Welcome to Future Fiction, my reimagining of the Waiting on Wednesday meme! There are so many amazing new books coming out, that I can no longer pick just one. My goal with Future Fiction is to share at least three new books each week, a combination of recent cover reveals and books that I’ve recently added to my TBR pile. I’m still going to be linking up with Wishful Endings/Can’t Wait Wednesday, and I also want to give a shout out to Jill at Breaking the Spine for starting the original Waiting on Wednesday meme. I hope you’ll find some new books to add to your TBR piles, and as always, I look forward to hearing what YOU’RE looking forward to:-D
I have quite the mix of books to share today: a book that doesn’t come out until 2020 (!), a book by an author I can’t believe I haven’t read yet, and a book that leans more towards literary fiction. Take a look:
A dark and twisty YA fantasy debut that weaves together layers of religion and faith, tattoo magic, and eccentric theater in a world where lies are currency and ink is a weapon—perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Kendare Blake.
Two friends escape from a religious temple that they believe serves a false god, only to discover the god is quite real and bent on revenge.
Ink in the Blood (Ink in the Blood #1) by Kim Smejkal. Releases in February 2020 from HMH Books for Young Readers. I know, it’s a ways off. But I couldn’t resist highlighting this book when I saw the cover pop up on Goodreads. I’m intrigued by tattoo magic, and wow I just love this cover! Smejkal is a Canadian author and this is her debut novel.
Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon. Releases in June 2019 from Saga Press. Solomon wrote An Unkindness of Ghosts, a book that’s been languishing on my TBR for far too long. My personal goal is to read it before her new book comes out! And doesn’t this story sound amazing?? Mermaids who used to be slaves? I mean wow. And listen to this, the story was inspired by a rap song by the group Clipping (the members are the other three names listed on the cover of the book), and they are composing new music to be released at the same time as The Deep. You might recognize the name Daveed Diggs—he’s also an actor and performed in the Broadway show Hamilton!
The Vegetarian meets Heathers in this darkly funny, seductively strange novel about a lonely graduate student drawn into a clique of rich girls who seem to move and speak as one
“We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn’t we?”
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn’t be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England’s Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort–a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other “Bunny,” and are often found entangled in a group hug so tight they become one.
But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies’ fabled “Smut Salon,” and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door–ditching her only friend, Ava, a caustic art school dropout, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the sinister yet saccharine world of the Bunny cult and starts to take part in their ritualistic off-campus “Workshop” where they magically conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur, and her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies are brought into deadly collision.
A spellbinding, down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, creativity and agency, and friendship and desire, Bunny is the dazzlingly original second book from an author whose work has been described as “honest, searing and necessary” (Elle).
Bunny by Mona Awad. Releases in June 2019 from Viking. It was the cover that initially drew me to this book, but when I read the description I knew I HAD to read this. Literary with a touch of the speculative, this has my name written all over it!
All three of these sound great, especially the one about mermaids who used to be slaves. I’m curious to hear the new music that will be coming out to coincidence with the book release. I’m obsessed with the musical Hamilton and Daveed Diggs is one of my favorite original cast members.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Can’t Wait Wednesday – LIFE AND OTHER INCONVENIENCES by Kristan Higgins
I didn’t recognize Daveed Diggs’ name, but when I found out he was in Hamilton I knew I had to learn more about this book:-)
Do you know I’ve been eyeing The Bunny too and I think it was the cover that initially got my attention. How cool is about The Deep and its connection to music. Also cool that the rappers names are on the cover too. Gonna have to look into that one. And I can’t believe you’re already thinking about 2020!
I know, I’m actually surprised that a 2020 cover is already out!
Wow. These sound amazing. The Deep really sounds like a must-read (and really, you had me at Daveed Diggs!). Love the cover for Ink in the Blood. All these need to go on my TBR list… as if it needs any new additions. 🙂
I’m super curious about how she’s going to incorporate the music with her book, it should be fun when it comes out!
Definitely intrigued by Ink in the Blood!
Yes, I love the idea too!
Ink in the Blood sounds like all kinds of awesome!
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday – The Right Swipe (Modern Love #1) by Alisha Rai
It does, right? I’m amazed that every week there are so many new books to showcase that ALL sound so good:-)
That first one really looks like one I’d like to read. I’m adding it to my Goodreads TBR. I’ve had too many to just do the one book for the WOW posts, so I’ve been doing something similar called “Lisa’s Looking Forward To”. They’ve been on Sundays, but I’m thinking next month I’m going to start posting on Wednesdays so I can link up with everyone else. I linked to my last post like that below. Thanks for sharing these!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Lisa’s Looking Forward To #5 – February 12th, 2019
I’m definitely checking out your post. I just found it so hard to choose one book each week, that’s why I started doing this:-)
I’m sooo curious about The Deep, it looks mesmerizing!
Caitlin G. recently posted…WWW Wednesday – 2/13/19
I know! Mesmerizing is a great description:-)
I like the sound of The Deep and Bunny. Will keep my eyes on alert for those two.
Lynn 😀
I could just stare at the cover for Bunny all day, not sure why:-)
I love the sound of The Deep, which is very much a book that I would love – thank you for sharing, Tammy:)
The Deep sounds so unique, and I’m definitely going to make time for it:-)
I’d grab The Deep just because of the excellent cover art. I also like the sound of the story.
Laura Thomas recently posted…Queen To Ashes ~ Pre-Order Blitz and Giveaway
That cover is really pretty, isn’t it?
I loved the Heathers reference for Bunny! And those other two covers are gorgeous! These all sound so good, Tammy!
I love the Heathers reference too, I think it’s what sealed the deal for me!
I saw both the covers of Ink in the Blood and The Deep pop up on Goodreads earlier in the week because I have them on my watchlist, but I’m honestly not sure about either of them yet. Bunny is new to me though, and it sounds pretty wild!
Bunny does sound wild, even though it’s not my usual genre, I really want to read it!
The Deep sounds incredible. Definitely adding that to my TBR.
I read a book about tattoo magic and was disappointed by it, so I’m excited about this one now! And oooh the cover of the mer book is so pretty!!!
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Book Review: As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Hunters Book 5) by Colleen Gleason
In k in the Bone sounds so good, and that cover is absolutely gorgeous! Adding it to my TBR, thanks for putting it on my radar!
Kaleena @ reader voracious recently posted…The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One by Amanda Lovelace
Tattoo magic is intriguing, and I like the idea of them running from a god they think is false, but turns out to be real. Oops haha! Also The Deep also has an amazing premise. Love the sound of both of these!
The Deep looks REALLY interesting to me. May have to check that one out!