Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang
Sciona has a rare opportunity: to prove herself worthy of a place amongst the archmages of Tiran. It is certainly not her intellect or her ambition that are lacking, but the sexism and racism that have barred women and non-Tiranese from positions of power since the city was founded. Sciona is desperate to contribute to the magical mapping research that powers, heats and protects Tiran. The magical system is very cleverly constructed, the linguistic spells defined and cast upon spellopgraph typewriter-like machines.
Within the walls of the university, Sciona is insulted by her peers who assign her a janitor as an assistant. This man is Thomil, who is a Kwen refugee who years ago fled with the last of his people from the freezing blight-struck wilderness outside of the borders of Tiran. Political corruption, a unique magical system, an ambitious protagonist, academic rivalry, moral conundrums and brave characters, this book is a brilliant standalone fantasy. – Katrina
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Daphne’s fiancé has just left her for another woman. Even worse? Her new roommate is said woman’s ex.
He’s her opposite in every way… and the only person who could possibly understand her predicament. They mostly avoid each other, until one night, after a few too many drinks, they hatch a hare-brained scheme: pretend to be together to make their exes jealous. What could possibly go wrong?
Emily Henry’s books embody everything that I love about this genre. Witty, unexpected, deeply emotional and exceptionally romantic, Funny Story shows why Emily Henry is the reigning romcom queen – Nora Ephron for a new generation! – Liv
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
For years, we’ve been searching for the book to fill that Addie Larue hole in our lives, and we’ve finally found it with Laura Steven’s new title – Our Infinite Fates! This is Addie Larue but instead of living forever invisibly, our main character, Evelyn, is always killed before her 18th birthday by her true love and reincarnated into a different live decades later…over and over again! As she ages, she remembers her past lives, her past loves with the same soul, and all the ways she died. But this family, this life, she doesn’t want to leave. She loves them too much, and her little sister needs her bone marrow to survive her cancer. Evelyn just has to survive until her 18th birthday to go through the donor surgery, but how is she supposed to survive when she doesn’t know who her true love has been reincarnated as?
I fell in love with this story from the first page. The prose and style are absolutely stunning. The sense of place through all the lives is so strong! And our characters are all so beautifully, complexly drawn! I savoured every single moment of this book, never wanting it to end. Another author warned me that when I read Our Infinite Fates, I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it, and she was right. So I’ll warn you now, this is a story of love in all of its forms, of families of all types, of good vs evil in new ways that you won’t be able to stop thinking about! – Hannah