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Tag: arc review

January 2026: Most Anticipated Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror Book Releases

These are my most anticipated book releases by category. Of course, these aren’t all of the books coming out this month, only the ones I am most interested in.

I have read ARCs of some of these releases so check out the links below to longer reviews.

There are quite a number of releases that topically I am interested in but have content and trigger warnings that I avoid. You won’t find these on this list either!

Fantasy

January 6 – The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

I was pleasantly surprised to be approved for the audio ARC or the ALC rather last minute on NetGalley. This audiobook was AMAZING.

Demelza escapes her abusive home situation and tries to hide in the only place her father can’t get to her. It just so happens to be a kingdom and palace where there is a prince trying to find a bride through an unorthodox way, a competition. Demelza bargains with the prince to let her stay and she’ll help him find out which contenders secretly want to kill him or not. In order to do this, she has to compete in the competition herself…

Some of the content bothered me a bit, especially when it came to the end, but read my full review here for more details! It’s absurd, funny, and beautifully written.

Roshani Chokshi is the author of commercial and critically acclaimed books for middle grade and young adult readers that draw on world mythology and folklore. Her work has been nominated for the Locus and Nebula awards, and has frequently appeared on Best of The Year lists from Barnes and Noble, Forbes, Buzzfeed and more. Her New York Times bestselling series include The Star-Touched Queen duology, The Gilded Wolves, and Aru Shah and The End of Time, which has been optioned for film by Paramount Pictures.

January 6 (US), 8 (UK) – Tidespeaker by Sadie Turner

A girl with the power to command the tides has her life changed when she secures a job serving a wealthy noble family–only to learn upon arrival that the last person to fill her post mysteriously died, and her new employers are hiding dark secrets–in this haunting and lush debut fantasy.

I might pick this one up unless my library has it soon!

Sadie Turner grew up in the Welsh Borders and now lives in Hampshire, not far from the former home of one of her biggest inspirations: Jane Austen. She is a copywriter, mother of two, and author of gloomy, romantic, neurodiverse YA Fantasy. When she can find the time, she loves reading, cooking, and classic CRPGs, and is rarely seen without a cup of tea on hand. She is the author of the Tidespeaker duology.

January 13 – The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad

I read an eARC of The Age of Calamities and LOVED it. Highly recommend if you are looking for a short story collection that is as absurd as it is imaginative and beautiful. Senaa applies her creativity to historical figures and events for a whirlwind of plots and characters as we’ve never thought of them before.

See my full review here.

Senaa Ahmad’s short fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Best Canadian Stories, and elsewhere. She has received the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Speculative Literature Foundation, and the Carl Brandon Society’s Octavia Butler Scholarship. Her work was also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and the Sunburst Award and a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Fiction. The Age of Calamities is her first book.

January 13 – Fire Sword & Sea by Vanessa Riley

This one had me at pirates…and I’ve just ordered myself a copy!

In addition to being a novelist, Vanessa Riley holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and both a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State. She currently juggles mothering an architect, baking her Trinidadian grandmother’s desserts, hugging her retired military husband, and speaking at women’s and STEM events. You can often find her writing from the comfort of her Georgia porch, tea or latte in hand. – Bookshop.org

January 20 – A Wild Radiance by Maria Ingrande Mora

A searing and romantic fantasy adventure about an oligarchic state on the verge of a magical industrial revolution—perfect for fans of Arcane, Wicked, and Iron Widow!

I wasn’t sure about the romantic part of this but the comp to Iron Widow means I am REQUIRED to try it.

Maria Ingrande Mora (they/she) is the acclaimed author of Fragile Remedy, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, the Ranger Academy series, and The Immeasurable Depth of You, an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award finalist, which earned three starred reviews, with Kirkus Reviews calling it “raw and compassionate.” A queer, AuDHD single parent, Mora lives in Florida with their two teenagers and three cats. Instagram: @MariaMoraWrites.

