Most Anticipated Books of June 2019

Hello friends. How are you? Has May been treating you well so far?

Today I have my Most Anticipated Books of June 2019. Which is exciting, but this also means that next month is the 6th month of the year. Which also means that 2019 is already halfway done. Yikes. Time really does move faster the older you get.

Enough about me having a time crisis though. Here are the books that I’m most looking forward to.

Are there any books that you’re particularly looking forward to?

June 04

The Red Labyrinth by Meredith Tate | Fantasy, Dystopian, Fiction, Romance, Young Adult

The massive labyrinth was built to protect Zadie Kalver’s isolated desert town. Unfortunately, living in the maze’s shadow makes her feel anything but safe. Even without its enchanted deathtraps and illusions, a mysterious killer named Dex lurks in its corridors, terrorizing anyone in his path.

But when Zadie’s best friend vanishes into the labyrinth-and everyone mysteriously forgets he exists- completing the maze becomes her only hope of saving him. In desperation, Zadie bribes the only person who knows the safe path through-Dex-into forming a tenuous alliance.

Navigating a deadly garden, a lethal blood-filled hourglass, and other traps-with an untrustworthy murderer for her guide-Zadie’s one wrong step from certain death. But with time running out before her friend (and secret crush) is lost forever, Zadie must reach the exit and find him. If Dex and the labyrinth don’t kill her first.

The Red Labyrinth catches my interest because of how Zadie acts in the synopsis. I know that might be weird to say ~~unless it IS weird to say~~ but I can already tell that Zadie is going to be one hell of a character. How do I know this?

The synopsis for The Red Labyrinth is quite transparent to me. The premise speaks highly of Zadie’s strong-will and how she fights for in her life. I didn’t expect to be interested in reading The Red Labyrinth, but colour me surprised!

I hope that The Red Labyrinth is as intriguing as I wish it to be. I also think that there might be something that happens between Dex and Zadie while they’re in the maze looking for Zadie’s best friend. Though to be honest, I truly believe that Zadie’s best friend ends up dying in the maze.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson | Fantasy, Young Adult

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

To be honest, ever since I heard about Sorcery of Thorns I’ve held myself back from looking too deeply into the story. I don’t want to get my hopes up, you know? I also tried to hold myself back from requesting Sorcery of Thorns on NetGalley, but that didn’t work out at all. I’m hoping that I can get around to reading Sorcery of Thorns sometime this month.

I don’t want to read the premise for Sorcery of Thorns, since I want to dive into Elisabeth’s story not knowing what to expect. Though if memory serves me right, I have read the first paragraph to get a feel for this novel.

The Chosen (Contender, #1) by Taran Matharu | Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Young Adult

Throughout history, people have vanished with no explanation. A group of teenagers are about to discover why.

Cade is settling into a new boarding school, contemplating his future, when he finds himself transported to another realm. He soon discovers their new world is populated with lost remnants from the past: prehistoric creatures, ancient relics, and stranger still — people. Overwhelmed by his new surroundings, Cade has little time to adjust, for soon he and his fellow classmates are forced to become contenders in a brutal game, controlled by mysterious overlords.

But who are these beings and why did they choose these teens? Cade must prepare for battle . . . because hiding is not an option

I did NOT know that Taran Matharu was coming out with another book, let alone another series?! I haven’t read the synopsis, since I when I get around to reading The Chosen, I want to be able to dive into the Contender universe not knowing what to expect.

June 10

The Spirit in the Crypt by Alexander Lound | Young Adult, Paranormal,

When fifteen-year-old Jonathan Roberts goes out with his friends on a summer night, he doesn’t expect to be forced to enter a crypt by Francis Everton. To be forced to look at skeletons decaying in their graves.

To hear the voice, screaming at him. Screaming into his mind. Commanding him to leave.

What the voice in the crypt belongs to, he can only wonder. A demon? A ghost? It gives him nightmares for weeks afterwards. Of skeletons strangling him. And then, bizarrely, of a girl from his school, making the long walk across the graveyard and entering the crypt. Never to come out before his waking.

When he returns to school in September, he never expects to learn that something awful has happened to the girl, turning his fear to panic.

Panic which will force him to unravel the mystery of the crypt, and in doing so, many mysteries about himself.

