I’m back with another book list (that took ages to compile)!
It’s always my goal to introduce you guys to books you haven’t heard of, and I hope this post could convince you to add at least a few new July – December 2021 releases to your TBR! I love doing anticipated releases posts because there are so many books I’m excited for, and doing the research for these posts leads me to discover new ones that sound amazing.
Also, I didn’t have any December books in this list, so I guess I’m just… full on clickbaiting you guys with that! (Sorry.) There were some releases I could find, but I wasn’t interested in any of them and didn’t want to put them in this post just for the sake of having books for December. Please forgive me.
All books are in order of release date, and all book covers link to Goodreads pages.
JULY
Rise to the Sun (Jul 6) ✧ I loved Leah Johnson’s debut, and I’m certain I’ll enjoy her next book about Black girls falling in love at a music festival when I read it soon! Her writing is truly full of heart.
Six Crimson Cranes (Jul 6) ✧ I haven’t loved all of Elizabeth Lim’s previous books, but I’m hoping this one with fairytale vibes and a focus on family (and a gorgeous cover) will be one I enjoy!
The Taking of Jake Livingston (Jul 13) ✧ I’m not usually one for horror, but this one sounds too good to pass up: ghosts, murder, and a Black queer teen at the front of it.
A Psalm for the Well-Built (Jul 13) ✧ This sci-fi novella with a non-binary monk protagonist asks “in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?”, and it sounds FANTASTIC.
Afterlove (Jul 22) ✧ With a British Indo-Guyanese lesbian protagonist, this YA paranormal romance is about first love and girl reapers and apparently the “lesbian love story you’ve been dying to read”!
AUGUST
(totally unrelated, but LOVE the purple theme going on with these covers)
A Lesson in Vengeance (Aug 3) ✧ If this sapphic dark academia book with witchcraft and an unreliable narrator is as good as Victoria Lee’s Feverwake books were, I’m going to absolutely adore this!
The Wild Ones (Aug 3) ✧ I enjoyed Nafiza Azad’s previous book, and I’m excited to read her beautiful writing again in this feminist fantasy with a magical girl group and (a genuinely stunning cover).
Redemptor (Aug 17) ✧ This sequel to Raybearer, a 2020 favorite of mine, is one of my most anticipated books out of this list. Raybearer was phenomenal and I think Redemptor will be even better.
The All-Consuming World (Aug 17) ✧ This sci-fi book is about a group of queer cyborg women criminals who have to band together to carry out one last mission, and it sounds so good!!
House of Glass Hearts (Aug 29) ✧ Jumping from colonial India to present-day America, this seems like such a unique book about family, secrets, and monsters. It’s about “how the horrors of the past continue to shape the lives of South Asians around the world”… perfection!
SEPTEMBER
A Clash of Steel (Sep 7) ✧ First of all, that cover!! Second, I loved CB Lee’s Not Your Sidekick, and I think I’ll also love this Treasure Island retelling featuring sapphic Asian pirates and queer found family!
It All Comes Back to You (Sep 14) ✧ This Desi Muslim romcom is about exes who are reunited, with a focus on family, friendship, and grief! It seems like it will make me smile and cry simultaneously.
The Lost Girls (Sep 14) ✧ This book’s premise is: a girl who was turned into a vampire by a boy seeks to kill him and ends up falling in love with the boy’s latest victim… nice. I love vampire sapphics.
Iron Widow (Sep 21) ✧ I’ve heard absolutely fantastic things about this one already, from its expert fusion of historical events and futuristic sci-fi to its twist on love triangle by ending up with polyamory!!
The Bronzed Beasts (Sep 21) ✧ I am both excited and TERRIFIED to read the finale to the Gilded Wolves trilogy. The second book ended on such a great note for me and I think this one will be even better. I have a feeling it’s going to be both thrilling and absolutely devastating… can’t wait!
To Break a Covenant (Sep 21) ✧ I feel like this has the potential to be a new favorite? Again, I’m not usually a horror fan, but this one sounds amazing, with friendship, ghost hunters, and sapphics!!
Light from Uncommon Stars (Sep 28) ✧ My friend Skye, whose praises for this have convinced me to preorder this already, says this is “healing and queer/trans-affirming” and explores what it means to be human—truly sounds like a new favorite book for me.
For All Time (Sep 28) ✧ Reincarnated soulmates finding each other over and over again… tragic love story… this is going to hurt so much but I think I’m going to love every second of it!
OCTOBER
Vial of Tears (Oct 5) ✧ This features two Lebanese American sisters trapped in the underworld, inspired by Phoenician mythology with shapeshifters and a god of death… HELLO this sounds so good!!!
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World (Oct 12) ✧ The first book means… so much to me, and it feels like I’ve been waiting forever for a sequel. I’m excited (and scared…) to see where Ari and Dante’s story heads!
