Friday, June 19, 2020

Summer 2020 Reads!

Well, here we are: another summer, another exciting batch of books! Including, if you missed my news earlier this week, a few unexpected releases . . . Ok, mostly one unexpected release. But we have a lot of other books to spotlight too, so let's get going, shall we? As per the usual, some of these are already out but weren't included in the spring post because they're still June releases, but that just means there's less of a wait if you haven't heard of them already.

Summer 2020 Reads

  1. A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown (June 2). I've said before that I wish authors would take a look at African folklore as inspiration for their stories, and apparently this author is doing just that. And, yes, it's another "would-be assassin falls for their target" book . . . but it still sounds pretty cool. And I give the author props for not trying to pretend we don't know that's going to happen.



  2. The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant (June 2). This one is advertised as "Les Miserables meets Six of Crows," and, look, I have no particular opinions about Les Mis, but I absolutely love Six of Crows, so I have high hopes. It's getting good reviews from some of my friends, so that's promising. Also, it's apparently driven by the main character's desire to protect her younger sister, which we all know usually makes me happy. Here's hoping that the sibling relationship is given its proper attention, yeah?



  3. Beast of the Night by E.E. Rawls (June 11). Here's an author I keep hearing good things about. Her Strayborn is on my TBR list for Mistborn vibes, and now she's got a Beauty and the Beast retelling! And, yeah, it doesn't matter how many times you retell this story; I will always be excited for more. This sounds like a pretty interesting twist (the Beast is cursed to not be able to fall in love! the Beauty is not your typical Beauty!), and I'm excited to get my hands on it.



  4. An Echo of the Fae by Jenelle Schmidt (June 21). I'll be joining in the blog tour for this next week (yay!), so you'll get my full thoughts on this book in next week's Friday 5s, plus some interviews on Dreams and Dragons. But it's another family-focused story, and it started off as a Rapunzel retelling, and there's fae(!!!!), so . . . I think you can guess how I feel about it.



  5. Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee (June 23). I'm a little uncertain about this one — it sounds kind of dark, to be honest — but it's also giving me Abhorsen vibes, just a little. And Abhorsen is awesome. Plus, I've heard this is a nomance, which is always a plus. (Almost always. I do enjoy a good romance in its proper place. But life can be perfectly fulfilling without romance, and we need books that reflect that.)



  6. Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross (June 23). Another sisters-focused book! This summer is just full of them, and I love it! But we also have some Greek-culture-inspired vibes going on, which I'm also really excited about — Greek-influenced stories have been my jam ever since I discovered the Queen's Thief series. As a bonus, I actually won a copy of this in a Goodreads giveaway (whaaaat?), so it's on my shelf, waiting for me to get through my ARCs (and my Redwall reread) so I can pick it up.



  7. Heaven Came Down by Bryan Davis (July 1). Ok, so this actually has two release dates. The paperback version came out on Monday (it's up on Amazon, if you're interested), but the ebook version won't release until July 1 (though you can preorder it). I have an ARC of this, but I haven't quite read it yet — the release date changed from what I was originally told, so I gave other books priority. I'm still excited, though. Davis is an excellent wordsmith and storyteller, and what I have read of this sounds very promising.



  8. The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning (July 7). Apparently, this is somehow either inspired by or retelling The Princess Bride, according to some of the early reviews I've seen. I'm trying not to think about that too much, though. Based on the blurb, this story seems to have a lot of potential; here's hoping it doesn't end up just being disappointing. (Early reviews are mixed, but there's only a few of them, so who knows?)



  9. Dust by Kara Swanson (July 21). So, Peter Pan retellings can be hit-or-miss for me, even though I quite liked the book when I was younger. I've mostly avoided them, to be honest . . . but I'm making an exception for this story. It's getting some good reviews from people I trust, and I think there's potential for family-based stories. (Also . . .  it's kind of just really pretty and that makes me want to read it. So, yeah.)



  10. Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy (July 21). Ok, I am a sucker for any kind of crafts-based magic, and this story promises that in abundance. But it's also got found family (!!!) and maybe mystery in a historical fantasy, so . . . yep. High hopes here. Don't let me down, pretty book.



  11. The Dancing Princess by Kendra E. Ardnek (August 24). We wrap up the summer with the Arista Challenge releases, starting with the final Twist of Adventure! I'm an alpha/beta-reader for this, and I can confirm that it's going to be super fun. Besides the fact that it's a 12 Dancing Princesses retelling, it has a Russia-ish setting and some undertones of other cool fairy tales. It's going to be great.


  12. Wrought of Silver and Ravens by E.J. Kitchens (August 25). Ok, we've discussed my love of ancient Greek stuff already in this post . . . but this one does Sisters of Sword and Song one better — two better, actually. Again, it's a 12DP retelling in the Arista Challenge Tattered Slippers group, and this one has DRAGONS. Storms yes. What else do I need?


  13. Poison's Dance by Tricia Mingerink (August 26). Another Arista Challenge book! Full disclosure, it's the one I'm probably least excited for — but that's a personal preference thing. I had mixed feelings about the first Beyond the Tales book, and I haven't yet read the second. Still, this sounds like an interesting twist on the story, and I'm sure that people who enjoyed the first books in the series will love it.


  14. A Time of Mourning and Dancing by Abigail Falanga (August 27). This is the Arista Challenge book I know the least about, but it sounds very cool, and the cover looks very Grishaverse-esque, which I call a good thing. Apparently, the author didn't go the usual curse route with why the princesses are dancing, which is cool.


  15. The Dark King's Curse by Wyn Estelle Owens (August 28). The second-to-last book in the Arista Challenge release, this is the latest from my lovely friend Wyn Estelle Owens, and I am SO STORMING EXCITED. It's honestly the one I'm most looking forward to reading. (Better yet: I get to beta-read it. So I can confirm that it's going to be great, based on what Wyn's given me thus far.) Anyway. It's Celtic and involves Enchantment of Ravens-esque fae and a faery cat and all sorts of goodness. And I CANNOT WAIT for it to come out!



  16. The Midnight Show by Sarah Pennington (August 29). And we finish with my book! If you saw my announcement earlier this week, you know what I'm talking about. If not: this is the Secret Project I mentioned a few weeks ago. It's a Jazz-Age-inspired urban fantasy of music, magic, and mystery, featuring fae secrets, strange dreams, a singer with a shoe problem, and a private investigator who has to untangle it all, and I am so excited to share it with y'all! (And if you want to read it or any of the other Arista Challenge books early, you can sign up for an ARC and even join the blog tour!)

All right! That is all of this summer's exciting reads that I know of, but I may have missed some. If I did, please tell me in the comments — and if I didn't, tell me which of these you're most excited for!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

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