22 Most Anticipated Releases of 2022 (January to June) 💕

Hello fellow bookworms 💕 It’s finally time to talk about the 2022 Releases I’m excited for, again so here we are  Like the previous years, this is part 1 covering the releases from January to June aka the first half of the year – therefore I only included books that had a release date already. I’m going to talk about the books in order of when they release! I have 22 books on this list, as I like the aesthetic of 22 in 2022 and I did find myself getting more critical with what books I put on my most anticipated list. I’m still excited for many releases, yet somehow I feel like I get more selective every year 😅 However, I still included some honorary mentions at the very end 💕 This year I also included the genre + age range of each release, feel free to mention any adult books you’re excited for, I’m looking for more to add to my list 😊

Me trying to keep up with all the new releases

Note: As always I tried to include the representation of the diverse books on my list, please let me know if I missed something or got something wrong! As always I’ve included a link to the Goodreads pages of the books in my post, just click the cover! 😊

Where the Drowned Girls Go (Seanan McGuire) 💕 Publication: January 4th 💖 Fat MC 📚 Book 7 in the Wayward Children series 💌 New Adult Portal Fantasy ➽ Another Wayward Children book is coming out!! I think this will be an at least 10 book series and I have enjoyed almost all of them so far 😊 This novella follows a character we already know – Cora – and introduces a completely new and different school compared to Eleanor’s West’s 👀

When You Get the Chance (Emma Lord) 💕 Publication: January 4th 💖 Asian-American LI 💌 YA Contemporary ➽ I loved Lord’s debut Tweet Cute and I’m hoping this new release will be another hit (sadly You Have a Mathc was a bit of a miss last year) 🙏 This one is supposed to be about theatre kids, broadway and the search for a long lost mother, which sounds super intriguing to me! I’m not a big broadway person myself but definitely looking forward to the Mamma Mia vibes 💫

Something Is Killing the Children (Tynion, Dell’Edera, Muerto) 💕 Publication: January 5th 💖 Gay MC 📚 Book 4 in the Something Is Killing the Children series 💌 Adult Horror ➽ I discovered this spooky graphic novel series about monsters and monster hunters last year and loved it! There’s lots of violence and gore, but if you’re looking for something creepy and adult it’s great! I’m definitely looking forward to the 4th volume, though I’m not sure if it’ll be the last one in the series 👀

Weather Girl (Rachel Lynn Solomon) 💕 Expected Publication: January 11th 💖 Jewish MC, Depression Rep, Fat LI 💌 Adult Romance ➽ I loved Solomon’s Today Tonight Tomorrow in 2021, so I knew I had to check out her adult debut as well 🥰 This already features many of my buzzwords such as mental health + therapy rep, a sunshine character, cute romance with a happy ending and hopefully lots of pinding! I also love that this is set at a TV station and about the weather forecast ☔

Anatomy: A Love Story (Dana Schwartz) 💕 Expected Publication: January 18th 💖 💌 YA Gothic Historical Mystery, Horror ➽ This book was already super intriguing to me, as it sounds super gorey and mystical! It’s about an aspiring female surgeon who gets denied at university, resurrection and is set at Edinburgh! I already love the setting and atmsophere, it sounds like a perfect spooky Fall read 💀

💫 Honorable Mentions 💫

Across a Field of Starlight (Blue Delliquanti) 💕 Expected Publication: February 8th 💖 Nonbinary MC + LI, Fat & Black Rep 💌 YA Sci-Fi ➽ I don’t even know how I found this book but it’s a queer sci-fi graphic novel about two childhood friends reconnecting amidst political turmoil and intergalatic war 🌈 I’m always looking for new graphic novels to check out and this one sounded so emotional and I love the art on the cover!

Dead Silence (S.A. Barnes) 💕 Expected Publication: February 8th 💖  💌 Adult Sci-Fi Horror/Mystery ➽ I’m trying to get more into (Adult) Horror and this story about a ghost ship and a salvage crew getting into trouble sounds really intriguing! I also figured out that I know this author as she also writes under Stacey Kade and I loved her YA Contemporary Finding Felicity a few years back 😱 Very excited to read another book by her!

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (Axie Oh) 💕 Expected Publication: February 22nd 💖 Inspired by Koran Mythology 💌 YA Fantasy ➽ Another Axie Oh book! I sadly didn’t get around to reading XOXO yet, but I loved her debut Duology (Rebel Seoul + Rogue Heart), so I’m always happy to read something else by her 🥰 This is her first Fantasy book and I love that it’s inspired by Spirited Away, since this is my favorite of the Ghibli Movies! 🥺

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care (Ashley Herring Blake) 💕 Expected Publication: February 22nd 💖 Lesbian & Bi MC’s 💌 Adult Romance ➽ I loved Blake’s debut How to Make a Wish, but somehow I never got around to reading any of her other books (e.g. her Middle Grade also doesn’t appeal to me as much). However, I’m super excited to read her first Adult Romance book, especially as it’s a sapphic romance where the main character falls for her sister’s best friend 👀

💫 Honorable Mentions 💫

Gallant (V.E. Schwab) 💕 Expected Publication: March 1st 💖 Selective Mutism 💌 YA Gothic Fantasy Horror ➽ I’m excited to read another Schwab book, especially as this one appeals more to me than Addie LaRue did! (This is supposed to be YA, though I’m confused as she normally writes those under Victoria Schwab). It’s about a strange House that has got a sort of Upside Down aka another version of it that’s much darker 👀 The main character is looking for answers about her family and whether to become the Master of the house!

