On My Radar | September 2025

I could have added so many more books to this post but it would have been a mile long so I had to settle with these 24 books! Hot Wax, The Maiden and Her Monster, No Rest for the Wicked, One of Us & The Impossible Fortune are my most anticipated. 

On My Radar | May 2025

May is looking like a great publishing month and as always, there's plenty I've got my eye on. My Name is Emilia del Valle, Disco Witches of Fire Island, My Friends, The Names and Aftertaste are ones I'm particularly excited for. 

On My Radar | April 2025

As always, there's far too many books releasing this month but here's a roundup of the ones that caught my eye! Love & Other Paradoxes, The Amalfi Curse, The Traitor of Sherwood Forest, The Staircase in the Woods and The Road to Tender Hearts are going on the priority TBR! 

On My Radar | February 2025

Definitely could've added so much more to this list but it would've taken forever to read through them all. Isola, Deep Cuts, This is a Love Story, Victorian Psycho & The Otherwhere Post are high priority for the TBR!

On My Radar | January 2025

 A brand new publishing year means there's plenty of books to be excited for. Kicking off January with 16 books I've got my eye on. 

On My Radar | June 2024

Here's all the books being released in June - 24 to be exact - that I'm trying to talk myself out of buying cause I already have far too many books 🙈 

On My Radar | January 2024

What better time to get back in to book blogging then a brand new year? Here's all the books being released in January that have me excited to get back in to reading!

On My Radar | May 2023

 

May looks like it's going to be a great publishing month! I've got 20 books on my list and I could've easily added more! 

On My Radar | March 2023

 

New month, new books and March has tons of releases I'm interested in!

On My Radar | January 2023

 

New year, a new set of books to add to my wishlist... 

On My Radar | September 2022

These posts are dangerous. I've already bought six books this month (blame the 99p Kindle deals for that) so I don't need anymore books, OK? Anyway, here's books that I really, really want...

On My Radar | August 2022

A little late getting this post up so some of these have already been released but this is an excellent month for releases with 14 books on my list!

On My Radar | July 2022

A new month and 12 new books I'm excited for! Will my TBR ever end??

 

On My Radar | June 2022

So many books coming out in June that I'm excited for but I managed to whittle it down to my top 12! 

 

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White  

Released → 7th June 2022

 

Prepare to die. His kingdom is near.

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own. 

 

A "furious, queer novel" with horror, sci-fi and fantasy elements and it sounds amazing!   

 

Before Takeoff by Adi Alsaid

Released → 7th June 2022

James and Michelle find themselves in the Atlanta airport on a layover. They couldn't be more different, but seemingly interminable delays draw them both to a mysterious flashing green light--and each other.

Where James is passive, Michelle is anything but. And she quickly discovers that the flashing green light is actually... a button. Which she presses. Which may or may not unwittingly break the rules of the universe--at least as those rules apply to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.

Before they can figure up from down, strange, impossible things start happening: snowstorms form inside the B terminal; jungles sprout up in the C terminal; and earthquakes split the ground apart in between. And no matter how hard they try, it seems no one can find a way in or out of the airport. James and Michelle team up to find their families and either escape the airport, or put an end to its chaos--before it's too late.

 

How fun does this sound though? I love the idea of a contemporary romance mixed with Jumanji elements to shake things up and I love the airport setting. 

 

Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro

Released → 7th June 2022

England, 1882. In Victorian London, two children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness —a man made of smoke.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid, despite a lifetime of brutality, doesn't have a scar on him. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight car, shines with a strange bluish light. He can melt or mend flesh. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are forced to confront the nature of difference, and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous.

What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh, where other children with gifts—the Talents—have been gathered. Here, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities, and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.

 

This just sounds exactly like my kind of story. A gothic fantasy set in Victorian London with mystery and magic!

 

Molly and the Machine by Erik Jon Slangerup  

Released → 7th June 2022

It’s the summer of 1983, and one by one, the kids of Far Flung Falls are disappearing.

With sheer drop-offs at every turn, the woods behind Molly McQuirter’s house have always been a dangerous place—even before something big and metal started lurking in them. But when Molly’s little brother is snatched up before her eyes, she has no choice but to follow. Sure, Wally tends to ruin everything, and his finger practically lives up his nose, but she isn’t about to let him be abducted by some unknown enemy, especially since their mom ran off to Florida two years ago and their dad, who’s slowly morphing into a couch potato, won’t be any help. If Molly wants to protect the family she has left, Wally’s rescue is going to be up to her. So aided a crew of unusually determined pets, Molly sets off on Pink Lightning—her tricked-out bicycle—on a chase through the hills of southern Ohio.

