40+ Most Anticipated Releases of 2023! (Jan-June)📚

Who's ready to hear me chat about over 40 books that I barely know anything about but I'm really excited to read. Hello my loves, how are we doing? We're gonna be doing my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2023 now. I always try to be pretty strict with what I let go onto this list but today I think we have, wait for it, 48. This is just January to June, I do this video twice a year. This is just the first half of the year. So strap in. I can't take it. I can't take it anymore. I can't either. I don't want to do this anymore. I'm actually, we're gonna try and get through these quickly. We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna try and race through them. I'm not gonna spend too long on every book because A, I don't know too much about them. I've just read every synopsis over again but can I remember everything? Not necessarily. My natural inclination is to spend like two minutes on every single book. We'll be here for two hours. So I'm gonna try and speed round and give you the basic information whilst still making you as excited for these books as I am. I'm gonna go through them in chronological order. I'm sitting at my desk today so that I'm in front of my laptop and it's a bit easier for me to see everything and I think that's all we have to say. Shall we just get into it? First is Age of Vias by Deepti Kapoor. I got sent this from Book of the Month. This is one of my choices this month. I think this book opens with a car accident that leaves five people dead. The car involved was a very rich man's car in this society but it becomes clear it wasn't him driving the car. I think it's definitely a family tale about power, about money, about corruption and then kind of like unravelling this family's secrets. Then we have Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert. This is Talia Hibbert's YA debut and I'm very excited. We're following I think like a vlogger, like an online content creator and they're in high school these characters though and like a sports star and they both sign up for this like survival course in the woods and they bond together. I'm really excited to see how Talia Hibbert's writing converts into a YA novel because I feel like her books are kind of steamy. So like how are we gonna build the romance? I don't associate her with like a YA book so I'm very very excited for this. Then we have A Million to One. I have been so excited for this one but I need to get my hands on the US cover because the UK one is horrible. It's not nice. That is so mean. But anyways, this is set on the Titanic. It's a heist on the Titanic, excuse me. We're following these four different girls as they kind of band together. They're trying to steal this jewel but then something goes wrong. Well the ship sinks. I think that's gonna happen. We know that's not the end of the book. Yeah this one's been super hyped up and I'm intrigued. I haven't actually seen what many people have thought of this yet but I'm excited. Oh then we have This Book Killed by Raveena Guron. This is another YA book. A student is murdered at this school dun dun dun. That's drama enough. But then our main character gets a text thanking her for the inspiration. It becomes clear that he has been killed in a way that she kind of wrote in a short story that she wrote recently. Well she has to solve it otherwise she is gonna be next. Uh oh. There's a few YA murder mysteries that have really been pitched for fans of Holly Jackson which I still class myself as um despite the events of The Five Survival. Then we have Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo. This is the sequel to Ninth House. I loved Ninth House. I adored Ninth House. I'm very excited to dive into this. I spoke about this in my last video but I just think this is Leigh Bardugo's bag. Bin off the Grouchaverse. If I could choose I'd say get rid of Italy, get rid of the Grouchaverse and just write this. Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave? Then we have Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwin. I think this is a debut. I think this has been pitched for like fans of The Secret History. It's been very promoted. This is obviously like this is Penguin. It's published by Penguin and I think it's set in Edinburgh. It's gonna be very like the University of Edinburgh. It's gonna be very gothic, dark academia vibes and I think it's kind of about this toxic uh what's it I'm looking for? Codependent relationship between these friends and I think murder is gonna get involved. I'm really really excited for that. Then we have How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. This one is following two siblings whose parents have recently died at the end of the coronavirus pandemic. The siblings both of their um monetary situations have been pretty ravaged by the pandemic so they need to fix up and sell the house but it becomes clear it's haunted as the name suggests. I've connected the two dots. You didn't connect ---- but I've connected them. I read my first Grady Hendrix last year and I loved the campiness. Like I just loved the ridiculousness so I'm so excited to get this one. I feel like Grady Hendrix could be my flavour of horror. Oh then we have another one of my most exciting ones. We have The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett. Again I spoke about this in my last video. I think we're following a true crime author who discovers this box of materials about the Alperton Angels who were a cult who convinced a young girl within the cult that her baby was the Antichrist and this is all mixed media so it's emails, interviews, messages, like all these kind of things is what the story is told through with Janice Hallett so I'm Then we have Godkiller by Hannah Kinnair. This is another, oh this is Helper Collins, but it's another big release I think of this year in the fantasy realm. Some of the fantasy ones in this list, I read the synopsis I'm like what do you want me to say? We've got a person who's supposed to kill gods but she meets a god that, oh I don't know they, I don't know what gender the person is sorry, they meet a god that they cannot kill. I think there's also another guy in the story who's, I don't know, it's about a god killer. Okay it's fantasy, it's