I didn’t actually find The Spirit in the Crypt. You could say that The Spirit in the Crypt found me. Literally. The author came to me asking to review it, but since I’m on an ARC ban, I couldn’t download it. Which is honestly such a shame because The Spirit in the Crypt sounds like a great novel. I read a bit of the first chapter and I’ve got to say that the first chapter did not disappoint.

I look forward to reading The Spirit in the Crypt when I can, but until then I hope you check it out!

June 11

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi | Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Romance

Sana Khan is a cheerleader and a straight A student. She’s the classic (somewhat obnoxious) overachiever determined to win.

Rachel Recht is a wannabe director who’s obsesssed with movies and ready to make her own masterpiece. As she’s casting her senior film project, she knows she’s found the perfect lead – Sana.

There’s only one problem. Rachel hates Sana. Rachel was the first girl Sana ever asked out, but Rachel thought it was a cruel prank and has detested Sana ever since.

Told in alternative viewpoints and inspired by classic romantic comedies, this engaging and edgy YA novel follows two strongwilled young women falling for each other despite themselves.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is a novel that I am so excited for. I love romance stories, but when they’re LGBTQIA+ romance stories? I am HERE for them. I kinda want to squeal about Tell Me How You Really Feel, just because I can feel the edgy-ness and the angst from here.

June 18

The Girl in Red by Christina Henry | Retellings, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction

It’s not safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn’t look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago.

There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there’s something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined.

Red doesn’t like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn’t about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods….

The Girl in Red is a book I’m interested in because The Girl in Red is…..screaming that it’s a retelling of Red Riding Hood. I honestly LOVE reading retellings of anything. I adore reading and seeing how far ones imagination can go.

Aside from me mumbling about how I am looking forward to reading The Girl in Red. Let’s get to know what I am not excited for, concerning this novel. I’m not too thrilled about The Girl in Red being a Horror novel, but I’m not going to complain about that. Actually, that’s all I’m concerned about. Other than the fact that Red now lives in a world that has crumpled into a time that I don’t want to visit again.

I’m actually quite interested in how Red goes about things in her new world.

Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron | Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+

Brody Fair feels like nobody gets him: not his overworked parents, not his genius older brother, and definitely not the girls in the projects set on making his life miserable. Then he meets Nico, an art student who takes Brody to Everland, a “knock-off Narnia” that opens its door at 11:21pm each Thursday for Nico and his band of present-day misfits and miscreants.

Here Brody finds his tribe and a weekly respite from a world where he feels out of place. But when the doors to Everland begin to disappear, Brody is forced to make a decision: He can say goodbye to Everland and to Nico, or stay there and risk never seeing his family again.

I didn’t put too much thought into Last Bust to Everland. But you know me, I cannot resist a pretty cover. So I checked it out.

Last Bus to Everland is actually way more intriguing than I had initially thought. I’m looking forward to seeing whether or not Brody takes the plunge into living in Everland. Especially since the premise for Last Bus to Everland leads me to believe that Brody has a major crush on Nico (if they’re already not in a relationship).

June 25

Kingdom of Exiles (The Beast Charmer, #1) by Maxym M. Martineau | Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal, Romance

Fantastic Beasts meets Assassin’s Creed in this epic, gripping fantasy romance from debut author Maxym M. Martineau.

Exiled beast charmer Leena Edenfrell is in deep trouble. Empty pockets forced her to sell her beloved magical beasts on the black market—an offense punishable by death—and now there’s a price on her head. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes him an offer he can’t refuse: powerful mythical creatures in exchange for her life.

If only it were that simple. Unbeknownst to Leena, the undying ones are bound by magic to complete their contracts, and Noc cannot risk his brotherhood of assassins…not even to save the woman he can no longer live without.

What immediately drew me into check out Kingdom of Exiles was 100% the cover for this book! Just look at how pretty it is! I cannot get over it! I absolutely love the cover of Kingdom of Exiles.

The synopsis has me staying, wanting to read Kingdom of Exiles ASAP!!! Every single word that makes up the premise for Kingdom of Exiles has me hooked. I so badly want to dive into Leena, and Noc’s story.

I don’t want to think about what to expect. I know that if I try to figure out what happens, I know that I won’t end up enjoying Kingdom of Exiles as much as I want to.