Finding the robot culprit only creates more questions, however, and when the unlikely mastermind behind the robot is uncovered, a new story begins to unfold—one of lost love, family bonds, and some seriously weird science.

 

80's. Summer. Robots taking over. Mystery. Animal sidekicks!! Very excited for this midle grade!

 

Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino

Released → 14th June 2022

Lou never believed in superstitions or magic--until her teenage aunt Neela is kidnapped to the goblin market.

The market is a place Lou has only read about--twisted streets, offerings of sweet fruits and incredible jewels. Everything--from the food and wares, to the goblins themselves--is a haunting temptation for any human who manages to find their way in.

Determined to save Neela, Lou learns songs and spells and tricks that will help her navigate this dangerous world and slip past a goblin's defenses--but she only has three days to find Neela before the market disappears and her aunt becomes one of them forever.

If she isn't careful, the market might just end up claiming her too.

 

I'm desperate to read this one! I tried to get on a blog tour but didn't manage a spot so i'll just have to wait for my pre-order to arrive. The only downside is I much prefer the US cover (above) to the UK one 😬.   

 

Valiant Ladies by Melissa Grey

Released → 14th June 2022

By day Eustaquia “Kiki” de Sonza and Ana Lezama de Urinza are proper young seventeeth century ladies. But when night falls, they trade in their silks and lace for swords and muskets, venturing out into the vibrant, bustling, crime-ridden streets of Potosí, in the Spanish Empire's Viceroyalty of Peru. They pass their time fighting, gambling, and falling desperately in love with one another.

Then, on the night Kiki's engagement to the Viceroy's son is announced, her older brother―heir to her family’s fortune―is murdered. The girls immediately embark on a whirlwind investigation that takes them from the lowliest brothels of Potosí to the highest echelons of the Spanish aristocracy.

 

I was intrigued as soon as I saw this cover and reading teen vigilantes in seventeenth century Spain sealed the deal.    

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

Released → 21st June 2022 

Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women keep the order, and where songs walk, talk and keep the spirit of the city alive. To those from Far Away, Nola might seem strange. To failed magician, Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Then the rhythm stutters.

Nine songs of power have escaped from the magical piano that maintains the city’s beat and without them, Nola will fail. Unexpectedly, Perry and his sister, Brendy, are tasked with saving the city. But a storm is brewing and the Haint of All Haints is awake. Even if they capture the songs, Nola’s time might be coming to an end.

 

I love the New Orleans setting and the magic it encompasses and a magic connected to music is always interesting. 

 

Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow

Released → 28th June 2022

Luca Laine Thomas lives on a cursed island. To the outside world, Parris is an exclusive, idyllic escape accessible only to the one percent. There’s nothing idyllic about its history, though, scattered with the unsolved deaths of young women—deaths Parris society happily ignores to maintain its polished veneer. But Luca can’t ignore them. Not when the curse that took them killed her best friend, Polly, three years ago. Not when she feels the curse lingering nearby, ready to take her next.

When Luca comes home to police cars outside her house, she knows the curse has visited once again. Except this time, it came for Whitney, her sister. Luca decides to take the investigation of Whitney’s death into her own hands. But as a shocking betrayal rocks Luca’s world, the identity Whitney’s killer isn’t the only truth Luca seeks. And by the time she finds what she’s looking for, Luca will come face to face with the curse she’s been running from her whole life. 

We love a thriller set on an "exclusive" secluded island. 

 

Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty   

Released → 28th June 2022

Rising above the city of Collis is the holy Sanctum. And watching over its spires is Catrin, an orphan girl with unique skills—for she alone can spot the building’s flaws in construction before they turn deadly.

But when Catrin witnesses a murderer escaping the scene of his crime, she’s pulled into the web of a dangerous man who will definitely strike again. Assigned to capture the culprit is the mysterious, brilliant, and enigmatic Simon, whose insights into the mind of a killer are frighteningly accurate.

As the grisly crimes continue, Catrin finds herself caught between murderer and detective while hiding her own secret—a supernatural sight granted by the moon, destined to make her an outcast, and the only thing that might save her and those she loves from becoming the next victims...

"Medieval YA fantasy thriller, an orphan with a secret, magical sight gets caught between a mysterious genius and the serial killer he’s hunting." is all I need to know!

