In 2024, Bookish Brews started it’s fourth year of doing a monthly bookshelf of diverse new book releases. We’re so glad for so many of you who have been here since the beginning, but here’s a very warm welcome to new readers. All of the previous months of our featured shelf will always end up here, so you can be sure that you’ll never miss a month! Or, if what’s listed on our current Featured Bookshelf, the archives are never short on books. If you want to find even more archives than just 2024 releases, check out our archives for other years:
Table of Contents
January
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng
Yellowjackets meets She Is a Haunting in this spine-tingling sapphic thriller that follows a disgraced teen idol who comes face-to-face with the demons of her past in a glittering, cutthroat K-pop competition.
📖 Couldn't Put It Down 🪄 Unique Magic 💀 Dark Content 💫 Atmospheric
February
Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru
Perfect for fans of Fable and House of Salt and Sorrows, this spectacular YA fantasy adventure debut is like nothing else, featuring a unique twist on Treasure Island, a magnetic second chance romance, and a thrilling heist where the reward is great—but the risks are even greater.
✂️ Retelling 🗺️ Adventure ✒️ Debut Author 🤔 Thought Provoking
March
Smoke Kings by Jahmal Mayfield
In the vein of Get Out and Razorblade Tears, a feast of noir fiction and probing social commentary that asks us to consider what would happen if reparations were finally charged and exacted.
💀 Dark Content 🎲 Plot Twists 🤔 Thought Provoking 📖 Couldn't Put It Down
April
The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le
The tantalizing romance of These Violent Delights meets the mechanical wonders of Cinder in The Last Bloodcarver, the first in a two-book debut — with a riveting medical magic system and lush Vietnam-inspired fantasy world.
Read Bookish Brews Review of The Last Bloodcarver
💀 Dark Content 🎲 Plot Twists 🪄 Unique Magic 📖 Couldn’t Put It Down
May
A determined young woman in 1950s Los Angeles walks a darker city than she ever imagined in a spellbinding novel about the power to make dreams come true—whatever the sacrifice.
💫 Atmospheric 🏙️ City Life 🧭 Immigrant Experience 🪄 Unique Magic
June
During the summer before college, Blake Brenner and her girlfriend only have one goal: to join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success–and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.
🎂 Coming of Age 😭 Emotional ❤️🩹 Trauma and Healing 🧠 Mental Health
July
In this fiercely imaginative Filipino-inspired fantasy debut, a bisexual nun hiding a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people’s struggle against colonization.
🗺️ Adventure ✒️ Debut Author 🏆 Strong Lead Woman 🪄 Unique Magic
August
Inspired by J.M. Barrie’s beloved children story Peter Pan and focusing on family, freedom and choice, These Deathless Shores is an exciting genderbent origin story told from the perspective Captain Hook, perfect for fans of Jade City by Fonda Lee.
✂️ Retelling ✒️ Debut Author 🗺️ Adventure 🏴☠️ Pirates
September
In this sweet sapphic romance about two foodies in love, Vivi meets Lan while studying abroad in Vietnam and they spend the semester unraveling their families’ histories—and eating all the street food in Sài Gòn.
☁️ Cozy Reading 🏙️ City Life ✨ Low Conflict 💗 Heart Warming
October
A dark, heart-thumping political epic fantasy by debut author Amy Leow–full of scheming demons, morally grey heroines, talking cats, and cut-throat priests, this delicious tale of power and corruption will captivate from beginning to end.
🪄 Unique Magic 🤫 Secrets 💀 Dark Content ✒️ Debut Author
November
As Ruby races to save her sister, she gets caught between an ancient sinister traveling temple known for making dark wishes come true and the guardians determined to stop this encroaching evil, Ruby must not only face the horror taking over her community, but must also confront the horror within herself in order to survive.
💀 Dark Content 👻 Supernatural 🧭 Diaspora Experience 💫 Atmospheric
December
Deedee longs for an escape from her single mom who won’t let her learn how to drive and Jay stays up at night because of his turbulent family life. When Jay agrees to secret driving lessons for Deedee, the two high school seniors with family trauma fall in love over a series of secret late-night drives.
🌼 Self Discovery 🌱 Character Growth 😭 Emotional ❤️🩹 Trauma and Healing
January
Note: Few books come out in December amid the holidays, so November and December are combined this month.
Happy reading! Let me know if you pick up any of these, I’d love to hear how you like them on social media or via email. All social media are linked in my signature below. Want more featured books? Check out more featured books:
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