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What’s new in the world of books?
Well, apparently romance books stores. Last year, The New York Times’s Alexandra Alter wrote about how around 20 of them have popped up around the country since just 2020. Now, Boston is the latest to get their own. Lovestruck Books opened on January 17th with a big celebration full of various bookish activities in Harvard Square. We literally love to see it.
Continuing on the subject of love and romance, Love on Paper, Danielle Parker’s YA romance about two aspiring teen novelists, is out today, and so is one of the biggest romantasy releases of the year (discussed in more detail below). Keeping it cute, and our endings happy, we also have the cozy Korean fantasy The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang, translated by Slin Jung.
For historical fiction lovers, Let’s Call Her Barbie by Renee Rosen brings Barbie’s big moment into 2025, while Dare I Say It by Naomi Watts (yes, that Naomi Watts), The Sun Won’t Come Out Tomorrow by Kristen Martin, and Trans and Disabled by Alex Iantaffi are all new nonfiction releases that look at menopause, the dark history of American orphanages, and the lives of trans and disabled people, respectively.
Below, this week’s featured books include the next book in Rebecca Yarros’s smash hit romantasy series, new horror by 2024 Nobel Prize winner Han Kang, and a memoir by the most dangerous woman in Africa.
We Do Not Part by Han Kang translated by e. yaewon, Paige Aniyah Morris
I have to say that Kang’s timing with this release—after having just won the Nobel Prize in Literature—is A++. We Do Not Part is like The Vegetarian in that it’s also surrealist horror steeped in social issues and history. In it, Kyungha gets a call from her friend who’s been injured and is in a hospital in Seoul. She wants Kyungha to go to her home on Jeju Island to save her pet bird, Ama, but a snowstorm greets Kyungha once she gets to the island. The terrible wind slows Kyungha from getting to her friend’s house, and the cold becomes all-encompassing. What’s more, there is an abject darkness that awaits Kyungha once she gets to the house and then reality starts to blur.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
The release of this third book in The Empyrean series is bound to be as eventful as the first two. Without getting too deep into spoiler territory, this picks up after Violet Sorrengail has been at Basgiath War College for 18 months. Lesson time is over, and now she must journey into unfamiliar territory to save everything she holds dear.
Motheater by Linda H. Codega
This queer, Appalachian-set fantasy opens up after Bennie Mattox has basically sacrificed her life in order to uncover the truth surrounding what’s been killing miners—including her best friend—on Kire Mountain. Then the strangest thing happens: she finds a nearly drowned woman in a dirty mine slough. This odd woman, called Motheater, can’t remember much about herself, apart from the fact that she’s a witch of possum, snake, and scripture. She’s also meant to save Kire Mountain, and with Bennie, she’ll change the future of the town.
The Broposal by Sonora Reyes
National Book Award finalist Sonora Reyes—author of The Lesbiana’s Guide To Catholic School and The Luis Ortega Survival Club—is making their adult debut with this queer marriage-of-convenience romance. The “bro” part of “the broposal” comes from love-shy Alejandro (Han) and his roommate/bestie Kenny, who is in the worst controlling relationship ever. Out of jealousy, Kenny’s girlfriend has him choose between her and his friendship with Han, and he immediately knows what he has to do. But Kenny isn’t the best at being alone, and once Han loses a big chance at having a work visa, the two do something drastic. They get married, and while Kenny does it for Han’s security, he also low-key does it to make his ex jealous. Thing is, there are real feelings buried under all the pettiness and anxiety.
The Legend of Meneka by Kritika H. Rao
Romantasies have been the bookish thing for a minute, but Rao’s latest belongs to a subgenre I’d like to see more of: mythromantasy. As you might have guessed, it blends romantic fantasy with mythology, and The Legend of Meneka, specifically, uses Hindu mythology to reimagine a famous celestial dancer whose allure comes with a side of danger. Meneka begrudgingly carries out her duty as an enchanting apsara who seduces according to the king of heaven’s will. But she may finally meet her match in one particular mark. Kaushika is as captivating as he is empathetic and passionate, and despite the deal Meneka made to seduce him for Lord Indra and gain her freedom, she finds herself sucked into Kaushika’s orbit instead.
My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria by Andrée Blouin
Andrée Blouin is a name I know many of us Americans have not heard enough of. At one time, she was called the most dangerous woman in Africa for her role in decolonization. She advised the leaders of the Congo, Algeria, Mali, Guinea, and Ghana. She accomplished all this after being abandoned at three and escaping a forced marriage organized by the abusive colonial orphanage that raised her. Her two-year-old son dying from being denied malaria treatment on account of his being partially African sent her on a radicalized path of freedom fighting and activism. I can’t wait to read more about her.
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