 

Sometime in Summer by Katrina Leno

Released → 28th June 2022

Anna Lucia Bell believes in luck: bad luck. Bad luck made her best friend stop talking to her. Bad luck caused her parents’ divorce. Bad luck is forcing her mother, Miriam, to sell the family’s beloved bookstore. And it is definitely bad luck that Anna seems to be the only person in the world Miriam is unable to recommend a life-changing book.

When Anna finds out that she and her mom are spending two months in a New England seaside town called Rockport, she expects a summer plagued with bad luck too. But Rockport has surprises in store for Anna, including a comet making its first appearance in over twenty years and two new—but familiar—friends.

In what will prove to be the most important summer of her life so far, Anna learns about love, herself, and the magic that an ordinary summer can bring.

 

Currently reading my ARC of this one for an upcoming book tour and I'm really enjoying it. It feels summery and quietly magical already and I'm excited to see where the story goes. 

 

Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

Released → 28th June 2022

THE SUBURBS, RIGHT NOW . . .

Seventeen-year-old Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a secret she’s always known—that there’s more to her mother than meets the eye.

THE CITY, BACK THEN . . .

Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best friend and an ambitious older girl, her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural, set in a city of magical possibilities and secret mystics. As the trio’s aspirations darken, they find themselves speeding toward a violent breaking point.

Years after it began, Ivy and Dana’s shared story will come down to a reckoning among a daughter, a mother, and the dark forces they never should’ve messed with.

 

Another one right up my alley, I'm definitely drawn to the creepy elements in books. I also like the sound of the dual timelines being connected in this one. 

 

The Clackity by Lora Senf

Released → 28th June 2022

Evie Von Rathe lives in Blight Harbor—the seventh-most haunted town in America—with her Aunt Desdemona, the local paranormal expert. Des doesn’t have many rules except one: Stay out of the abandoned slaughterhouse at the edge of town. But when her aunt disappears into the building, Evie goes searching for her.

There she meets The Clackity, a creature who lives in the shadows and seams of the slaughterhouse. The Clackity makes a deal with Evie to help get Des back in exchange for the ghost of John Jeffrey Pope, a serial killer who stalked Blight Harbor a hundred years earlier. Evie must embark on a journey into a strange otherworld filled with hungry witches, penny-eyed ghosts, and a memory-thief, all while being pursued by a dead man whose only goal is to add Evie to his collection of lost souls.

 

I'm a huge fan of eerie middle grade and I can't wait for this one!

 

Which books being released in June are you excited for? Let me know in the comments and Happy Reading!

On My Radar | May 2022

Haven't done one of these in a while. In fact I've only posted one of these in the past, back in November, but I keep planning to do more and even get the books together and then the post doesn't get written. I'm doing some forward planning though and getting this post written and scheduled in April. June looks like it's going to be a bumper month for releases but for now let's look at what I'm excited about in May. 

On My Radar | November 2021

I've seen these types of posts floating around where you highlight upcoming releases that have caught your interest and I thought it would be fun to do a monthly version. Although I have hundreds of books I still need to get to, this will help me keep track of new releases and the books I really want to get to in the (far distant) future 😂. Here's 8 books being released in November that I'm super excited for!

Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights #2) by Chloe Gong     

Released → 16th November 2021

 

The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.

After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.

Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right—even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure.

Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.

 

I haven't even read the first book, These Violent Delights, yet but I'm already anticipating the sequel! A Romeo & Juliet fantasy retelling set in Shanghai sounds incredible, I just need the motivation to pick the first one up. 

 

Gilded by Marissa Meyer

Released → 2nd November 2021

 

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller's daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn't meant to be part of the bargain.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

 

I just can't resist fairytale retellings, they're like my kryptonite! Rumplestiltskin especially is a fairytale that I love but haven't read a retelling of yet so I'm interested to see what Marissa Meyer does with it. 

 

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske  

Released → 2nd November 2021

 

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

 

Magicians. Secret societies. Historical. Enemies to Lovers. LGBTQ+. What's not to like here?? 

You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

Released → 2nd November 2021

Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his things, and tries everything to forget him and the tragic way he died. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces back memories. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail.

And Sam picks up the phone.

In a miraculous turn of events, Julie’s been given a second chance at goodbye. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes her fall for him all over again, and with each call it becomes harder to let him go. However, keeping her otherworldly calls with Sam a secret isn’t easy, especially when Julie witnesses the suffering Sam’s family is going through. Unable to stand by the sidelines and watch their shared loved ones in pain, Julie is torn between spilling the truth about her calls with Sam and risking their connection and losing him forever.

