2023 Releases, top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023

Hi All!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly prompt currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s prompt focuses on our anticipated releases for the first half of 2022. This was a very easy post for me as there are so many books I am looking forward to this year! I’ve actually already posted two tiktoks on this topic so if you think I’ve missed one, or want to see more, do head over there and have a browse!

Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson

Publication Date: 17/01/23

Synopsis: Sequel and novella to the YA fantasy Sorcery of Thorns, this book follows Nathaniel, Elisabeth and Silas as they are magically trapped in Thorn Manor. The estates’ wards are meant to be protect its inhabitants, but days away from the couple hosting the Midwinter Ball the house locks all its inhabitants inside, just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth are starting to grow closer.

This sounds like pure fluff, but I am okay with that because I am desperate for more from these characters and world, and I am so thankful to Rogerson for answering these prayers.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

UK Publication Date: 19/01/23

Synopsis: Kissen makes her living by killing gods, and she loves it, until one day she encounters a god she can’t kill: the god of white lies. Somehow, this god has bound themself to the life of young, mortal noble, and both are on the run from anonymous assassins. Joined by a knight on a secret quest, all of them journey to a ruined city where the last of the wild gods reside, where each hope to be granted a favour.

First of all, look at that cover! But also, how could I pass a book like this up? It sounds incredible, and I’m so ready to meet a god of white lies – what an amazing thing to be a god of. I am also thrilled it’s the first in a series, so I’m going to hopefully have more books after this one to read.

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

UK Publication Date: 19/01/23

Synopsis: A series of interlocking short stories following the past, present and future of a generation of Nigerian women. Three young girls from well-doing families meet in a Nigerian boarding school and form an unbreakable bond. But as they leave school they’re forced to encounter the limitations of adulthood, and grapple with the complexities of the world they live in.

I love books that had interlocking stories that also manage to cover the lives of characters that span years, so I’m sure I’m gonna love this.

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

UK Publication Date: 19/01/23

Synopsis: Everyone knows the case about the Aplteron Angels, the cult-like group who believed one of their member’s baby was the anti-Christ and planned to murder it, before the mother came to their sense, called the police and the rest of the angels committed suicide. Two true-crime writers two decades on fight to tell the story, but are forced to pair up when neither can find the baby after they’ve disappeared into the care system. However, as they delve deeper into the mystery, they realise the true story is not what has been told, and far darker than previously imagined.

I love Janice Hallett and I’m so excited for a new book from her! If you haven’t read her two previous novels: The Appeal and The Twyford Code you are missing out.

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Naylor

UK Publication Date: 01/02/23

Synopsis: Marine biologist, Dr. Ha Nguyen, has be given the opporunity to travel to a remote island to study on elusive, and highly intelligent, species of octopus. The island has purchased and sealed off by a transnational tech company known for their work in artificial intelligence, and the stakes of the research are high. These octopus could potential hold the key to extra human intelligence, and a lot of money is involved. But no one has stopped to think about the octopus, and what they might think about the whole thing.

This is sold as a literary thriller with octopus, and I am so excited to see what happens! It sounds like nothing I’ve ever read before, and I think that’s a good thing.

Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius

UK Publication Date: 02/02/23

Synopsis: Elsa, a member of Scandanvia’s indigenous people, Sami, lives on the Arctic circle, and one morning when she’s alone she witnesses the brutal murder of a reindeer calf. Elsa refuses to tell anyone what she saw, and carries this difficult secret around with her as she grows and witnesses two major struggles: how the Sami face increasing violence and oppression, and how the men treat the women in her community. But when she becomes the target of the man who murdered that calf all those years ago, something inside Elsa breaks and years of anger and guilt come crashing over her.

I believe this is the first time this story has been translated into English, and I’m really excited to get the chance to read something I’ve never had the opportunity to pick up before.

Rose and the Burma Sky by Rosanna Amaka

UK Publication Date: 23/02/23

Synopsis: In 1939 Nigeria, a young man, Obi, watches as the colonial army and their jeeps arrive, to him they represent the promise of a steady wage, and a future with his young love, Rose. It’s a promise he can’t resist. But years later Rose falls pregnant by another man just before Obi is shipped out, and the mystery of this lover haunts Obi. However, the revelation of their identity starts a chain-reaction of devestating consequences no one could have foreseen.

I loved Amaka’s Book of Echoes and it is a story I would recommend to this day. I’m really excited to read more from this author as they create such compelling romances.

The Consultant by Seong-Sun Im

UK Publication Date: 13/04/22

Synopsis: A Korean thriller translated into English for the first time, this follows the Consultant and his special work at The Company. The Consultant is very good at his job, his solutions involving murder are elegant and consistent, until one day he’s given a ‘customer’ he not only recognises but cares for. For the first time, the Consultant begins to question his work and what The Company really does.

Over the last year I’ve begun enjoying thrillers more, and in the spirit of reading books from a greater and more diverse range of sources, this could be right up my alley.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

UK Publication Date: 06/04/23

Synopsis: Kyr, is one of the last of humanity, and all her life she has trained in space to avenge the murder of planet Earth. But when her brother is sent on what is surely a suicide mission, and she is relegated to the nursery to produce humanity’s offspring, she realises she needs to use her deadly training and take matters into her own hands. Along with brother’s friend and a lonely alien she escapes into the universe, encountering wonders greater and far more complicated than she’s ever known.

I mean, how could you not love that synopsis? But also last year I read Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh and loved it, so I will be picking up all of her work’s from now on.

Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang

Release Date: 25/05/22

Synopsis: June and Athena Liu were destined to be twin sensations, the same year at Yale, the same debut year, but one is multi-genre bestseller, and one can’t even get a paperback release. June thinks it’s because no one wants book but white women anymore. Following the tragic death of Athena, June finds one of her unfinished manuscripts on the work of Chinese labourers in the allied WW1 effort and decides to pass it off as her own.

I loved the Poppy War trilogy but wasn’t mad about Babel. However, the split reviews for this have me intrigued, and I am excited to see what Kuang does with the premise, and a genre I don’t typically associate her with.

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