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
Today I have three magical 2023 releases, take a look:
For fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Mexican Gothic, a novel set in 18th-century Venice at a prestigious music school, about two girls drawn together by a dangerous wager
Venice, 1717. Fifteen-year-old Luisa has only wanted one thing: to be the best at violin. As a student at the Ospedale della Pietà, she hopes to join the highest ranks of its illustrious girls’ orchestra and become a protégé of the great Antonio Vivaldi. Luisa is good at violin, but she is not the best. She has peers, but she does not have friends. Until Maddalena.
After a scandal threatens her noble family’s reputation, Maddalena is sent to the Pietà to preserve her marriage prospects. When she meets Luisa, Maddalena feels the stirrings of a friendship unlike anything she has known. But Maddalena has a secret: she has hatched a dangerous plot to rescue her future her own way. When she invites Luisa into her plans, promising to make her dreams come true, Luisa doesn’t hesitate. But every wager has its price, and as the girls are drawn into the decadent world outside the Pietà’s walls, they must decide what it is they truly want—and what they will do to pay for it.
Lush and heady, swirling with music and magic, Maddalena and the Dark is a Venetian fairytale about the friendship between two girls and the boundless desire that will set them free, if it doesn’t consume them first.
Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine. Releases in June 2023 from Flatiron Books. This gorgeous cover captured my attention, then I read the blurb and that sealed the deal for me. A historical, magical story revolving around music? I’m definitely going to read this.
A dazzling gothic tale of Faustian bargains, jealousy, and murder set in a spectacular circus, where star-crossed lovers’ destinies are forged at an unexpected price, for readers of V. E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
In Victorian London, where traveling sideshows are the very pinnacle of entertainment, there is no more coveted ticket than Ashe and Pretorius’ Carnivale of Curiosities. Each performance is a limited engagement, and London’s elite boldly dare the dangerous streets of Southwark to witness the Carnivale’s astounding assemblage of marvels. For a select few, however, the real show begins behind the curtain. Rumors abound that the show’s proprietor, Aurelius Ashe, is more than an average magician. It’s said that for the right price, he can make any wish come true. No one knows the truth of this claim better than Lucien the Lucifer, the Carnivale’s star attraction. Born with the ability to create fire, he’s dazzled spectators since he was a boy.
When Odilon Rose, one of the most notorious men in London, comes calling with a proposition regarding his young and beautiful charge, Charlotte, Ashe is tempted to refuse. After revealing, however, that Rose holds a secret that threatens the security of the troupe’s most vulnerable members, Ashe has no choice but to sign an insidious contract.
The stakes grow higher as Lucien finds himself drawn to Charlotte and her to him, an attraction that spurs a perilous course of events. Grave secrets, recovered horrors, and what it means to be family come to a head in this vividly imagined spectacle—with the lives of all those involved suspended in the balance.
The Carnivale of Curiosities by Amiee Gibbs. Releases in July 2023 from Grand Central Publishing. OK, this is the second book this week to be compared to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, lol. But despite that (and don’t get me wrong, I love that book! But sometimes comparisons can get out of hand) I think this sounds fantastic!
Some books should never be opened.
A spellbinding, edge-of your seat thriller, Ink Blood Sister Scribe follows a family tasked with guarding a trove of magical but deadly books, and the shadowy organisation that will do anything to get them back . . . even murder.
Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection of rare books; books that will allow someone to walk through walls or turn water into wine. Books of magic.
Her estranged older sister Esther moves between countries and jobs, constantly changing, never staying anywhere longer than a year, desperate to avoid the deadly magic that killed her mother. Currently working on a research base in Antarctica, she has found love and perhaps a sort of happiness.
But when she finds spots of blood on the mirrors in the research base, she knows someone is coming for her, and that Joanna and her collection are in danger.
If they are to survive, she and Joanna must unravel the secrets their parents kept hidden from them – secrets that span centuries and continents, and could cost them their lives …
Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs. Releases in June 2023 from William Morrow. A fantasy about rare magical books? Yes, please sign me up immediately!
