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🌞 August 2021 Book Releases 🌻
A LESSON IN VENGEANCE BY VICTORIA LEE
Young Adult Fantasy Thriller
August 3, 2021
Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School.
Perched in the Catskill Mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she’s returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students—girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds.
Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s history. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget.
It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway, and she’s already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is a so-called “method writer.” She’s eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. Given her history with the arcane, Felicity is the perfect resource.
And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway–and in herself.
Why I’m excited to read it: I want to read a book about historical witches, but I haven’t found a good one yet. I’m looking for something complex, unique, and atmospheric. I’ll give this one a shot and see if it satisfies my witchy craving.
BILLY SUMMERS BY STEPHEN KING
Adult Horror
August 3, 2021
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
How about everything.
Why I’m excited to read it: Another Stephen King book. How does he write so fast? How am I ever going to catch up? Someday I’ll read everything he’s written. This new book sounds like it has an intense plot and a complicated character.
THE DEAD AND THE DARK BY COURTNEY GOULD
Young Adult Fantasy / Horror
August 3, 2021
Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV's ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there's more secrets buried here than they originally let on.
Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his presence ever since. But now that the Ortiz-Woodleys are in town, his ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who—or what—is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.
Why I’m excited to read it: It’s giving me vibes of Victoria Schwab’s City Of Ghosts, but this book is for older teens, so it’ll probably be darker and weirder. I hope so! I love books about family secrets and mysterious little towns. Bring on the ghostly strangeness.
HOW WE FALL APART BY KATIE ZHAO
Young Adult Thriller
August 3, 2021
Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends—Krystal, Akil, and Alexander—are the prime suspects, thanks to "The Proctor," someone anonymously incriminating them via the school's social media app.
They all used to be Jamie's closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy's full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.
Why I’m excited to read it: So many secrets! This book could get dark and twisted. Normally, I don’t read thrillers, but I’m intrigued by “The Proctor” and the role of social media in this story. Social media can be pretty horrifying.
MERCURY BOYS BY CHANDRA PRASAD
Young Adult Science Fiction
August 3, 2021
After her life is upended by divorce and a cross-country move, 16-year-old Saskia Brown feels like an outsider at her new school—not only is she a transplant, she’s biracial in a population of mostly white students. One day while visiting her only friend at her part-time library job, Saskia encounters a vial of liquid mercury, then touches an old daguerreotype—the precursor of the modern-day photograph—and makes a startling discovery. She is somehow able to visit the man in the portrait: Robert Cornelius, a brilliant young inventor from the nineteenth century. The hitch: she can see him only in her dreams.
Saskia shares her revelation with some classmates, hoping to find connection and friendship among strangers. Under her guidance, the other girls steal portraits of young men from a local college's daguerreotype collection and try the dangerous experiment for themselves. Soon, they each form a bond with their own "Mercury Boy," from an injured Union soldier to a charming pickpocket in New York City.
At night, the girls visit the boys in their dreams. During the day, they hold clandestine meetings of their new secret society. At first, the Mercury Boys Club is a thrilling diversion from their troubled everyday lives, but it's not long before jealousy, violence, and secrets threaten everything the girls hold dear.
Why I’m excited to read it: I love books about time travel, fantasy portals, and parallel universes, so of course I have to read this one! It sounds unique. I’m interested in the dark twist at the end of the synopsis. I want to know about the “jealousy, violence, and secrets.” How does dreaming about long-dead boys tear a friend group apart?
THE OPHELIA GIRLS BY JANE HEALEY
Adult Historical Mystery
August 10, 2021
In the summer of 1973, Ruth and her four friends were obsessed with pre-Raphaelite paintings—and a little bit obsessed with each other. Drawn to the cold depths of the river by Ruth’s house, the girls pretend to be the drowning Ophelia, with increasingly elaborate tableaus. But by the end of that fateful summer, real tragedy finds them along the banks.
Twenty-four years later, Ruth returns to the suffocating, once grand house she grew up in, the mother of young twins and seventeen-year-old Maeve. Joining the family in the country is Stuart, Ruth’s childhood friend, who is quietly insinuating himself into their lives and gives Maeve the attention she longs for. She is recently in remission, unsure of her place in the world now that she is cancer-free. Her parents just want her to be an ordinary teenage girl. But what teenage girl is ordinary?
Alternating between the two fateful summers, The Ophelia Girls is a suspense-filled exploration of mothers and daughters, illicit desire, and the perils and power of being a young woman.