got a cute cover, everyone's eating up. Then we have The Drift by C.J. Tudor. This is I think verging on more horror for C.J. Tudor and I think we're following three different characters. There's a deadly virus happening. One of them I know is making uh trying to make the vaccination. What's not clicking? What's not clicking? Another one wakes up in like a snow lift in uniforms with other people that they don't know. They don't know how they ended up there and the one's been in a crash. I don't know, I've heard really good reviews from people who have read this already so I'm very excited. Then we have All the Dangerous Things by Stacey Willingham. In this we are following a woman whose child was stolen from their room many years ago. I think we're a year on and she agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster and I think things start to unravel from there. I really enjoyed A Flick in the Dark by Stacey Willingham. I thought it was a really strong debut thriller so I'm very excited to dive into this. Then we have The Murder Game by Tom Hindle. Tom Hindle wrote A Fatal Crossing which I didn't love but I have high hopes for him. He's an Agatha Christie lover. He's a like classic crime, classic murder mystery lover I can tell. This one we've got like nine characters summoned to this stately home in England for a New Year's Eve party and one of them is murdered. It essentially is the thing and secrets come out and yada yada. It's like a classic Christie plot. Then we have Nobody Asked for This by Charlie Cox. I almost forgot to put this on here. So Charlie Cox is one of my favourite poets. She hasn't brought out a book in probably like three years I want to say. This is her first poetry collection in that time. I just love Charlie Cox's writing. She's very open about her mental health. It's just my flavour of poetry. I've never really found a poet that I love as much as Charlie Cox so very excited for her to be coming out with something new. I've waited a long time for this. Then we have Venko by Sherry Demerline. This is a witches. It's on there because it's witches. I think it's like about these spoons. There's these witches who have been lying in wait for these seven spoons to be reunited again and then they can resurge as witches. Anything with witches in the synopsis I put on my list at the I'm into witches. I'm so into witches right now. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chotsky. This is about two characters who get married and they make a deal that they'll get married as long as the bridegroom never looks into the bride's past. But then I think they have to go take care of her mother or an elderly relative and they go back to her home and it starts unravelling. It's been compared to Mexican Gothic. I've never read Roshani Chotsky but I know this is her adult debut and this one has been super hyped up. I think this could be a really big release this year. Then we have The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. I love Villa Rachel Hawkins. I've read one. I read Reckless Girls but it was one of the most like fast-paced ridiculous thrillers I've ever read. This one I think is following these characters who are kind of friends in the 70s. Think like rock stars, artists, the kind of thing. And they were at this villa and a murder happened and then we're in the present day looking back. Was there more truth to what happened? What are the truths? I've heard amazing things about this one. Everyone's been saying it's her best one yet. I'm really, really excited. Then we have Lost in the Moment and Sound by Seana McGuire. This is the eighth in the Wayward Children series. We're deep in. In this we're following I think Antoinette who lives in the place or her world is the place where things that are lost go. And I just love the Wayward Children series. I'm not going to tell you much more than that because it's a novella. But there is trigger warnings in this for child abuse and I've heard it's very much one of the heaviest in the series so far. So do read the trigger warnings. I know that there's an author's note at the beginning about this as well. Then we have What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall. This is my first Kate Alice Marshall I've owned but I've always been interested in her books. This is about these three girls who went into the woods. They were attacked. They survived being stabbed. They identified the serial killer that tried to kill them but they were liars. I'm really excited. I think this sounds really, really good. It sounds haunting. It sounds mysterious. I love, I love this kind of thing. So I'm very, very excited. I need to stop saying I'm excited but I am. Talking about this to you ignites like a passion in my soul. What do you want me to say? I am not excited. But I did tell a bit of a lie there. This is one of the big releases of the year. It's one of the most anticipated books I've seen on so many anticipated lists. It is I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Mackay. So our main character, her roommate was killed when she was at college. A person was convicted for the murder and then she's invited back to the school to teach a course and she's like, was the right person convicted? What's the truth? Last one in February is She Is A Haunting. I just know this is a YA... what do I know? It's a YA haunted house book and I think she's traveling back to this house with her family and things start going wrong and our main character wants to protect her family. I just am excited about this because of the cover, okay? I think a lot of people are excited about this because of the cover. I love the cover. Then we have The Unforgettable Alexandra Shaw by A. Lloyd Spanton. This one is about a girl who killed her father. It was an accident. Then she meets this boy who says that not only did her dad die in the accident but she did too. So I don't know if it's like a ghost story. I don't know. I'm really excited with this one. I haven't really had anyone to speak about it. I saw it on a list of some sort and I've been really excited ever since. Then we have The Writing Retreat. I... oh girl, I'm so excited for this one. It's about a struggling author who's never made it, goes on this writing retreat, finds out there's a competition. You have to write a