My Most Anticipated Adult Fiction Books For The Second Half of 2021

The Paper Palace – out July 6

Lovers of complex family drama with secrets and heart-breaking choices — feast your eyes on this one! I don’t normally love infidelity storylines but this one sounds so good.

It tells the story of a married woman, at her summer vacation home, who sneaks off with her longtime friend and childhood love with while their spouses chat inside. In the aftermath, she has 24 hours to make a decision between the life she made with her husband and the one she always wanted with her childhood love but never happened because of a tragedy long ago —  mingled with vignettes of the past that inform this decision.

Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead – Out July 6

I love a good darkly humorous (edging just on plain ol’ dark) literary book and I was very interested when I saw a character who is anxious and ruminates on death a lot (because, well, that is me).

It’s about a 20-something atheist who responds to a flyer for free therapy at a church but is mistaken for an interviewee and subsequently hired to replace the previous receptionist at the church who passed away.

As she tries to settle in to her new role, she ends up emailing with a friend of the previous receptionist pretending to be her as she doesn’t want to be the one to break the bad news. But soon she has to out herself when it appears there are suspicious circumstances coming out around the death.

Seems kinda like some Eleanor Oliphant mixed with Fleabag vibes?

Razorblade Tears – Out July 6

This one sounds SO interesting and I picked it as one of my Book of the Month’s for July.

Two fathers, one Black and one white, have nothing in common except the fact that their sons, who were married to one another, were murdered and they both have a criminal past. Now they are united by their desire for revenge and redemption.

Shoulder Season – Out July 6

 I have been loving historical fiction featuring the glamour or famous lately and this looks like an interesting one about a young girl looks to reinvent herself, after the death of her parents, and joins a group of other young women to become a Playboy bunny at one of the resorts in small town Wisconsin.

The book chronicles her journey to living and working there in all the ups and downs of glamorous life, sisterhood, first love, and the not-so-great aspects of her life to the women she is years later after this defining time in her life. 

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Island Queen – out July 6

A new historical based on the incredible true and epic life story of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a free woman of color who rose from slavery to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in the colonial West Indies. It sounds AMAZING.

The Tiger Mom’s Tale – Out July 6

I have heard some early buzz that has really made this one high on my list for this book about complicated family dynamics, identity and belonging set partly in the US and partly in Taiwan (and all I keep hearing about is the mouth-watering food descriptions soooo I’m in).

It’s about a Taiwanese American woman who has been raised in the US by her white mother and adoptive stepfather. When her estranged father dies tragically, his will leaves the fate of her family over in Taiwan in her hands and forces her to make a decision of claiming her heritage in Taiwan or letting her family lose everything — all while confronting the reason she become estranged from her dad in the first place as a teenager. 

Ghost Forest – Out July 13

This is one of those books that should remind you that this list is 100% *my* most anticipated list rather than what I predict will be the most popular books. Those are two totally different things. This book is one of those quiet, super-me specific books that I’m not sure will get much fanfare but I’m really excited about it — because it deals with grief. And if you guys have been following me for any length of time you know that’s a huge instant pick-up for me. Especially that of a parent.

This one is about a woman who loses her father, whom she has a complicated relationship with, and her processing that grief (and all the questions and recollection of memories she has) with her family who categorically does not talk about anything remotely feelings oriented.

It Happened One Summer – July 13

This Schitt’s Creek inspired rom-com looks so fun! A wealthy heiress and her sister are cut off from her family and forced into responsibility by way of an old dive bar that their late father owned. Faced with new challenges in her new small town life, she also finds opposition, and surprising chemistry at times, in a surly sea captain who doesn’t want her there or think she can hack it. 

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Notes From The Burning Age – July 20

This post-apocalyptic/dystopian book sounds thrilling, horrifying and thought-provoking with plenty of espionage and social commentary. It’s set in a future Earth ravaged centuries earlier by war and man-made environmental and climate disaster called The Burning Age.

The main character was once a holy man and keeper/interpreter of ancient texts that chronicled that time and then sorts useful knowledge from the heretical ideas from the era to keep humanity from the things that eventually brought destruction. His life, and the world as he know it, is turned upside down when he finds himself when he’s pressured by a group to translate texts deemed heretical and chronicling some of the worst of The Burning Age — things that could doom humanity to repeat its mistakes.

