September 2021 is bringing it with new releases from YA favourites such as Tiffany D. Jackson and Kendare Blake, to debut authors like Alexandra Leigh Young and Sarah Hollowell, all the while featuring stories of queer love, missing (or dead) teenagers, new takes on favourite tales, vampires, magic, and so much more!

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below if you’re looking forward to any of them, too!

Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles
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From one of the brightest and most acclaimed new lights in YA fiction, a fantastic new novel about a bi Black boy finding first love . . . and facing the return of the mother who abandoned his preacher family when he was nine.

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
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The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!

All These Bodies by Kendare Blake
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Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation. In this edge-of-your-seat mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake, the truth is as hard to believe as it is to find.

It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi
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Two exes must revisit their past after their siblings start dating in this rom-com perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Morgan Matson.

A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell
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When her siblings start to go missing, a girl must confront the dark thing that lives in the forest—and the growing darkness in herself—in this debut YA contemporary fantasy for fans of Wilder Girls.

The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh
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The Conjuring meets Sadie when seventeen-year-old podcaster Dare takes an internship in a haunted house and finds herself in a life-or-death struggle against an evil spirit.

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee
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Two intrepid girls hunt for a legendary treasure on the deadly high seas in this YA remix of the classic adventure novel Treasure Island.

Tides of Mutiny by Rebecca Rode
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In a world where female sailors are executed, sixteen-year-old Lane’s dream of being a ship’s captain seems impossible. Sea life is all she knows, and she wouldn’t give it up for anything, even if it means she has to hide as a captain’s boy to avoid being killed. But Lane’s carefully constructed world begins to crumble when an old pirate enemy comes after her father. And she begins hearing rumours that her father was once a pirate as well.

The Corpse Queen by Heather Herrman
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In this dark and twisty feminist historical thriller, a teenage girl starts a new life as a grave robber but quickly becomes entangled in a murderer’s plans.

Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson
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The Prestige meets What If It’s Us in Before We Disappear, a queer ahistorical fantasy set during the 1909 Seattle Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, where the two assistants of two ambitious magicians find themselves falling in love amidst a bitter rivalry designed to tear them apart.

The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider
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Channelling the modern humour of A Knight’s Tale , bestselling author Robyn Schneider creates a Camelot that becomes the ultimate teen rom-com hotspot in this ultra-fresh take on the Arthurian legend.

The Jasmine Project by Meredith Ireland
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Jenny Han meets The Bachelorette in this effervescent romantic comedy about a teen Korean American adoptee who unwittingly finds herself at the centre of a competition for her heart, as orchestrated by her overbearing, loving family.

The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl
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Sonia Hartl’s The Lost Girls is laced with dark humour and queer love; it’s John Tucker Must Die with a feminist girl gang of vampires.

Idol Gossip by Alexandra Leigh Young
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

An inside look at the K-pop phenomenon, in a wry, punchy young-adult debut that probes cultural differences, sisterhood, and the minefield of fame.

Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone
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A lush gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.

We Can Be Heroes by Kyrie McCauley
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Kyrie McCauley, author of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award winner If These Wings Could Fly, delivers a powerful contemporary YA novel about the lasting bonds of friendship and three girls fighting for each other in the aftermath of a school shooting. Perfect for fans of Laura Ruby and Mindy McGinnis.

What YA books are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post September 2021 YA Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

There’s something about the dark—the unknown, the possibilities in the shadows. It’s thrilling, alluring, and makes an atmospheric backdrop for page turners. When Horace Walpole released what’s considered the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, in 1764, he proclaimed that he was attempting to blend two kinds of romance, the ancient and the modern. What does that mean? In my understanding, he wanted to give readers an entry point into the gothic through both romantic relationships and familial ones.

I love that, and it’s an ongoing tradition. While the definition of “gothic novel” may have changed and expanded over the years, these 2021 YA fantasy reads draw readers in with a few enduring gothic features—their dark, twisty settings, hauntings, the unknown, and relationships with a lot of heart.

SING ME FORGOTTEN by Jessica Olson (March 9, 2021)

This spellbinding retelling of The Phantom of the Opera gives us a perfectly dark heroine, Isda, and a love interest sweet enough to eat up. Isda is stuck in the opera house, isolated in its shadows, and when she meets Emeric, she sees a way out.

With a morally grey female main character and a heartfelt romantic relationship that feels so real in all its imperfections (and one that will realllly make you want some caramels), Olson delivers on the gothic elements we’ve come to expect with exciting new twists.

LAKESEDGE by Lyndall Clipstone (September 28, 2021)

A dark mansion, a brooding young man, the lord of the underworld—what else could you want in a gothic fantasy? Well, Clipstone has even more in store with a dedicated brother-sister relationship that will make you fall in love with both our main character Leta and her brother Arien.

I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy, and with both sizzling romance and strong sibling bonds, Lakesedge nails both of these gothic expectations. Inject this one in my veins, stat.

DOWN COMES THE NIGHT by Allison Saft (March 2, 2021)

A snow-drenched crumbling mansion sets the scene in Saft’s debut, and it’s the stage for an enemy-to-lovers romance between the main character, Wren and the love interest, Hal. Wren’s a healer called on to treat her enemy, but they both discover there’s something bigger at play than their animosity.

Saft paints the setting in the soft-blue, muted tones of a dark, frozen landscape but the romance is all heat.

A DARK AND STARLESS FOREST by Sarah Hollowell (Sept. 14, 2021)

A dark, spooky forest is a cornerstone in gothic fiction and this book looks like it has acres of it. According to the blurb, the main character, Derry, must confront the darkness in the forest and the darkness within herself when her siblings start to go missing—confronting the darkness within is one of my favourite gothic elements.

With a found family of 9 sisters and what sounds like it’s sure to be a twisty mystery, this is one of my most anticipated gothic reads of the year.

WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS by Lauren Blackwood (Nov, 9, 2021)

Another advanced copy I was so fortunate to read, because people—this one exudes gothic atmosphere. In an old mansion in the middle of the desert, Andromeda goes to work as an exorcist hired to expel the evil eye from the house. The premise is incredible and I loved, loved, loved the way Blackwood wove Ethiopian culture into both the setting and Andromeda’s work.

This is a book with visual thrills—think bleeding rooms and spider-infested cupboards—and a romance that kindles between the walls of a creepy library and the haunted estate. Within these Wicked Walls manages to make us thrill us with both the romance and the mystery in its pages.

SMALL FAVORS by Erin. A. Craig (July 27, 2021)

Another of my most anticipated 2021 releases, Craig’s sophomore novel has been compared to M. Night Shyamalan’s movie, The Village and I am *here* for that kind of claustrophobic atmosphere in a gothic novel. Add in mysterious disappearances, a quest to save both family and a love interest, and a monster in the woods and it sounds like we’re in for a dark treat.

STALKING SHADOWS by Cyla Panin (yep, that’s me!) (Sept. 14, 2021)

Stalking Shadows is a feminist, gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, where Marie must select her sister’s victims to protect her, but when a child turns up dead she’s forced to break the curse or face who’s really become a monster. 

Okay, so that’s the pitch. Let me tell you about the heart. I wanted this book to focus on sibling relationships, particularly the nearly-unshakeable bond that can be born of shared trauma. There’s also a thread of romantic love because hey, that’s fun. Oh yeah, there’s also a creaking mansion, dark forest, brooding lord. Gothic elements—check, check, and check.

The post It’s Getting Dark In Here—7 Gothic and Dark Fantasies With Heart appeared first on The Nerd Daily.