My Most Anticipated Releases Of 2022 Part II:

So here I am, back for part two of My Most Anticipated Releases Of 2022 – if you haven’t already done so you can check out Part One here. Lately I feel like there’s a new book out every week and, after realizing that part one only covered up to the end of April, I can see why. There are an insane number of books out this year that I’m itching to read…and probably plenty more that I’m still to discover. But here are the rest of the books I’m most eager to get my hands on in 2022.

Book Of Night by Holly Black

Come on; after The Cruel Prince is it even remotely possible that I’m not going to check out whatever Holly Black writes in the future? Besides which, this sounds absolutely incredible. Shadow magic which can be used to alter a person’s feelings and memories but takes hours, or even days, off of your life in return. A low level con artist whose trying to stay away from the shadow trade. A terrible figure from her past. And then this glorious line:

‘Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.’

Plus it’s her adult debut. So let’s be real…I. Need. This. Now. Yesterday.

Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino

A horror-fantasy retelling of ‘Goblin Market’ which is described as ‘Salem’s Lot meets ‘The Darkest Part Of The Forest’.  A protagonist who doesn’t believe in magic or superstitions… until her aunt is kidnapped to the goblin market – a place full of hauntingly tempting  food, wares and individuals. A three day limit before the market disappears and Lou’s aunt becomes one of them forever. And the possibility that the market will claim her too. Doesn’t this just sound fantastic? It absolutely has the potential to be the kind of gloriously dark tale that merges danger and allure together seamlessly!

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

‘Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca’. Need I say more? Desperate for a home again Beatriz accepts the proposal of Don Rodolfo Solórzano despite the rumors surrounding the sudden demise of his first wife. But her home is ‘not the sanctuary she imagined.’ ‘Visions and voices’ invade her sleep; invisible eyes follow her every move. The cook burns incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark’s it doorway with strange symbols. And Rodolfo’s sister, despite dismissing her fears, refuses to enter the house at night. Beatriz’s one chance at help? A young priest with skills as a witch…because

‘far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.’

Idol by Louise O’Neill

Fame is always a fascinating subject to read about but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it from quite this angle before. Samantha is everything to ‘her girls’ – her young fans – and her ‘career is booming’. ‘Determined to speak her truth and bare all to her adoring fans’ she writes an essay ‘about her sexual awakening as a teenager, with her female best friend, Lisa’ which goes viral. But Lisa’s ‘memory of that night is far darker’ and now it’s one woman’s word against the other. ‘Whose ‘truth’ is really a lie?’ Having loved ‘After The Silence’ I’m definitely intrigued to see what the author’s next book is like. And it certainly sounds like she’s taking a rather different angle to some major subjects than what I’ve seen before.

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

‘A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites.’

Ava Reid’s second novel is set within the world of her debut, The Wolf And The Woodsman, and described as a ‘gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree’. It follows Marlinchen who lives with her two sisters and tyrannical, xenophobic, wizard father in a ‘city shifting from magic to industry.’ At night she and her sisters sneak out to ‘enjoy the city’s amenities’ and, at the recently established ballet theater, Marlinchen meets ‘a dancer who quickly captures her heart.’ If that somehow wasn’t enough to entice you then let me also point out that it also features a monster ‘borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power.’ Give this to me already!!

Having now read the author’s debut I want to repeat my ‘give this to me already’ sentiment once more!!

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

Female led adult fantasy offerings are on fire this year! This is another that I’m itching to read as it sounds absolutely mesmerizing. It’s blurb promises an African and Arabian-inspired adult fantasy trilogy where people are divided by the colour of their blood. It follows Sylah who grew up ‘being told she would spark a revolution’ but lost her belief the ‘day she watched her family murdered before her eyes’; Anoor the daughter of ‘the most powerful ruler in the Empire’ who grew up being told she’s nothing; and Hassa who ‘moves unseen by upper classes’ and knows ‘what it means to be invisible.’ It’s last line absolutely hooked me:

‘As the Empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.’

And then I spotted the author’s review which ignited my excitement further with it’s promises of: Enemies to lovers, ‘a drug addicted chosen one who TOTALLY misses her calling’ and blood magic among other intriguing aspects. Ooh and I almost forgot according to Goodreads it’s 640 pages long!!