She Who Became The Sun – July 20

Where are my fantasy fans at?? Particularly fans of epic and war fantasy type books. This one is being pitched as Mulan meets The Song of Achilles (though some early readers are saying The Poppy War is more apt) and re-imagines of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

It follows the story of a girl, destined by fate for nothing, who pretends to be her brother after he dies to escape her life and to take his illustrious future he was supposed to have according to a fortune teller. She doesn’t stop there on her quest for greatness as she goes from starving peasant to monk to great leader — at whatever cost it takes to get there. 

YA fantasy is normally where I’m at with fantasy books but I am all over this one because it seems to give off some Big Antihero Energy and I am here for that. Plus I love a good alternate history fantasy.

Just One Look – Out July 27

One trope I really kinda have been loving lately has been thrillers from the perspective of a stalkery type main character or just like an untrustworthy one. I don’t know WHY but maybe because it adds that extra bit of chilling to a thriller? It’s giving me similar vibes to the book You by Caroline Kepnes. 

After a public fall from grace that killed her climb up the corporate lawyer ladder, Cassie takes a mind-numbing temp job going through email after email for  a large-scale fraud suit. When she stumbles upon the correspondence of one of the lawyers and his wife, she becomes obsessed with their perfect marriage and life — so much so that soon admiration from afar isn’t enough for her.

We Are The Brennans – Out August 3

Family dramas are my absolute jam and when it said in the vein of Ask Again, Yes and The Nest (two family dramas I loved).

It’s about an Irish Catholic family, who has been torn apart by secrets, and the return of the prodigal daughter who returns to rebuild her life after just up and leaving 5 years ago with little explanation. Soon after she comes home, the family’s business is threatened and the family must come together while simultaneously trying not to be torn apart by the family secrets and history that are coming unearthed. 

The Husbands- Out August 3

Excited for this slow burn domestic suspense book from Chandler Baker that also has lots of contemporary musings on motherhood, marriage, etc. 

A successful attorney has struggled to juggle it all as a working mom and, while her husband works hard, she definitely feels like she’s expending all the energy on their domestic life. When she meets a group of women from an exclusive neighborhood, one whom she has agreed to represent in a wrongful death suit in her husband’s death, she finds a group of women who seem to have it all as successful women with husbands who do more than their fair share. As she gets more involved in the case and their life she starts to see just what exactly their secret to “having it all” entails.

The People We Keep – Out August 3

This one is currently a BOTM pick that you can get early this month and I snagged it and plan to drop everything to read it once it arrives!

It’s about a young girl in the 90’s who finally leaves her small town and her crappy father behind and sets out to pursue her music and find a place to call her own. Listen, from the reviews I’ve read already I am NOT even doing this one justice with the synopsis.

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In My Dreams I Hold A Knife – Out August 3

In My Dreams I hold a Knife tells the story of six friends at a college reunion that turns deadly. The friend group was fractured when one of their own was murdered and it has remained unsolved. As they reunite their dark secrets start to come to light and reveal that one of them might just be a murderer and someone else has been waiting all these years to trap who did it.

The Other Me- Out August 10

Velvet Was The Night- Out August 17

I’ll be honest — historical noir, or even just noir,  is not a genre I’ve ever read but I am intrigued enough to try it.. It’s set in 1970’s Mexico City and is, according to the author,  about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome thug, and the mystery of the missing woman that brings them together. 

Wildwood Whispers- Out August 17

I am crossing my fingers this book is as magical and lyrical and atmospheric as it sounds. It’s about young woman travels to a small town in the Appalachian Mountains to bury her best friend, according to her wishes, there where her mom was murdered many years before.

She will discover, as she becomes more of a part of the community, there’s more than meets the eye to this small town and community of strong wisewomen as secrets are unraveled and revealed to her. 

The Heart Principle- Out August 31

The Kiss Quotient is one of my favorite romances and I have been waiting for Quan’s book since she announced it!!

It’s about two opposites who meet while looking for casual hookups but their attempt at one-night stands goes awry when they find something real within one another — especially when it comes to challenges they face in their personal lives. The author has said it is kind of a cross between a gender-swapped Sabrina and Say Anything so I am so excited. 

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina- Out September 7

I love love love magical realism and I absolutely adore Zoraida/her books so this one is super exciting to me. Plus it sounds like a messy and complicated family story so I am HERE for this.