Click to unhide Community Content Warnings per StoryGraph (Potential Spoilers Warning!):

Click here to see content warnings
Graphic – Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury; Moderate – Death of parent, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail; Minor – Sexual assault, Sexual harassment

January 27 – To Ride A Rising Storm by Moniquill Blackgoose

I read this one as an eARC – read my review here! It’s a great series with fantastic characters; my only complaint is info-dumping.

This is a series about a young indigenous woman and the baby dragon that choses her. She is forced by threat of violence and death to attend an Anglish (colonizers/imperialists/invaders) academy to teaches future dragon riders.

Book 1 – To Shape A Dragon’s Breath is the first year or semester of school and focuses a lot of the differences in cultures. Book 2 is the second and more of a fight for independence.

Moniquill Blackgoose is the bestselling author of To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, which has won both the Nebula and Lodestar Awards. She began writing science fiction and fantasy when she was twelve and hasn’t stopped writing since. She is an enrolled member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe and a lineal descendant of Ousamequin Massasoit. She is an avid costumer and an active member of the steampunk community. She has blogged, essayed, and discussed extensively across many platforms the depictions of Indigenous and Indigenous-coded characters in sci-fi and fantasy.

January 27 – A Spell for Drowning by Rebecca Ferrier

A stunning historical fantasy debut steeped in the salt and superstition of the Cornish coast. Perfect for readers of Circe and Godkiller.

Forgotten sirens, mischievous sea gods, and the lore from days long since passed weave an irresistible tale.

Sounds right up my alley so I think I will be grabbing a copy of this especially since it is releasing paperback at the same time, YAY.

Rebecca Ferrier is an award-winning writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her speculative fiction reveals her obsessions with class, power, and death. She teaches creative writing and is a PhD student at Northumbria University. A Spell for Drowning is her debut novel. Since writing it, she has been inundated with hagstones, whether they be gifted by loved ones or hurled from the sea.

Sci-Fi

January 6 – Starseekers by Nicole Glover

This was such a fun read! It could also go under Fantasy as well. I read an eARC and would definitely recommend it.

It has so many elements that Glover weaves into the story including mystery, celestial magic, treasure hunting, family, found family, adventure, a dash of romance,

Click here to see my full review.

Nicole Glover is the author of The Conductors and The Undertakers as well as The Improvisers in the Murder and Magic series. When she’s not writing, she’s working as a UX researcher in Virginia where her knowledge about murder and other mysteries is surprisingly useful.

Horror

January 27 – This House Will Feed by Maria Turead

A January Aardvark box pick! Cannot recommend this book box subscription enough. They are active on TikTok (LOVE to see), engaging, and their picks are incredible. They lean more Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, and Literary, often with early releases.

This story follows a young woman who is taken from a horrible fate during the time of Ireland’s “Famine” by a rich older woman to impersonate her late daughter so that the Lady can continue to receive her widow’s pension and care for her village. Of course, as she moves into the widow’s remote manor house, the horrors don’t stay behind.

Billed as gothic horror and supernatural suspense!

Maria Tureaud is an editor and acclaimed author of middle grade and adult fiction. Born and raised in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, she now lives with her husband and son in New Jersey and can be found online at AuthorMariaTureaud.com.

Other

January 13 – Is this a Cry for Help? by Emily Austin

I picked this one up slightly early thanks to Aardvark Book Club (highly recommended!! – check it out here).

While a bit outside of what I typically gravitate towards, it sold me on the power of libraries, fighting book banning, queer identity, and coming back from a mental breakdown.

Emily Austin is the author of We Could Be Rats, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Interesting Facts About Space, and the poetry collection Gay Girl Prayers. She was born in Ontario, Canada, and received two writing grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts. She studied English literature and library science at Western University. She currently lives in Ottawa, in the territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.

The Bookshop.org links above are indeed affiliate so I may make a few pennies if you purchase something following those. It helps me buy more books to review of course! Or potentially offset the costs of this website (which will probably never be enough lol), or fuel my reviews and reading with coffees. Thank you if you do make a purchase through the links!!

