Hello friends, and a marvelous Monday to you all! After a relaxing summer due to a partial social media break, coupled with a fabulous trip to Disney World with the family, I’m feeling rejuvenated and ready to get back into the swing of things in the book world. Since a good bit of my reading is done via my kindle, I thought it would be fun to bring back the segment where I share what my upcoming ARC reads are. I like to discuss why I pick these books to read, along with posting a full synopsis and Goodreads link incase you’re interested in shelving these books for yourself. My goal is to read all of my remaining September 2019 arcs by the end of August, and I’ll be sure to let you know how that goes by the end of the month. I’ve been switching up my genres in hopes of avoiding more burnout, so you may be surprised to see some of the selections! Are any of these books on your TBR? See anything for the first time that looks appealing? Be sure to let me know below.

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Title: A Girl Named Anna
Author: Lizzy Barber
Genres: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Cult Fiction
Pub Date: 9/3/19
Format: Digital Arc via NetGalley
GOODREADS

In the interest of full disclosure, this one wasn’t on my radar until the publisher sent an email promoting it, so I looked it up on Goodreads and had to give it a try. At the time of this writing, the average star rating on GR is 4.02 out of 869 ratings, due to an earlier release in the UK, which is good enough for me! Also? I have a disturbing obsession with psychological fiction that delves into the motives behind cults and their practices.

SYNOPSIS:

If your whole life is a lie, who can you trust?

Raised in a quiet rural community, Anna has always been taught that her Mamma’s rules are the only path to follow. But, on her eighteenth birthday, she defies her Mamma for the first time in her life, and goes to Astroland. She’s never been allowed to visit Florida’s biggest theme park, so why, when she arrives, does everything about it seem so familiar? And is there a connection to the mysterious letter she receives that same day—a letter addressing her by a different name?

Rosie has grown up in the shadow of the missing sister she barely remembers, her family fractured by years of searching without leads. Now, on the fifteenth anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, the media circus resumes as the funds dedicated to the search dry up, and Rosie vows to uncover the truth herself. But can she find the answer before it tears her family apart?

 

Title: Elevator Pitch
Author: Linwood Barclay
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense Fiction
Pub Date: 9/17/19
Format: Digital Arc via NetGalley
GOODREADS

I’ve been a longtime fan of Barclay’s work, and as soon as this popped up on NetGalley I had to have it. Simple as that!

SYNOPSIS:

It all begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, non-stop, to the top. Once there, it stops for a few seconds, and then plummets.

Right to the bottom of the shaft.

It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy. But then, on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And when Wednesday brings yet another high-rise catastrophe, one of the most vertical cities in the world—and the nation’s capital of media, finance, and entertainment—is plunged into chaos.

Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. And it’s working. Fearing for their lives, thousands of men in women working in offices across the city refuse leave their homes. Commerce has slowed to a trickle. Emergency calls to the top floors of apartment buildings go unanswered.

Who is behind this? Why are they doing it? What do these deadly acts of sabotage have to do with the fingerless body found on the High Line? Two seasoned New York detectives and a straight-shooting journalist must race against time to find the answers before the city’s newest, and tallest, residential tower has its Friday night ribbon-cutting.

 

Title: The Stranger Inside
Author: Lisa Unger
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction
Pub Date: 9/17/19
Format: Digital Arc via NetGalley
GOODREADS

Lisa is another favorite author of mine, and after reading everything she’s written to date, obviously I have to read her latest. Great for fans of Karin Slaughter, Alafair Burke, and Harlan Coben!

SYNOPSIS:

Even good people are drawn to do evil things… 

Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice—and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, having put aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends’ abductor force Rain to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?

 

Title: A Cosmology of Monsters
Author: Shaun Hamill
Genres: Horror Fiction, Paranormal
Pub Date: 9/17/19
Format: Print Arc via Publisher
GOODREADS

When Abby @CrimeByTheBook pitches a book that Stephen King endorses, you read it. Full stop.

SYNOPSIS:

Noah Turner see monsters.

His father saw them–and built a shrine to them with The Wandering Dark, an immersive horror experience that the whole family operates.

His practical mother has caught glimpses of terrors but refuses to believe–too focused on keeping the family from falling apart.

And his eldest sister, the dramatic and vulnerable Sydney, won’t admit to seeing anything but the beckoning glow of the spotlight . . . unti it swallows her up.

Noah Turner sees monsters. But, unlike his family, Noah chooses to let them in . . .

 

Title: The Bone Houses
Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Genres: YA, Horror, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Pub Date: 9/24/19
Format: Print Arc via Publisher
GOODREADS

About 6 months ago I saw the publisher’s first whisperings surrounding this dark, lush, debut novel, and I knew I had to read it. The cover is even more stunning in person, and I have a feeling I’ll be blowing through this one at record speed, even though I’m hoping to pace myself and savor it.

SYNOPSIS:

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it about Ellis that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.

 

Title: Bid My Soul Farewell
Author: Beth Review
Genres: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Pub Date: 9/24/19
Format: Print Arc via Publisher
GOODREADS

Last year, I fell in love with a book titled Give The Dark My Love, and ever since finishing it, I have been biting my nails waiting for the conclusion to this stunning duology. It’s no secret that I adore anti-heroes, and Nedra is a favorite of mine. Needless to say, this one will be a meaningful read for me, and I can’t wait to see how Queen Revis chooses to close out this chapter in my life. I mean, in the character’s lives.

SYNOPSIS:

Alchemy student turned necromancer Nedra Brysstain has made a life-changing decision to embrace the darkness–but can the boy who loves her bring her back to the light before she pays the ultimate price?

Lunar Island is trying to heal. The necromantic plague that ravaged the land has been eradicated, and Emperor Auguste, the young and charming leader of the Allyrian Empire, has a plan: rid the island of necromancy once and for all. Though Greggori “Grey” Astor wants what’s best for his people, he knows that allying himself with Auguste threatens the one person he loves most: necromancer Nedra Brysstain. Feeling like he already failed to save Nedra once, Grey becomes determined to help the Emperor rebuild Lunar Island while still keeping Nedra safe from harm.

Back at the quarantine hospital, Nedra’s army of revenants are growing increasingly inhuman by the day. Wracked with guilt for imprisoning their souls, Nedra vows to discover a way to free the dead while still keeping her sister by her side.

But, still reeling from the trauma of the plague, the people of Lunar Island are looking for someone to blame, and Grey can only protect Nedra for so long. And when Nedra and Grey are thrust into a battle with an even more terrifying adversary, Nedra will be pushed to the darkest depths of her necromantic powers. But can Grey let her go that far?

 

-That’s it! Let me know below if anything caught your eye, and for more bookish content, you can follow me via Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter. 💖