Hello everyone! It’s August and we have a huge list of 2022 releases this month. I’m not complaining, though. I’ve read books from all of the authors mentioned. Standalone releases in August are Sophie Go’s by Roselle Lim, Babel by R.F. Kuang, Nothing More to Tell by Karen M. McManus, and Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi, Evelyn Skye, and Sandhya Menon. The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Volume 3 by Moxiang Tongxiu, and Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston are continuation to their respective series. We are finishing up the A Magic Steeped in Poison duology, The Inheritance Games trilogy, and Six Crimson Cranes duology. The only new series starting is Belladonna by Adalyn Grace.
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sophie go’s lonely hearts club
– roselle lim
standalone
August 16th 2022 by Berkley
age range: adult
genre: contemporary, romance
rep: Asian
Newly minted professional matchmaker Sophie Go has returned to Toronto, her hometown, after spending three years in Shanghai. Her job is made quite difficult, however, when she is revealed as a fraud—she never actually graduated from matchmaking school. In a competitive market like Toronto, no one wants to take a chance on an inexperienced and unaccredited matchmaker, and soon Sophie becomes an outcast.
In dire search of clients, Sophie stumbles upon a secret club within her condo complex: the Old Ducks, seven septuagenarian Chinese bachelors who never found love. Somehow, she convinces them to hire her, but her matchmaking skills are put to the test as she learns the depths of loneliness, heartbreak, and love by attempting to make the hardest matches of her life.
🌷 One, there are matchmaking schools? Two, what’s septuagenarian? (People aged 70 to 79.) Three, old people finding love at that age? Yes, please. I’ve been waiting for Roselle Lim to release another novel, something magical and about love.
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the oleander sword
– tasha suri
trilogy: the jasmine throne #2
August 18th 2022 by Orbit
age range: adult
genre: fantasy, romance
rep: Asian, LGBT
The prophecy of the nameless god—the words that declared her rightful empress of Parijatdvipa—has been Malini’s blessing and curse. She is determined to claim the crown that fate has offered her. But even with the rage in her soul and an army of loyal men at her back, deposing her brother from the throne is going to be a brutal and bloody fight.
The power of the deathless waters flows through Priya’s blood. Thrice born priestess, Elder of Ahiranya, Priya’s dream is to see her country rid of the rot that plagues it: both Parijatdvipa’s poisonous rule, and the blooming sickness that is slowly spreading through all living things. But she doesn’t yet understand the truth of the magic she carries.
Their chosen paths once pulled them apart. But Malini and Priya’s hearts remain as entwined as their destinies, and they soon realize they must come together again if they wish to save their kingdom from those who would rather see it burn—no matter what it will cost them.
🌷 I have to say that I’m a little terrified of starting this book since I have an ARC. I wonder how the plot would move after The Jasmine Throne. But from the reviews I’ve read, I have high hopes that Tasha Suri will once again write a great novel.
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grandmaster of demonic cultivation volume 3
– moxiang tongxiu
series: grandmaster of demonic cultivation #3
August 16th 2022 by Seven Seas Entertainment
age range: adult
genre: fantasy, romance
rep: Asian, LGBT
The bloody war against the Wen Clan once led Wei Wuxian to seek power in demonic cultivation, and the dark acts he committed drove a wedge between him and Lan Wangji. Now, those old sins come back to haunt him as his reincarnated identity is revealed to the cultivation world. But even as the other clans call for Wei Wuxian’s death, Lan Wangji stands by him, making Wei Wuxian realize what he took for disapproval in the past might have been a much deeper emotion.
🌷 No comments needed, I believe.
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a venom dark and sweet
– judy i. lin
duology: the book of tea #2
August 23rd 2022 by Feiwel and Friends
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, romance
rep: Asian
A great evil has come to the kingdom of Dàxi. The Banished Prince has returned to seize power, his rise to the dragon throne aided by the mass poisonings that have kept the people bound in fear and distrust.
Ning, a young but powerful shénnóng-shi—a wielder of magic using the ancient and delicate art of tea-making—has escorted Princess Zhen into exile. Joining them is the princess’ loyal bodyguard, Ruyi, and Ning’s newly healed sister, Shu. Together the four young women travel throughout the kingdom in search of allies to help oust the invaders and take back Zhen’s rightful throne.
