lynn Painter ~ March 14, 2023 

Better Than The Movies by this same author is already one of my favorites of the year so I am very excited for this one! 

6. The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores ~ March 21, 2023

This is apparently a Rapunzel retelling with a witch and a vampire, however it seems like it is a fairly loose retelling with just some similar elements. I am still excited to read this one and I'm curious to see where the story goes. 

APRIL 

  

1. Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu ~ April 4, 2023

Marie Lu is an author that I will always read from and this is a new contemporary romance series about a superstar and a spy. It sounds cool and I don't think Marie Lu has written a contemporary before so I am excited to try this one.

2. Queen Bee by Amalie Howard ~ April 4, 2023

This is a Young Adult regency romance about a girl who disguises herself as a mysterious heiress to infiltrate London's elite and get retribution against her backstabbing former best friend. I've read other books by Amalie Howard and loved them so I am excited to read this one. 

3. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross ~ April 4, 2023

This is compared to Shadow and Bone and Lore, both of which I love. It's said to be a historical fantasy about two rival journalists in a war among gods. 

4. Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken ~ April 4, 2023 

This is supposed to be a fantasy with elements of Arthurian legend. I loved Lore by Alexandra Bracken which I read last year and I am excited to see how she'll tackle Arthurian legend and mythology. 

5. Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker ~ April 4, 2023

This is a contemporary fantasy set in New Orleans with magic and intergenerational curses. I love anything set in New Orleans so I am excited to give this one a try.

6. To Swoon and To Spar by Martha Waters ~ April 11, 2023

This is the fourth book in The Regency Vows series which is such a fun historical romance series. This installment is a marriage of convenience romance with an apparent haunted house. It sounds so good and I always have a great time with this series.  

7. Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh ~ April 11, 2023

This is a space opera about a girl living on a space station who wants to avenge the murder of planet Earth. I will always pick up space fantasy books so I am excited for this one. 

8. Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee ~ April 11, 2023

This is a novella by Fonda Lee who wrote the Jade City series.  I don't know too much about it but I know it's about a girl who wants revenge for the death of her mother and brother. Also the cover is gorgeous and is what initially drew me in. 

9. The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur ~ April 18, 2023

This is an adult romance by the author who wrote the Written in the Stars romance trilogy which I really enjoyed so I am excited to read more from her.

10. Happy Place by Emily Henry ~ April 25, 2023

Emily Henry has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I will read any romance that she writes. This is a romance where a couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to be together for their annual vacation with their friends. I love a second chance romance and I'm excited for this one.

MAY 

 

1. The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman ~ May 2, 2023

I have enjoyed everything that I've read from Amie Kaufman and I hope this will join them. This is the first book in a fantasy series about a girl pirate who plans to follow her father on the high seas, but her plans are derailed when a stranger boards her ship, and asks them to take him to complete a sacred ritual on the Isles of the Gods without detection. I will read any book about pirates so I am excited for this on!

2. Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli ~ May 2, 2023

I've read a lot of books by Becky Albertalli and I really like her contemporaries. This is another contemporary young adult romance and I am excited to read it. 

3. The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan ~ May 2, 2023

This is a book in the Percy Jackson world that follows Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace who have to go to Tartarus to rescue someone. I will read anything in the Percy Jackson world and I am so excited to read this one!

4. A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand ~ May 9, 2023

Claire Legrand has written a lot of books that I've loved and I am excited for another fantasy series from her. I don't know much about this one but I do know it's said to be a sort of Bridgerton mixed with fantasy and I'm excited to read it.  I do have an ARC of this one which I hope to get to before it releases. 

5. Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman ~ May 11, 2023

I haven't heard much at all about this one but it looks so intriguing. Scarlet is supposed to be a Scarlet Pimpernel retelling with vampires and honestly that just sounds so good. 

6. Court of the Undying Seasons by A.M. Strickland ~ May 16, 2023

This is a young adult fantasy about a vampire school and the main character wants to get revenge for her mother who was taken by vampires years ago. I've read two other books by this author and I've loved both of them so I'm excited to read another one.

