Some of My Most Anticipated 2023 Releases
One of the great privileges of being a bookseller is the access we get to advanced reader’s copies (also known as ARCs). There are basically finished copies of books that have yet to come out (so, for example, almost all of the writing in an ARC is finalized but there might be typos, syntax errors, etc). We get ARCs so that we can read a little ahead and use our knowledge to inform our ordering, getting more of a book that we loved after reading it, or ordering a lot more when a lot of us like something.
The past couple of months I’ve been reading an especially high amount of advanced copies, and here are just a few from the upcoming months I’m really excited about. This is nowhere near an exhaustive list, but there are for sure the ones I can’t wait to get into the hands of customers. Click on the links to pre-order anything that interests you! I can’t wait to talk all about them to whomever will listen.
Happy Place by Emily Henry, releasing April 25, 2023
If there’s an Emily Henry coming out soon, you know it’s going to be topping everyone’s “most anticipated” lists, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see it here. The contemporary queen of romance is back again with a story of second-chance romance—Harriet and Wyn have broken off their engagement, except none of their friends know, and now they have to spend a week pretending to still be madly in love, lest they ruin the wedding week/last vacation at their friends’ most beloved place. This book is a story of good people making imperfect choices and not understanding how to communicate difficult changes (so if you hate the miscommunication trope, be a little wary). It hits me right in my former-gifted-kid soul because this book is also an exploration of finding out what you want to do with your life instead of just making choices based on academic achievement and what others want you to do. If you love a realistic romance peopled with a found family who love each other desperately, make sure to pick this one up when it drops soon.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang, releasing May 16, 2023
It is no secret that I am a Babel super fan, so as soon as I could get my grubby little hands on the advanced copy of Kuang’s next book, Yellowface, I did. I was a bit anxious about it—all of Kuang’s previous work has been fantasy and this book is just fiction (which, you know, nothing bad meant by the “just”, but there’s no dragons or wizards or anything). But boy oh boy did it absolutely blow me away. Yellowface is about two author friends, Athena Liu and June Hayward. Athena is the industry darling with several bestsellers under her belt and opportunities coming out the wazoo. June, however, isn’t even getting a paperback release for her debut, despite the fact that her and Athena went to the same programs, same workshops, same retreats. So when Athena dies suddenly before anyone else has seen her new manuscript, June decides to…co-opt it for her own. Never have I as a reader spent so long inside the head of someone I despite so keenly. But, like a train wreck, I just couldn’t look away. I absolutely tore through this book, and it is already one of my favorites of the year. I cannot wait for the rest of y’all to get to read it, too.
Painted Devils by Margaret Owen, releasing May 16, 2023
There’s a meme online that goes something like “you know how men were when Joker came out? I’m going to be like that but so much worse.” That is to say, I am positively vibrating with excitement for this sequel to my favorite YA fantasy, Little Thieves, to come out. Again, I checked every day to see when I would be able to get the advanced copy for this one (not in small part due to thinking Little Thieves was a standalone, which Owen asserted it was when I first read it) and read it in a day when I finally did. Following the events of the previous book, Vanja is now living in a small village after she kind of, accidentally, started a cult. And now she is again under investigation by her boyfriend (and junior prefect) Emeric to see if she made up the spirit known as the Scarlet Maiden. Meanwhile, she is still trying to unravel the greatest mystery of all—where her family is. This book hit me in my chest with both its tremulous representation of first love and also its depictions of abusive, narcissistic family dynamics. Arguably better than the first book, I will be screaming from a mountaintop about this book for a very long time.
Witch King by Martha Wells, releasing May 30, 2023
During the first part of lockdown, I spent most of my days utterly alone in my apartment because my husband worked in a medical facility helping disabled elderly people. Around that time, unmoored from time and adrift in this space that I occupied for every moment of every day, I found it very difficult to engage with or enjoy any book at all—that is until I read All Systems Red, the first book in the Murderbot Diaries. Martha Wells’s writing is so witty, sharp, and deeply human, despite the fact that she was writing from the perspective of a robot who only existed to kill people. I pterodactyl screeched when I saw she was foraying into a new series…and that cover. Something about it just scratches my brain. This new book opens on Kai, who has been recently murdered and finds himself in an intricate water trap and with a lesser mage trying to harness Kai’s own magic. With the same deeply compelling writing but in a whole new universe and creative magic system, Wells’s new book is sure to capture your heart just like it did mine.
