Book Releases January 2016
A new year means new possibilities. New series, new books and new things. I am so looking forward to these books and wanted to share them with you. I’ll first give you a short list and then you can read more about them later in this post.
Alexandra Bracken – Passenger #1 Passenger
Susan Dennard – Truthwitch
Victoria Aveyard – Red Queen #0.2 Steel Scars
Arwen Elys Dayton – Seeker #1 Traveler
Isabel Bandeira – Ever After #1 Bookish Ever After
Elissa Sussman – Four Sisters #2 Burn
Eric Walters – Rule of 3 #3 Will to Survive
Maria V. Snyder – Soulfinder #2 Night Study
Kali Wallece – Shallow Graves
Passenger (Passenger #1) by Alexandra Bracken (January 5)
Synopsis
In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.
Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.
Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever
Alexandra Bracken wrote The Darkest Minds trilogy. From what I read of it, it is an amazing series. So that makes me really look forward to Passanger! I am hoping this series too will be great.
Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1) by Susan Dennard (January 5)
Synopsis
On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.
In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.
Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.
Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.
Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.
I have not read anything about Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, but I have heard great things on this book.
Steel Scars (Red Queen Novella) by Victoria Aveyard (January 6)
Synopsis
Farley was raised to be strong, but being tasked with planting the seeds of rebellion in Norta is a tougher job than expected. As she travels the land recruiting black market traders, smugglers, and extremists for her first attempt at an attack on the capital, she stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to the entire operation—Mare Barrow.
The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is amazing. So this novella should be great. This novella will also become available under the title Cruel Crown, including Queen Song.
Traveler (Seeker #2) by Arwen Elys Dayton (January 12)
Synopsis
Quin Kincaid is a Seeker. Her legacy is an honor, an ancient role passed down for generations. But what she learned on her Oath night changed her world forever.
Quin pledged her life to deception. Her legacy as a Seeker is not noble but savage. Her father, a killer. Her uncle, a liar. Her mother, a casualty. And the boy she once loved is out for vengeance, with her family in his sights.
Yet Quin is not alone. Shinobu, her oldest companion, might now be the only person she can trust. The only one who wants answers as desperately as she does.
But the deeper they dig into the past, the darker things become. There are long-vanished Seeker families, shadowy alliances, and something else: a sinister plan begun generations ago, with the power to destroy them all.
The past is close. And it will destroy them all.
The Seeker series is advertised as for readers of A Game of Thrones and Legend and I liked both series, so I think Traveler by Arwen Elys Dayton could be well received.
Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1) by Isabel Bandeira (January 12)
Synopsis
In a perfect world, sixteen-year-old Phoebe Martins’ life would be a book. Preferably a YA novel with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately, her life probably wouldn’t even qualify for a quiet contemporary. But when Phoebe finds out that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her, she turns to her favorite books for advice. Phoebe overhauls her personality to become as awesome as her favorite heroines and win Dev’s heart. But if her plan fails, can she go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?
Another fairy-retelling AND a debut! Sounds great and this one is most definitly on my list to get soon.
Burn (Four Sisters #2) by Elissa Sussman (January 19)
Synopsis
After helping to rescue Princess Aislynn, Elanor has finally rejoined the rebel camp she calls home. Stolen from her parents at a young age and forced into service by the Wicked Queen, Elanor now wants nothing more than to see the queen removed from power. But Elanor has secrets, mistakes she’s spent years trying to forget, and the closer the rebels get to the throne, the harder it is for Elanor to keep her past hidden away.
With fellow rebels on her side—including Princess Aislynn, Thackery, and the handsome and mysterious Matthias—it is time for Elanor to make a decision. Will she protect her secrets? Or risk everything to save the people she loves?
I read Stray by Eissa Sussman and the first novel in the Four Sisters series and liked it. I think Burn will be as exiting as Stray.
Will to Survive (Rule of 3 #3) by Eric Walters (January 19)
Synopsis
As this apocalyptic trilogy hurtles to a chilling conclusion, Adam is pushed to the edge of his endurance and sanity.
Adam has killed again. It had to be done, part of him knows that, but murder changes a person. It can certainly change a teenager who’s already grown up too quickly, too harshly, in the wake of the catastrophic global blackout five months ago. In the name of safety and survival, Adam and his neighbors have turned their middle American suburban neighborhood into a fortress, defending against countless enemies. But what’s lurking in the dark is a greater danger than ever before: somebody who wants to destroy the neighborhood and Adam at any cost. Soon, the hunted will have to become the hunter . . . and Adam hates himself for what he will have to do. Because sometimes even the dark is not cover enough for things that would never happen in the light.
I have never read anything about Eric Walters, but I do think the Rule of 3 trilogy is great series. So this one is also on my list.
Night Study (Soulfinder #2) by Maria V. Snyder (January 26)
Synopsis
Ever since being kidnapped from the Illiais Jungle as a child, Yelena Zaltana’s has been fraught with peril. But the recent loss of her Soulfinding abilities has endangered her more than ever before. As she desperately searches for a way to reclaim her magic, her enemies are closing in, and neither Ixia nor Sitia are safe for her anymore. Especially since the growing discord between the two countries and the possibility of a war threatens everything Yelena holds dear.
Valek is determined to protect Yelena, but he’s quickly running out of options. The Commander suspects that his loyalties are divided, and he’s been keeping secrets from Valek…secrets that put him, Yelena and all their friends in terrible danger. As they uncover the various layers of the Commander’s mysterious plans, they realize it’s far more sinister that they could have ever imagined.
Night Study by Maria V. Snyder is set in the same universe as Poison Study. It was well written, so I think I will like it.
Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace (January 26)
Synopsis
When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.
This book sounds like a great debut, so I am looking forward to this one!
Let me know what you thought of these books!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!