Six For Sunday – Debut Books and Authors

Like a lot of us, I own way too many books! I would say that my TBR would be reaching, if not exceeding, the 100 mark and as we are planning on moving house fairly soon I’ve been on a self-imposed book buying ban since January (my Fairyloot subscription box doesn’t count!). Amazingly, I have been able stick to this and even more amazingly, I have been able to visit bookshops without buying anything! 😱 Most of my YA Fantasy books tend to come from my Fairyloot box therefore this year I’m trying to branch out and read more widely around the genre, especially as there are so many amazing authors and novels out there. I thought I would base my Six for Sunday this week on six debut books and authors which are on my TBR that I haven’t got around to buying/reading yet. Six for Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Steph @A Little But A Lot   Pictures, title links and synopses all thanks to Goodreads.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tori Adeyemi

This is one of those books that I saw hyped up all over social media, so when I saw it last year on the shelves of Tesco no less… I had to buy it straightaway. I’ve heard lots of good thing so I’m really hoping that I’ll get to it at some point this year.

They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

The blurb of this sounded amazing and I loved the Viking vibe as it added a new dimension to the YA Fantasy genre back when it was released last year. Sadly, I haven’t got around to reading it yet but I’ve heard that the audiobook is supposed to be good so I’m tempted to try that.

Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.

Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.

She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

The Wicked Deep was another one of my impulse buys – purely because the title seemed to refer to the ocean/sea (and I still have no clue whether this book does or not!). It was also in one of those rare 3 for 2 offers that real-life bookshops seem to be doing less these days so Win/Win! It’s on my 2019 TBR pile…

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…
Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.

Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

I remember when this book came out; there was an interview on BBC with Samantha and I am positive that I heard this was a 7 novel series and the film rights had already been sold before the book was even published. Now whether that’s still true I’m not entirely sure, but this is one of those ‘must-read’ series I keep hearing about over and over again so I’m interested in getting around to reading it.

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab

*Shock alert* – I have not read a single V.E. Schwab book! My mission for this year is to at least make a start and what better way then with the republication of her debut novel. I really liked the way that Schwab said the only thing she would change about it was the cover, rather than any of the actual writing. She also made a post on Instagram recently which was one of those meaningful comments which come into life at the exact moment you need to hear it (I had to write it down and stick it into my diary straightaway). I’m really hoping I love her work just as much as the hype suggests I will!

All-new deluxe edition of an out-of-print gem, containing in-universe short story “The Ash-Born Boy” and a never-before-seen introduction from V.E. Schwab.

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

There are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

 

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Ok, I know this book is not quite published yet, however I am so excited for this release and the cover looks beautiful. My bookstagram is full of people who seem to be loving this! It may very well be the book to break my self-imposed book buying ban for!

Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, dreaming of an unremarkable life. But when her beloved father is found dead, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of a surprisingly unstable kingdom. What’s more, Hesina believes that her father was murdered—and that the killer is someone close to her.

Hesina’s court is packed full of dissemblers and deceivers eager to use the king’s death for political gain, each as plausibly guilty as the next. Her advisers would like her to blame the neighboring kingdom of Kendi’a, whose ruler has been mustering for war. Determined to find her father’s actual killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death, since magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of Yan at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?

There we have it – six debut books and authors that are on my never-ending TBR list. Have you read any of these? Which one should I start first? Drop me a comment, I love to chat!

T xx