The First Bright Thing by J. R. Dawson, releasing June 13, 2023
I am not just including this book on my list because Dawson is celebrating her debut release at our store on the 13th (although she is, and event coordinator Emily is planning a magnificent party for it); I am including it because it is one of the most refreshing and well-written fantasies I’ve read in a while. As soon as I opened the advanced copy of this, I was blown away by the quality of the writing itself, how evocative the descriptions were. This story is about Ringmaster, Rin to her friends, who can jump through space and time—a power bestowed to her by the Spark which also impacted millions of other people (her wife can heal anything, Mauve can see the future). We follow Rin as she tries to outrun the Circus King, save the people she can, and maybe also prevent World War II? The story is ambitious and expansive, filled with moments of pure joy and true violence, deeply troubled blood ties and affirming queer found family. Six of us got the meet Dawson at Heartland Fall Forum last October and she is as kind as her book is extraordinary (meaning very). Join us on June 13 to celebrate this fantastical debut!
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston, releasing June 27, 2023
My absolute favorite romance novel of 2022 was a debut, The Dead Romantics wherein a romance novel ghostwriter falls in love with, wait for it, an actual ghost. It is my favorite kind of romance to read, cheesy and saccharine but still moving and miraculous and beautiful. So color me surprised that Poston had a new one coming out and I didn’t know until a customer mentioned it last week. I looked up the description, which I will quote here in its entirety: “an overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past.” Uh…what?? I sprinted to the website where booksellers can download advanced copies and I devoured this book over the course of 24 hours. Just like her previous book, this story explores grief and love, what it means to change over time as a person, and how to chase your own joy even when it seems like you’re a little too late, all within this almost goofy magical-realist construction. It is delightful and predictable and such a great story. Make sure to pick up a copy the last week of June.
The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec, releasing July 25, 2023
Some disclaimers here: Yes, we are doing an event with Genevieve to celebrate her release, and yes Genevieve is a dear friend, BUT I would not be including this book if not for the fact that it’s really fucking good. I was enormously blessed as a stan of Genevieve’s previous book The Witch’s Heart to read a draft of this book. Just as complex and moving as The Witch’s Heart, Weaver is a story about imperfect people making imperfect choices, ultimately complicating our conceptions of morality. Most of the book follows Oddny and Gunnhild, childhood friends, after Gunnhild runs away from home to follow the way of the witch and Oddny sees her farm burned, her mother killed, and her sister kidnapped. Based in Genevieve’s intensive knowledge of Viking-age history, this is a powerful, moving, deeply felt story of blood ties and the ramifications of violence. I was left thinking about this achingly beautiful novel for long after I read it, and I would say that whether or not I actually knew the author.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, releasing August 15, 2023
T. Kingfisher rapidly became one of my absolute favorite writers after her two 2022 releases, Nettle & Bone and What Moves the Dead and I was so excited when I saw she was releasing two more novellas this year (and establishes a pattern where she has both a fairy tale and a horror novel come out within months of each other). Her fairy tale retelling is Thornhedge, which made me openly weep. A retelling of sleeping beauty from the “evil” fairy godmother’s perspective, the story follows Toadling, stolen from her parents at birth to be raised with the fairies, only to be assigned to be the fairy godmother of the changeling child who took her place. But Toadling messes up the blessing to stop the child from causing harm, and instead must curse her to sleep forever. When a wandering knight comes upon Toadling and the thorny hedge, however, all of the protections come crashing down. A poignant exploration of culpability in the face of evil, this story hit me full on in the chest, and I’m counting the days until I can share it with others.
What upcoming novels are you excited for? Do you think you’ll pick any of these up? Let us know in the comments!
