Hi friends! A year has passed and the new year has arrived. I always love the start of a year because it offers another twelve months worth of new books by authors we know and authors we aren’t familiar with. New authors, new books, new favourites. Similarly to 2022, I’ll be blogging about my most anticipated releases each month for the new year.
New series will be released this year. Holly Black with The Stolen Heir duology and Amélie Wen Zhao with Song of the Last Kingdom duology. Continuation of series include Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson, The Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou, The Last Hours by Cassandra Clare. Talia Hibbert and Elise Bryant will have standalone novels coming out this year.
The list for the first month of the new year is already looking great!
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the stolen heir – holly black
duology: the stolen heir #1
January 3rd 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, romance
A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.
Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.
Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.
Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He’s on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren’s help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind.
🪵 Since it’s set in Elfhame too, The Stolen Heir is a must for my TBR this year.
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song of silver, flame like night – amélie wen zhao
duology: song of the last kingdom #1
January 3rd 2023 by Delacorte Press
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, romance
rep: chinese
In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to discovering the secrets of her nation’s past—and unleashing the demons that sleep at its heart. An epic fantasy series inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.
Once, Lan had a different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and her days scavenging for what she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died.
The mark is mysterious—an untranslatable Hin character—and no one but Lan can see it. Until the night a boy appears at her teahouse and saves her life.
Zen is a practitioner—one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. Their magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Now it must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.
When Zen comes across Lan, he recognizes what she is: a practitioner with a powerful ability hidden in the mark on her arm. He’s never seen anything like it—but he knows that if there are answers, they lie deep in the pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom, with an order of practitioning masters planning to overthrow the Elantian regime.
Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within—secrets they must hide from others, and secrets that they themselves have yet to discover. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.
Now the battle for the Last Kingdom begins.
🪵 As a young girl, I have been a huge fan of xianxia (cultivation and heroes) but it’s hard to find this genre in English literature. When I found out that Amélie Wen Zhao is writing about this setting, I’m all in.
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highly suspicious and unfairly cute – talia hibbert
standalone
January 3rd 2023 by Joy Revolution
age range: young adult
genre: contemporary, romance
rep: black, OCD, fat
Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes…except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.
Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption–yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)
These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.
Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed…or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?
🪵 I loved Talia Hibbert’s The Brown Sisters trilogy, I knew I’ll read her future releases so Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute is in this list.
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mysteries of thorn manor – margaret rogerson
duology: sorcery of thorns #1.5
January 17th 2023 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, romance
Elisabeth Scrivener is finally settling into her new life with sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Now that their demon companion Silas has returned, so has scrutiny from nosy reporters hungry for gossip about the city’s most powerful sorcerer and the librarian who stole his heart. But something strange is afoot at Thorn Manor: the estate’s wards, which are meant to keep their home safe, are acting up and forcibly trapping the Manor’s occupants inside. Surely it must be a coincidence that this happened just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth started getting closer to one another…
With no access to the outside world, Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas–along with their new maid Mercy–will have to work together to discover the source of the magic behind the malfunctioning wards before they’re due to host the city’s Midwinter Ball. Not an easy task when the house is filled with unexpected secrets, and all Elisabeth can think about is kissing Nathaniel in peace. But when it becomes clear that the house, influenced by the magic of Nathaniel’s ancestors, requires a price for its obedience, Elisabeth and Nathaniel will have to lean on their connection like never before to set things right.
🪵 SHE IS WRITING ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT NATHANIEL AND ELISABETH. Even though it’s less than 200 pages, I already know this will be a must read in 2023.
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the fraud squad – kyla zhao
standalone
January 17th 2023 by Berkley Books
age range: adult
genre: contemporary, romance
rep: asian
For as long as she can remember, Samantha Song has dreamed of writing for a high-society magazine—and she’d do anything to get there. But the constant struggle to help her mom make ends meet and her low social status make her dream feel like a distant fantasy.
Now, Sam finds herself working at a drab PR firm. The closest she’ll get to that life is living vicariously through her socialite coworker and friend, Anya Chen. Then she meets Timothy Kingston: the disillusioned son of one of Singapore’s elite families—and Sam’s one chance at infiltrating the high society world to which she desperately wants to belong.
To Sam’s surprise, Tim and Anya both agree to help her make a name for herself on Singapore’s socialite scene. The borrowed designer clothes and plus-ones to every glamorous event can only get her so far; the rest is on Sam, and she’s determined to make an impression on the editor-in-chief of Singapore’s poshest magazine. But the deeper Sam wades into this fraud, the more she fears being exposed—especially with a mysterious gossip columnist on the prowl for dirt—forcing her to reconcile her pretense with who she really is before she loses it all.
🪵 I’m so excited to read The Fraud Squad because it’s set in Singapore, my home.
