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 a ghostly romcom and two new thrillers, take a look:
From award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes an edgy, genre-bending thriller following a retired photographer who begins to hear the murders of women she knew in her punk youth, forcing her to reckon with the past she’s desperate to forget.
One woman. A string of unsolved murders. Only she can hear the victims.
Elena Altieri never wanted to be famous, and certainly not at sixty-six years old. For over forty years she’s been hiding from her New York City punk rock youth in the hills of Vermont, but now, the past is catching up with her in more ways than one. Not only is she losing her hearing, but the photographs she took of a recently deceased musician are going viral. Suddenly, she finds herself summoned back to the city for an exhibit celebrating her work and thrust into a world she’d hoped to keep locked away forever. A world where her best friend, Sin, is dead.
At the exhibit, Elena hears the screams of a woman ringing among the hum of her tinnitus, and she’s sure something horrible has occurred. But since no one else can hear them, she convinces herself it’s just her damaged ears playing tricks. She tries to put the event behind her, but when the auditory visions continue whenever she touches something of Sin’s, she becomes convinced she’s hearing her friend’s murder. Desperate for answers, she has no choice but dig into the past, and what she’ll uncover will not only force her to reckon with her own fractured memories, but might prove that Sin, and other innocent women from their youth, were the victims of an unspeakable crime that only she can solve. Old punks never die, and Elena’s going to prove that.
Edgy, mysterious, and full of heart, Hear the Dead is at once an inventive and biting story following one aging woman desperate to solve crimes from her past, and a thought-provoking meditation on friendship, justice, and what it means to remember who we are.
Hear the Dead by Ann Dávila Cardinal. Releases in October 2026 from Sourcebooks Landmark. I love the combination of an older protagonist hiding from her punk rock past and a murder mystery. I really enjoyed the last book I read by Cardinal, and I’m very interested in checking this out.
Squid Game meets boarding school in this electric young adult thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Two Sides to Every Murder and How to Survive Your Murder.
Luminary is more than just a school. It is a test of moral fiber, strength of will, and human resilience.
Lia Michaels can pick any lock and break into most computer systems. But a life of delinquency has her bouncing between foster homes and juvie. So when she applies to Luminary Prep, a new experimental school created to challenge academic conventions, Lia is surprised by the acceptance letter that follows.
With state-of-the-art technology, fancy cafeteria food, and a campus that looks like a painting come to life, Luminary seems to be the break Lia needs. That is, if she can excel in class and be one of only five students who will be allowed to graduate.
But classes at Luminary are . . . odd. And dangerous. There is a death-trap obstacle course in Physics, a Chemistry exam with explosives, and guillotines in Political Science. As students keep vanishing, one by one, Lia starts to wonder if it’s not that five students will graduate—but that only five will survive.
Deadly Little Lessons by Danielle Valentine. Releases in September 2026 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons for Young Readers. I did not enjoy Valentine’s last YA book, but I adore her adult fiction, so I’m willing to give this one a try. Plus doesn’t it sound awesome?
To save her best friend and lifelong crush from his family’s deadly curse, Libby must team up with (and try not to catch feelings for) a handsome ghost only she can see
Libby Lakoski has two major problems. First, she’s secretly in love with her best friend, Carter Coldwell, and second, he’s marrying someone else. Carter’s the only person who has ever made Libby feel chosen, and sure, his fiancee is a British diamond heiress, but Carter and Libby have years of shared history and longing looks between them. Not to mention, Libby is the only person Carter trusted enough to tell about the dark magic that plagues his family.
But then a third and related problem presents itself—or, himself. Trip Coldwell is Carter’s handsome, smart, flirtatious cousin who also happens to be… a ghost. Trip’s “unfinished business” is to break the Coldwell curse, but the solution hinges on Libby encouraging Carter to allow his wedding to proceed. Unfortunately, Libby is the only person who can see Trip, and her objective is the exact opposite. Can Libby put aside her pining for Carter and work with his hot and not-quite-living cousin to save both men?
As they follow a trail of clues across New York City, Libby finds herself questioning just how much Carter reciprocated her friendship, feeling perplexed by a growing attraction to Trip, and fantasizing about actually touching him. With the countdown to the wedding in full swing, Libby must choose between saving the Coldwells and holding tight to her own happily ever after.
You’re the One That I Haunt by Katie Jung. Releases in September 2026 from Pamela Dorman Books. This isn’t my usual read, but I think it sounds adorable. Plus, who doesn’t want to read a romcom involving a ghost?
You’re the One That I Haunt sounds cute… and that title kills me ! Great choices.
I’m intrigued by the last of these. It isn’t my go to genre either but I’m trying to get into romance more this year and supernatural ones are bond to help me with those efforts. I hope the middle one works for you despite being YA. I’m kind of intrigued by the school but not sure if its for me or not so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for your review.
Danielle Vega has been hit or miss for me as well. I have an arc of Hear the Dead I am really excited about. Great choices this week!
So many great books!
You’re the One That I Haunt could be entertaining!
I love book titles with clever puns like You’re the One That I Haunt. Always makes me smile!
I LOVE the sound of You’re the One That I Haunt. Except – I’ve just had a TERRIBLE thought… How many bright-eyed youngsters out there haven’t a clue where the title comes from??
I can’t help it. I read the title for You’re the One That I Haunt and started singing. I don’t know if I could read the book if it doesn’t have Grease vibes to it.
These sound soooo interesting! Hear the Dead sounds intriguing as heck while Deadly Little lessons sounds fun. It may be a hit or miss but still… It sounds like fun!
I also didn’t love Danielle Valentine’s last YA book but hoping that’s a fluke because I’d like to try this new one too!