New year, new releases! 2020 brought us so many great books, but somehow, 2021 releases are looking even better. Making this list, I couldn’t believe how many books I’m looking forward to (and also getting a little nervous about having the time to read all of them). So without further ado, here are my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2021!
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: |
|---|---|---|
| Lore by Alexandra Bracken (cw: sexual assault (described in ch. 33), eye gore, blood, violence) | January 5 | gay Korean-American side character, gay Black side character |
| Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant | January 5 | ownvoices biracial (Black, white) protagonist, biracial (Black, white) side character with athetoid cerebral palsy and OCD, Filipina-American side character, Black side character, gay Cambodian-American side character |
| You Have a Match by Emma Lord (read my review here) *** | January 12 | wlw main character, adopted Filipino-American love interest, wlw Filipina-American side character |
| The Meet-Cute Project by Rhiannon Richardson | January 12 | ownvoices Black protagonist, love interest, and side characters |
| Winterkeep (Graceling Realm #4) by Kristin Cashore (cw: parental abuse (emotional, physical, gaslighting)) | January 19 | bisexual brown protagonist, brown side characters |
| Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo | January 19 | ownvoices Chinese-American lesbian protagonist, lesbian love interest, Chinese and Chinese American side characters, lesbian side characters |
| Shipped by Angie Hockman (adult) (read my review here) *** | January 19 | Korean-American side character, lesbian side characters, gay side character |
| A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers #3) by Brigid Kemmerer | January 26 | gay side characters |
| The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe | January 26 | ownvoices bisexual protagonist, wlw love interest |
| The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon (adult) (read my review here) *** | January 26 | ownvoices Jewish-American protagonist, Korean-American love interest |
FEBRUARY
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| Muse by Brittany Cavallaro | February 2 | |
| All the Tides of Fate (All the Stars and Teeth #2) by Adalyn Grace | February 2 | wlw side character |
| Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon (adult) (read my review here) *** | February 2 | ownvoices Indian-American protagonist |
| A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen (read my review here) *** | February 2 | ownvoices Taiwanese-American protagonist, love interest, and side characters; bisexual Taiwanese-American side character |
| Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (adult) (read my review here) *** | February 9 | ownvoices Vietnamese-inspired world and characters; lesbian protagonist, love interest, and side character |
| The Iron Raven (The Iron Fey: Evenfall #1) by Julie Kagawa (read my review here) *** | February 9 | |
| A Pho Love Story by Loan Le (read my review here) *** | February 9 | ownvoices Vietnamese-American protagonists and side characters |
| Curse of the Divine (Ink in the Blood #2) by Kim Smejkal | February 9 | wlw protagonist, non-binary side characters |
| First Comes Like (Modern Love #3) by Alisha Rai (adult) (read my review here) *** | February 16 | Muslim Pakistani-American protagonist, Indian protagonist |
| Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schaumacher (read my review here) *** | February 16 | |
| Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers (adult) (cw: depression, anxiety, mentions of a character’s previous self-harm) (read my review here) *** | February 23 | ownvoices Jewish-American protagonist, Korean-American love interest |
| A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth (read my review here) *** | February 23 | lesbian protagonist with depression, pansexual protagonist, gay protagonist, bisexual protagonist, genderfluid side character |
MARCH
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi (new adult) (cw: disordered eating, body dysmorphia, bulima (ch. 45), cancer (uterine), depression) (read my review here) *** | March 2 | ownvoices Korean-American protagonist, main character, and love interest |
| Chain of Iron (The Last Hours #2) by Cassandra Clare | March 2 | Iranian protagonist, bisexual protagonist, gay main character, lesbian main characters |
| I Think I Love You by Auriane Desombre (read my review here) *** | March 2 | bisexual protagonist, lesbian protagonist |
| Once upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira | March 2 | ownvoices Latinx protagonist, love interest, and side characters |
| Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft (cw: gore, murder, implied torture, detailed descriptions of surgical procedures) (read my review here) *** | March 2 | bisexual protagonist, wlw side character |
| Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales (read my review here) *** | March 9 | ownvoices bisexual protagonist and side character, trans girl side character, lesbian Vietnamese-American side character, gay side character |
| Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley (read my review here) *** | March 9 | ownvoices wlw protagonists |
| The Dating Plan by Sara Desai (adult) | March 16 | ownvoices Indian-American protagonist and side characters |
| Float Plan by Trish Doller (adult) (read my review here) *** | March 16 | |