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the husky and his white cat shizun volume 2 – rou bao bu chi rou
series: the husky and his white cat shizun #2
January 24th 2023 by Seven Seasage range: adult
genre: fantasy, romance
rep: chinese, m/m couple
Massacring his way to the top to become emperor of the cultivation world, Mo Ran’s cruel reign left him with little satisfaction. Now, upon suffering his greatest loss, he takes his own life…
To his surprise, Mo Ran awakens in his own body at age sixteen, years before he ever began his bloody conquests. Now, as a novice disciple at the cultivation sect known as Sisheng Peak, Mo Ran has a second chance at life. This time, he vows that he will attain the gratification that eluded him in his last life: the overly righteous shall fall, and none will dare treat him like a dog ever again! His furious passion burns most fiercely for his shizun, Chu Wanning, the beautiful yet cold cultivation teacher who maintains a cat-like aloofness in his presence. Yet despite Mo Ran’s shameless pursuit of his own goals, he begins to question his previously held beliefs, and wonders if there could be more to his teacher–and his own feelings–than he ever realized.
🪵 I still need my physical copy for volume 1 from Book Depository. Otherwise, I’m just excited to venture into a whole new BL setting.
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chain of thorns – cassandra clare
trilogy: the last hours #3
January 31st 2023 by Walker Books
age range: young adult
genre: fantasy, historical, romance
Cordelia Carstairs has lost everything that matters to her. In only a few short weeks, she has seen her father murdered, her plans to become parabatai with her best friend, Lucie, destroyed, and her marriage to James Herondale crumble before her eyes. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter.
After fleeing to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city’s glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial.
Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie’s grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Cordelia longs to protect James but is torn between a love for James she has long believed hopeless, and the possibility of a new life with Matthew. Nor can her friends help—ripped apart by their own secrets, they seem destined to face what is coming alone.
For time is short, and Belial’s plan is about to crash into the Shadowhunters of London like a deadly wave, one that will separate Cordelia, Lucie, and the Merry Thieves from help of any kind. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial’s deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.
🪵 With Chain of Thorns, it’ll be the end of The Last Hours trilogy and I’m terrified of what might happen in the end. Will all the children survive? Will those who are meant to be finally be together?
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reggie & delilah’s year of falling – elise bryant
standalone
January 31st 2023 by Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
age range: young adult
genre: contemporary, romance
rep: black, dyslexia, lgbt
Delilah always keeps her messy, gooey insides hidden behind a wall of shrugs and yeah, whatevers. She goes with the flow—which is how she ends up singing in her friends’ punk band as a favor, even though she’d prefer to hide at the merch table.
Reggie is a D&D Dungeon Master and self-declared Blerd. He spends his free time leading quests and writing essays critiquing the game under a pseudonym, keeping it all under wraps from his disapproving family.
These two, who have practically nothing in common, meet for the first time on New Year’s Eve. And then again on Valentine’s Day. And then again on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s almost like the universe is pushing them together for a reason.
Delilah wishes she were more like Reggie—open about what she likes and who she is, even if it’s not cool. Except…it’s all a front. Reggie is just role-playing someone confident. The kind of guy who could be with a girl like Delilah.
As their holiday meetings continue, the two begin to fall for each other. But what happens once they realize they’ve each fallen for a version of the other that doesn’t really exist?
🪵 Elise Bryant’s books have been on my radar for the past two years for her past two books. No surprise here that I’m adding Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling into my list this year too.
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let’s chat;
my most anticipated out of this list is probably SONG OF SILVER, FLAME LIKE NIGHT. followed by MYSTERIES OF THORN MANOR and CHAIN OF THORNS.
what about yours?
full january list
✗ the love match – priyanka taslim
✗ the stolen heir (the stolen heir #1) – holly black
✗ song of silver, flame like night (song of the last kingdom #1) – amélie wen zhao
✗ highly suspicious and unfairly cute – talia hibbert
✗ camp creepy (sinister summer #3) – kiersten white
✗ lunar love – lauren kung jensen
✗ a long time coming (cane brothers #3) – meghan quinn
✗ the heavenly sword (sword maiden from the moon #1) – alice poon
✗ hell bent (alex stern #2) – leigh bardugo
✗ mysterious of thorn manor (sorcery of thorns #1.5) – margaret rogerson
✗ a love by design (the secret scientists of london #3) – elizabeth everett
✗ the fraud squad – kyla zhao
✗ spice road (the spice road #1) – maiya ibrahim
✗ the husky and his white cat shizun volume 2 (2ha #2) – rou bao bu chi rou
✗ the duke gets even (the fifth avenue rebels #4) – joanna shupe
✗ chain of thorns (the last hours #3) – cassandra clare
✗ reggie & delilah’s year of falling – elise bryant
✗ one girl in all the world (in every generation #2) – kendare blake
thisbellereadstoo.wordpress.com 
I agree with you, even the January releases already looking great! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and to see releases from the rest of the year 🙂
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i need to hear your thoughts too! i’ll need quite a while to catch up on all the books on my tbr
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