Six for Sunday: 2019 Books I Want to Read
Nocturna by Maya Montayne
Set in a Latinx-inspired world, a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince must team up to defeat a powerful evil they accidentally unleashed.
To Finn Voy, magic is two things: a knife to hold under the chin of anyone who crosses her…and a disguise she shrugs on as easily as others pull on cloaks.
As a talented faceshifter, it’s been years since Finn has seen her own face, and that’s exactly how she likes it. But when Finn gets caught by a powerful mobster, she’s forced into an impossible mission: steal a legendary treasure from Castallan’s royal palace or be stripped of her magic forever.
After the murder of his older brother, Prince Alfehr is first in line for the Castallan throne. But Alfie can’t help but feel that he will never live up to his brother’s legacy. Riddled with grief, Alfie is obsessed with finding a way to bring his brother back, even if it means dabbling in forbidden magic.
But when Finn and Alfie’s fates collide, they accidentally unlock a terrible, ancient power—which, if not contained, will devour the world. And with Castallan’s fate in their hands, Alfie and Finn must race to vanquish what they have unleashed, even if it means facing the deepest darkness in their pasts.
Both Finn and Alfie sound like interesting characters, I generally love fantasy and I am excited to see a Latinx-inspired world. Hoping to get to this one soon!
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.
Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.
Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.
This looks like an absolute epic and I am very excited to read it, knowing how much research has gone into it and already becoming interested in the wide range of characters. Hoping to pick up a hardback copy of this the next time I am in Waterstones as I still have some money left on my Christmas voucher. 🙂
The Year After You by Nina De Pass
New Years’ Eve, San Francisco. The most promising party of the year ends in a tragic accident. Cara survives. Her best friend, Georgina, doesn’t.
Nine months later, Cara is struggling, consumed by guilt and grief. Her mum decides that packing her off to a Swiss boarding school will be the fresh start Cara needs. But Cara knows that swapping sunshine for snow won’t make a blind bit of difference. Georgina is gone, and nothing will bring her back.
On the plus side, up in the vertiginous Alps, Cara’s old life feels a million miles away. At Hope Hall, nobody knows about her past. And she intends to keep it that way. But her classmates, Ren and Hector, have other ideas. Cara tries to keep her distance, but she’s drawn to the offbeat, straighttalking Hector, who understands her grief better than anyone. Her new friends are determined to break down the
walls she has so carefully built up. And, despite it all, Cara wants them to.
The closer Cara grows to Hector, the more Georgina slips away. Embracing life at Hope Hall means letting go of the past; of her memories of that fatal New Year’s Eve. But Cara’s quite sure she doesn’t deserve a second chance.
Contemporary YA isn’t normally my thing at all, although I have read some excellent contemporary novels over the past few years. I probably wouldn’t have initially wanted to read this, but I keep hearing such great things about it from other bloggers that I want to give it a go!
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
People lived because she killed.
People died because he lived.
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.
Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.
War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.
Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, We Hunt the Flame is a gripping debut of discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.
I have been excited about reading this since I first read the summary and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy! I am excited by a fantasy world inspired by ancient Arabia and have a bit of a soft spot for stories where a girl disguises herself as a boy to overcome gender roles.
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.
A prince in danger must decide who to trust.
A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.
Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.
In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy.
I love fantasy books so will always give any new series a go. I have also been hearing great things about this from lots of other bloggers so am hoping to read it soon!
The True Queen by Zen Cho
In the follow-up to the “delightful” Regency fantasy novel (NPR.org) Sorcerer to the Crown, a young woman with no memories of her past finds herself embroiled in dangerous politics in England and the land of the fae.
When sisters Muna and Sakti wake up on the peaceful beach of the island of Janda Baik, they can’t remember anything, except that they are bound as only sisters can be. They have been cursed by an unknown enchanter, and slowly Sakti starts to fade away. The only hope of saving her is to go to distant Britain, where the Sorceress Royal has established an academy to train women in magic.
If Muna is to save her sister, she must learn to navigate high society, and trick the English magicians into believing she is a magical prodigy. As she’s drawn into their intrigues, she must uncover the secrets of her past, and journey into a world with more magic than she had ever dreamed.
I loved Sorcerer to the Crown so am super-excited to read this second book in the series. In the first book I loved the Regency-era setting, along with magic and fairies, as well as the politics of who controls magic, social status and race. I am excited to see where the second book goes, even if I am a little disappointed that I won’t get to see too much of my favourite characters from the first book.
Which 2019 books do you need to read?
#SixforSunday is created by Steph from A Little But a Lot.
Check out some of my previous weeks of #SixforSunday here:
Books I would like to see as movies
Book characters I would like to stuck in a lift with
Animal companions in children’s books
Book characters I would like to be friends with
Favourite books of 2018 so far
Favourite snacks to eat while reading
Favourite books that nobody has heard of
Books that have made me want to shout
Books people are always telling me to read
Books that have been on the TBR pile forever
Authors who should collaborate
Characters I want to see together
2018 books everyone needs to read
If you like, link your #SixforSunday posts below and I will check them out!
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Thanks for reading!
Chrikaru Reads 
I LOVED the Year After You- it was hands down my fave YA of last year! Really hope you enjoy it 💜
Amy x
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You’re one of the main reasons I am planning to pick it up! Even if contemporary isn’t my thing generally, I am more than willing to give it a go because I have read some truly brilliant ones that I might otherwise have missed out on. Will let you know what I think! x
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Yes!! Someone else wants to read Nocturna!! Hoping it will pick up momentum as it’s such a great book for those (like me) who find much YA fantasy a bit overcomplicated and fussy- if it weren’t for the face-changing this could easily be snapped up for a great adventure movie.
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Have you read it already? I got approved for an e-ARC on Netgally but have yet to read it (had so many library books due back that those got prioritized!). It sounds brilliant so am hoping to read it soon! I saw someone tweeting Netflix asking them to pick it up – hope they do!
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I had an ARC through the scheme I belong to- oh my it all sorts of wonderful- I popped a review up on my blog on Thursday.
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Ooh, will have a read, thank you! I hope to actually read my eARC soon!
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I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I was sold by the second page!
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Will let you know!
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I am so excited to read all of these and the covers are so pretty!!
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I feel like book cover design has been impacted by social media and instagram so books now are so much prettier than they were when I was a kid (the age of mass-printed paperbacks)
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I’ve just started Priory and I’m already hooked (barely 5% in). I’m also dying to read The True Queen & We Hunt The Flame 😊 great list
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I haven’t got my hands on most of the books on this list yet, but planning to go book buying this week!
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Oooh well have fun! Can’t wait to see what you get 😊
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I have The Priory of the Orange Tree on my shelf but I am so intimidated by it’s size that I don’t know when I’ll get around to reading it.
Great list! 🙂
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It is easy to put off big books because of the time investment in reading them – yet I always end up loving them when I do set aside the time! I hope to read all of these soon, but am a total mood reader so who knows what I will read next, lol.
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All of these sound so good!!
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Too many books, not enough time…
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I know the exact feeling!!
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Nocturna does sound good! I received a copy in my Fairyloot box so I must try and get to it (along with the other 100 or so books I want to read)
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There are always so many great books waiting to be read, right? I wish I could get Fairyloot as their editions of books always look so pretty!
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I started in February as a treat to myself, there’s been a few great boxes so far
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I have been tempted a few times…
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Thank you so much for the suggestions, Christina! I am always looking for new books to read, so really enjoy seeing these kinda posts. I would love to read The Year After You, I’m going to check it out. Thanks again, great post! ❤ xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
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Hope you enjoy The Year After You – I’m looking forward to reading it too!
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This is a lovely list! I’ve heard so many great things about Priory, as well as Nocturna, I hope you will enjoy both! I can’t WAIT to read We Hunt The Flame, it sounds incredible 😀 Happy reading!! 🙂
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Too many great books that I want to read and not enough time!!
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