Happy reading 🙂

~M

January 14, 2026
Audio ARC Review: The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

Pub date: January 6, 2026

A dazzling performance and a beautifully written dark fairytale, sure to enchant readers’ hearts into loving monsters that might plunge a dagger into their hearts after making grand professions of love if they aren’t careful.

The protagonist, Demelza, finds herself swept up in a bachelor-esque competition for the throne (and the prince) after running away from home. To keep herself safe from her sorcerer father, who wants to cut out her heart so he can have immortal life, she makes a bargain with the prince to use her truth song as a ‘veritas swan’ to root out the contestants who might want to kill him. After all, the spell on the kingdom says that whoever holds the heir’s hand and heart in marriage becomes Queen, and it doesn’t specify whether the hand and heart have to be attached to the prince after they are married.

A morbid premise for this grim fairytale that seems to be a mash-up of multiple older stories, The Swan’s Daughter is fabulous, grotesque, and sparkling. Pretty words fill these pages, and performed as it is by Ell Potter (at 1.5x for me), we are very truly transported into a realm of glittering gowns, magical estates, fantastical creatures, and romance that feels like a dream.

What’s more interesting than Demelza’s relationship that forms with the whimsical, kind prince in this story is the friendship that develops amongst the contestants and the confidence that grows with each trial until transformation finds our protagonist in the most beautiful way. As always, I find the side characters that surround the main characters more fascinating and fun, and this book doesn’t let me down.

There is some queer representation which I’m always looking for in stories, but in this one, it’s only in side characters.

A few mixed feelings:

I’m not convinced I like books where “ugly ducklings” are transformed with the help of others into “beauties” and then get the attention or are seen as worthy of being royalty or perceived or treated better… This story walks a fine line between this and the ugly duckling being liked for just being who they are. Jury’s out for me at the moment on how I feel about this for The Swan’s Daughter.

The author walks another fine line between loving a monster and a monster’s love, will they or won’t they harm you ultimately? Can you ever trust them? And by monster, I could substitute the word abuser in here, and it would work the same. The relationship between Demelza and her father (and mother) is grim. Her father loves her, but would ask that she let him cut out her heart for his eternal life. Her father loves her mother but would cage and control her. Her father loves his other daughters but would control and punish them as well if they didn’t go along with his plan. Additionally, the prince’s parents have a toxic relationship involving poison. It’s definitely unhealthy but supposed to be darkly funny?

Another word I’m looking for is contradiction. For example, on one hand, the story begins being about trapping women and using daughters as bargaining chips, but then, at the same time, teaching them to be strong and protect themselves, and telling them how much they are loved. Loved but controlled.

This book feels like a satire to me. Especially in these parts that are so absurd, it has to be satirical, otherwise it would be pretty messed up. Perhaps the author’s reference to the Brothers Grimm tale of the princess with the three gowns in three walnuts is a clue to her knowledge of these messed up tales and is she rolling them in to make commentary or because she was inspired by them? I can’t guess. It is a spin on the Swan Princess but different in so many ways with parallels to other classic stories as well.

The book explores themes of freedom, choice, friendship, honesty, cruelty, destruction, individuality, longing, dreams, vanity, motive, comfort, and betrayal. Overall, it is centered around love and control.

I loved the prose and one of the reasons it took me in so much was that it centers the idea of savoring life and being in awe, giving wonder and awe so much space, and the act of marvel, marveling at beauty or delicious food or smells, savoring everything will all the senses. This is something I try to do and I think people who don’t have long to live or live in chronic pain might find themselves appreciating more of the good things in life because the rest is so shit. So, I enjoyed this aspect of the character of Arris for this reason.

All that being said, this novel is 470 pages, and I think I could have listened to another 500…the rhythm of the writing and the performance of the narrator, Ell Potter, would have kept me listening for another 10 hours.

Content: There is no explicit sexual content aside from kissing and thoughts/mentions of more. Depictions and situations of domestic abuse and abusive relationships. Violence. Poison.

About the Author

About the Publisher

The Swan’s Daughter audiobook is published and produced by Macmillan Audio. Performed by Ell Potter.