7. All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley ~ May 16, 2023

I don't know much about this book at all except that it is a Young Adult Gothic Horror novel and that is honestly all I need to know. 

8. The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi ~ May 23, 2023

This is the sequel to The Final Strife which I read at the beginning of 2023 and I loved it. This is an adult high fantasy series inspired by Africa and Arabia and I am so excited to read the next installment. 

9. A Curse of Salt by Sarah Street ~ May 25, 2023

This is said to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with pirates. I follow the author on twitter and everything she posts about this book makes me even more excited to read it. 

DECEMBER '22 WRAP-UP

  

Time for another wrap up!

Hello everyone! Here we are with the last wrap-up of 2022. It's honestly still shocking that it's already 2023. 

Time to talk about the books I read this month.

PHYSICAL BOOKS

 

The first physical book that I read in December was Twisted Hate by Ana Huang. This is the third book in the Twisted series which is a romance series where each book follows one friend in a friend group. This one followed Jules Ambrose who is a law student and Josh Chen who is studying to be a doctor. I really enjoyed this one and I ended up rating it 5 Stars. 

The second one that I read in December was You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle. This one has been recommended to me a lot and I finally got around to reading it. It's a romance book about a married couple who think that they have fallen out of love with each other and the book shows them coming back together and it's very good. I rated it 5 Stars. 

The third one that I read in December was Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison. This is a Christmas romance book that is set on a Christmas tree farm. Stella is trying to save the Christmas tree farm that she's loved since she was a kid and so she enters a contest hosted by an influencer on instagram in order to gain publicity and maybe win the cash prize. However, to make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on the application and claimed she owned it with her boyfriend. But she doesn't have a boyfriend and so she asks her best friend, Luka, to pretend to be her boyfriend. It's so cute and it ended up being one of my favorites of the year. I rated it 5 Stars. 

The fourth one that I read was Would You Rather by Allison Ashley. This is a friends to lovers romance about two best friends who get married so that she can keep her health insurance that she needs as she waits for a kidney transplant, and so she can pursue her dream and go back to school for it. This is such a cute book and I loved the friendship and romance between the two main characters. I rated it 5 Stars. 

The fifth one that I read was The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas. This is the third book of Aiden Thomas' that I have read and I loved this one a lot. This is pitched as Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games and is a Mexican inspired fantasy where ten selected teen demigods compete in a series of challenges  where the winner gets to carry light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol and the loser is sacrificed to fuel the Sun Stones to protect the people. These trials are called the Sunbearer trials and are held every ten years so that the Sun's power can be replenished and the world can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. I rated it 5 Stars. 

The sixth one that I read was The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. This is a romance book about an author duo who had a bad falling out several years ago while writing a book together. This book is about their journey back together and how they started writing together again. I thought it was a cute book but I didn't end up loving either of the main characters that much. I rated it 4 Stars. 

AUDIOBOOKS READ

The first audiobook that I listened to in December was These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. This was a reread for me and I loved it as much as I did the first time that I read it. The audiobook narration was amazing and I really liked experiencing the story in a new format. I rated this one 5 Stars. 

The second audiobook that I listened to in December was Book of Night by Holly Black. This is a book that has received extremely mixed reviews across many book platforms and I was hesitant to pick it up because of that. However, the audiobook is phenomenal. I really liked how the narrator made the story come to life and helped keep me engaged in the book. I rated it 5 Stars. 

The last audiobook that I listened to was The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber. This is the sequel to Once Upon a Broken Heart and it was such a fantastic sequel. I can't say too much since it would spoil the first book but I want the third book so bad after the ending. I rated it 5 Stars. 

ARC'S READ

The first ARC that I read was The Key To My Heart by Lia Louis. This is a romance book about a woman who's husband dies and how she's trying to find happiness two years later. I thought it was a cute quick read but nothing too special. I ended up rating it 3 Stars. 

The second ARC that I read was Kiss Her Once For Me by Allison Cochrun. This was a cute Christmas themed book about a woman named Ellie who fakes an engagement with the owner of the coffee shop that she works at so that he can get his recent inheritance and he promises she'll get a share of his inheritance to help her escape her financial woes. They make a plan to spend the holidays at his family cabin to keep up the ruse but what happens when she falls for his sister. I thought it was super cute and rated it 4 Stars. 

