2019 was such an amazing year for books, but somehow 2020 is looking even better. Here are some of my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2020!
I also listed all of the representation that I could find, but please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong or if I forgot something. Also, if you like this post and want to support me further, my Ko-fi link is at the bottom of this post!
underlined = debut
bolded = most anticipated
*** = have the ARC / read and will be reviewed
(books that are not young adult are marked as such)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
January
February
March
April
May
June
JANUARY
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez (read my review here) *** | January 7 | ownvoices Bolivian-inspired world and characters |
| A Heart so Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2) by Brigid Kemmerer (read my review here) *** | January 7 | gay side characters |
| Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim | January 7 | ownvoices Indian protagonist, bisexual protagonist, asexual side character |
| We Used to Be Friends by Amy Spalding (read my review here) *** | January 7 | ownvoices bisexual protagonist, lesbian love interest |
| Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen (read my review here) *** | January 7 | ownvoices Chinese-American protagonist and main characters; set in Taipei |
| Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry | January 14 | |
| Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore | January 14 | ownvoices queer Latinx characters |
| Lucky Caller by Emma Mills (read my review here) *** | January 14 | |
| Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (middle grade) | January 14 | ownvoices Navajo characters |
| Headliners (London Celebrities #5) by Lucy Parker (adult) *** | January 20 | Black protagonist |
| Spellhacker by M.K. England (read my review here) *** | January 21 | ownvoices queer protagonist, non-binary side character/love interest, bisexual side character |
| The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3) by Maureen Johnson (read my review here) *** | January 21 | non-binary side character, f/nb side romance |
| Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (read my review here) *** | January 21 | gay side character |
| Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers | January 21 | |
| This Vicious Cure (This Mortal Coil #3) by Emily Suvada | January 21 | |
| The Iron Will of Genie Lo (The Epic Crush of Genie Lo #2) by F.C. Yee (read my review here) *** | January 21 | ownvoices Chinese-American protagonist and main characters |
| Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda and Valynne E. Maetani | January 28 | ownvoices Japanese protagonist and characters |
| A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier | January 28 | |
| Marriage on Madison Avenue (Central Park Pact #3) by Lauren Layne (adult) (read my review here)*** | January 28 |
FEBRUARY
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| The King of Crows (The Diviners #4) by Libba Bray | February 4 | Black protagonist and main character, asexual Chinese-American protagonist, Jewish-American protagonist |
| Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin (read my review here) *** | February 4 | biracial (Indian, white) protagonist, trans girl side character, Korean-American side character, wlw side character |
| The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne | February 4 | demisexual protagonist, lesbian side character, gay side character |
| All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace *** (read my review here) | February 4 | wlw side character |
| The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa (adult) (read my review here) *** | February 4 | ownvoices Afro-Brazilian protagonist and side characters |
| Storm from the East (Glass Alliance #2) by Joanna Hathaway (read my review here) *** | February 11 | biracial protagonist, brown-coded side character, gay side character |
| The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood (adult) (read my review here) *** | February 11 | lesbian main characters, gay main character, bisexual side character |
| Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal (read my review here) *** | February 11 | wlw protagonist, non-binary and trans characters, f/f, m/m |
| This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Amiel Williams (read my review here) *** | February 11 | biracial (ownvoices Cuban, white) protagonist, Dominican-American protagonist and side characters |
| Glitch Kingdom by Sheena Boekweg | February 18 | Black main character with muscular dystrophy |
| The Upside of Falling by Alex Light | February 18 | |
| Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon *** | February 18 | ownvoices Indian protagonist and main character |
| The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller *** | February 25 | |
| We Unleash the Merciless Storm (We Set the Dark on Fire #2) by Tehlor Kay Mejia | February 25 | ownvoices Latinx characters |
| Rebelwing by Andrea Tang | February 25 | ownvoices Chinese protagonist and characters |
MARCH
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett (read my review here) *** | March 3 | wlw protagonist and love interest |
| Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor by Ally Carter (middle grade) | March 3 | |
| Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco (read my review here) *** | March 3 | ownvoices Filipino protagonists and characters, gay protagonist |
| Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare | March 3 | biracial (Persian, white) protagonist |
| Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (read my review here) *** | March 3 | gay protagonist, gay Venezuelan-American love interest, bisexual side character, plus-sized Black side character with PCOS |
| The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu | March 3 | |
| We Are Blood and Thunder by Kesia Lupo | March 3 | |
| The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski (read my review here) *** | March 3 | ownvoices wlw protagonist, lesbian side character/love interest |