 

That cover is gorgeous and although I've steered away from romantic contemporaries a little bit, I'm thinking one with some magical realism elements is more my thing. 

 

Swashbucklers by Dan Hanks

Released → 9th November 2021

When Cisco Collins returns to his home town thirty years after saving it from being swallowed by a hell mouth opened by an ancient pirate ghost, he realises that being a childhood hero isn't like it was in the movies.

Especially when nobody remembers the heroic bits - even the friends who once fought alongside him.

Struggling with single parenting and treated as bit of a joke, Cisco isn't really in the Christmas spirit like everyone else. A fact that's made worse by the tendrils of the pirate's powers creeping back into our world and people beginning to die in bizarre ways.

With the help of a talking fox, an enchanted forest, a long-lost friend haunting his dreams, and some 80s video game consoles turned into weapons, Cisco must now convince his friends to once again help him save the day. Yet they quickly discover that being a ghostbusting hero is so much easier when you don't have schools runs, parent evenings, and nativity plays to attend. And even in the middle of a supernatural battle, you always need to bring snacks and wipes...

 

I'm loving the sound of a returning hero that nobody remembers, pirate ghosts, SET AT CHRISTMAS and what looks like some great British humour. Very excited for this one!

 

All Of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman

Released → 9th November 2021

After the publication of a salacious tell-all book, the remote city of Ilvernath is thrust into worldwide spotlight. Tourists, protesters, and reporters flock to its spellshops and ruins to witness an ancient curse unfold: every generation, seven families name a champion among them to compete in a tournament to the death. The winner awards their family exclusive control over the city’s high magick supply, the most powerful resource in the world.

In the past, the villainous Lowes have won nearly every tournament, and their champion is prepared to continue his family’s reign. But this year, thanks to the influence of their newfound notoriety, each of the champions has a means to win. Or better yet--a chance to rewrite their story.

But this is a story that must be penned in blood.

 

This was on my most anticipated releases for 2021 list and I still cannot wait for it's release. Magical fantasy with a tournament to the death!? My kinda book. 

Tidesong by Wendy Xu 

Released → 16th November 2021

Sophie is a young witch whose mother and grandmother pressure her to attend the Royal Magic Academy--the best magic school in the realm--even though her magic is shaky at best. To train for her entrance exams, Sophie is sent to relatives she's never met.

Cousin Sage and Great-Aunt Lan seem more interested in giving Sophie chores than in teaching her magic. Frustrated, Sophie attempts magic on her own, but the spell goes wrong, and she accidentally entangles her magic with the magic of a young water dragon named Lir.

Lir is trapped on land and can't remember where he came from. Even so, he's everything Sophie isn't--beloved by Sophie's family and skilled at magic. With his help, Sophie might just ace her entrance exams, but that means standing in the way of Lir's attempts to regain his memories. Sophie knows what she's doing is wrong, but without Lir's help, can she prove herself?

 

I loved Mooncakes so when I saw that Wendy Xu has a new witchy graphic novel coming out I had to add it to my list. This is giving me Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo vibes, movies that I adore!

A Rush of Wings by Laura E. Weymouth   

Released → 2nd November 2021

Rowenna Winthrop has always known there’s magic within her. But though she hears voices on the wind and possesses unusual talents, her mother Mairead believes Rowenna lacks discipline, and refuses to teach her the craft that keeps their Scottish village safe. When Mairead dies a sinister death, it seems Rowenna’s one chance to grow into her power has passed. Then, on a fateful, storm-tossed night, Rowenna rescues a handsome stranger named Gawen from a shipwreck, and her mother miraculously returns from the dead. Or so it appears.

This resurrected Mairead is nothing like the old one: to hide her new and monstrous nature, she turns Rowenna’s brothers and Gawen into swans and robs Rowenna of her voice. Forced to flee, Rowenna travels to the city of Inverness to find a way to break the curse. But monsters take many forms, and in Inverness Rowenna is soon caught in a web of strangers who want to use her raw magic for their own gain. If she wishes to save herself and the people she loves most, Rowenna will have to take her fate into her own hands, and unlock the power that has evaded her for so long.

 

Another retelling, can you tell I'm obsessed?! This one is based on The Six Swans and set in Scotland (!!) plus it sounds magical and that cover is to die for!

Which books being released in November are you excited for? Let me know in the comments and Happy Reading!