December 23, 2025
ARC Review: Starseekers by Nicole Glover

Starseekers by Nicole Glover is a fun adventure full of magic, cleverness, murder, mystery, friends, family, and of course, villains.

The book’s synopsis leads with:

“Indiana Jones meets Hidden Figures in this brand-new stand-alone historical fantasy set in the world of The Conductors, in which the space race of the mid-20th century will be determined by magic…if not murder.”

Release date: January 2, 2026

Summary: It’s the 1960s and there’s a space race on for the moon. Cynthia Rhodes is a brilliant engineer at NASA and talented celestial magic user who happens upon the beginning of a mystery when a cursed stranger shows up at the local TV station her cousin runs while she is filming an educational magic show with her friend Theo, a professor of arcane archeology. Soon after, there’s an accident and potential sabotage at NASA involving a coworker that could be connected.

Theo and Cynthia jump into solving the mystery but it’s not just them. Joining the journey are Cynthia’s younger sisters, her friends, cousins, and other family members. Suspects pop up left and right as they continue to hunt down clues and chase danger like it’s second nature. Because it is.

The story follows the same family tree as the author’s other works including The Conductors and The Improvisers – also magic & mystery stories. Sleuthing is in the family!

Thoughts: Overall, this book is quite fun but it also includes themes of racism and the civil rights movement. It’s lighthearted banter, blooming romance, lots of action and magic intertwined with reminders of racial violence and discrimination of the time period the story is written in.

I really enjoyed this and found myself thinking within the first 25% how much fun this book is going to be. It’s unique in itself although the comparables reference Hidden Figures and Indiana Jones. I’d add in a bit of Enola Holmes in there as well.

Glover created quite a web of relationships both within the Rhodes family and outside that felt like it we didn’t have just two main characters but a whole crew working together by the end to solve the case. This gave the story a lot of depth in terms of relationships.

Starseekers is a fast-moving plot which has plenty of time for action and interaction between characters, but it doesn’t dive too deep into character development. This book is definitely for those that enjoy great characters without dramatic development arcs but also a plot that moves. There are a number of different components to the mystery to keep readers guessing until the reveal.

One of my favorite components of this story is there aren’t many limits places on the characters. They are able to do pretty much anything they want. The magic used is only limited to how fast they can react and cast spells. I enjoyed this as it gave a sense of autonomy and power to the characters.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys any combination of fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery. As someone who reads these genres exclusively at the moment, it was a perfect mix of elements.

Buy from Bookshop.org here.

Disclaimer: This blog is part of the Bookshop.org affiliate program and I may earn a very small amount for each purchase made.

Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.

November 23, 2025
ARC Review: Dawn of the Firebird by Sara Mughal Rana

NetGalley Synopsis:

For fans of The Poppy War, She Who Became the Sun, and The Will of the Many, a breathtaking fantasy novel about the daughter of an overthrown emperor from an exciting new voice

Khamilla Zahr-zad’s life has been built on a foundation of violence and vengeance. Every home she’s known has been destroyed by war. As the daughter of an emperor’s clan, she spent her childhood training to maintain his throne. But when her clansmen are assassinated by another rival empire, plans change. With her heavenly magic of nūr, Khamilla is a weapon even enemies would wield—especially those in the magical, scholarly city of Za’skar. Hiding her identity, Khamilla joins the enemy’s army school full of jinn, magic, and martial arts, risking it all to topple her adversaries, avenge her clan, and reclaim their throne.

To survive, she studies under cutthroat mystic monks and battles in a series of contests to outmaneuver her fellow soldiers. She must win at all costs, even if it means embracing the darkness lurking inside her. But the more she excels, the more she is faced with history that contradicts her father’s teachings. With a war brewing amongst the kingdoms and a new twisted magic overtaking the land, Khamilla is torn between two impossible choices: vengeance or salvation.

My Thoughts:

Dawn of the Firebird is an epic fantasy about vengeance, betrayal, love, determination and war.

This book wrecked me by the end. And I can’t wait for the next one! There will be a next one right? RIGHT???

