Young Adult
Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan
June is the star pitcher of her elite club baseball team—with an ego to match—and she’s a shoo-in to be recruited at the college level, like her parents have always envisioned. That is, if she can play through an overuse injury that has recently gone from bad to worse.
Ivy isn’t just reffing to pay off her athletic fees or make some extra cash on…
This story is almost a time loop, but not quite, as a group of students find themselves reliving the worst day of their lives. Each time they diverted from the original events, the loop would reset, and they're forced to confront what happened - and admit their faults to each other. While starting off as fairly basic characters, I felt they became more like real people as the story progressed.
This is camp, and I really liked it, but it was messy. Trying to work out what actually happened with the Lilies and the events that caused the loop could get confusing, but I loved the diverse rep and the discussions of Queer culture. Drew is our non-binary rep, and I related to their difficulty trying to be seen as they are in a school intended for girls.
Old wrongs and new collide here, as they start to see the parallels between what happened to them, and what happened to their ancestors in the past. Racing to fix both timelines, they cause events to change forever, leading to an unexpected final chapter, which I think may divide readers - but I really loved it.
🩷 There's something especially sweet about a sapphic romance. Here are only a few of the amazing sapphic books hitting shelves in May 2024. Which ones are you adding to your ever-growing TBR?
Contemporary
💖 Here For the Wrong Reasons - Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang
💖 Perfume & Pain - Anna Dorn
💖 Cheryl - Jillian Fleck
💖 A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins
💖 Lavash At First Sight - Taleen Voskuni
💖 The Game of Giants - Marion Douglas
💖 We Were the Universe - Kimberly King Parsons
💖 Oye - Melissa Mogollon
💖 The Summer Love Strategy - Ray Stoeve
💖 Noah Frye Gets Crushed - Maggie Horne
💖 Halfway to Harbor - Nicole Melleby
💖 Sunhead - Alex Assan
💖 The 7-10 Split - Karmen Lee
💖 Trust & Safety - Laura Blackett & Eve Gleichman
💖 Second Night Stand - Karelia Stetz-Waters & Fay Stetz-Waters
💖 How It Works Out - Myriam Lacroix
💖 April May June July - Alison B. Hart
💖 The Ride of Her Life - Jennifer Dugan
💖 One Night With the CEO - Emily Hayes
💖 Dulhaniyaa - Talia Bhatt
💖 A Girl Can Dream - Emily Barr
💖 I Want You More - Swan Huntley
💖 Exhibit - R. O. Kwon
💖 Only a Bridesmaid - Haley Donnell
💖 Thirsty - Jas Hammonds
💖 Housemates - Emma Copley Eisenberg
💖 Don’t Be a Drag - Skye Quinlan
💖 True Love and Other Impossible Odds - Christina Li
💖 Murray Out of Water - Taylor Tracy
💖 The Redemption of Daya Keane - Gia Gordon
💖 Blame My Virgo Moon - Freja Nicole Woolf
💖 From Where We Are - Nicole Zelniker
💖 Cabin Fever - Tagan Shepard
💖 Channel Surfing in the Sea of Happiness - Guy Babineau
💖 Meet Me in Berlin - Samantha L. Valentine
💖 Behind You - Catherine Hernandez
Paranormal/Horror
💖 Primal Hunt - L.L. Raand
💖 Blood on the Tide - Katee Robert
💖 We Mostly Come Out at Night - (ed) Rob Costello
💖 Flowers from the Void - Gianni Washington
💖 My Darling Dreadful Thing - Johanna van Veen
💖 When the Devil - Emma E. Murray
💖 Honeybites - I. S. Belle
💖 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters - Emil Ferris
💖 The Worst Perfect Moment -Shivaun Plozza
Fantasy
💖 The Honey Witch - Sydney J. Shields
💖 The Fireborne Blade - Charlotte Bond
💖 Chained Destinies - D. Jordan Redhawk
💖 Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorne
💖 Grand Slam Romance: Major League Hotties - Ollie Hicks & Emma Oosterhous
💖 Snake Charming - Genevieve McCluer
💖 The Witches of Silverlake - Simon Curtis
💖 Death’s Country - R. M. Romero
💖 Snowblooded - Emma Sterner-Radleygh
💖 Bird Suit - Sydney Hegele
💖 Farzana's Spite - Felix Graves
Historical
💖 The Good Women of Fudi - Liu Hong
💖 Spitting Gold - Carmella Lowkis
💖 Adrift - Sam Ledel
💖 A Heart Divided - Angie Williams
💖 A Liaison with Her Leading Lady - Lotte R. James
Mystery/Thriller
💖 The Deadly Spark - Roxie Key
💖 The Advice Columnist - Cade Haddock Strong
💖 The Lilies - Quinn Diacon-Furtado
💖 Loyalty - E. J. Noyes
💖 Clean Kill - Anne Laughlin
💖 Have You Seen This Girl - Nita Tyndall
💖 The Last to Pie - Misha Popp
Sci-Fi
💖 The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach
💖 Road to Ruin - Hana Lee
💖 Exile in Guyville - Amy Lee Lillard
💖 The Lily of Enarah - Arden Brax
💖 The Z Word - Lindsay King-Miller
City of Circles by Jess Richards: Loved the poetic chaotic style of writing. but the plot itself was meandering and finished too abruptly. 2/5
The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado: This was really fun, and while the plot didn't make perfect sense, I loved the ending. 4/5
Currently Reading:
The Starless Sea: I'm half way through this re-read now and very much want to finally finish The Night Circus after it.