Why I’m excited to read it: There’s so much creepy stuff happening in this story! I want to know about the weird drowning game. And who’s the childhood friend who’s interfering with this family’s life? So many mysteries to solve.
IN THE WILD LIGHT BY JEFF ZENTNER
Young Adult Contemporary Fiction
August 10, 2021
Life in a small Appalachian town is not easy. Cash lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Dodging drug dealers and watching out for his best friend, Delaney, is second nature. He’s been spending his summer mowing lawns while she works at Dairy Queen.
But when Delaney manages to secure both of them full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash will have to grapple with his need to protect and love Delaney, and his love for the grandparents who saved him and the town he would have to leave behind.
Why I’m excited to read it: Jeff Zentner wrote The Serpent King, which is one of my favorite YA contemporary books ever. He’s brilliant at capturing the isolation that a person can feel when they’re stuck in a small town. His characters are relatable and easy to love. I’m hoping for another amazing Jeff Zentner book.
VELVET WAS THE NIGHT BY SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
Adult Historical Thriller
August 17, 2021
1970s, Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue of Secret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger.
Her next-door neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to live a life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents.
Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric criminal who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock ’n’ roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he comes to observe Maite from a distance—and grows more and more obsessed with this woman who shares his love of music and the unspoken loneliness of his heart.
Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies all aiming to protect Leonora’s secrets—at gunpoint.
Why I’m excited to read it: Goodreads calls it “an edgy, simmering historical novel for lovers of smoky noirs and anti-heroes.” I’m not sure about “smoky noirs,” but I can’t resist a good “anti-hero.” All my favorite characters are a little bit evil.
VAMPIRES, HEARTS & OTHER DEAD THINGS BY MARGIE FUSTON
Young Adult Fantasy
August 24, 2021
Victoria and her dad have shared a love of the undead since the first vampire revealed his existence on live TV. Public fear soon drove the vampires back into hiding, yet Victoria and her father still dream about finding a vampire together. But when her dad is diagnosed with terminal cancer, it’s clear that’s not going to happen. Instead, Victoria vows to find a vampire herself—so that she can become one and then save her father.
Armed with research, speculations, and desperation—and helped by her estranged best friend, Henry—Victoria travels to New Orleans in search of a miracle. There she meets Nicholas, a mysterious young man who might give her what she desires. But first, he needs Victoria to prove she loves life enough to live forever.
She agrees to complete a series of challenges, from scarfing sugar-drenched beignets to singing with a jazz band, all to show she has what it takes to be immortal. But truly living while her father is dying feels like a betrayal. Victoria must figure out how to experience joy and grief at once, trusting all the while that Nicholas will hold up his end of the bargain . . . because the alternative is too impossible to imagine.
Why I’m excited to read it: It’s about a teen’s quest to become a vampire, but not in a gross Twilight kind of way. She wants to be a vampire so she can save her father. That’s understandable. I’m interested in the fantasy elements of the world. Vampires outed themselves on live TV and then went back into hiding? Are there any other paranormal creatures in this world? I’m excited to find out.
Which August book releases are you excited to read?
I have read a few of these, some I thought were a bit over hyped. I plan to go to the book store tomorrow and get A Lesson Of Vengeance , it has been on my want list for a while now
ReplyDeleteI want to read How We Fall Apart and A Lesson in Vengeance. So many good books coming out this month!
ReplyDeleteLauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I went 5/5 for both Zentner's and Fuston's books. Both so wonderful and emotional and beautiful. I was feeling a lot when I read those books.
ReplyDeleteI am SO excited for A Lesson in Vengeance! That book sounds incredible!
ReplyDeleteI am most excited for Zenter's In the Wild Night. I loved Serpent King!
ReplyDeleteA Lesson in Vengeance I would wait just for the cover. :) And the Silvia Moreno- Garcia one is calling out to me as well.
ReplyDeleteSome interesting titles, I have Billy summers to read
ReplyDeleteVelvet Was The Night is definitely one I want to read!
ReplyDeleteI have read The Dead and the Dark and Vampires, and they were both excellent! I also read Mercury Boys, and while I have some mixed feelings, the premise (and the daguerreotype talk) was A+! I am so excited for Jeff Zenter's book. I probably need to get a physical copy, tbh. Glad to know it is Tuesday, Idk why I thought it came out later in the month, so thanks! A Lesson in Vengeance looks great too! Hope you enjoy these!
ReplyDeleteSome of these sound very good, even though none of them are my usual fare. I hope you are able to read all of them, and they live up to your expectations.
ReplyDelete