April 2021 TBR

There are so many new releases I am dying to read in May and June, and I might have gotten a little carried away with my NetGalley requests.

I was approved for ten May releases, and the same for June, and uh, it’s a good thing I’m ahead right now because whew that’s a lot to read. But I am so fucking pumped for these releases!! Some of my favorite authors have new books out in May, and I just want to read them all!

So here’s my TBR, chock full of my most anticipated releases that I was approved for, along with a couple audiobooks I think might come on hold from the library.

This month I plan on outlining and beginning to draft Book 3 of the Satura Trilogy, because in a couple months things are going to pick up and I need to get my ass in gear.

Speaking of putting my ass in gear—this month I’m planning on a digital detox through at least the last week of April. I love blogging and the bookish blogging community, but other aspects of my social media life have been consuming my time and mental health in some pretty noxious ways, so it’s time to step back and refocus on the shit I need to get done.

I have all of my April posts scheduled out so that I don’t get too behind on my reviews, but my presence will be minimal to none. So if I don’t respond, I’m not being cruel, I’m just on a little break 🙂

Blurbs are from Goodreads.

The ARCs

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee (May 4, 2021)

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe. When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (May 4, 2021)

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission–and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. Alone on this tiny ship that’s been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it’s up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

A Master of Djinn P Djèlí Clark (May 11, 2021)

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer. So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world 50 years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stag

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (May 11, 2021)

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized. Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn’t include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in.

Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa (May 11, 2021)

In the thriving city of Bassa, Danso is a clever but disillusioned scholar who longs for a life beyond the rigid family and political obligations expected of the city’s elite. A way out presents itself when Lilong, a skin-changing warrior, shows up wounded in his barn. She comes from the Nameless Islands–which, according to Bassa lore, don’t exist–and neither should the mythical magic of ibor she wields. Now swept into a conspiracy far beyond his understanding, Danso will have to set out on a journey that reveals histories violently suppressed and magic only found in lore.

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor (May 18, 2021)

Jeremy Harkiss, cheer captain and student body president, won’t let coming out as a transgender boy ruin his senior year. Instead of bowing to the bigots and outdate school administration, Jeremy decides to make some noise—and how better than by challenging his all-star ex-boyfriend, Lukas for the title of Homecoming King? Lukas Rivers, football star and head of the Homecoming Committee, is just trying to find order in his life after his older brother’s funeral and the loss long-term girlfriend—who turned out to be a boy. But when Jeremy threatens to break his heart and steal his crown, Lukas kick starts a plot to sabotage Jeremy’s campaign.

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole (May 25, 2021)

Makeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she’s in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother’s infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania’s missing heir. Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if Bez is determined to drag her into a world of royal duty Makeda wants nothing to do with. When a threat to her grandmother’s livelihood pushes Makeda to agree to return to Ibarania, Bez takes her on a transatlantic adventure with a crew of lovable weirdos, a fake marriage, and one-bed hijinks on the high seas.

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy (May 25, 2021)

Waylon Russell Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in the small West Texas town of Clover City. His plan is to bide his time until he can graduate, move to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine, and finally go Full Waylon. So when Clementine deviates from their master plan right after Waylon gets dumped, he throws caution to the wind and creates an audition tape for his favorite TV drag show, Fiercest of Them All. What he doesn’t count on is the tape accidentally getting shared with the entire school. . . . As a result, Waylon is nominated for prom queen as a joke. Clem’s girlfriend, Hannah Perez, also receives a joke nomination for prom king. Waylon and Hannah decide there’s only one thing to do: run—and leave high school with a bang. A very glittery bang. Along the way, Waylon discovers that there is a lot more to running for prom court than campaign posters and plastic crowns, especially when he has to spend so much time with the very cute and infuriating prom king nominee Tucker Watson.

The Audiobooks

These are all guesstimates, of course, as I have no idea when these holds will actually come in. However, I’m excited about all of them!! Concrete Rose is giving me heart palpitations, because I love Angie Thomas but 1999 is too soon to be historical fiction! You Should See Me in A Crown has a cover that just makes me smile and I want to read this book so badly. Such a Fun Age and The Prophets have fantastic reviews and a premise that makes me really fucking excited, and Blazewrath Games is just—well, look at that fucking amazing cover. It’s glorious.

These three are ebooks that are on hold, and due to come in sometime during April. I have no idea if I’ll actually be able to read them (see above, lots of ARCs, much shame) or push the holds back out again, but I have been wanting to read Last Night at the Telegraph Club for so fucking long now (dammit, ARCs) and I have wanted to read a Courtney Milan book for a long time too! Outlawed looks interesting, although I’m not so sure about that Goodreads rating. The ability to DNF is there and ready, and it’s an option I use quite frequently (there is too little time on this Earth—so read shit you either love or are going to rant review).