Run, don’t walk, to grab the pre-order since this book comes out December 2, 2025!!

I can’t believe I have to say this but I know it’s probably necessary…THIS IS NOT A ROMANTASY. This book is for the epic fantasy lovers that want to embark on a dark and devastating journey. And this is why I LOVED it so much. I am not a Romantasy fan any longer (never was that much) and I really want more fantasy books like this one written by women with main characters who are women that explore SO MUCH MORE than romantic love and centering men (ew).

POV: First Person, Single POV

World-building: The story is based on islamicate lore per the author. This refers to the culture/society associated with Islam and Muslims but not the religion itself.

‘Islamicate’ would refer not directly to the religion, Islam, itself, but to the social and cultural complex historically associated with Islam and the Muslims, both among Muslims themselves and even when found among non-Muslims. [Venture I:58-59]

Source link for the above: https://teachingislam.org/islamicate/Islamicate.html

There is a glossary on the author’s website that shows how extensive the world-building is. It might sound familiar to other works including The City of Brass or The Stardust Thief in terms of the lore, however I can tell you it’s a unique take. It’s wonderfully extensive and complex.

Magic system: The author describes this as anime x jinn inspired. Many pages are dedicated to sparring/fight scenes (both where magic is used and not) that are well written and easy to follow the detail of each action. I never enjoyed fight scenes that much before but this book – wow!

Without giving away spoilers, I’ll say I really enjoyed the magic system and the possibilities that are revealed to the reader as the book goes on.

About the author (short bio from her website):

Sarah Mughal Rana is an MPhil student at the University of Oxford, studying at the intersection of economic policy and human rights. Beyond the page, Sarah co-hosts the On The Write Track podcast, where she spills the tea with bestselling authors. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies. When she’s not writing, you can find her diving into history rabbit holes or honing her skills in traditional martial arts. Sarah is the author of the YA title Hope Ablaze. Dawn of the Firebird is her debut fantasy trilogy for adults.

FYI – There will be a TV SHOW coming which will focus on a prequel story to the book with Jabal entertainment.

General thoughts/impressions:

One of the reasons I loved this book so much is that ultimately it’s about love and morality, but it doesn’t solely focus on one type of love such as romantic love. It encompasses many different relationships between the characters, parents-children, siblings, fellow students/soldiers, teachers, community, etc. It’s beautifully crafted and comes together at the end to leave readers staring at the wall for hours wondering how ever will they recover from this…

This is an epic and appropriately extensive in terms of relationships, communities, peoples, cultures, beliefs, etc. I realllllllly hope this is at least a duology or trilogy because it definitely felt like this was only the first saga of more to come.

The book explores much of war and how it impacts people but more specifically how propaganda and belief can be used to manipulate. Our main character ends up having experiences on each side of the war in the book so she sees the different perspectives and realizes that it’s not black and white as she initially was taught. Teaching one world to view the other side as the enemy of course makes it easier to destory them. But when we come to know the enemy, roles are reversed.

The author’s studies at Oxford regarding the intersection of economic policy and human rights. These topics are baked into the book, which makes it a dark and intense read but absolutely a journey worth taking.

This isn’t a happy story, it’s human. It’s emotional, haunting, and beautiful. It reflects humanity is many ways and both the love we may experience but also the fear and horrors especially in times of war or when greed of men destroys.

One of the most well done elements is strategy. It’s clever and engaging and I’ll say no more so as to not give anything away!

Initially, I wasn’t too sure about the main character but I loved her by the end! I believe this might be what is called an unreliable narrator which I find fascinating because we never truly can trust the ground on which we stand and for me, that makes the book more interesting to read. There are a lot of elements of psychology and memory and trauma that are explored with this character here as well as the darkness that accompanies the human mind in turmoil.

As you can tell, there is A LOT to say about this book, it’s one to get stuck in and the journey is absolutely worth it.

Buy from Bookshop.org here.

Disclaimer: This blog is part of the Bookshop.org affiliate program and I may earn a very small amount for each purchase made.

Find more information about the author and their books at their website linked here.

November 2, 2025