book in this one month and whoever writes the best one will get a seven-figure publishing deal and stuff starts going wrong. I think murder started occurring. I'm really excited for this. I spoke about this in my last video as well and I've already seen... I posted it last night for me. There's already been people in the comments telling me they read ARCs and it was like a five star and I'm gonna love it. I'm so excited. I have to say that sounds a little bit twisted but kind of great too. Oh then we have a non-fiction. I think this might be the only non-fiction. I don't tend to put non-fictions on my most anticipated but this is The Once and Future Sex. This is all about women in medieval history and the narratives around women in medieval times. It sounds super interesting. I read the synopsis and it spoke about how male thinkers that we still look towards from medieval times drew a lot on greek ideas and christian theory on women but when you look at the actual historical women that we know about from medieval times it really kind of counteracts that and they were completely different characters so this is kind of unpacking the truth of women's roles and women within medieval society so I'm really I'm really intrigued by this. This is like we know I just love women. Oh the mimicking of known successes. I've seen a lot of people talking about and all I'm going to tell you is that it is a sapphic murder mystery set on Jupiter. That's all we need to know. Then we have What Happened to Ruthie Ramirez. This is about a girl who went missing I think when she was about 10. The family have never really recovered but then they see a girl on a reality tv show calling herself Ruby who looks just like their sister and they kind of endeavor to bring her home. I've heard a lot of things about this. I think this one's a bit more literary fiction. Literary friction. Literary fiction. So I'm intrigued. A lot of you in the comments I've seen a lot of people mentioning their excitement for this one so yeah. Then we have Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murders. I have never read anything by this author. This is the author of Dial A for Aunties. This one really intrigues me. I think it's about this grandma who runs a restaurant. I think it's a restaurant. I'm pretty sure it's a restaurant or it could just be in her living room where dead body turns up. I'm not sure if I'm getting confused with other cozy mystery books. But anyways she finds this dead body and it's got a flash drive in its hand and rather than like call the police she like pockets the flash drive. She's like I'm gonna solve this. The police wouldn't do a good job as me. So yeah I'm super excited for this one. I think it's a standalone which is why I've put it on here because a lot of cozy mysteries are series and I can't start them all. So next we have the London Seance Society by Sarah Penner. This is by the author of The Lost Apothecary which I really enjoyed. I just know about seances. In Paris and London we're trying to solve a murder. We're trying to find out something about a sister's death. And yeah I really enjoyed the writing in The Lost Apothecary so I'm hoping this will give me the Victorian vibes that I'm looking for. Next we have Three Drops of Blood by Gretchen McNeil. This is the author of the hashtag murder trending series which I have only read the first one but I'm gonna read the rest. Okay. This is YA. Again this is another one that's pitched for fans of Holly Jackson. But we're following a girl who witnesses a murder through a window. I think it's actually a double homicide through a window which I love that as a as a synopsis. It reminds me of um is it the 450 from Paddington I think? Back at the Christie where someone witnesses a murder on a train that's passing. And I just think Gretchen McNeil's kind of campy and fun so again this is my kind of flavour of horror I think. Next we have A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. I have not yet read any T. Kingfisher but I'm excited to get into all of her flavours of her work. She publishes so many different kind of genres. Fantasy, horror, cozy fantasy. This one is a and I think we're following a person who goes home to see their mother and the house has very much changed and the mother is very scared for some reason and we don't really know why. Next is Camp Zero. I just know this is a climate change-esque book. I think a character agrees to travel to this kind of climate ecological base I think. Somewhere very cold in exchange for housing and it becomes clear that things aren't all that they seem. Oh this one's so stupid. We have Reach for the Stars by Michael Craig. This was on Goodreads. It's gone. I can't find it on Goodreads anymore. I hope everything's fine at home. This one's more I think for my British girlies. I think this is gonna be very Brit pop focused but this is basically a book about the kind of British pop so think Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, S Club 7, hence Reach for the Stars. I'm really excited. I love pop culture. I love like British pop culture. I think it's so interesting so I'm so glad that someone is writing a book about this and I can't wait. Oh that was another non-fiction. We have two. Okay that's not bad. Next is Nick Blake and the Remarkables by Andrew Thomas. This is Andrew Thomas's middle grade debut. All I know about this is that I think it's like fantastical and our main character's dad had powers and she kind of goes on this quest to find her magical powers and free her dad. I think her dad's in prison as well but I love Andrew Thomas's writing. I've heard her speak about this book actually a long time ago on a podcast. I think this was one of the first books she ever wanted to write and didn't end up writing it so very excited for this one. Then we have Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee. I don't know much about this because it is a novella. This is her first release I think since the Greenbone Saga and I think it's like an animal based fantasy series. I think our main character's one of her family members was killed by this magical beast. I kind of want to go into it blind. It's a short novella but I loved Fonda Lee's writing this year so I definitely want to dive into this. We have