The third ARC that I read was To Get to the Other Side by Kelly Ohlert. This is about a woman named Trixie who rescues a chicken struggling to cross the road. Her current landlord doesn't allow pets and so when Trixie sees an ad with a spare room she applies. However, it was Bear's sisters who posted the ad to rent the spare room in his house, so when she responds he is confused. Despite this, he agrees to let her move in. This is a cute roommates to lovers romance and honestly I had such a good time. The chicken was also my favorite part. I rated it 5 Stars. 

The fourth ARC that I read was The Plus One by Mazey Eddings. This is the third book in the A Brush With Love series. I haven't read any of the previous books in this series but I thought this one was very cute. It's about Indira and Jude who are childhood enemies who grew up alongside each other due to Jude's friendship with Indira's brother, Collin. Now in present day, Indira is now a therapist and Jude is a surgeon and they both find themselves living at Collin's house leading up to his wedding. I loved the mental health representation that they had in this one and the relationship between Indira and Jude was very cute and healthy. I rated it 4 Stars. 

The last ARC that I read was A Cat Cafe Christmas by Codi Gary. I mainly picked this up because of the cat aspect but I was pleasantly surprised by the story. This is about Kara who is a veterinarian and owns a cat cafe, however, they are lacking customers and if she can't find some way to get more business, it won't last pas the holidays. Ben works in marketing and hatches a plan to help keep the cat cafe afloat and although Kara finds him extremely bossy, she decides she needs his help. This is such a cute book and the cats really make it so fun. I rated it 4 Stars. 

REVIEWS IN JUNE: 

NONE

WEEKLY WRAP-UP:

NONE

DISCUSSIONS/OTHER:

NONE

FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH:

NEW FICTIONAL MEN: 

Josh from Twisted Hate by Ana Huang 

Jacks from The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber 

Luka from Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

Noah from Would You Rather by Allison Ashley

Teo from The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

NEW FAVORITE FEMALES: 

Jules from Twisted Hate by Ana Huang 

Trixie from To Get to the Other Side by Kelly Ohlert 

Charlie from Book of Night by Holly Black

Evangeline from The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber 

Stella from Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

Mia from Would You Rather by Allison Ashley

NEW FAVORITE BOOK RELATIONSHIPS: 

Josh and Jules from Twisted Hate by Ana Huang 

Naomi and Nicholas from You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle 

Evangeline and Jacks from The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber 

Stella and Luka from Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

Noah and Mia from Would You Rather by Allison Ashley

TV SHOWS I WATCHED THIS MONTH:

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS MONTH:

NONE

WHAT BOOKS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

There's so many more but these are the main ones! 

NEW BLOG FINDS

NONE

SONGS ON REPEAT

Back to December - Taylor Swift 

Christmas Tree Farm - Taylor Swift 

About You - The 1975 

Paris - Taylor Swift 

Make Up Your Mind - Florence and the Machine 

Paint it Black - Ciara 

Would've, Could've, Should've - Taylor Swift 

Girl Like Me - Dove Cameron 

Secret - Joshua Bassett 

Haunted - Taylor Swift 

Hits Different - Taylor Swift

BOOKS I RECENTLY PURCHASED OR ADDED TO MY COLLECTION

I've gotten a lot because of Christmas so I will not be listing them all here. 

BOOKS I WANT TO READ NEXT MONTH

 

The graphics at the top belong to me. The background pictures for them, however do not. 

WINTER 2023 ANTICIPATED RELEASES

 There are so many interesting releases coming out in 2023. In this list, I have my Winter 2023 anticipated books (which includes the months of January and February). 

JANUARY

1. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black ~ January 3, 2022

The Stolen Heir is the first book in a spin-off series to The Cruel Prince trilogy and follows Oak who's Jude's younger brother and Suren, who was originally promised to Oak in marriage when they were younger. The Cruel Prince trilogy is one of my favorite series and I am very excited to dive into this one. 