| On This Unworthy Scaffold (For a Muse of Fire #3) by Heidi Heilig | March 16 | ownvoices pansexual protagonist with bipolar disorder, biracial (Southeast Asian-coded, white) protagonist |
| The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore (cw: sexual assault) | March 16 | ownvoices queer Latinx protagonists |
| Flamefall (Fireborne #2) by Rosaria Munda (read my review here) *** | March 23 | mlm protagonist, mlm side character |
| Renegade Flight (Rebelwing #2) by Andrea Tang (read my review here) *** | March 23 | Korean protagonist and wlw side character, biracial (Chinese, white) love interest, biracial (Latinx, white) side character, Black side character, Hongkongese side characters, wlw Latinx side character |
| Bone Crier’s Dawn (Bone Grace #2) by Kathryn Purdie | March 30 | |
| She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard (cw: death by drowning, parental abuse (emotional)) (read my review here) *** | March 30 | wlw protagonist, Latinx wlw protagonist |
APRIL
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman (cw: torture, death) (read my review here) *** | April 6 | ownvoices biracial (Japanese, white) protagonist |
| Aru Shah and the City of Gold (Pandava Quartet #4) by Roshani Chokshi (middle grade) | April 6 | ownvoices Indian-American protagonist and main characters, ownvoices biracial (Indian, Filipina) main character |
| Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle (adult) | April 6 | |
| Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell, and Fiona Wood (cw: body shaming, sexism, drug addiction, alcoholism) (read my review here) *** | April 6 | bisexual protagonist, wlw love interest |
| The Serpent’s Curse (The Last Magician #3) by Lisa Maxwell (read my review here) *** | April 13 | Chinese main character, lesbian main character, Black side characters |
| Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve (cw: transphobia, homophobia, mentions of dead naming (name not on page)) (read my review here) *** | April 13 | trans boy protagonist, lesbian side character, gay Black side character, bisexual Japanese-American side character, trans girl side character, nonbinary side character |
| Southern Sun, Northern Star (Glass Alliance #3) by Joanna Hathaway (read my review here) *** | April 20 | biracial protagonist, brown side characters, wlw side character, gay side character |
| These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy (read my review here) *** | April 20 | lesbian protagonist and love interest |
| She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (read my review here) *** | April 20 | ownvoices lesbian protagonist, lesbian Indian-American love interest, Black side character |
| Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart | April 20 | ownvoices Jamaican-inspired world and characters |
| What’s Not to Love by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (cw: emeto (food poisoning, ch. 1, 2)) (read my review here) *** | April 20 | bisexual side character |
| Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein (cw: parental abuse (physical)) (read my review here) *** | April 27 | Indian-American side character |
| Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto (adult) (read my review here) *** | April 27 | ownvoices Chinese-Indonesian protagonist, main characters, and side characters; Chinese love interest; wlw Chinese-Indonesian side characters |
MAY
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan (read my review here) *** | May 4 | ownvoices Muslim Bangladeshi-American protagonist with anxiety and side characters, Indian-American side character, bisexual biracial (Chinese, white) side character, wlw Black side character |
| 10 Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston (read my review here) *** | May 4 | |
| Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney | May 4 | ownvoices Black protagonist and love interest |
| The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He (cw: terminal illness, suicide, violence (including choking), death, death of parent (off page), vomiting, large scale natural disasters and mass casualties, some gore) (read my review here) *** | May 4 | ownvoices East Asian protagonists |
| Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee | May 4 | ownvoices multiracial (Afro-Puerto Rican, Japanese, white) bisexual trans protagonist, queer love interest, asexual nonbinary side character, Cuban-American lesbian side character |
| Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee (read my review here) *** | May 4 | British-(ownvoices) Chinese protagonist and side characters |
| Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane (adult) | May 4 | |
| Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson | May 4 | |
| Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter *** | May 4 | |
| Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler (cw: biphobia) (read my review here) *** | May 11 | bisexual Jewish protagonist, bisexual Jewish Syrian-American love interest, Japanese-American side character, aromantic asexual Black side character |
| From Little Tokyo, with Love by Sarah Kuhn (cw: racism, homophobia) (read my review here) *** | May 11 | ownvoices biracial (Japanese, white) protagonist, biracial (Filipino, Chinese) love interest, wlw Japanese-American side characters, Japanese-American side characters |
| People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (adult) (read my review here) *** | May 11 | gay side character, gay Vietnamese-American side character |
