July 2022 Anticipated Releases

Welcome to my monthly series where I share some of my anticipated releases for next month, today for July!

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The Society for Soulless Girls: 7th

Ten years ago, four students lost their lives in the infamous North Tower murders at the elite Carvell College of Arts, forcing Carvell to close its doors.
Now Carvell is reopening, and fearless student Lottie is determined to find out what really happened. But when her roommate, Alice, stumbles upon a sinister soul-splitting ritual hidden in Carvell’s haunted library, the North Tower claims another victim.
Can Lottie uncover the truth before the North Tower strikes again? Can Alice reverse the ritual before her monstrous alter ego consumes her? And can they stop flirting for literally fifteen seconds in order to do this?

This sounds like a cool YA thriller with dark academia vibes, plus the sapphic relationship sold it for me. It’s also been described as a ‘sapphic retelling of Jekyll & Hyde in a dark academia setting’ which sounds very promising so I’m excited about this one.

What Moves the Dead: 12th

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.
Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

I would probably have to read The Fall of the House of Usher for this as it’s a retelling but it’s a short story and this book is pretty short too at under 200 pages. Either way, I absolutely loved The Hollow Places so I need to read more Kingfisher books.

The Empire of Dirt: 12th

There has always been tension in the “blind house,” where Valentina lives with her mother and grandmother in the Italian countryside. Valentina’s pious grandmother often hints at a family curse, and Valentina’s mother scoffs at superstition; it’s one of many points of friction between them, and one of the battlegrounds on which they fight to control Valentina’s upbringing.
But in the summer of 1996, when Valentina is twelve, she gets her period for the first time—and the curse suddenly becomes frighteningly real. Blood leaks from the walls; the house and farm are overrun with frogs; the kitchen crawls with flies. Valentina is certain that she is the cause of this cascading apocalypse, that she has brought catastrophe to the house and its inhabitants. In this propulsive coming-of-age novel, of mother-daughter relationships and painful family legacies, the events of one terrifying, transformative summer cast a long shadow.

This is a newly translated to English edition and the synopsis just sounds wild and intriguing. I also like that it’s set in the 90s because most of the historical fiction I read is a lot older.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau: 19th

Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.
Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.
The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.
All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.
For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

Moreno-Garcia is an auto-buy author for me and I can’t wait to see what she writes next, especially because this sounds pretty different from her other books. It’s another retelling, this time of a H G Wells story, so it’s more historical fiction and sci-fi which is interesting. Also, the cover is gorgeous!

Mary: An Awakening of Terror: 19th

Mary is a quiet, middle-aged woman doing her best to blend into the background. Unremarkable. Invisible. Unknown even to herself.
But lately, things have been changing inside Mary. Along with the hot flashes and body aches, she can’t look in a mirror without passing out, and the voices in her head have been urging her to do unspeakable things.
Fired from her job in New York, she moves back to her hometown, hoping to reconnect with her past and inner self. Instead, visions of terrifying, mutilated spectres overwhelm her with increasing regularity and she begins auto-writing strange thoughts and phrases. Mary discovers that these experiences are echoes of an infamous serial killer.
Then the killings begin again.
Mary’s definitely going to find herself.

I like that the main character is a middle-aged woman which isn’t very common, especially in horror. I’m not sure what kind of direction this book will take but it sounds pretty crazy and I’m definitely interested to find out.

Just Like Home: 19th

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories — she’s come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there.
Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back, and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?
There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them, and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

Another horror/thriller oops but it does sound good and haunted house stories are always fun so I wanted to include it as well.

A Half-Built Garden: 26th

On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm–and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn’t agree, they may need to be saved by force.
The watershed networks aren’t ready to give up on Earth. Decades ago, they rose up to exile the last corporations to a few artificial islands, escape the dominance of nation-states, and reorganize humanity around the hope of keeping their world liveable. By sharing the burden of decision-making, they’ve started to heal the wounded planet.
But now corporations, nation-states, and networks all vie to represent humanity to these powerful new beings, and if any one accepts the aliens’ offer, Earth may be lost. With everyone’s eyes turned skyward, everything hinges on the success of Judy’s effort to create understanding, both within and beyond her own species.

A different direction to the rest on the list with the futuristic alien element. The focus on peace and two cultures clashing reminds me of The Black Coast, just as a sci-fi, which excites me because I loved that book.

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Thanks for reading! What July releases are you interested in?

—ella♥

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