So it has been a little while - ok a fair while (!) - since I last wrote a blog post. No need to panic, I have not died or god forbid, stopped reading books. I’ve just recently started a new job and as with learning new skills, it is taking up a lot of my time and energy at the moment. In a good way of course, but it has just meant the blog took a small sidestep, but I’m back on track and ready to bore you with my ramblings.

Starting off with a cool list of books that are going to be released in August. Some of these are only a few days away now, so if you pre-order them today you could be enjoying them by next week!

(Me) Moth - By Amber McBride

Release date: 17th of August 2021
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Synopsis:

Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and uprooted.

Until she meets Sani, a boy who is also searching for his roots. If he knows more about where he comes from, maybe he’ll be able to understand his ongoing depression. And if Moth can help him feel grounded, then perhaps she too will discover the history she carries in her bones.

Moth and Sani take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors. The way each moves forward is surprising, powerful, and unforgettable.

My thoughts:

Maybe it’s me getting older but I feel myself getting more sentimental. A story doesn’t necessarily have to have action, a rich, high-fantasy filled culture and history, sometimes it is just enough to have strong characters in a coming of age epic. (Me) Moth feels like an impressive take on mental health, first love, and how our memories shape our future selves.

A Dragonbird in the Fern - By Laura Rueckert

Release date: 3rd of August 2021
Publisher: Flux

Synopsis:

When an assassin kills Princess Jiara’s older sister Scilla, her vengeful ghost is doomed to walk their city of glittering canals, tormenting loved ones until the murderer is brought to justice. While the entire kingdom mourns, Scilla’s betrothed arrives and requests that seventeen-year-old Jiara take her sister’s place as his bride to confirm the alliance between their countries.

Marrying the young king intended for her sister and traveling to his distant home is distressing enough, but with dyslexia and years of scholarly struggles, Jiara abandoned any hope of learning other languages long ago. She’s terrified of life in a foreign land where she’ll be unable to communicate.

Then Jiara discovers evidence that her sister’s assassin comes from the king’s own country. If she marries the king, Jiara can hunt the murderer and release her family from Scilla’s ghost, whose thirst for blood mounts every day. To save her family, Jiara must find her sister’s killer . . . before he murders her too.

My thoughts:

There is so much going on with this one, it’s hard to find the right place to start. Court intrigue, vengeful ghosts, a stranger from a faraway land with a dark secret, exotic destinations. It is the perfect story for an adult who grew up on tales of princesses and magical castles. The roles have remained somewhat the same, there is just a dash more murder and intrigue. Although come to think of it, there is enough murder and intrigue in the Disney stories we all love.

A Lesson in Vengeance - By Victoria Lee

Release date: 3rd of August 2021
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Synopsis:

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.

My thoughts:

I know, I know, I know. I don’t just run the risk of repeating myself, I am repeating myself. I can’t help it though - I love a book where the lines between genres blur. Where fantasy, history and crime seamlessly blend together to create a spooky, spinetingling whodunnit. If the characters are half as good as they appear at first glance, this could soon become a new favourite of mine.

Revelator - By Daryl Gregory

Release date: 31st of August 2021
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group

Synopsis:

In 1933, nine-year-old Stella is left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee. These remote hills of the Smoky Mountains are home to dangerous secrets, and soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family's personal god, an entity known as the Ghostdaddy.

Years later, after a tragic incident that caused her to flee, Stella--now a professional bootlegger--returns for Motty's funeral, and to check on the mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could imagine--and she's a direct link to Stella's buried past and her family's destructive faith.

Haunting and wholly engrossing, summoning mesmerizing voices and giving shape to the dark, Revelator is a southern gothic tale for the ages.

My thoughts:

So, I am one of those (rare) people it seems who has not yet read a Daryl Gregory book. I’ve been aware of him of course, it’s hard not to with the raving reviews he received without fail. I’ve just never gotten around to picking one up. Though this might be the one to break that streak. Having been described as a masterpiece that could have sprung from the mind of Stephen King if he were to write about the Branch Davidians, you have to be a bit curious at least.

The Witch Haven - By Sasha Peyton Smith

Release date: 31st of August 2021
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young

Synopsis:

In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.

Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.

Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?

My thoughts:

Here we go again - it appears August might be bringing me everything I have wished for and more. Yet another stunning fantasy novel that blends the lines between genres, It also has a magical boarding school and to those of us who devoured the Harry Potter growing up, it takes little else to pique our interests.

What are your thoughts? Will any of these be in your suitcase as you jet off to a stunning sunny holiday (covid restrictions allowing). Have I missed of any essential reading materials? Let me know in the comments section below and, until then - just one more page!