I went from having no ARCs to read for the second half of the year to have a ton. Now is usually when I start my festive reads, which I know is super early but I do need to have twelve of them read and reviewed by December as well as creating content to post every day. 

I’ve got some really interesting ARCs coming up over the next few months, so I wanted to share them with you today. As always, thank you to the publishers for sending me copies of these books to review–I’m extremely grateful. 

Songlight by Moira Buffini

This is the first book in a new trilogy and that’s enough to spark my interest. I wanted to make 2024 the year of the series and so far I’m failing at that. So starting a brand new series should be a great way to get me into series again.

I have a feeling this book will have a lot of musical references (theory not pop culture) and as someone that studied vocals at college, that excites me. 

Synopsis: We’re two songs joined. And there’s a word for that. A harmony.

Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself—her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.

Elsa’s world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart-wrenching day and she doesn’t know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn’t really there—her songlight has been drawn to Elsa’s frantic grief.

Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realise the extent of their power, they’ll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.

How to Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore

YA thrillers have become a favourite genre of mine in the past year or so, so when this popped up, I knew I needed to check it out. It’s actually marketed as a horror, but I don’t tend to find books actually scary, so lets see just how frightening this will be.

Synopsis: Horror movie enthusiast Charley is determined to keep a low profile when she’s enrolled to a girls’ boarding school on a remote island. That is, until someone starts killing off her senior class! From elaborate scare tactics to severed heads in fridges, Charley has found herself at the centre of a teen horror movie. And that’s not the only alarming thing that’s happening – she’s now seeing the ghosts of her former classmates!? Haunted by her peers, and with everyone beginning to suspect her, Charley decides to do something about it. She and her only best friend Olive are going to solve the murders and find out who’s killing off the class before graduation. Charley just needs those pesky ghosts to shut up and give her a hand…

Rabbit & Juliet by Rebecca Stafford

I was mostly intrigued by the cover and title of this book, but after reading the synopsis, this was a no brainer. It’s queer, has girls taking revenge on boys and small town vibes. Ticks a lot of boxes if you ask me.

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Rabbit has been struggling to stay above water since her mom died. In the span of a year and half, her small Georgia town has become unbearably hellish: Her ex-boyfriend, resident golden boy Richard, turned into an unrelenting stalker; her friends are nonexistent; and her dad is campaigning hard for Functioning Alcoholic of the Year.

But all that changes when the sarcastic, gorgeous, and frustratingly impenetrable Juliet Bergman walks into Rabbit’s life. All hard angles and James Dean bravado, Juliet throws Rabbit a life preserver just before her depression threatened to sink her.

Then one morning, Rabbit’s ex-best-friend Sarah–Richard’s current girlfriend–shares a horrific discovery about Richard and his crew that pitches Rabbit back into darkness. The three girls vow to enact revenge on the boys for what they’ve been doing to unsuspecting girls at parties. With Juliet leading the charge and demanding blind loyalty from the girls, Rabbit falls harder for her than she thought possible. It isn’t until Rabbit is faced with a startling act of violence that she must decide how far she’s willing to go–for herself, for Juliet, and for justice–when love and grief threaten to topple everything.

It’s Not Me, It’s You by Alex Light

Cute contemporary romances have been my saving grace in 2024. They’re quicker to read, often have low stakes and I just find them enjoyable. I’m not sure if this is technically a fake dating book, but the synopsis does give off those vibes. Either way I’m interested.

Synopsis: Jackie Myers is a fraud. Or she might be a genius—the jury’s still out.

The thing is, she secretly runs pleasebreakmyheart, a gone-viral account aimed at breaking hearts and ending relationships…. And she just used it to break up her insufferable eternal nemesis’s picture-perfect relationship.

Wilson is the buttoned-up, type A assistant manager of her nightmares—but it turns out he’s also, apparently, a really great boyfriend.

So with her conscience (and paycheck) on the line, Jackie decides there’s only one thing to do: She’s going to help Wilson win his ex-girlfriend back. Which should be easy, considering Jackie hates him…right?

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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Book Haul: July 2024