The scattered descendants of the eccentric and mysterious Orquidea Divina are summoned to her Ecuadorian home as the family matriarch reveals she is dying and wants to give them their inheritance. Her descendants are hoping for answers to the secrets she’s kept and the everyday magic that was all around them but the opposite happens leaving them with more questions.

Many years later, after they’ve had time for their gifts to manifest, they are brought back together after their family tree is being threatened and reunite in Ecuador to find answers and save their family. 

Nice Girls- Out September 7

I kind of am a sucker for “missing girl” thrillers/mysteries. This one sounds so deliciously dark!

A girl named Mary makes her not-so-triumphant return to town, a much different person than when she left, after getting kicked out of Cornell (and not telling anybody why). As she settles into life back home, her former best friend and rising social media influencer goes missing. Everyone thinks they know her but they don’t know the REAL her behind the Instagram facade.

While the world wonders what happened to her, Mary starts to wonder if her disappearance is connected to another girl who went missing a few months prior but didn’t get much coverage at all.

The Night She Disappeared- Out September 7

It’s always a treat for a new Lisa Jewell. I love her psychological thrillers so much!

This one is about a young couple, just 19 years old, and parents to a young son who go missing the night after a party they attend at the estate of a new college friend. A couple years later a writer moves in to a cottage that shares the first with that estate and, on a walk, finds what she thinks could possibly a clue to what happened to the teenagers years before and she throws herself into solving the mystery.

Beautiful World, Where Are You- Out September 7

New Sally Rooney!! Literally no idea what it’s actually about from reading the synopsis but I am excited.

The Love Hypothesis – Out September 14

You know faux relationships are my favorite in romances and romcoms! This one is about a scientist, who doesn’t believe in long term relationships, but panic kisses a hotshot professor while she’s pretending she has a boyfriend and when he goes along with the charade they come up with an agreement to keep the fake relationship going to benefit them both in different ways. My friends who have read this one have RAVED — this is HIGH on my most anticipated list.

Dark Things I Adore- Out September 14

This psychological thriller looks to be everything I love — possible unreliable narrators, dark academia, revenge, slow burn, decades long secrets, dual timelines.

What happened one summer in the woods of Maine between a bunch of young artists at an art camp comes to a head in the future when a young artist lures a manipulative, has-been artist (now professor) into her web for revenge for what happened back then and the secrets he has kept. 

Apples Never Fall- Out September 14

New Liane Moriarty is probably on the top of everybody’s list, huh? Her books always make the best book club books!

Part family drama, part mystery — it’s about a mother and wife named Joy who goes missing and her adult children are split on if they think their father, who looks like the main suspect, had anything to do with it. But what about that stranger who they took in a year ago and disappeared? Could she have anything to do with it? Lots of family history and secrets unearthed as they search for Joy!

Under The Whispering Door- Out September 21

The House in the Cerulean Sea was one of the most delightful and charming books I’ve ever read so I am anticipating this book with a fierceness I cannot describe because it also sounds delightful and charming which isn’t something I typically find in the fantasy genre.

It’s about a guy who dies and is having a hard time crossing over and is brought to a tea shop where he meets a ferryman named Hugo who is supposed to help him cross over (but whom he ends up falling for as he realizes all he missed in life before he died).

Cloud Cuckoo Land- Out September 28

I loved All The Light We Cannot See and have been eagerly anticipating this new, ambitious release that appears span throughout time, all interconnected, as it bounces from 1453, the present and decades into the future.

I mean, for real, I can’t wait to see how characters living through the siege of Constantinople, characters in present day Idaho and a character on an interstellar spaceship in the future all come together somehow.

The Sweetest Remedy- Out September 28

“When a woman travels to Nigeria to attend the funeral of the father she never knew, she meets her extravagant family for the first time, a new and inspiring love interest, and discovers parts of herself she didn’t know were missing.”

I love self discovery stories, especially ones with travel involved, and this one looks so fantastic with all the family aspects too.

Last Girl Ghosted- Out October 5

Love a good cat and mouse thriller and that is what this one feels like it is going to be exactly that.

Girl meets guy online, they spend 3 months dating and then he completely ghosts her after she reveals some truth to him. Soon after, she finds out information from a detective investigating a missing woman, that women who have been involved with him. She attempts to chase his digital trail that leads her on a winding road to his dark past as well as her own. 