This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

Three weddings; three funerals and a gift from the gods that is supposed to magnify a partner’s magic but instead kills every suitor it touches. A deadline… only weeks to go until a hungry swarm of demons destroys everything. A powerful priest who decides killing Alessa is the island’s only hope. And a bodyguard with dark secrets of his own. This sounds amazing! And look at that cover!! Basically I’m in love with this book before even picking it up.

Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

After The Hazel Wood it goes without saying that I want to check this book out. Especially with it’s vast array of dark and alluring promises… An accident, a punishment, a mystery; eerie offerings, corroded memories, a secret about a mother and a stranger ‘whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly, unsettling events.’ And that’s just the ‘now’ storyline. In the past we get to see Dana as, along with her best friend and an ambitious older girl, ‘her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural’. And the trio ‘find themselves speeding towards a violent breaking point.’ Plus there’s a mention of ‘the dark forces they never should’ve messed with’ so of course I’m intrigued. How could I not be?

Wake The Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne

‘The sleepy little farm that Laurel Early grew up on has awakened. The woods are shifting, the soil is dead under her hands, and her bone pile just stood up and walked away.’

Umm hello, way to grab my attention! If that quote from the blurb isn’t enough to convince you to add this book to your TBR let me also point out that it includes ‘a devil’ returning to  court Laurel and a desperate need to ‘unravel her mother’s terrifying legacy’ and tap into her own ‘innate magic’ or ‘everyone she loves is doomed’. I need this! Seriously. And surely you do too?

Violet Made Of Thorns by Gina Chen

‘Violet is a prophet and a liar’ who influences the court ‘as Seer with her cleverly phrased – and not always true – divinations.’ Cyrus is the Prince who ‘plans to strip her of her title once he’s crowned’. When the king asks Violet to ‘falsely prophesy’ the prince’s love story for an upcoming ball ‘Violet awakens a dreaded curse about the prince’s future bride.’ So what will happen when a doomed attraction starts to grow between her and the prince? Enemies to lovers, lying prophets, courts, curses and the promise that it’s perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince! OMG this can not come soon enough.

Spells For Forgetting by Adrienne Young

So I’ve actually written elsewhere that this author is the only one to appear on this list twice…I was wrong. With the announcement of Spells For Forgetting Adrienne Young became the only author to feature on this list three times! Crazy for an author whose presently new to me. This is an adult offering though that sounds absolutely fascinating. It’s set on an island with a ‘community steeped in the mystical superstitions of its founders and haunted by an unsolved murder’. And it’s central characters are Emery Blackwood – ‘whose life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily.’ And accused murderer August himself who returns for the first time in fourteen years just as the island ‘begins to show signs of strange happenings’ and ‘unearths the past that no one wants to remember.’ Ah how could anyone resist? This sounds atmospheric, mysterious, haunting and compelling. Everything that a good book should be.

The Art Of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

Read this then tell me that you’re not intrigued:

‘What follows is a journey more wondrous than any prophecy can foresee: a story of master and student, assassin and revolutionary, of fallen gods and broken prophecies, and of a war between kingdoms, and love and friendship between deadly rivals. ‘

How could I possibly resist a story that features a ‘spoiled hero’, ‘an immortal god-king’ and ‘the greatest war artist of her generation’? Especially when it includes a prophecy gone wrong and sounds simply epic. I need this already!

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Remember when I admitted earlier that I hadn’t read one incredibly popular book? Well the same applies with The Poppy War unfortunately. But I seriously intend to read the series this year after all of the incredible things that I’ve heard about it. Babel sounds incredibly intriguing but also – unless it’s just me? – pretty complex.  It’s set in 1828 and follows Robin who is ‘brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell.’ Once there he trains for years in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in ‘Babel’ – ‘the world’s centre of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect.’ ‘Serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland’ for Robin and eventually he finds himself caught between Babel and ‘the shadowy Hermes Society’ .

‘When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?’

This definitely sounds like a complicated but interesting and unique read that will blend historical details and magic together seamlessly. I’m certainly eager to check this out.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Was it the title of this novel that immediately captured my attention? Yes! And does it sound every bit as gloriously dark yet achingly beautiful as you’d imagine given such a name? Yes again! Signa has been raised by a string of guardians since being orphaned as a baby – all of which have died under mysterious circumstances and been more interested in her wealth than her wellbeing. When she goes to live with her last remaining relatives at Thorn Grove – ‘a manor as glittering as it is gloomy’ – she’s confronted by the spirit of the patriarch’s late wife who ‘claims it was poison that killed her and not an illness’. With the family’s daughter suffering from the same ‘illness’ Signa sets out to solve the murder… something that involves making ‘an alliance with Death himself’. If all of that somehow wasn’t enough, well…

‘And Death, that fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side, shows her that their connection may be more powerful than she ever dared imagine.’