Jade Fire Gold (Oct 12) ✧ Inspired by Chinese mythology and Avatar: The Last Airbender-esque with a slowburn romance by a Southeast Asian author genuinely is everything I could ever ask for <33
The Keeper of Night (Oct 12) ✧ Soul collecting, morally grey girls (and a whole morally grey cast), goddess of death, and a biracial Japanese protagonist—sounds like the perfect book to me!!!
Destroyer of Light (Oct 5) ✧ Everyone’s always talking about wanting Persephone retellings… and this one is exactly that but Afro-futuristic and sci-fi with aliens and an exploration of humanity??
NOVEMBER
Girls of Fate and Fury (Nov 2) ✧ This trilogy is one I hold very dear in my heart despite being very disappointed by the second book. I’m really hoping it will end on a high note with this book!
The Bone Shard Emperor (Nov 9) ✧ I absolutely loved The Bone Shard Daughter and it promised so much for this sequel—cannot wait to get my mind blown again by Andrea G Stewart’s plot twists.
Noor (Nov 9) ✧ It’s a crime that I haven’t read Nnedi Okorafor’s books, but her new one looks so good, following an “unnatural” woman in an exploration of biotechnology and humanity in a futuristic Nigeria!
Year of the Reaper (Nov 9) ✧ Makiia Lucier’s Isle of Blood and Stone was super unique, so I’m excited to read her latest book, a murder mystery-esque fantasy with a protagonist who can see ghosts.
Our Violent Ends (Nov 16) ✧ I enjoyed These Violent Delights, and since Romeo & Juliet promises tragedy (and so does this title), I’m so interested and a bit scared to see how this series ends!
what are the July – December books you’re excited for? have you gotten the chance to read any of these? and since there are a lot more sequels than I expected on this list: what’s a sequel you’re excited for (2021 or not)?
Forever and Everly 
Amazing list and so many books are releasing! I’m excited for Six Crimson crane and untethered by KayLynn Flanders.
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thank you! six crimson cranes looks so good, i hope we both love it <3
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Ahh so many books that look so good! I really want to read raybearer and six crimson cranes and aristotle and dante – i could go on haha. Thank you for sharing this!
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raybearer is so good, i hope you get a chance to read it before the sequel comes out! and of course, my pleasure <33
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I just added so many of these to my TBR! You’re amazing!
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yay!! so glad to hear that 💓💓
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Fantastic list. You sure have a lot of reading ahead of you. Thanks for the list, so we know what to look out for too.
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thank you! i’m glad you found the list helpful 💕💕
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Such a great and thorough releases post ❤ I somehow never have any releases for December either 😂 I’m also anticipating The Taking of Jake Livingston, XOXO, A Lesson in Vengeance, and The Bronzed Beasts 🥰 I already read The Dead and the Dark and I really liked it 😊
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thank you!! <3 i think december must be some holiday break month for publishing, there's always so few books releasing then! i'm glad you enjoyed the dead and the dark, i've heard so many great things about it already
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So many amazing books coming! Really excited for Redemptor, Velvet was the Night, The Bronzed Beasts and The Bone Shard Emperor!
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those are definitely some of the books i’m most excited for as well!!
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oh my gosh, 2021 really is packed with great releases! thank you so much for this fantastic post, i can’t wait to read so many of these!💜
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all the releases sound great, hopefully they won’t be disappointing!! 😭 and of course, it’s my pleasure <33
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Wow! I ended up adding many of these to my TBR! You’ve got such an amazing list here! Thank you!!!
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so glad to hear that you were interested in some of these books!! and of course, it’s my pleasure 💓
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Great list, May! I am excited for so many of these books too, especially The Bronzed Beasts, It All Comes Back to You, Rise to the Sun, and, of course, Our Violent Ends (although I’m super, super scared for the ending of that one… I just have a really bad feeling about it). This list introduced me to a few more books for my TBR, including The Wild Ones. I hope you get to read and enjoy all of these books and I hope you have a great summer!!
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thank you, ruby! i also have such a bad feeling about the ending of our violent ends but i’m hoping for at least One thing to end happily… it has to, right… and ahh thank you so much! i hope you’re having a great summer as well, and happy reading 💕💕
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Ugh, I really didn’t need any more books to add to my already waaaaay too ambitious New Releases list for this year! Why do you to this to me?! I can’t believe how many amazing books are coming out~
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so pleased to add on to your never-ending tbr 😎 there truly are so many wonderful books this year, i can’t wait to get to as many of them as i can!!
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Sapphic books. That’s it. That’s the comment. (no it is not lol: thank you so much for this list May!!! They all look and sound so good and you can’t see but I’m DYING because how am I ever gonna survive these incredible sounding stories? I probably won’t but yeah!! Great list love!! <3)
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sapphic books are truly ruling!! and thank you so much <3 i hope we both get to read and love these books!
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Such a solid list you have here, and we have a lot of anticipated books in common!
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truly so many good books coming out!
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