New Releases list of young adult books for December: 2021 - That's a wrap!
Don't close out the year just yet! 100% of respondents in our independent survey said the best gift they'd want to receive this Christmas is books! Yes, I am 100% the respondent. Haha.
But seriously. What better gift than a book? Give someone (or yourself!) the gift of escape to some exciting and fantastical other worlds with our rundown of these 10 sci-fi and fantasy December New Releases list of young adult books.
Just to keep it interesting, I'll start from the end of the month.
December 31st
Fae Hunted (Fae Bloodlines: Legacy Book 1) by Rose Garcia
A human girl with fae blood. A broody fae protector with too many secrets. A devious witch thirsty for revenge.
Gabriela is the descendant of a fae princess and a human witch. But her life is earth-bound, and she knows little about her fae heritage. That all changes when she discovers someone from the fae realm wants to wipe out her bloodline—someone who’s wanted to destroy her name for a long time.
Now, she’s on the run. But she’s not alone. A fae protector reveals himself when she’s attacked, and she quickly learns of the deadly foe hunting her. But there’s something about her protector she doesn’t quite trust. He’s mysterious and calculated, and she senses he’s hiding something. Even so, she can’t deny the undeniable pull she feels toward him.
With her life at risk, Gabriela must embrace who she is as a fae and a witch before it’s too late and she loses everyone she loves.
Fae Hunted is book one in the Fae Bloodlines Legacy Duology featuring enemies to lovers, blood-thirsty revenge, and heartbreaking truths. Don’t miss the other books in this epic saga!
Dec 30th
Righteous (Legend Valley Academy, Book 3): A Diverse Young Adult Multicultural Paranormal Academy Slow Burn Romance series by Sudha Kuruganti
Dec 20th
To Thaw A Heart by Sky Sommers
Sixteen-year old Kaj has to make a trade. A mysterious woman he has never seen before and will never see again offers to make it so that the Red Guard would ignore his friend Gerda while they drag her whole family away to exile. All Kaj has to do is surrender the warmth of his heart.
Will Gerda stick with Kaj after he changes overnight for the worse?
Can the Snow Queen's curse ever be broken?
What would you give to keep someone you care about alive?
Dec 17th
Crimson Kingdom (The Lochlann Feuds Book 3) by Robin D. Mahle and Elle Madison
Book Three of The Lochlann Feuds Series!
Dec 14th
Faerie Fallen (Feathered Fae Book 1) by Carol Beth Anderson
She looks like an angel ... acts like a human ... and must risk her life and heart to save the faerie realm.
Sela is a young, feather-winged faerie, living a life of magical ease. Her fellow Fae portray themselves as benevolent gods, worthy of human allegiance. But Sela would rather carouse with mortals than rule them.
When Sela gets caught illegally fraternizing with humans, her leaders cast her out of magical society, declaring her a fallen faerie. They command her to masquerade as a human and spy on the Darros, a family scheming to take down the Fae. If she helps stamp out the conspiracy, her exile will end. Sela agrees to tutor the Darros' son, Kovian, in the Fae language.
When she arrives, she discovers Kovian isn’t a little boy. He’s eighteen. He’s gorgeous. And he despises faeries. Wearing her human glamour, Sela intends to charm him into revealing his family’s plot against the Fae. But she finds herself truly falling for him, while he pushes her away at every turn.
Despite Kovian’s hostility, Sela is determined to earn his trust, learn his secrets, and save her people … if his family doesn’t discover her true identity and kill her first.
If you like rich worldbuilding, unexpected twists, and slow-burn/enemies-to-lovers romance, then you’ll love Carol Beth Anderson’s Feathered Fae series.
•••
This romantic fantasy series is written for upper-YA and adult audiences. Expect some language and violence, plus sensual romance scenes with high emotions and mild heat. Perfect for fans of Elise Kova and Holly Black.
Dec 11th
Rift by R. Dawn Hutchinson
Frankie stared at what was left of the sandcastle. In a rare moment of fast-fleeing childhood, he and Elise had built the lumpy structure by hand only a few days before. Waning moonlight reflected off a dark tide that ate at the sandcastle’s walls. Frankie didn’t pull his cloak any tighter, even as the winter wind skipped across the ocean’s surface toward him. He welcomed the gusts that scraped against his cheeks and pulled through his curls, hoping it would chill the hot anger brewing inside him. But the anger burned brighter with each wave that lapped against the sandcastle, eroding its turrets and crenulations.
He had lived in a castle for a short time and could name all its specific architectural terms. He had been a prince. Perhaps he still was, though the title wasn’t worth much when the king was actively hunting his head. Frankie was a sage. He, his twin sister, and others of his kind were on the run from his father, who would not tolerate their presence in his kingdom. To the king, sages were blasphemers, claiming the power of God for themselves and, more grievously, plotting to use their powers to take Stromboden’s throne...
Dec 8th
The Lost Dreams: A Collection of Nihryst Short Stories (The Nihryst) by Cait Marie