February Hype Post!
Hype post vol. 2 incoming! More queer books thrown at your face! This time featuring five books, two adult, three YA, and I’ve actually read one of them already. So we’ll start with that one, Belle Révolte:
Strong-willed women, revolution, big dreams and queer romance. What more can a girl want. All the stars to this wonderful book, check out my full review here. Pre-order it here (Book Depository doesn’t seem to have it, so an Amazon UK link for once, sorry…), although it’ll be on shelves in just a few days!
Keeping with the theme of queer romance and revolution, the second book on my list is We Unleash the Merciless Storm. After her wonderful debut last year, We Set the Dark on Fire, Tehlor Kay Mejia, is set to pick up straight where she left off and blow our minds again. This is the second book in a duology and I cannot wait to see where this story goes – the first book was one of my most anticipated debuts last year, and the same goes with this one! I fell in love with Dani and Carmen and their world and I need more. It’s out on the 24th, and I strongly suggest you pre-order it here or from your retailer of choice!
Next on my list is Sarah Gailey’s Upright Women Wanted. Their debut novel Magic for Liars impressed me so much last year that they’ve become an auto-buy author for me, and I’ve successfully recommended it to quite a few people as well, who also loved it. Upright Women Wanted is a Tor.com novella, which means it’s a short read that won’t take up too much space on your TBR and is going to bring you closer to fulfilling your coveted Goodreads reading challenge (I know it’s the start of the year, but remember how you’ve just been scrambling to finish just a few short weeks ago?). It also features queer librarians in a Wild West setting and if I understand correctly, they are fighting fascists. So sign me up. Amazon says this one’s coming out on the first of March, and they are letting you pre-order here. Sorry for advertising for evil again, but it’s a US only release, and Book Depository doesn’t have it! If you can find it elsewhere, I strongly suggest you get it there – I might wait until I’m in the US in May and can get it from B&N or an indie.
Ink in the Blood is the wildcard on this list. Kim Smejkal’s debut features tattoo magic and theatre, and according to the author herself, quite a bit of queer rep. It sounds fantastic, but I haven’t seen many reviews for it, it seems to fly a bit below the radar – all the more reason to give it a shot. It’s being compared to Leigh Bardugo and Kendare Blake, so we can expect dark and atmospheric… It’s out on the 11th according to the publisher (although Book Depository says 1st of March), and you can pre-order it here!
Last on this list (which is compiled in no particular order) is The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. More historical novel than anything else, this tale is set in the extreme north of Norway, in the arctic town of Vardø, in the early seventeenth century, and tells of a storm ending in desaster, a witch hunter, and independent women. Reviewers have loved this, and I have only heard great things about Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s Adult debut. I read her YA debut, The Deathless Girls, late last year, and loved her writing style, and given that I tend to love books about witchcraft and feminism, I am very much looking forward to reading The Mercies! Pre-order it here from Book Depository, or get the Waterstones special edition here (or, of course, just get it from your retailer of choice!). This is out on the 6th.
Let me know what you think of my hyped books, or if you even pick up one of them based on my recommendation!