But the golden serpent still haunts Ning’s nightmares with visions of war and bloodshed. An evil far more ancient than the petty conflicts of men has awoken, and all the magic in the land may not be enough to stop it from consuming the world…
🌷 Can’t wait to reenter the world of shénnóng-shi! We should make same year duology releases a thing. We’ve got A Magic Steeped in Poison in March and then the conclusion in August. How awesome is that?!
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babel, or the necessity of violence: an arcane history of the oxford translators’ revolution
– r.f. kuang
standalone
August 23rd 2022 by Harper Voyager
age range: adult
genre: historical fiction, fantasy
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.
Babel is the world’s center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research in foreign languages serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters.
Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?
🌷 When this was first announced, I thought it was a dissertation and had zero interest in reading it despite loving R.F. Kuang’s works. Soon, though, I found out it’s actually historical fiction, a dark academia. Knowing R.F. Kuang, it’s going to be epic.
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the final gambit
– jennifer lynn barnes
trilogy: the inheritance games #3
August 30th 2022 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
age range: young adult
genre: contemporary, mystery, romance
To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her.
But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help—and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.
Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake—and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning.
🌷 We are reaching the end of this trilogy. I have no idea what to expect. Although I love the mystery and riddles and puzzle-solving in The Inheritance Games, I didn’t like how the romance progressed in The Hawthorne Legacy. Still, I want to see where things will go for Avery and the Hawthorne boys.
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belladonna
– adalyn grace
duology: belladonna #1
August 30th 2022 by Little, Brown for Young Readers
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, mystery, romance
Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her well-being—and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy. Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.
However, Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful—and more irresistible—than she ever dared imagine.
🌷 Poison as the title? Immediately intrigued. Also, I adored the All the Stars and Teeth duology by Adalyn Grace so I’m definitely picking up her next set of books.
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nothing more to tell
– karen m. mcmanus
standalone
August 30th 2022 by Delacorte Press
age range: young adult
genre: mystery, romance
Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favorite teacher—a story that made headlines after the teacher’s body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Now that Brynn is moving home and starting her dream internship at a true-crime show, she’s determined to find out what really happened.
The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder. They’ve never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie.
Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and as Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she begins to uncover secrets that might change everything—about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot.
Four years ago someone got away with murder. The most terrifying part is that they never left.
🌷 I’ve been following Karen M. McManus since her debut, One of Us is Lying. Since the author focuses on mystery novels, I’m curious about how she would write and plot this book.
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amari and the great game
– b.b. alston
series: supernatural investigations #2
August 30th 2022 by Balzer + Bray
age range: middle grade
genre: fantasy
rep: Black
After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.
But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about!
But her refusal allows someone else to step forward, a magician with dangerous plans for the League. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind.
🌷 Just need this in my hands. I want to explore more of the magic world and follow Amari on her next adventure.
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the dragon’s promise
– elizabeth lim
duology: six crimson cranes #2
August 30th 2022 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, romance, retelling
Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.
The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori’s aid one minute, and betraying her the next—threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love, Takkan. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she’s fought so hard to win.
🌷 Blessed to have an ARC for The Dragon’s Promise. I needed this conclusion ever since I finished Six Crimson Cranes, and found out about Shori and Takkan. We will be exploring the world of dragons in this one, I believe!
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three kisses, one midnight
– roshani chokshi, sandhya menon, & evelyn skye
standalone
August 30th 2022 by Wednesday Books
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, romance
The town of Moon Ridge was founded 400 years ago and everyone born and raised there knows the legend of the young woman who perished at the stroke of twelve that very same night, losing the life she was set to embark on with her dearest love. Every century since, one day a year, the Lady of Moon Ridge descends from the stars to walk among the townsfolk, conjuring an aura upon those willing to follow their hearts’ desires.
“To summon joy and love in another’s soul
For a connection that makes two people whole
For laughter and a smile that one can never miss
Sealed before midnight with a truehearted kiss.”
This year at Moon Ridge High, a group of friends known as The Coven will weave art, science, and magic during a masquerade ball unlike any other. Onny, True, and Ash believe everything is in alignment to bring them the affection, acceptance, and healing that can only come from romance—with a little help from Onny’s grandmother’s love potion.
But nothing is as simple as it first seems. And as midnight approaches, The Coven learn that it will take more than a spell to recognize those who offer their love and to embrace all the magic that follows.
🌷 Zero clue on what this is about except that there are three kisses in one midnight, and it’s written by awesome authors. Received an ARC for this as well!
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so many cool and anticipated releases this month! i can’t wait to read every single one of them.
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