2. A Ruinous Fate by Kaylie Smith ~ January 3, 2023

A Ruinous Fate is a young adult fantasy book that follows a siphon named Calliope who feels like she's at constant odds with the hand she's been dealt. It's set in a world where a witch's fate is either promised or damned by a magical dice. This is one of my most anticipated releases of the entire year as I have heard so many good things from friends who have already gotten to read the book. I'm also friends with Kaylie on twitter and it's so cool to see someone's dreams of becoming a published author come true. 

3. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo ~ January 10, 2023

Hell Bent is the sequel to Ninth House which is one of my favorite books. I am very excited to dive back into the world of this story and hopefully see more of a certain character (if you've read Ninth House then you know what I mean). 

4. City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer ~ January 10, 2023

City of Nightmares is about a girl who finds herself at the center of a criminal syndicate conspiracy in a city where people have the chance of physically and permanently transforming into their worst nightmare while they sleep. The world of the book is compared to Gotham and I have become even more intrigued with that comparison.  

5. Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson ~ January 17, 2023

This is a novella set after the events of Sorcery of Thorns and because of that, I am not going to give a synopsis. However, I am very excited to get back into this world as I loved Sorcery of Thorns and will read anything Margaret Rogerson writes. 

6. The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao ~ January 17, 2023

I am very selective when it comes to YA contemporaries but this is supposed to lean on the more adult side so I am optimistic. It's about a working class woman who infiltrates Singapore's high society in order to fulfill her dreams while she risks losing everything in the process. I love rich people drama books so I am intrigued. 

7. Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim ~ January 24, 2023

This is a book set in an Arabian inspired land with tea magic which just sounds so interesting. I am very excited to read this one as I love these types of fantasy books. 

8. Final Offer by Lauren Asher ~ January 31, 2023

This is the third book in Lauren Asher's Dreamland Billionares series that follows brothers who own a theme park. I've only read the first book in this series but I really enjoyed it so I'm looking forward to continuing the series. 

9. Jasper Vale by Devney Perry ~ January 31, 2023

This is book four in The Edens series and is a fake dating/marriage of convenience romance which is one of my favorite tropes in romance books. I love this whole series so I am very excited to read this one!

FEBUARY 

1. Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey ~ February 7, 2023

After It Happened One Summer, I will read anything Tessa Bailey writes. This is another grumpy and sunshine romance that also seems to have a sort of second chance romance aspect and I'm very excited.  

2. Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb ~ February 7, 2023

I know very little about this one except that it's said to be a dark fantasy with a murder mystery twist and the main character is a girl who's father was murdered at the hands of the military and she wants to do whatever it takes to dismantle the corrupt system and honestly that's all I need to know.  Also the cover definitely drew me in.

3. These Infinite Threads by Tahereh Mafi ~ February 7, 2023

This is the sequel to This Woven Kingdom which was one of my favorite books that I read in 2022 and I am very excited to get to continue the series. This series is a fantasy series based on Persian folklore 

4. Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood ~ February 7, 2023

I don't know too much about this one but I really enjoyed Lauren Blackwood's previous book so I am excited to read this one. I know it's about a girl who works as a tour guide who uses her magic to protect travelers in a Jamaican jungle that is teeming with monsters. I don't know much else about it but it sounds good. 

5. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi ~ February 14, 2023

This is a gothic adult fantasy following a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets and is compared to Mexican Gothic. I have loved almost everything from Roshani Chokshi and I am excited to read her adult debut. 

6. Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah ~ February 21, 2023

Where Darkness Blooms is a young adult horror about a town known for their endless field of sunflowers and missing women. What mostly drew me in was the cover but I also love the plot. I got an arc of this one and I am excited to read it. 

7. Last Violent Call by Chloe Gong ~ February 28, 2023

This is a bind up of several novellas in the These Violent Delights universe and I am very excited to get to read more from those characters. 

8. She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran ~ February 28, 2023

This follows a woman who is visiting her estranged father in Vietnam and has one goal: to survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house that her father is restoring. However, the house has other plans. This is a young adult gothic horror that is compared to Mexican Gothic and just sounds so creepy.