Starting with Epic Reads list of 12 Debut authors to look for this year, catching my eye is The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado. This story of time loops and secret societies comes out in May, just before another book that piques my interest. Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell sounds a bit like One of Us is Lying if it took place on a Blackfeet Reservation. Finally, in July we have Trespass Against Us by Leon Kemp, the story of three teens who team up with a reality show ghost hunter to return to an abandoned school they visited two years before, in order to find out what happened to the fourth member of their first trip to the haunted school.
The Library Ladies look at recent release The Dark Fable which they note is one of many books to namedrop Six of Crows in an attempt to market the novel, but like most of the others it doesn’t quite live up to the comparison. The review does acknowledge the book is very creative, featuring a large cast of characters with magical abilities and complex backstories. But the story meanders for a while before a strong ending leads to a decent payoff. So readers are rewarded if they stick with the story, but it can apparently be a bit of a slog at times.
This video review of The Dark Fable from Kayceeisbookish is more forgiving of the comparisons suggested by the book. She praises the character development, which The Library Ladies saw as a weakness.
This collection of reviews from It Starts at Midnight’s Reviews in a Minute looks at two books that have caught my attention. Under This Red Rock by Mindy Mcginnis follows Neely, who comes from a family with a history of mental illness, and who suffers from hallucinations herself. Things look up for her when she forms a strong bond with Mila, until Mila is murdered, and Neely isn’t sure if she was the culprit. This one gets a glowing review, while the other book in my maybe pile gets a more mixed, but still positive review.
The Revenant Games by Maggie Fuston takes place in a world where warring vampires and witches hold a competition for humans to get involved in their supernatural conflict. Whoever captures the highest ranking vampire will get someone of their choice raised from the dead, while capturing the most powerful witch leads to immortality. Protagonist Bly hopes to resurrect her sister, while her best friend Emerson is dying, and needs to win the vampire-offered immortality. The review notes that it starts slow, but says she got fully invested in the story as it went on.
Going back to Under This Red Rock, Reading in Wonderland offers another positive review of the book. She praises the mental illness representation, and notes that while you really want to root for main character Neely as she reels after Mila’s death, you aren’t quite sure you can trust her. Epic Reads presents the opening of this book for people still on the fence about buying it.
Kayceeisbookish looks at a YA horror that has long been on my list of books that I’m intrigued by, with Together We Rot. She gives a very positive review of the story of two teens, one of whom is trying to find out why her mother vanished, and the other dealing with learning his family is part of a cult.