The second book reminded me a little of Bitterblue (by Kristin Cashore). This book reminded me a little of the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner and the His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers. Right now, I can't think of a good comp title for the first book, but I think that if you like any of the aforementioned books, you should definitely try The Winner's trilogy.

2. Summers at Castle Auburn - Sharon Shinn

Sharon Shinn is mentioned by a lot of fantasy authors, it seems. So I wanted to try one of her books, and Summers at Castle Auburn is the one that was recommended. If you read my Learning from Books as a Reader (Changing Reader Tastes) post, you know that I'm not a huge fan of books that begin with the main character as a child. Summers at Castle Auburn does that. But it also does something which I am a HUGE fan of -- twining the romance in with the main plot very heavily, and also making the main character's coming-of-age twined in with her realization that her initial crush sucks and that the real romantic interest is the one she loves. If you watched my booktube video, you saw how many dogeared pages there was. That's because when the romance is that way, I bookmark basically every page there's even the slightest encounter between the main character and the romantic interest. It makes no sense, but I love it, and I read Summers at Castle Auburn the day before I was presenting a poster at a research conference, and clearly I should've gotten sleep. Instead I read. And had a book hangover. *Sigh*

3. Serpentine - Cindy Pon

I read Serpentine a while ago. I reviewed Serpentine, nominated Serpentine in the Epic Reads Book Shimmy Awards, and included Serpentine in my Best Books of 2015 list as well as my Cinderella Book tag. I ordered Serpentine when I pre-ordered The Winner's Kiss, so the book didn't arrive until just now, but I'm happy to finally have my own shiny copy... and y'all should read the book too! Highly recommended from me (just check out any of those links!).

4. The Wrath and the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh

Like with Serpentine, The Wrath and the Dawn I had already read. I just wanted to own a copy. Persian culture is slightly different from Middle Eastern culture, I think, but as someone with Middle Eastern heritage, I can say that Renee Ahdieh capture the essence of Arab culture pretty well.

The Books That I Have Yet to Read:

5. A Fierce and Subtle Poison - Samantha Mabry

A Fierce and Subtle Poison was on my 2016 YA Debuts I Want to Read list. As I mentioned in my Best Books of 2015 list, I want to read more Young Adult Magical Realism novels-- so much so that I made a list of my current YA Magical Realism recommendations. When I was in the Strand, I read the first couple of chapters of A Fierce and Subtle Poison and really loved both the writing and the setting of Puerto Rico (though I think that I still needed to attach the main character). The book has been blurbed by both Nova Ren Suma and Laura Ruby, and I love their books too, so I'm looking forward to finishing this one later!

6. Feed - M.T. Anderson

Ameriie at Books Beauty Ameriie recommended Feed to me a while ago, particularly the audiobook. But my library doesn't have the audiobook, and when I saw that Feed was at the Strand for only a few dollars and that Feed was "out of print," I bought it anyways. When I'm in a more science fiction mood, I'll read this one. I'm pretty sure it's considered a classic of YA literature too.

7. The Riddle-Master trilogy - Patricia A. McKillip

The Riddle-Master trilogy has one of my favorite opening chapters ever. If you read my Learning from Books as a Reader (Changing Reader Tastes) post, you know that I was pretty entranced with this book. The first chapter introduces us to the main character, who is a land-owner. Traders are coming, so he tells his brother and sister to go about their duties. There are also childhood friends and others who are in the crowd when they find out about the traders. So, you get a clear sense of the immediate duties and setting for the MC's family and life (as well as a sense of the personalities of each of these side characters as they interact with each other). Then, you learn that the MC's parents disappeared a while ago, and that the siblings have all grieved in their own way, and his way was to go off on an adventure, solve a riddle, and a win a crown from a ghost. This backstory is revealed in a convincing way -- whereby we see his family recognizing that he's acting weird, and they confront him, and so we see what normal family dynamics are like, as well as when one of them is acting strangely. We get a sense of the main character's personality through his interactions with his family, his daily duties, and his backstory, and we get a sense of what the central conflict will be, since winning this crown clearly has consequences and implications that the main characters doesn't know yet. It's awesome. I felt like my brain got bigger reading that beginning, and so I immediately bought the entire trilogy. Can't wait to read the books!

SO, those were the books I bought this past spring. What are you planning on reading soon? What have you bought recently? Have you read any of these books? Let's discuss!

 

The first thing I'd like to emphasize in making a list of 2016 debuts on my tbr list: you and I both must be better allies and make sure to read books by PoC authors in 2016. If you feel like it's too hard to keep track of that tally, Dahlia Adler has made a fantastic running list of YA novels written by authors of color being published in 2016-2017. If you have time, consider looking through that list and seeing which books may be on your tbr list and raise their reading priority, or consider adding the books to your tbr once you've read the GR summaries.

 

Update: Since I wrote this post & filmed the video, a review has been posted! It looks like the summary is literal so that these teens are actually on a spaceship and they're falling in love. Yay, outer space romance! Yay, new planets! Yay, lyrical cover & writing!

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

If there's a debut that everyone seems to be talking about so far for 2016, it would be The Girl from Everywhere, about a girl traveling to "places of myth and legend... aboard her father's time-traveling ship." I love the idea of traveling across the globe and through centuries with a time-traveling ship. I loved The Mapmaker's trilogy, and it involves map magic that takes the heroine across centuries and the globe, so The Girl from Everywhere sounds right up my alley, especially since the heroine's father in TGfE seems to need a map to travel. Plus the synopsis says that it should appeal to fans of Rae Carson and Rachel Hartman, so that's a double YAY.