Ooh I’m intrigued by Ink Blood Sister Scribe. Grimoire conspiracies and estranged siblings? Yes please.
Imyril recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: 2022 favourites
Right? It sounds like it has so much potential:-)
Ooh I hadn’t heard of any of these before but they all sound intriguing. Definitely all getting added to my tbr. Thanks for sharing them and bringing them to my attention.
I hope we both get the chance to read them:-)
WEEP they all sound right up my alley. I’ve just ordered books from 2022 I hadn’t gotten to read yet…2023 is going to absolutely topple my TBR!!
Me too Caroline!! It’s a never ending avalanche!
Oh wow! All three of these sound awesome! I guess my TBR is just going to crush me this year
Mine is already crushing me, lol.
This week’s books sound really exciting but of the three, I’m probably most likely to The Carnivale of Curiosities. I have to admit, all the Addie LaRue comparisons this week are putting me off a tad because I read that book last year and although I admit the writing was beautiful, I did not enjoy it.
That’s the danger of comparisons, if you didn’t like the book, you probably won’t pick it up!
I just added all of them to my tbr. Thanks for introducing me!
They sound so good, right?
Ink Blood Sister Scribe sounds soo good! I think I’d read Maddelena too. Great choices!
Thanks! I’m excited to see all the new releases:-)
Would you be surprised if I told you I’m quite intrigued by a book whose main character is named Maddalena? 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…MY 2022 IN BOOKS
I immediately thought of you when I saw this book:-)
Interesting to see books being compared to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue! I wonder how factual it is this time around. Thanks for sharing!
Comparisons can definitely go either way, lol. We shall see…
2023 is looking so good for releases! Maddalena and the Dark and The Carnivale of Curiosities are calling to me so much! And I love a story with rare magical books. 🙂
Lots of unique sounding stories seem to be on the horizon. I can’t wait:-)
Ooh I just went and added Carnivale of Curiosities. The comparison to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue totally did it for me, but that’s definitely setting some high expectations!
I agree, but I’m hopeful as well!
This is the first time I’d heard of any of these and I like the sound of ALL OF THEM! 😀 This is not going to help my Backlist challenges at all but they all sound so good.
Pages and Tea recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Books of 2022
LOL I feel the same, those poor backlist challenges are in for trouble this year!
Unfortunately, these days I most often just roll my eyes when blurbs compare to some book I know, like Addie LeRue. But I agree, the first two do sound interesting, especially the first.
Sometimes the comparisons are right, but often they aren’t. So I’m with you, I’m always wary:-)
Maddalena and the Dark is one I know about already and without reading the book I’m already hooked. It sounds SO good and that cover is really gorgeous!
The Carnivale of Curiosities sounds equally good. “A dazzling gothic tale of Faustian bargains, jealousy, and murder set in a spectacular circus” WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE?!
Ink Blood Sister Scribe is also one I want to get my hands on ASAP. I love the part where the synopsis describes Joanna living alone in the woods of Vermont, being the sole protector of a rare book collection… Like, can I get that job please? For real, sounds amazing!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare
Yes, the whole idea of protecting a rare book collection is so appealing! Sign me up:-)
Looks like 2023 is starting with great books for you, enjoy!
Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…Year of reading 2022 Part 2: Statistics
It really has potential to be a great reading year:-)
Whew, all of these have elements I would enjoy, but I think Ink Blood Sister Scribe edges out the other two just a bit — so many secrets!
It does sound good, right?
Haha, well, in total greedy fashion I would like all of these. Gonna need to reign myself in.
Lynn 😀
Yes, get them all!
I think Ink Blood Sister Scribde would be the most to my liking!
It does seem like your kind of book:-)
The comparisons to Addie Larue on two of your picks are definitely calling to me. I’ll be curious to see if those comparisons are accurate since I loved Addie.
Looove the covers! I think they all actually might be a little too magic based for me? But if you like them I would probably try since I trust your taste, so I’ll definitely keep them on my radar!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Tantalizing Tomes of ‘Twenty-Two
All these three titles sound so intriguing! I can’t choose, I need all of them!!