| Crown of Bones by A.K. Wilder | March 3 | |
| Harley in the Sky by Akemi Dawn Bowman (read my review here) *** | March 10 | ownvoices multiracial (Japanese, Irish, Chinese, Italian) protagonist with depression, side character/love interest with anxiety |
| The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren (adult) | March 10 | |
| Yours in Scandal by Lauren Layne (adult) *** | March 10 | |
| Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie (read my review here) *** | March 10 | |
| The Electric Heir (Feverwake #2) by Victoria Lee (read my review here) *** | March 17 | bisexual Jewish-Colombian protagonist, gay protagonist, lesbian side characters |
| All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban | March 17 | |
| If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane (adult) | March 24 | biracial (Black, white) protagonist, mlm Sikh side character |
| The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (adult) (read my review here) *** | March 24 | ownvoices Vietnamese-inspired world and characters |
| Look by Zan Romanoff | March 31 | bisexual protagonist |
APRIL
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) by Roshani Chokshi (middle grade) | April 7 | ownvoices Indian-American protagonist and main characters, ownvoices biracial (Indian, Filipina) main character |
| You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle (adult) | April 7 | |
| What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter (read my review here) *** | April 7 | Jewish-American protagonist, questioning Jewish-American side character, one-fourth Korean Jewish-American side character/love interest, Jewish-American side characters |
| It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood | April 7 | |
| The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson (read my review here) *** | April 7 | |
| The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund | April 7 | |
| The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park (read my review here) *** | April 7 | ownvoices Korean-American protagonist |
| Meet Me At Midnight by Jessica Pennington (read my review here) *** | April 7 | |
| Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan *** (read my review here) | April 21 | bisexual/pansexual protagonist, bisexual protagonist with anxiety, lesbian Black side character, bisexual side character, gay Latinx side character |
| The Silence of Bones by June Hur | April 21 | ownvoices Korean setting and characters |
| Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen *** (read my review here) | April 21 | lesbian protagonist, gay side character, bisexual Panamanian side character, gay black side character |
| Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2) by Alisha Rai (adult) (read my review here) *** | April 21 | ownvoices Indian-American (Punjabi) protagonist with PTSD, biracial (Thai, white) protagonist with panic disorder and PTSD, Black side character, Pakistani-American side character, gay side character |
| Time of Our Lives by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (read my review here) *** | April 21 | biracial (Mexican, white) protagonist and side characters, adopted Indian-American side character |
| Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova | April 28 | ownvoices Latinx–inspired world and characters |
| Don’t Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross | April 28 |
MAY
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton (read my review here) *** | May 5 | biracial (Indian, Russian) love interest, bisexual Black side character, nonbinary side character, trans girl side character |
| The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (read my review here) *** | May 5 | Black genderfluid protagonist, ownvoices queer Japanese-coded protagonist, f/nb ship |
| The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (read my review here) *** | May 12 | lesbian Bengali protagonist, bisexual biracial (Afro-Brazilian, Irish) love interest |
| By the Book: A Novel of Prose and Cons by Amanda Sellet (read my review here) *** | May 12 | wlw side characters |
| Beach Read by Emily Henry (adult) (read my review here) *** | May 19 | lesbian side characters |
| Just a Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe (I See London, I See France #2) by Sarah Mlynowski | May 19 | |
| Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner (adult) *** | May 26 | ownvoices wlw protagonist and love interest |
| Parachutes by Kelly Yang | May 26 | ownvoices Chinese protagonists |
JUNE
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska | June 2 | wlw protagonist and love interest |
| Kissing Lessons by Sophie Jordan | June 2 | |
| The Good for Nothings by Danielle Banas | June 9 | |
| The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth *** (read my review here) | June 9 | lesbian protagonist and love interest |
| All the Things We Never Knew by Liara Tamani *** | June 9 | ownvoices Black protagonist and love interest |
| You Say It First by Katie Cotugno | June 16 | |
| I’ll Be the One by Lyra Lee *** (read my review here) | June 16 | plus-sized bisexual Korean-American protagonist, ownvoices bisexual Korean love interest, lesbian side characters |
| Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena (read my review here) *** | June 23 | ownvoices Indian-inspired world and characters |
| The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho (adult) *** (read my review here) | June 23 | ownvoices Chinese-inspired world and characters, nonbinary main character, gay side characters |
| Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee | June 23 | ownvoices east-Asian-coded protagonist |
| Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson (read my review here) *** | June 30 | biracial (Southeast Asian-Chinese, white) protagonist |
magical reads 
I love how you include what kinds of representation is in each book! That’s so helpful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad! It was a lot of work but I felt like it was necessary💙
LikeLike
[…] LIST: most anticipated 2020 releases (pt. 1) […]
LikeLike