Poison In Their Hearts: I'm now nearly 80% into this book, and events have finally started happening. Having a final book be almost entirely filler is wild.
Winter Love: I'm on the home stretch! I think the ending is going to be devastating.
Frontier: I don't think I've made any progress with this this week.
Every Heart A Doorway: I just started this and already I nearly cried. It's shaping up to be a favourite series of mine.
More Than A Best Friend: Technically this is a buddy read but I strongly suspect my buddy is just side eyeing it and not starting it. It's really cute so far!
🦇 Good morning, my bookish bats. I hope you have a good book, delicious latte, and sweet snack within reach! No TBR is complete without a few young adult novels, and plenty were released in April! Here are a few YA releases to consider adding to your shelves.
[ List Under the Cut ]
🩷 April 2 🩷
✨ Your Blood, My Bones - Kelly Andrew
✨ What If... Loki Was Worthy? - Madeleine Roux
✨ Fate Be Changed - Farrah Rochon
✨ No Going Back - Patrick Flores-Scott
✨ The Reappearance of Rachel Price - Holly Jackson
✨ Darker by Four - June C.L. Tan
✨ Draw Down the Moon - P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
✨ The Black Girl Survives in This One
✨ Wrath of the Talon - Sophie Kim
✨ Every Time You Hear That Song - Jenna Voris
✨ Otherworldly - F.T. Lukens
✨ Misdirection of Fault Lines - Anna Gracia
✨ Something Kindred - Ciera Burch
✨ Hearts Still Beating - Brooke Archer
✨ Call Forth a Fox - Markelle Grabo
🩷 April 9 🩷
✨ Teenage Dirtbags - James Acker
✨ Canto Contigo - Jonny Garza Villa
✨ Dragonfruit - Makiia Lucier
✨ The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray - Christine Calella
✨ Fog & Fireflies - T.H. Lehnen
✨ Against the Darkness - Kendare Blake
✨ The Darkness Rises - Stacy Stokes
✨ Right Here, Right Now - Shannon Dunlap
✨ The Last Love Song - Kalie Holford
🩷 April 16 🩷
✨ To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods - Molly X. Chang
✨ Merciless Saviors - H.E. Edgmon
✨ Deep Is the Fen - Lili Wilkinson
✨ This Is Me Trying - Racquel Marie
✨ Calling of Light - Lori M. Lee
✨ Pretty Furious - E.K. Johnston
✨ Dear Wendy - Ann Zhao
✨ The Lady of Rapture - Sarah Raughley
✨ The End of Always - Rebecca Phillips
✨ The Kill Factor - Ben Oliver
✨ The Breakup Lists - Adib Khorram
✨ We're Never Getting Home - Tracy Badua
✨ The Harrowing - Kristen Kiesling & Rye Hickman
✨ King of Dead Things - Nevin Holness
✨ Sheine Lende - Darcie Little Badger & Rovina Cai
✨ The One That Got Away with Murder - Trish Lundy
🩷 April 23 🩷
✨ Song of the Six Realms - Judy I. Lin
✨ Off With Their Heads - Zoe Hana Mikuta
✨ Blood Justice - Terry J. Benton-Walker
✨ Kill Her Twice - Stacey Lee
✨ Dark Parts of the Universe - Samuel Mille
✨ Finally Fitz - Marisa Kanter
✨ The Merciless King of Moore High - Lily Sparks
✨ Out of Blue Comes Green - M.E. Corey
✨ A Whisper in the Walls - Scott Reintgen
✨ Homebody - Theo Parish
✨ Punk Rock Karaoke - Bianca Xunise
🩷 April 30 🩷
✨ To a Darker Shore - Leanne Schwartz
✨ The Vanishing Station - Ana Ellickson
✨ The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge - Matthew Hubbar
✨ What's Eating Jackie Oh? - Patricia Park
✨ Sound the Gong - Joan He
✨ Playing for Keeps - Jennifer Dugan
✨ Not Like Other Girls - Meredith Adamo
✨ The Notes - Catherine Con Morse
✨ I'll Be Waiting for You - Mariko Turk
✨ Pillow Talk - Stephanie Cooke & Mel Valentine
✨ Saint-Seducing Gold - Brittany N. Williams
✨ Where Was Goodbye? - Janice Lynn Mather
✨ The Lilies - Quinn Diacon-Furtado
🩷 There's something especially sweet about a sapphic romance. Here are only a few of the amazing sapphic books hitting shelves in May 2024. Which ones are you adding to your ever-growing TBR?