| Some Girls Do by Jennifer Dugan (cw: parental abuse (emotional), homophobia, internalized homophobia) (read my review here) *** | May 18 | lesbian protagonist, bisexual protagonist, trans boy side character, Black side character, pansexual side character |
| May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor | May 18 | ownvoices gay trans protagonist, gay love interest |
| Happy Endings by Thien-Kim Lam (adult) (cw: mentions of death of a parent (mother) from cancer) (read my review here) *** | May 18 | ownvoices Vietnamese-American protagonist and side character, Black protagonist and side characters, wlw side character |
| Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey | May 18 | |
| Made in Korea by Sarah Suk (read my review here) *** | May 18 | ownvoices Korean-American protagonists and side characters, biracial (Korean, white) side character |
| Misfit in Love (Saints and Misfits #2) by S.K. Ali | May 25 | Arab-Indian-American protagonist |
| Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur (adult) *** (read my review here) | May 25 | bisexual protagonist and side character, lesbian side character |
| Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar | May 25 | Muslim bisexual Bangladeshi-Bengali protagonist, queer Indian-Bengali protagonist |
| Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth | May 25 | ownvoices lesbian protagonist and love interest |
JUNE
| BOOK: | RELEASE DATE: | REPRESENTATION: |
|---|---|---|
| One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (new adult) (read my review here) *** | June 1 | bisexual protagonist with anxiety, Chinese-American lesbian love interest, gay side character, Black sapphic side character, Black gay side character, Puerto-Rican-American trans side character, Black pansexual side character |
| Sonny Song Will Never Be Famous by Suzanne Park | June 1 | ownvoices Korean-American protagonist |
| Simone Breaks All the Rules by Debbie Rigaud | June 1 | ownvoices Haitian-American protagonist |
| Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin | June 1 | wlw protagonists |
| We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon (read my review here) *** | June 1 | Jewish protagonist, Egyptian-American love interest |
| The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (adult) *** (read my review here) | June 1 | ownvoices bisexual adopted Vietnamese-American protagonist |
| The Sea Is Salt and So Am I by Cassandra Hartt | June 8 | bisexual protagonist |
| Heartbreakers and Fakers by Cameron Lund *** (read my review here) | June 8 | Japanese-American love interest |
| Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria | June 8 | bisexual biracial (Mexican, white) protagonist, biracial (Mexican, white) protagonist, mlm side characters |
| The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (adult) (cw: homophobia, gore, violence, execution by burning, forced drug use) *** (read my review here) | June 8 | ownvoices Indian-inspired characters and setting; lesbian protagonists |
| Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa (cw: racism, homophobia) *** (read my review here) | June 8 | ownvoices gay Mexican-American protagonist, gay Vietnamese-American love interest, Latinx side characters, pansexual Latinx side character, Black side character |
| The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious #4) by Maureen Johnson | June 15 | |
| A War of Swallowed Stars (The Celestial Trilogy #3) by Sangu Mandanna | June 15 | ownvoices Indian-inspired world and characters, wlw side characters |
| Blood Like Magic (Blood Like Magic #1) by Liselle Sambury *** (read my review here) | June 15 | ownvoices Trinidadian-Canadian protagonist and side characters, trans boy love interest, trans girl side character, demisexual lesbian side character |
| For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten (adult) | June 15 | |
| Darling by K. Ancrum (cw: violence, guns, blood, off page murder) | June 22 | ownvoices Black protagonist, Russian biromantic asexual love interest, Black side characters, lesbian side character, bisexual side character, biracial (Ojibwe, Irish) bisexual side character, hard-of-hearing sc, Ojibwe bisexual side character, Ojibwe side character, Korean-American side character |
| Rising Like a Storm (The Wrath of Ambar #2) by Tanaz Bhathena | June 22 | ownvoices Indian-inspired world and characters |
| Love Scenes by Bridget Morrissey (adult) | June 22 | |
| Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta *** (read my review here) | June 29 | ownvoices wlw Korean-coded protagonists |
What 2021 releases are you looking forward to? Let me know below!
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magical reads 
This is amazing!! So many of these are on my TBR but many are also new to me. Going to have to check them out.
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yay, so glad you found some new books! ❤
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most excited for alisha rai’s newest, but also excited for talia hibbert’s Act Your Age, Eve Brown in march!!
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Ahhh that one sounds so good!! I still need to read the other two books in the series too 💙
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Great list! I’m adding a lot of gems to my tbr
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thank you! glad you found some new books💙
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this is such an amazing comprehensive list!! so excited for so many of these!!
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[…] LIST: most anticipated 2021 releases (pt. 1) […]
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