Something Wicked by Laura Purcell

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So far I’ve read two of Laura Purcell’s gothic horror novels and adored them so naturally her upcoming release immediately caught my eye. And this one sounds superb to say the least. Set within The Mercury Theatre in London’s West End her latest offering sounds quite different to the two books I’ve read by her previously. There are ‘rumours of a curse’ and ‘it is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage.’ Greek mythology, whispers of a curse and a theatre setting? Need I say more? Desperate for money Jenny spies on Lilith for ‘the jealous wife of the theatre owner’ before befriending her. But then ‘strange events begin to take place around the theatre’ and, if the rumours are true, ‘when the Muse comes calling for payment’ what will the cost be?

Wish Of The Wicked by Danielle Paige

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‘A dark spin on fairy godmothers’; as a fan of both retellings and villainous characters I’m 100% on board for that promise. It’s set in a world where ‘the enchanted members of the Entente have worked in tandem with the Three Fates’ for centuries to ‘maintain destiny across the Thirteen Queendoms.’ At least until Queen Magrit burns Hecate at the stake and ‘decrees death to all Entete’ in an attempt to live forever. ‘But some survive’ and it’s one of them that this story follows as she ‘hatches a dangerous plan to seek revenge.’ I’ll confess that the talk of Fates made me think of Stepsister which instantly intrigued me. So I must know more…

The Witch And The Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

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Since hearing about her elsewhere any mention of Baba Yaga leaves me intrigued and this novel that features her sounds glorious. It promises that:

‘…the maligned and immortal witch of legend known as Baba Yaga will risk all to save Russia and her people from Tsar Ivan the Terrible–and the dangerous gods who seek to drive the twisted hearts of men.’

Come on; who doesn’t get intrigued by that? It’s set in ‘a sixteneenth century Russia on the brink of chaos’ and features Anastasia – wife of the Tsar – whose ‘suffering from a mysterious illness’. This novel promises that it ‘weaves a rich tapestry of mythology and Russian history’ and says that ‘old gods and new tyrants vie for power.’ Basically it sounds like the sort of novel that I’ll devour.

Princess Of Souls by Alexandra Christo

Fairytale inspired stories are one of my fictional addictions so it goes without saying that this, as a Rapunzel inspired fantasy romance, would get added to my TBR. I also adored To Kill A Kingdom when I read it so I know how gorgeously this author writes. And then there’s the actual premise:

‘the story of a young witch who is bound to steal souls for an immortal King, until she discovers her fate is tied to a boy who’s trying to bring down her kingdom.’

How could anyone hope to resist this?

What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge

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I love a good fairytale retelling and I adore dark and twisty novels that blend danger and allure. This sounds like it will be both of those things and I’m honestly ever so impatient for it. The story starts where Sleeping Beauty leaves off with Lia – ‘a girl chosen by the gods of Runakhia’ – releasing ‘the royal family from 500 years of enchanted sleep’ and killing ‘the heretic sorcerer who trapped them’. What should be the end of the story is only the beginning though as she discovers

‘that the gods are not as benevolent as they appear, and the ghost of the sorcerer she killed may be her only help to protect her life and country.’

This is 100% a me book and I need it already! Please, please come out this year; I’ve already had to move this off of my 2021 list…

Strike The Zither by Joan He

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Somehow I still haven’t read either of this author’s books despite them sounding absolutely incredible but I’ve heard fantastic things. And the limited information available about her upcoming offering has already fascinated me too. It’s a ‘reimagining of the Chinese military epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ which, I confess, I know nothing about… It says that a strategist must help her warlordess to victory against rival kingdoms to both the north and south whilst also ‘overcoming her fate as written by the gods.’ Promise me gods and I’m on board. Also is anyone else simply itching to see what the cover of this will be like? Because so far Joan He’s books have been absolutely dazzling when it comes to those.