One for All (Lilie Lainoff) 💕 Expected Publication: March 8th 💖 Disabled MC (POTS) 💌 YA Historical Fiction ➽ This is probably the debut that I’m most excited for!!! It’s a historical genderbent Three Musketeers retelling about a disabled girl who goes to a finshing school all about training new Musketeers 😱 I love the setup for this book, as it promises to be about sisterhood, girls with swords and also explores chronic illness in historic times!

The Book of Cold Cases (Simone St. James) 💕 Expected Publication: March 15th 💖 💌 Adult Mystery ➽ I still haven’t read The Sun Down Motel (it’s waiting on my Kindle) yet, but I want to try out more Adult Mystery and this one sounded good. I LOVE that it’s about a true crime blogger who interviews a former murder suspect for her website 😱 I can already tell that this is going to be a chilling, suspenseful book!

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin (Kip Wilson) 💕 Expected Publication: March 19th 💖 Lesbian MC 💌 YA Historical Fiction ➽ I loved Kip Wilson’s White Rose (a fictionalized version of Sophie Scholl’s life and death) and I’m so excited that there’s another book! This one is about a closeted lesbian in pre-Hitler Berlin and also told in verse like the previous book. I don’t read many stories written in verse, but I’m very excited about this one!

💫 Honorable Mentions 💫

Queen of the Tiles (Hanna Alkaf) 💕 Expected Publication: April 19thth 💖 Malaysian Muslim Hijabi MC 💌 YA Contemporary/Mystery ➽ The Queen’s Gambit vibes are off the charts for this book!! Instead of Chess, the main character is a genius at Scrabble though and there is a big mystery when the Instagram account of her dead best friend starts posting cryptic messages. I’m very curious and excited to read about this premise, as it sounds so promising! 😊

💫 Honorable Mentions 💫

See You Yesterday (Rachel Lynn Solomon) 💕 Expected Publication: May 3rd 💖 Jewish MC 💌 YA Contemporary ➽ The second book by Rachel Lynn Solomon on this list, this time YA – I’m really getting spoilt this year! 🥰 The cover matches Today Tonight Tomorrow, so I love that! See You Yesterday has a time travel/loop day element and is set at college, a great combination! The main character’s horrible first day of college loops and she’s stuck with the guy that humiliated her in her first class ❤️‍🔥

The Agathas (Glasgow & Lawson) 💕 Expected Publication: May 3rd 💖 💌 YA Mystery/Thriller ➽ I saw Kathleen Glasgow and immediately clicked Want to Read!! I love her contemporary books and cannot wait to read something new. Together with Liz Lawson (a new to me author) she’s writing a Mystery Thriller about two girls teaming up to solve a case with the help of Agatha Christie’s books, which is such a cool premise 😊

Book of Night (Holly Black) 💕 Expected Publication: May 3rd 💖 💌 Adult Dark Fantasy ➽ Holly Black is venturing into Adult! I always find it easiest to read Adult books by authors that also write YA, they make for great crossover books. This one is a dark Fantasy about a girl who controls shadows and I already heard that it’s very grim and focused a lot on Trauma. So I need to check out the content warnings and pick it up when I’m feeling something darker!

Hide (Kiersten White) 💕 Expected Publication: May 24th 💖 💌 Adult Horror/Thriller ➽ Kiersten White is an author that has so many books, yet I haven’t read any of them (The Guinevere Deception is on my TBR) 😅 I’m very excited that she’s writing an Adult Horror book set in an abandoned amusement park, as it sounds very creepy 😱 This book has about 14 main characters that are participating in a deadly hide and seek game!

Out of the Blue (Jason June) 💕 Expected Publication: May 31st💖 Fat Nonbinary MC, Gay LI 💌 YA Contemporary Fantasy ➽ The cover is gorgeous and immediately made me so excited 🥰 It’s about a world where merfolk have to go on land and help a human before they are considered mature and can return home. There’s a romance between a nonbinary merperson and a human lifeguard … they start to fake date to make the human’s ex jealous 👀

💫 Honorable Mentions 💫

Exactly Where You Need to Be (Amelia Diane Coombs) 💕 Expected Publication: June 7th 💖 MC has OCD 💌 YA Contemporary ➽ I was anticipating Coomb’s debut book Between You, Me and the Honeybees last year … and didn’t get around to reading it 😅 (It’ll happen this year though!) Nevertheless, I’m excited for her newest book, especially as it sounds fantastic! The main character is taking a gap year, trying to get out of her comfort zone AND going to see her favorite podcast live!! 🎧 Then she starts crushing on her friend’s brother who is going on a roadtrip with them 👀

NO COVER YET [GR: Not Your Hero | Aces Wild]

Not Your Hero (C.B. Lee) 💕 Expected Publication: June 7th 💖 Lesbian MC, Queer Cast 📚 Book 4 in the Sidekick Squad series 💌 YA Sci-Fi ➽ This book is finally coming out!!! It’s the last book in the series and it was supposed to come out in 2019 or 2020, yet got pushed back again and again. I’m glad this seems to be the year we get it, as I love the series 🥰 This last installment focuses on Abby who is struggling with her powers 🥺

Aces Wild (Amanda DeWitt) 💕 Expected Publication: June 9th 💖 Asexual Cast 💌 YA Thriller ➽ I’m incredibly excited for this book!! It has got some amazing buzzwords: Heists!!! Full Ace Cast!! Kaz Brekker like main character!! I also love that this author used to write fanfic, I read one by hers (it was fantastic) and then found out that ‘oh yes she’s the debut author I was excited for’ 🥰 Time to read more of her words!!

💫 Honorable Mentions 💫

What’s your most anticipated book for the first half of 2022? Any diverse releases that I should add to my TBR? Any adult books on your list? 💕