Cackle- Out October 5

Definitely going to be grabbing this witchy book for Fall! About a woman who moves to a new town and becomes best friends with a mysterious woman who takes her under her wing to empower her. As they become closer she starts to realize just what makes her friend so different and why she has such a weird relationship with the rest of the town.

We Are Not Like Them – Out October 5

I love books that explore the complexities of friendship and this one looks perfect for the times as we are having so many important conversations about every day racism that many white folks are just realizing is happening to their friends of color.

This one is about a friendship between long time best friends, one Black and one white, and all the ways the foundation starts to crumble after a tragedy occurs that affects both of their lives.

I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness- Out October 5

This is one of those literary dark humor books that are super character-driven and that I can tell I’m going to love because it talks candidly about motherhood, marriage, grief, trauma and self-discovery on a little sojourn away from home. 

All Her Little Secrets- Out November 2

This is another one on this list that caught me with its tv show comparison — in this case it said this book had shades of How To Get Away With Murder which I loved.

A successful Black female lawyer, who is having an affair with her boss, shows up to find him dead but leaves without saying a word to protect herself and her past. Soon after her death she is elevated as his replacement which is a move that seems suspicious to her while also thrusting her, and the secrets she’s long tried to hide, in full view and exposes her to the secrets others in her orbit are keeping. 

Wish You Were Gone- Out November 2

Ahh this really does have Dead to Me vibes and this excites me because I LOVE that show and have been craving something similar that has a mysterious edge but really is about friendship and family.

This one is about a woman who is ready to confront her husband about his drinking problem & alcohol induced-rage she and her children have had to endure but on the day of she comes home to find him dead in the wreckage of his car into their garage.

In the aftermath, the grief is complicated due to the secrets they’ve kept to protect his standing in the community plus mysterious circumstances come to light surrounding his death.

Just Haven’t Met You Yet- Out November 9

Love at first — peek of their suitcase contents? When Laura realizes she grabbed the wrong suitcase at the airport for her business trip, she takes a look at the contents and becomes convinced the man who owns this suitcase must be her dream man (and destiny considering her parents met on this island) and she sets out, with the help of a cab driver, to find the rightful owner and potential love of her life.

Never Fall For Your Fiancee- Out November 9

I love me some historical romcoms and I’m always looking for new series to start. It definitely looks more romcom than tradition steamy historical romance which I haven’t read as much as traditional historicals except for maybe like Bringing Down the Duke.

It’s about a handsome earl who lies to his matchmaking mother about having a fiance and, when his mother springs a surprise visit, he ends up hiring a penniless woman to be his fake fiance. Hilarity with the ruse ensues — as does real romance between the two. Might be a good book for fans of Bridgerton.

Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships- Out November 23

I genuinely cannot resists books that have a bucket list element to them. I don’t know what that says about me but I love lists and goals, that’s for sure!!

It’s about a woman who makes a list of 30 things she wants to do before her birthday but the list gets put to the side when a family tragedy happens only to be unearthed by her two nieces who push her to finish the list while they stay with her for the summer.

Wish You Were Here- Out November 30

Okay I was talking on Instagram about how I was not at all ready for books about 2020 because TOO SOON FOR ME but then this one popped up and I’m not even a reader of Jodi’s books for the most part but I don’t knowwwww something about this summary spoke to me. And then I saw this review from a friend that solidified it.

The Sisters Sweet – Out November 30

Between City of Girls and Evelyn Hugo, I have been craving all the Old Hollywood/theater books. This historical family drama is about two sisters, once a vaudeville act, who take different paths after one exposes some family secrets — one twin heads to Hollywood to be a star and the other has to learn to leave without her twin outside the spotlight.

A History of Wild Places- Out December 7

Queen of atmospheric YA novels, Shea Ernshaw’s adult debut is one I am anticipating like crazy. It’s got cult-like vibes with the setting of this reclusive commune called Pastoral, where nobody ever leaves, woven with a mystery about people who have tried to wander in that go missing — all told from the perspective of two sisters and one’s husband that live in the commune but have secretly been sneaking out and hold secrets all their own. Seems like a perfect Fall read!

So these are the most anticipated new releases for the rest of 2021! What are the must-read books left in 2021 for you?

P.S. If you love young adult books, check out my most anticipated YA books!