In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune. This is TJ Klune's new release this year. We're following these robots, this family of robots. I think they're in hiding and one of the family members by accident reveals their location and their dad is kind of taken away and that's all I really know. But like I was saying I think in my last video, again this is one of the books I mentioned for my 2023 TBR, TJ Klune's books always have a message so I'm feeling this one's going to be about family or perhaps even work. I don't know. I'm intrigued to see kind of what the underlying meaning is of this that isn't revealed in the synopsis. Next is Death of a Bookseller. I think this is going to be another popular book this year. So we're following this bookseller who works in this bookshop who's very kind of shy, reserved and this new bookseller comes in who is the opposite. Who is bright, light, exciting. Everyone's obsessed with her. Our main character is like there's something dark beneath the surface of her and I think perhaps she wants to kind of, like the newbie wants to like erase the main character. I don't know. Very excited for this one. I keep saying that. For the first time again by Sylvain Nouveau I'm just mentioning here. I'm not gonna, I have not read the synopsis of this because it is the third in a series and I've only read the first. But this is a sci-fi series following these characters throughout history who want to go to the moon and seeing how they've affected historical events. That's all I'm going to say. But it's very very interesting and very unique series that I really enjoyed the first one from. Ellie Engel Saves Herself is Leah Johnson's middle grade debut. This one I think we're following a girl where there's an earthquake and it gives her magical powers and she's recorded and put on social media like having her magical powers and it's up to her to save herself. The Chateau by Jacqueline Goldis is another thriller that's coming out. We have this grandma who's like rich living in this French chateau. She invites her granddaughter and three of her friends there. They grew up there. They spent a lot of their summers there. They wake up after the first night and the grandmother has been brutally murdered. Too much drama for me. And there's also an Instagram account pops up kind of revealing stuff about the girls and secrets they have. It sounds very interesting. Next is Yellow Face by R.F. Kuang. This is about two authors, a white author and I think an Asian author. And I think the white author witnesses the death or something of the Asian author and steals a manuscript that she was writing and publishes it as her own along with like an ethnically ambiguous author photo I think the synopsis said. So this is very much about racism and publishing, about white privilege and publishing. It's very different from R.F. Kuang. We've only seen fantasy from her so far. Yes her fantasy has had social commentary but this is a contemporary with social commentary and I'm ready to see her drag the publishing industry. Another sequel that I have not read the first one for so I have not read the synopsis but I'm just going to bring it to your attention. It's The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson. I really want to get to the first one this year so it's just on my list to make me pay attention. We have All Citizens Bleed by S.A. Cosby. I've never read anything by S.A. Cosby but this one sounds really interesting. So I think we're following a main character who is the town's only black sheriff ever and a school shooting occurs. I think a student shoots a teacher. It becomes clear that the student was being abused by the teacher and it's just kind of about I think the reaction within the town and how our main character deals with it and about many different kind of social commentaries I'm sure. Then two more that I'll quickly mention because again I have not read the synopsis. They are sequels to books I have not read yet. We have Never a Hero by Vanessa Lenn which is the sequel to Only a Monster and we have A Death in the Parish by Richard Coles which is the sequel to Murder in Evensongs. Just bringing those to your attention. We have The Last Word by Taylor Adams, another one I put on my 2023 TBR. This one we're following a reviewer who writes a negative review of a book and the author does not react well and I think stalks the author and turns up at her home and maybe murderousness ensues. That's me stabbing. Whenever I do that it's me stabbing someone okay. Then Love Theoretically by Ellie Hazelwood. I love Ellie Hazelwood. She loves me. We're besties. This one we're following academic rivals in fake dating. That's all I need to know. I'll pick it up and I'm sure I'm gonna love it because Ellie Hazelwood fulfills my fanfic fave writing. And the last one, oh my god, I'm so proud of myself for like not spending 10 minutes speaking about each book because it's well within my remit. I've tried to keep it cut and dry. The last one is The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Baker. This is about a medium I think within Victorian times and I think someone threatens to expose fake mediums but I think our girlie is a real medium and I've heard this is funny. Like I think this is a funny historical fiction so intrigued by it. I like the cover and I'm willing to give it a go. So oh my god. So thank you for watching that video. Oh my god. Let me know which of these you're excited for. I'm really excited for these. I'm sure there'll be other new releases I'm excited for throughout the year but I cannot believe at the moment how many of the ones I'm excited for are the first half of the year. I suppose that's kind of only natural though. More books will be announced you know throughout the next couple months for the second half of the year. Thank you for watching. My voice hurts. I hope that was somewhat coherent. I tried my best. That was a lot of books to remember synopses for. So thank you so much for watching. If you got into the end comment the book stack emoji because that was a hell of a lot of books. So comment that down below if you got to the end. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope I've added some more books to your TBR for this year and I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye!