If you’re searching for your new favourite book and/or author, look no further. We invited our friends from QBD Books to tell us which titles dominated January and what they are most looking forward to in February.
My Hero Academia, Volume 22 by Kohei Horikoshi
Release Date: 10/1/20
Another great entry in the hit My Hero Academia series means yet another volume of intense, superhero action! Volume 22 of the series continues on the previous Joint Training Arc, allowing us to see more of the new and interesting quirks that the students over in Class 1-B possess!
It also kicks off one of the most anticipated fights in the series, between Midorya vs. Shinsou, taking a very exciting, unexpected twist. Seeing Class 1-B working together in their own way against our main characters was a fresh new perspective, and this arc has made me want even more of them in the future. Horikoshi’s knack for writing fun, unique characters, as well as creative battles, really shines its brightest in this volume, and hopefully you’ll enjoy this book as much as I did!
– Rory, QBD Books Miranda, NSW
Tokyo Ghoul: re, Volume 14 by Sui Ishida
Release Date: 10/1/20
Volume 14 of Tokyo Ghoul: re marks a turning point in the entire franchise, both in the original series, and in the sequel. After being defeated by Juuzou and Abara, Kaneki is left at the lowest point of the series so far. Driven by desperation and his desire to see Touka again, he changes into something terrible – “Dragon”.
Dragon is large enough to devastate the entire city of Tokyo, forcing the CCG and the ghouls to work together to fight the new threat. Such a large and dramatic event changes the dynamic of the story entirely. Seeing all the characters come together like this is definitely rewarding, even if it is under bittersweet circumstances. Tokyo Ghoul is a masterful tragedy, and never has this been more apparent than in these moments – where the people that he loves are forced to come to terms with what he’s become.
– Rory, QBD Books Miranda, NSW
Infinity Son by Adam Silvera
Release Date: 14/1/20
Silvera is mostly known for his heart-wrenching contemporary stories. Now Infinity Son will mark his first time dipping into the YA Fantasy genre and, can I just say – I am excited! Silvera’s writing style is beautiful, and since this book promises something new in the fantasy game, along with a fantastic LGBTQ cast, I simply can’t wait to read it. The blurb reminds me a little of the original Shadowhunter books, so I look forward to diving into this one!
– Ashley QBD Books Mandurah, WA
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
Release Date: 20/1/20
A fantastical retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story? YES PLEASE! A Heart So Fierce and Broken is the second book in the Cursebreakers series, and it kicks off right where the first book ended. This time we get the story from Grey’s perspective. If you are on Team Grey, this is the book for you. If you are Team Rhen, this may be the book that changes your mind.
When Grey teams up with Lia Mara, daughter of the infamous Karis Luran, an unlikely alliance is born. One that may lead Grey to finally challenge Rhen for the throne of Emberfall.
– Emily, QBD Books Knox City, VIC
Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
Release Date: 28/1/20
Luke Arnold is probably most recognisable for his charismatic, uncanny and award-winning turn as Michael Hutchence in the INXS television miniseries, Never Tear Us Apart. Last Smile in Sunder City is his debut novel.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the hard-boiled-straight-talking-I’m-so-damaged detective trope when it’s dropped into an improbable world in the fantasy genre. It was done superbly well by Edgar Cantero in This Body Isn’t Big Enough for Both of Us and by Ben Aaronovitch in the Rivers of London series; and Last Smile in Sunder City sounds just as cool.
Private eye Fetch Phillips is – by his own admission – a human, and the reason magic was ripped away from the world. He’s looking for a shot at redemption, and it looks like he might just get it… if he doesn’t mess it up.
Can’t wait to see how it all pans out!
– Sarah, QBD Books Support Office, QLD
Highfire by Eoin Colfer
Release Date: 28/1/20
I’ve been counting down the days this summer for Eoin Colfer’s adult debut Highfire. As a child who grew up reading his Artemis Fowl series, I adore Colfer’s quirky, light-hearted interpretation of fantasy tropes. After fifteen-year-old smuggler Squib witnesses the murder of his employer, he seeks protection from the washed-up, alcoholic dragon, Vern. But, in exchange, he must offer Vern his services. Even though Colfer is charting unknown territory in his first foray into adult fantasy, Highfire promises to be a darkly humorous and quirky adventure that I can’t wait to get my hands on!
– Lily QBD Books Bondi, NSW
The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray
Release Date: 4/2/20
A solar catastrophe. Half the world trapped in darkness, the other blinded by light. Our planet forever changed. But what secret is the government trying to keep buried in the darkest corners of the globe?
This debut sci-fi thriller sounds terrifyingly plausible. It’s 2059, and the world has stopped turning. Only a few areas remain habitable, and scientist Ellen Hooper is about to uncover a web of lies, spun tight by those in power. I love a good conspiracy story, and this one sounds like it will crawl right under your skin and set your heart racing a million miles an hour! With everything going on in the real world, I just hope this doesn’t hit too close to home. But then again, that’s probably the point. One can only hope the right people will hear this cautionary tale.
– Alyssa, QBD Books Penrith, NSW
Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
Release Date: 18/2/20
This contemporary retelling of Beauty and The Beast is set in an elite, international boarding school and is bound to be absolutely amazing.
Family is everything to Princess Jaya Rao, so when the Emerson clan targets her little sister, nothing will stop her from getting revenge. That revenge: make Grey Emerson fall in love with her, then break his heart. Easy, right? Grey has lived in isolation his whole life, thanks to a curse by the Rao matriarch, but then Jaya Rao comes into his life, and things start to change.
This twisted fairytale sounds so intriguing, and totally different. I’ve really enjoyed Sandhya Menon’s other novels, so as soon as I heard she was writing a retelling, I knew I needed to read it. Of Curses and Kisses sounds like it’s full of forbidden romance, betrayal, and revenge – and I am so ready for it all.
– Angelique, QBD Books Broadmeadows, VIC
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Release Date: 25/2/20
By the author of Daughter of the Pirate King comes this ‘Slytherin Romance’, sure to suck us in and break our hearts. Alessandra knows that she deserves to be Queen, and will stop at nothing to make sure she gets there. Seduce the Shadow King. Save his life. Keep him alive, just long enough to become Queen. Kill him. What could go wrong?
– Rosie, QBD Books Mandurah, WA
The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood
Release Date: 25/2/20
In this book, we follow Csorwe, a teenage orc who is about to be sacrificed to a god. Having the knowledge of how and when you are going to die must play havoc on Csorwe. Her whole life has been leading up to this.
Yet just moments before the sacrifice is to take place, Csorwe is presented with the ultimate choice. Stay and fulfill her destiny. Or leave with the mysterious mage who has offered her the chance to live.
I know which one I would choose, but I don’t know what the consequences of Csorwe’s choice will be! The truth of the matter is, gods remember, and all debts must eventually be paid.
– Emily, QBD Books Knox City, VIC
