New year, new ARCs and oh boy am I excited for what 2023 holds. As always I’ve told myself to take it easy with the ARCs and I’ve not listened. I do, however, have everything completely under control…for now.
I’m definitely taking on fewer ARCs and I’m making sure I actually have enough time to read them. Which last year I was not so great at. I know this year has only just begun, but I’m handling everything pretty well right now.
Anyway enough of that. On to my January 2023 ARC update. Here are the ARCs I am most excited about.
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao – 2nd February 2023
So, I’ve actually already started this and I’m about halfway through. It’s pretty good so far. The world-building is great and the magic system is definitely interesting.
I won’t lie, the cover is what drew me into this book, but can you really blame me? It’s absolutely stunning.
Synopsis: In a fallen kingdom, one girl carries the key to discovering the secrets of her nation’s past – and unleashing the demons that sleep at its heart. An epic new fantasy duology inspired by Chinese mythology.
Once, Lan had a different name. Now, she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and spends her days scavenging for remnants of the past. For anything that might help her understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother, in her last act before she died.
No one can see the mysterious mark, an untranslatable Hin character, except Lan. Until the night a boy appears at the teahouse and saves her life.
Zen is a practitioner – one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom, whose abilities were rumoured to be drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Magic to be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.
Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.
Hustle & Heart: Foretold by Heath Amodio – 21st February 2023
Again I noticed this because of its cover. The art style looks super cool and the cover definitely draws the eye. I’m such a huge fan of graphic novels so I couldn’t pass this one up.
Synopsis: A year after the mysterious death of his wife, Professor Derek Flynn finds himself waking up, as if from a blackout, in the middle of a catastrophic and fatal disaster. Derek has no idea how he got there, but what’s even more inexplicable is that this has become a common occurrence. In fact, Derek has been lying to his estranged teenage daughter, Casey, about his puzzling disappearances for months. Desperate to get to the bottom of what’s happening to him, Derek reaches out to psychologist Alice Meyers seeking help to recognize the terrifying visions that haunt his dreams: imminent disasters, both natural and manmade, that Derek now feels he is somehow integral to. But with the FBI catching on to his connection with these disastrous events, a manhunt begins, and Derek finds himself tangled in a perplexing web.
Stuck between being a fugitive and a messiah, and on the run in his pursuit for the truth, Derek will discover that there are no such things as coincidences.
The Love Wager by Lynn Painter – 30th March 2023
After absolutely adoring Better Than the Movies I couldn’t believe my luck when I got this ARC. I have very high hopes for The Love Wager and as romance is my current favourite genre, I can’t wait to read this.
Synopsis: Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf.
After crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult.
She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe. But when she logs into the dating app to look for new love, she finds none other than Jack: the guy whose hotel room she’d snuck out of.
After agreeing they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie realise that they’re each other’s perfect wing-person – and join forces in their searches for The One. They even make a wager to see who can find true love first.
But when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off.
Because as they pretend to be a couple, they struggle to remember why dating for real was a bad idea to begin with…
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: Organising My Goodreads #4
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: To Be Read: ARC Update – January 2023 […]