CRUEL ILLUSIONS

by Margie Fuston

Margaret K McElderry | Nov 1 | 9781665902106

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Ever since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has been determined to get revenge. This all-encompassing drive has given her the fuel she needed to survive foster home after foster home.

But it’s been ten years since anyone’s seen a vampire, and Ava has lost hope that she’ll ever find one…until she stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. The magicians may not be the bloodsuckers she’s hunting, but Ava is convinced something supernatural is at play, so she sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can’t explain.

But they’ve been waiting for her.

The magicians reveal they’re part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them, they promise to teach her the skills she needs to hunt vampires and avenge her mother. But there’s a catch: if she wants to keep the power they offer, she needs to prove she’s worthy of it. And to do so, she must put on the performance of her life in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur, and the stakes are deadly.

AFTERLOVE

by Tanya Byrne

Henry Holt | Sep 27 |  9781250865618

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summary CW: death

When Ashana Persaud meets Poppy Morgan on a school trip, she’s sure it’s too good to be true. Ash has never had much luck with girls, but Poppy proves different. Coffee dates turn to museum trips until, soon, the two girls can see a future together—one that’s seemingly snatched from them when a hit-and-run takes Ash’s life on New Year’s Eve.

As the last person to die before midnight, Ash is bestowed the title of reaper, tasked with finding lost souls and helping them cross over. Only those close to death can perceive a reaper, so when Ash runs into Poppy one lonely night—and Poppy recognizes her—they can’t be sure if it’s the second chance they’ve so desperately wished for, or a tragedy lying in wait.

THE WOLVES ARE WATCHING

by Natalie Lund

Viking | Oct 4 |  9780593351093

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The night little Madison disappears from her crib, Luce sees a pair of eyes–two points of gold deep in the forest behind her house–and feels certain they belong to a wolf. Her town, Picnic, Illinois, is the kind of place where everyone knows one another and no one locks their doors. It’s notthe kind of place where a toddler goes missing without a trace, where wolves lurk in the shadows.

In town, people are quick to blame Madison’s mom. But when Luce’s English teacher shares an original script about the disappearance of another little girl in Picnic back in 1870, Luce begins to notice similarities that she can’t ignore. Certain that something deeper is going on, Luce tracks the wolf she saw into the woods and uncovers the truth about her town: magical animal-women, who have remained hidden in shadows for centuries, have taken her cousin for their own purposes–and they have no intention of bringing her back.

A chilling mystery that weaves elements of magical realism, drama, and folklore into a story of one teen’s bravery as she confronts her town’s past and tries to save the future.

Our Crooked Hearts

By Melissa Albert

Melissa Albert terrifies and inspires me in equal measure.

Her books have an otherworldly quality that gives you the sense that as you read them you are changing - or the world around you is changing, or perhaps, being revealed for what it truly is - and if you don’t stop, things will never be the same. Our Crooked Hearts is no exception.

I read Our Crooked Hearts late into the night while peering over my pages to make sure nothing was lurking in the shadows. Unspooling in dual narratives of a mother and daughter during their tumultuous teenage years as they discover themselves and their magic, Albert renders a world of misshapen motherhood, flailing youth, forging friendships, and just-this-side of possible witchcraft.

But if we’ve learned anything from The Hazel Wood, it’s that nothing is free. What I love most about Albert’s work is that there is nothing gratuitous or excessive. She manages to conjure fear, terror, sadness and rage - and it all serves a purpose. The characters are all flawed and flailing but not feckless; they strive to protect, to learn, to rectify, to save. This is evident in the conclusion of the book, which I won’t spoil for you here, but what I will share is wholly satisfying and positively positive. Yes, amidst a book that is terror incarnate, there is, dare I say, somehow, hope.

What is also remarkable about Albert is her ability to wield the written word. She is not only writing, she is crafting a new language. Her prose is like if Neil Gaiman and Maggie Stiefvater had a baby and it were raised by Patti Smith. She crashes words together and creates the most unlikely metaphors that make so much sense it hurts. She writes with the angst of a teenager but the wisdom of a beat poet and the heart of a goddess who still loves humanity. Her text is so palpable that in reading it, I feel like I am participating in a secret ritual that may in fact conjure actual magic. Her writing is the stuff of future lore, of fractured spells, of midnight swims in moon-bleeding waters. She is inventing a story and a form - and it’s the perfect love letter scrawled in black magic for the raging teen trapped inside of us all.

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I know no one cares, but I’m announcing it here anyway: MY NEW BOOK IS OUT APRIL 22nd 2022 BITCHES.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09R61W79X 

Synopsis:

In a modern day world teeming with marauding dragons, there is only one solution: The Wild Hunt.

Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali have worked for the Knight Division capturing wild dragons for years, but now the government has decided to hold a tournament called The Wild Hunt. Jack, Kamala, and their teammates Calloway, Libby, Agent Shannon, and Yousef, must capture five of the deadliest dragons alive before the opposing team or they lose their jobs at the Knight Division. Jack and Kamala are also chasing after Kazuma Okegawa, the yakuza lieutenant who has been trying to kill them. Okegawa is planning a hostile takeover of the worldwide illegal dragon trade and if he succeeds, everyone will be in grave danger. Between the Wild Hunt and Okegawa’s plot to destroy everything in his path, Jack and Kamala have to rely on each other to stay alive in the middle of an inferno.

Of Claws and Inferno is the fifth book in the Of Cinder and Bone science fiction/contemporary fantasy series. It follows Of Cinder and Bone, Of Blood and Ashes, Of Dawn and Embers, and Of Fury and Fangs.

Pre-order for only .99 cents. Price WILL increase to $4.99 on April 23rd.

Cover art by Brose Designz 

The first chapter is now posted for free. 

Pre-orders on Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo are live as well. 

Here’s the Goodreads page. If nothing else, please add it to your to be read shelves to help visibility.

Seriously, it’s a dollar can y’all just help my broke ass out please at least like the damn post

Don’t want to give me a dollar for the pre-order? Why not get a free copy of this novel in exchange for a review? The Advanced Reader Copy is now available. Sign up on the form below. Open from now until April 22nd.

Form: https://forms.gle/hSLDgh3P2dgzywvj9 

The second excerpt is now posted for free.

The Goodreads paperback giveaway is now live. Enter to win a free paperback copy of the novel between now and April 22nd, 2022. 

The final excerpt is now posted.