Contemporary
💖 Here For the Wrong Reasons - Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang
💖 Perfume & Pain - Anna Dorn
💖 Cheryl - Jillian Fleck
💖 A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins
💖 Lavash At First Sight - Taleen Voskuni
💖 The Game of Giants - Marion Douglas
💖 We Were the Universe - Kimberly King Parsons
💖 Oye - Melissa Mogollon
💖 The Summer Love Strategy - Ray Stoeve
💖 Noah Frye Gets Crushed - Maggie Horne
💖 Halfway to Harbor - Nicole Melleby
💖 Sunhead - Alex Assan
💖 The 7-10 Split - Karmen Lee
💖 Trust & Safety - Laura Blackett & Eve Gleichman
💖 Second Night Stand - Karelia Stetz-Waters & Fay Stetz-Waters
💖 How It Works Out - Myriam Lacroix
💖 April May June July - Alison B. Hart
💖 The Ride of Her Life - Jennifer Dugan
💖 One Night With the CEO - Emily Hayes
💖 Dulhaniyaa - Talia Bhatt
💖 A Girl Can Dream - Emily Barr
💖 I Want You More - Swan Huntley
💖 Exhibit - R. O. Kwon
💖 Only a Bridesmaid - Haley Donnell
💖 Thirsty - Jas Hammonds
💖 Housemates - Emma Copley Eisenberg
💖 Don’t Be a Drag - Skye Quinlan
💖 True Love and Other Impossible Odds - Christina Li
💖 Murray Out of Water - Taylor Tracy
💖 The Redemption of Daya Keane - Gia Gordon
💖 Blame My Virgo Moon - Freja Nicole Woolf
💖 From Where We Are - Nicole Zelniker
💖 Cabin Fever - Tagan Shepard
💖 Channel Surfing in the Sea of Happiness - Guy Babineau
💖 Meet Me in Berlin - Samantha L. Valentine
💖 Behind You - Catherine Hernandez
Paranormal/Horror
💖 Primal Hunt - L.L. Raand
💖 Blood on the Tide - Katee Robert
💖 We Mostly Come Out at Night - (ed) Rob Costello
💖 Flowers from the Void - Gianni Washington
💖 My Darling Dreadful Thing - Johanna van Veen
💖 When the Devil - Emma E. Murray
💖 Honeybites - I. S. Belle
💖 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters - Emil Ferris
💖 The Worst Perfect Moment -Shivaun Plozza
Fantasy
💖 The Honey Witch - Sydney J. Shields
💖 The Fireborne Blade - Charlotte Bond
💖 Chained Destinies - D. Jordan Redhawk
💖 Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorne
💖 Grand Slam Romance: Major League Hotties - Ollie Hicks & Emma Oosterhous
💖 Snake Charming - Genevieve McCluer
💖 The Witches of Silverlake - Simon Curtis
💖 Death’s Country - R. M. Romero
💖 Snowblooded - Emma Sterner-Radleygh
💖 Bird Suit - Sydney Hegele
💖 Farzana's Spite - Felix Graves
Historical
💖 The Good Women of Fudi - Liu Hong
💖 Spitting Gold - Carmella Lowkis
💖 Adrift - Sam Ledel
💖 A Heart Divided - Angie Williams
💖 A Liaison with Her Leading Lady - Lotte R. James
Mystery/Thriller
💖 The Deadly Spark - Roxie Key
💖 The Advice Columnist - Cade Haddock Strong
💖 The Lilies - Quinn Diacon-Furtado
💖 Loyalty - E. J. Noyes
💖 Clean Kill - Anne Laughlin
💖 Have You Seen This Girl - Nita Tyndall
💖 The Last to Pie - Misha Popp
Sci-Fi
💖 The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach
💖 Road to Ruin - Hana Lee
💖 Exile in Guyville - Amy Lee Lillard
💖 The Lily of Enarah - Arden Brax
💖 The Z Word - Lindsay King-Miller