Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases of the Second Half of the Year

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Okay, so clearly I cheated just a little bit. Just a teeny tiny bit. Just by like...400%. BUT IT'S FINE. 2016 is a hell of a year. I've included the bits from the official book blurbs that peaked my interest or at least caused my eyes to pop out and my paws to go up and my tongue to wag like an eager puppy who's just been teased with the most delicious treat.

July

And I Darken by Kiersten White
"NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL."

The Season by Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer
"She can score a goal, do sixty box jumps in a row, bench press a hundred and fifty pounds…but can she learn to curtsey?"

The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson
THE LAST BOOK IN THE REMNANT CHRONICLES AND THE SEQUEL TO ONE OF MY FAVE EVER BOOKS, THE HEART OF BETRAYAL, I'M SO EXCITED I CANNOT UNCAPS



P.S. I Like You by Kasie West
"Soon enough Lily and the mystery student are exchanging notes, and lyrics, and even sharing secrets. When Lily finds out that her anonymous pen pal is a guy, she's flustered -- and kind of feels like she's falling for him."

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
"Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters."

August

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
"Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is... a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.

Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence."

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
"Although it is (mostly) much easier for Jo to fit in as a straight girl, things get complicated when she meets Mary Carlson, the oh-so-tempting sister of her new friend at school."

The Reader by Traci Chee
"The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book—a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society."

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess
"Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity.

But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one."

Vicarious by Paula Stokes
"Winter Kim and her sister, Rose, have always been inseparable. Together, the two of them survived growing up in a Korean orphanage and being trafficked into the United States.

Now they work as digital stunt girls for Rose’s ex-boyfriend, Gideon, engaging in dangerous and enticing activities while recording their neural impulses for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. Whether it’s bungee jumping, shark diving, or grinding up against celebrities at the city’s hottest dance clubs, Gideon can make it happen for you, for a price."

Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliot
Sequel to Court of Fives, which is deeply excellent

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
"In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family."

(also, MEGFONT)


September

Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson
sequel to Walk on Earth a Stranger

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
SEQUEL TO SIX OF CROWS MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL OF LAST YEAR I'M NOT FREAKING OUT YOU'RE FREAKING OUT

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
well, I mean, duh

Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland and Michael Miller
"Firefly meets DUNE in this action-packed sci-fi adventure about a close-knit, found family of a crew navigating a galaxy of political intrigue and resource-driven power games."

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge
"The heirs of the city’s most powerful—and warring—families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan—and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die."

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake 

"Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown."

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
"Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world."

Sometimes We Tell the Truth by Kim Zarins
"In this contemporary retelling of The Canterbury Tales, a group of teens on a bus ride to Washington, DC, each tell a story—some fantastical, some realistic, some downright scandalous—in pursuit of the ultimate prize: a perfect score."

October

Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
SEQUEL TO LLUMINAE AKA THE MOST ______ING _____ _____ OF A ______ING BOOK

The Boy Is Back by Meg Cabot
OH MY GOD MORE BOY BOOKS AHHHHHH

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
"But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind."

Foxheart by Claire Legrand
"Orphan. Thief. Witch."

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova
"Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…"

A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith
"A time-travel story that alternates between modern day and 19th century Japan as one girl confronts the darkness lurking in her soul."

Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
"Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking questions he can't answer, and her friends are telling stories that don't add up. All eyes are on Flynn—as January's boyfriend, he must know something.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself."

My Unscripted Life by Lauren Morrill
"Dee Wilkie is still licking her wounds after getting rejected by the precollege fine arts program of her dreams. But if she'd gone away, she wouldn't have been around to say yes to an unbelievable opportunity: working on the set of a movie filming in her small Southern town that just happens to be starring Milo Ritter, the famous pop star Dee (along with the rest of the world) has had a crush since eighth grade."

Bound by Blood and Sand by Becky Allen
"But why would a slave—abused, beaten, and treated as less than human—want to save the system that shackles her? Jae would rather see the world burn."

Girl burn that bitch DOWN

(that is not part of the official summary)

November




Heartless by Marissa Meyer

"Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love."

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

"Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds...when she falls in love with his rogueish horse-training sister instead"

The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

"Red Queen meets The Hunger Games in this epic novel about what happens when the galaxy’s most deadly weapon masquerades as a senator’s daughter and a hostage of the galactic court."

Timekeeper by Tara Sim

"In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever."

December



Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill
"When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.

However, it’s not so simple.

...She must go on a dangerous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer"

The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee

"As one of only two aromateurs left on the planet, sixteen-year-old Mimosa knows what her future holds: a lifetime of using her extraordinary sense of smell to mix base notes, top notes, and heart notes into elixirs that help others fall in love—all while remaining incurably alone."