Young Adult

The Heart Trials by J. Elle

This is a YA dystopian romantasy that combines a deadly game with a dating show. We have the typical power dynamic where a powerful ruler surrounds himself with sycophants who live a privileged life. In this world they are the only people allowed to touch another person and fall in love. All others live in squalor with no hope of improving their lives. That is, until the ruler announces the Tournament of Hearts. The winning couple become highborn citizens with all the privileges that come with it. Our FMC Axira is a lowborn smuggler that gets into a sticky situation and makes a deal with the MMC Prince Caelus to enter the tournament to steal something for him. On the day the trials start, Caelus enters the tournament at his father’s command.

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September 13, 2026 0

Flickerstate by F. A. Davidson

I really like dark academia books with unique magic systems so was excited to read this book. The magic system here is definitely unique where magic users can manipulate different elements. Norah is our FMC and she can manipulate probability. When magic users use their magic, however, it can draw possibility beasts whose bites are deadly. When her father is bitten and his health quickly deteriorates, she joins the academy to follow a rumor that a cure can be found there. When she finds out that only senior research assistants are allowed in the archives—and you can only become one by winning a team trial designed to push your navigation abilities to the brink, Norah reluctantly joins a team.

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September 5, 2026 0

Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray

This is a slow burn Gilded Age book that combines mystery, magic, and romance. Vesper is a young, ambitious journalist with the failing Basalton Globe. The book opens with her attending a society gala with the hopes of interviewing an inventor introducing this recent magical invention. Vesper resents Basalton high society who use sorcery to fuel their luxurious lifestyles rather than help those less fortunate. Vesper briefly interviews the inventor, however a brief time later finds him dead in the garden. Two men are the police’s main suspects, with the prime suspect being industrialist Maximilian Kite.

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September 5, 2026 0

When Dealing With Dragons by Dana Swift

This book was so freaking cute!! A book about dragon veterinarians? At a dragon sanctuary? Yes, please!! Farren, the FMC, is attending the dragon academy so she can be a dragon vet like her father. She is a “lowly” copper crafter in their magic system. She is not popular and is teased by her classmates. James, the MMC, comes from a rich silver crafting family and is snobby and arrogant, and more importantly, Farren’s main competition for a college scholarship.

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August 2, 2026 0

Too Perfect to Die by Juliana Goodman

3.5 stars

This is a good YA mystery surrounding the murder of a teenager on an elite squad of cheerleaders.

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August 2, 2026 0

Moss’d in Space (Moss’d in Space, #1) by Rebecca Thorne

I loved this book!!! It reminded me of one of my favorite SciFi shows, Farscape, and so I was hooked. Torian worked hard to afford to buy her own starship and captain her own ship. All she could afford was a tiny starship that had been abandoned for a century and was covered in moss. Torian got it running and to her surprise, the moss is an organic computer with a major attitude and abandonment issues. An immortal alien whose species was long thought to be extinct built it and forgot where he parked it. Thus begins Torian’s crazy ride.

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July 26, 2026 0

The Last Best Quest Ever by F. T. Lukens

This was such a cute and cozy YA fantasy that I smiled the entire time I read it. Ellinore is only 17 years old but has the best questing record of anyone in the kingdom. But, it’s all built on lies and Ellinore is tired of being a fraud. After she wins another quest, she shocks everyone by officially retiring at the royal feast. She goes home only to find her twin brother Zig has gambled his life by betting that Ellinore can retrieve the horn of the mythical Elder Beast, an almost impossible quest.

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June 14, 2026 0

Here Lie All the Boys Who Broke My Heart by Emma Simmerman

This was a fun and twisty mystery/thriller set during the FMC’s senior year of college. Sloan is a pretty good student and has a close group of friends. Her relationship history is not so great and she frequently gets her heart broken. To cope, she writes a fake eulogy in her journal about the boy to put to rest the relationship.

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March 31, 2026 0

The Danger of Small Things by Caryl Lewis

This is an interesting YA Dystopian book that will remind you of a less complex version of The Handmaid’s Tale. Honeybees have died out and the patriarch has taken control of the world. There is no art, no books, no joy. Girls are ripped from their homes and put into concentration-like camps and forced to pollinate crops by hand until their get their period, when they are matched with a man and forced into marriage and mandatory breeding.

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March 27, 2026 0