December 1, 2022
Set in an alternate 1840s New England, To Shape a Dragon's Breath features Indigenous teenager Anequs, honored by her people when she bonds with a newly hatched dragon but challenged by the repressive rules at her dragon school, run by Anglish conquerors; debuter Blackgoose is an enrolled member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe. Disappointed in love and life, Harlow Estrada returns home to The Enchanted Hacienda, where the women in her family purvey a gift she lacks, creating magic from flowers--but who knows what kind of magic might come her way as she runs the house in their absence; an adult debut from best-selling YA/Middle School author Cervantes. In The Water Outlaws, Hugo Award winner Huang draws on the Chinese classic Water Margin to tell the story of Lin Chong, who is driven from her job training the emperor's soldiers and taken in by the Bandits of Liangshan--thieves and murderers who seek justice for the empire's downtrodden (30,000-copy first printing). Living in an isolated apartment outside London five years after a microplastic storm killed most of Earth's population, Katie and son Harry--born after the storm--learn they are Not Alone in ecologist Jackson's debut; a stranger barges in, unsettling their lives but inspiring Katie to seek out her fianc�. In British Fantasy winner/Bram Stoker finalist Khaw's The Salt Grows Heavy, a mermaid murders her husband, destroys his kingdom, and runs off with a mysterious doctor to the taiga, where they discover a village full of creepy children whose blood sport jeopardizes their visitors (125,000-copy first printing). It is foretold that Psyche will vanquish a monster that makes even the gods quake, and she dutifully trains for battle, but in debuter McNamara's retelling of the Psyche and Eros myth, her victim is the god of love himself, pricked by his own arrow (100,000-copy first printing). In the mega-best-selling Paolini's Fractal Noise, a huge pit clearly made by someone or something is spotted by the crew of the Adamura on the supposedly uninhabited planet of Talos, and a team is dispatched to investigate (400,000-copy first printing). Seeking a cure for her desperately ill mother, Nat Drozdova travels to a snow-shrouded Manhattan skyscraper, where she encounters a winter goddess who sends her on a dangerous mission in the New York Times best-selling Saintcrow's Russian fantasy-inspired Spring's Arcana (100,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In this new fantasy from Wells, winner of Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex honors for her New York Times best-selling "Murderbot Diaries" series, Witch King Kai-Enna has been confined to a complex water trap after being murdered and is struggling to understand why he was imprisoned and why the Rising World Coalition is getting stronger by the day (200,000-copy first printing).
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April 1, 2023
A 20-something returns home to find the magic within herself in this heartwarming tale. Harlow Estrada has just had the worst day: She was let go from her dream job as a book editor and broke up with her boyfriend, a lawyer, after she overheard him mocking her at a party celebrating his own promotion. It's a good thing she'd already been planning to go down to Hacienda Estrada, the family flower farm in Mexico, since her mother and aunt are gathering all her sisters and cousins for a special announcement. This isn't just any farm: It's full of magic that's been passed down for generations in Harlow's family, magic that only she didn't inherit. Despite this, for some reason Harlow is the one chosen for the family's magic-related task, and she must muster up the confidence to deal with the mishaps, troubles, and charismatic young men that come along with it to ultimately figure out what she truly wanted all along. Cervantes has created a charming world, the kind of place that anyone would want to spend time. The magic system, a combination of person-specific traits and magical flowers, is original and cozy, never entirely explained and yet incredibly familiar. Harlow's family is similar, a warm hug of a group, sometimes causing friction but mostly showering Harlow with love. Each sister and cousin is interesting in her own right and could easily lead to her own follow-up book. Though the beats of the book are fairly easy to predict, that doesn't take away from the story. If anything, it heightens it as Harlow comes into her own in multiple areas of her life, from writing to family to love. An enchantingly comfortable romantic dramedy.
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April 1, 2023
When Harlow Estrada loses her dream job and her boyfriend in the same day, her first inclination is to leave New York City for her family's hacienda in the tiny village of El Viento, Mexico, where the Estrada women grow magical flowers blessed by the goddess Mayahuel. An encounter with a handsome but aloof stranger at a coffee shop piques Harlow's interest, but she's got bigger concerns--namely, despite her lack of magical powers, she's been chosen by the flowers to act as the hacienda's guardian while the women of her family take a vacation. One of her duties is to deliver an enchanted bouquet, but the delivery goes awry, and fixing the error brings her back into the orbit of her mysterious stranger, whose grandparents are the intended recipients. Harlow soon finds something awakening within herself--creativity, love, and a powerful magic. Cervantes' adult debut is a sensual tale of a young woman discovering herself, finding her passion, and falling in love. Lush descriptions abound, and the sweeping love story draws readers in. Fans of Zoraida C�rdova and Alice Hoffman will feel at home in the Estrada family's hacienda.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
April 1, 2023
Cervantes (Fractured Path) makes a promising adult fiction debut with this romantic, magical-realist coming-of-age tale. Harlow Estrada is having a rough day: she's lost her job, dumped her boyfriend, and moved back to the enchanted Hacienda Estrada in Mexico. While returning home is a comfort, it's also another reminder that the family's goddess-blessed magical farm gave powers to all the women except her. Harlow juggles the magical duties of her family, who cultivate charmed flowers, with her fears of failing to be an author, which is made more complicated by the appearance of an infuriating but handsome stranger. Now Harlow has to decipher if this whirlwind romance is real or if magic is finally talking to her--and telling her to stay away from him. The narrative strikes a balance of calls to follow one's instincts and to understand tendencies to self-sabotage while on the road to self-discovery. Emphasizing the importance of informed decision-making, even when it comes to magic, makes the world feel contemporary and complex. VERDICT An interesting, magical take on quarter-life crises for fans of Alice Hoffman and Zoraida C�rdova.--Katherine Sleyko
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.