The Reader by Traci Chee

A world where reading is forbidden & meant to appeal to fans of Shadow and Bone? Yes, please! I love that the summary emphasizes a survivor-oriented girl who's also emotionally vulnerable-- looking to rescue her aunt and avenge her father's death, and discovering a book that may help her discover the truth. Sounds like she'll be easy to relate to. This sounds like the sort of book that would discuss the wonder of reading itself... yaaaaass. Also, this last line of the synopsis: "overlapping stories of swashbuckling pirates and merciless assassins" Nice.

Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie

An empath who feels emotions both physically and emotionally and who is then forced to serve the emperor? Sounds awesome! An empath charged to seek out assassins, a girl learning the limits of her abilities and trapped between her alliances to the emperor and his brother, and a looming revolution/betrayal? Yes. Political intrigue, magic, romance, betrayal -- everything in a good fantasy read.

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

This seems like it's going to be the big fantasy debut of 2016, judging from the reaction to the cover and Evelyn Skye's creation of the Tsar Guard. I like the sound of the enchanter magic, and that there's this Crown's Game duel between the only two enchanters in Russia and that that will lead to one of the characters becoming the Tsar's adviser. The fact that the enchanters may also fall in love - this seems like Shadow and Bone meets the Night Circus, with the looming threat of war with the Ottoman Empire, and I am intrigued, very intrigued.

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

The Star-Touched Queen was "pitched as a Hades and Persephone-style romance infused with Indian mythology, about an unlikely princess who must overcome her sinister horoscope and embarks on a quest to unravel her true identity and find the one she loves." A.) We don't have enough YA fantasy that's actually diverse, and very little YA fantasy that aren't Western or European centric. B.) Indian mythology! C.) I don't even like Hades and Persephone that much, but I read The Star Maiden by Roshani Chokshi and her writing IS GORGEOUS. YES PLEASE to this book. Plus the synopsis promises political intrigue, magic, romance, and more, so um YAH.

A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry

This one has already been blurbed by Nova Ren Suma, and I'm looking to read more YA magical realism because it pushes the boundaries of the typical YA narrative. The description for this is: "In this stunning debut, legends collide with reality when a boy is swept into the magical, dangerous world of a girl filled with poison." Um, yes, please. A Caribbean legend, Puerto Rican setting, magical realism, disappearing girls, girls filled with poison, boys caught in the middle... very interesting, if I'm getting the right impression from the synopsis. "A Fierce and Subtle Poison beautifully blends magical realism with a page-turning mystery and a dark, starcrossed romance--all delivered in lush, urgent prose." YAS, THIS HAS CHRISTINA written all over it.

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

The summary so far says --> "A princess with a forbidden magical gift is shipped off to a neighboring kingdom to marry a prince, but she has to choose between her duty and her heart when she falls in love with his rogueish horse-training sister instead." YES, I was literally talking to one of my friends about WHY this trope of the arranged marriage in fantasy has rarely been skewed in YA. I enjoyed Kiss of Deception primarily because there was a twist to that trope. And something I'd asked was why there aren't lesbian arranged marriages; this is fantasy, you can do anything. My friend said that it would depend on what was to be gained from the marriage (aka she was discussing heirs/reproduction), but I think that's kind of a lazy excuse. I mean history is full of bastards and illegitimate children and children who are born from lovers but who get claimed as royal heirs. Why can't you have gay royal marriages and the couple reproduces with mistresses or the magic system helps or whatever. Basically, I think that you could add in diversity to that trope if you really wanted to, and I love that this book is already promising that. Plus, there's the hint of magic and political intrigue with the queenhood and Game of Thrones comparison.

Even If the Sky Falls by Mia Garcia

This sounds like it should appeal to fans of Gayle Forman's Just One Day. A girl heads to New Orleans with her youth group, and then heads straight into the heart of New Orleans in Mid-summer Mardi Gras. She sees New Oreleans with a guy she just met, and they fall in love in one night, and then an oncoming hurricane is adding extra tension to whatever future they're imagining (is my guess). YES to the New Orleans setting-- one of my good friends lives there, and the visits I've made to NOLA have been fantastic. Yes to this cover which seems to hint at some diversity as well. Yes to this premise. I love the 24 hours sudden but intense love concept; I know some don't like instalove in narratives, but I do believe it can exist, and I love when books explore it as Even if the Sky Falls promises to do.

Bound by Blood and Sand by Becky Allen

The summary says --> "A new YA fantasy series in the vein of Tamora Pierce, exploring class and power. The novel follows a slave girl in a desert world where the magical Well is running dry; when she discovers a source of magic, she may have the power to save the water and her world, but returning the water means saving her slavers." Yes to class & power exploration, yes to magic, yes to magic relating to water, yes to the difficult decisions promised by this book. Yes to the Tamora Pierce comparison!

 

So, those are the 2016 debuts that are most definitely on my TBR list. In some sense, this isn't fair because I already went to the launch event for This Is Where It Ends, so I didn't put that on my list. But, the list always changes and what I end up reading is not always what I think. If you've got some recommendations and already read some great 2016 debuts, let me know!

 

Are any of these debuts on your radar? Have you read any of them already, or are you planning to read some? Let's discuss!