For some of us, this is our last week of work (yay!) before the holidays, so this lovely list of new releases for the rest of the year is perfect timing. If you’re like me and plan to do a lot of relaxing and reading during your vacation, these four books are being released just in time.
If you don’t know what to get the sci-fi loving, diverse reader in your family, luckily for you, this novel releases just in time on December 23.
This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Disney-Hyperion
The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.
Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.
Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet’s rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.
Rebellion is in Flynn’s blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.
Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.
A week later, on December 30, another Ni-Ni Simone book and the second book from Amber Hart’s Before & After series hit the shelves.
Hollywood High: Lights, Love and Lip Gloss by Amir Abrams & Ni-Ni Simone
K-Teen
Pretty little lies gone viral have left Hollywood High’s elite Pampered Princesses reeling. Now their secrets are in 24/7 overdrive—and only one diva can be victorious…
Finally, London Phillips is defying her domineering mother and taking control of her life. But she’s striking back with a weapon that could destroy her future—and her last chance at real love…
Two too many cuties have left Rich Montgomery desperate for the perfect cover-up—but when her house of lies comes tumbling down, things get pretty twisted and her fate is left in the hands of her most vengeful frenemy…
Heather Cummings is more successful than ever thanks to an amazing comeback—and the ultimate Hollywood betrayal. But old habits die hard and threaten to turn her glittering success to sparkling ash…
There’s no one better than Spencer Ellington when it comes to revenge. But stopping her inheritance-stealing mother and saving her crown turns into an all-access media battle. Now Hollywood High’s in-crowd is poised for oh-so-sweet payback . . .
– Cover image and summary via Goodreads
After Us by Amber Hart
K-Teen
Sometimes secrets kill. Maybe slowly, maybe painfully. Maybe all at once.
Melissa smiles. She flirts. She jokes. But she never shows her scars. Eight months after tragedy ripped her from her closest friend, Melissa is broken. Plagued by grief, rage, and the painful memory of a single forbidden kiss.
Javier has scars of his own. Life in the States was supposed to be a new beginning, but a boy obsessed by vengeance has no time for the American dream. To honor his familia, Javier joins the gang who set up his cousin, Diego. The entrance price is blood. Death is the only escape.
Two broken souls could make each other whole again—or be shattered forever.
Our time will come. And we’ll be ready.
And Ellen Oh wraps up an amazing year for diverse books with the final book of her Dragon King Chronicles releasing on New Year’s Eve. You know I’ll be buying this book. I can’t wait!
King (The Dragon King Chronicles #3) by Ellen Oh
HarperTeen
Girl warrior, demon slayer, Tiger spirit of the Yellow Eyes—Kira is ready for her final quest. In this thrilling finale to the Prophecy trilogy, fans will get even more of the fierce Kira and her quest to save her kingdom!
All eyes are on her. Kira, once an outcast in her home village of Hansong, is now the only one with the power to save her kingdom. She must save her cousin, the boy fated to be the future king, uncover the third lost treasure, and face innumerable enemies in order to fulfill the famed prophecy.
Kira braves a sea of tigers and battles armies of demons as she musters her inner strength and learns to trust herself, the romantic feelings for Jaewon that are growing within her, and the destiny that must be hers.