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

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Look I was sold the second I saw this described as ‘The Raven Boys meets Ninth House’ despite being the only person in the world not to have read the first of those yet. This sound incredible though. It follows Delaney – a deaf student with unusual talents who hears voices ‘calling to her from the shadows’ and Colton who died when he was nine years old; only to wake up several weeks later. When a student at their university – which ‘trains students to slip between parallel worlds’ – turns up dead they are forced to ‘form a tenuous alliance.’  If that somehow isn’t enough to entice you then read this quote from the end of the blurb:

‘But Delaney and Colton discover the cost of opening the doors between worlds when they find themselves up against something old and nameless, an enemy they need to destroy before it tears them — and their forbidden partnership – apart.’

A Tempest Of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

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Details of this novel are still vague but let’s be honest – I see the word ‘vampires’ and instantly I’m intrigued. A Tempest Of Tea is said to have been ‘pitched as King Arthur meets Peaky Blinders with vampires.’ That definitely sounds like an interesting and unique combination. It follows ‘a gang of outcasts in a deadly heist’ to save Arthie’s tearoom – ‘which fronts an illegal blood house, where local vampires can purchase fresh blood.’ Vampires, Camelot inspiration and gangsters? Plus a tearoom with secret illegal dealing in blood. How am I meant to wait until October for this?

Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman

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Vampires and the French Revolution? Honestly need I say more? This sound incredible. It’s a ‘reinvention of the tale of The Scarlet Pimpernel with the addition of magic and even more mayhem’. ‘The aristocrats are vampires’ and ‘the Scarlet Pimpernel, a disguised British noble, is determined to rescue them’. These predators are offered sanctuary by their British kin, ‘but at great cost to London’s ordinary people.’ But then ‘an English maid discovers the only power that could stop them.’ If she survives… How could anyone resist this? It’s not due out until November but – writing this in October of 2021 – I may have already planned to pre-order this over a year in advance…

A Consuming Fire by Laura E. Weymouth

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Ah this sounds incredible!

‘Weatherell girls aren’t supposed to die’

In Weatherell, every eighteen years, a girl is asked to be sent to ‘the god of the mountain to give a sacrifice for the good of all of Albion before returning home. But when Anya’s twin Ilva volunteers for this task she ends up dead, causing Anya to volunteer to make her own journey to the god of the mountain. But in Anya’s case:

‘Anya Astraea has not set out to placate a god. She’s set out to kill one.’

Not only does this sound spectacular but I’ve also read and adored A Treason Of Thorns by this author so I’m definitely excited to check out more of her work.

The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao

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‘High above a jungle-planet float the last abodes of humanity—plant-made cities held together by magic and tradition.’

Mention magic and I’m sold but this sounds like such a unique tale and I’m seriously curious to see what it turns out like. In these cities ‘magical architects are revered above anyone else’ as without them ‘the city would fall into the devastating earthrage storms below’. Ahilya is the wife of one such architect yet she is ‘born without magic’ making her a second-class citizen. Her marriage is ‘already rocky’ but then ‘the earthrage storms become longer and deadlier’ and her husband ‘falls under investigation for being too powerful.’  If that wasn’t enough ‘deadly truths emerge that challenge everything Ahilya believes about their privileged society and the origin of the storms.’ And to make matters even worse? The city’s magical architecture fails…

Have you ever heard of anything like this? I’ve come across floating cities before but none quite like this. I believe this is an adult fantasy novel too which is definitely a bonus. Fingers crossed that it’s 2022 release date is right as I don’t think I can bear to wait any longer than that for this one.

Fallen City by Adrienne Young

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Firstly how on earth have I not read anything by this author yet? Secondly I can’t say overmuch about this book as the details are limited but I’m definitely intrigued. It’s a ‘Greco-Roman inspired fantasy’– and is set in ‘a glittering world’ with ‘a lottery built on lies’. It follows 18 year old Maris as she ‘desperately attempts to escape a city under siege.’ And it features a forbidden romance! I’m itching for this already and simply can’t wait to read it’s full blurb… and see the cover; this author’s ones are always stunning.

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So that’s it for part two of an incredibly long list which probably contains more books than I could possibly hope to read in a year. Oh well; fingers crossed that I’ll get to read a few of these at least. I hope that, over both parts, I’ve managed to bring some new books to your attention. Next time I’ll be back with the sequels I can’t wait for in 2022…because I haven’t raved about enough new releases already.

What are your most anticipated books of 2022? Have you read any of them yet? Are there any that I’m missing out on?