Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson, Seven by Joanna Kavenna, & Band on the Run by Robert O'Connell

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson

Publication: July 21st, 2026

Hanover Square Press

Hardcover. 448 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"The cozy fantasy of TJ Klune meets the creeping horror of T. Kingfisher in this magical novel about a man who enters a deadly enchanted forest expecting it to endanger his life, but not his heart...

Clockmaker Arthur Throckmorton lives a quiet life with his sister and her children, only dreaming of adventure. So when a wealthy client offers him a job that involves traversing Shiftleaf—an enchanted forest that claimed his father decades ago—he reluctantly accepts. The forest is treacherous, but the money will change his family’s lives.

The journey quickly turns perilous. Fleeing monstrous birds, Arthur stumbles upon a hidden vale where he meets the Lord of the Wood—a figure from his father’s many stories. Instead of the fairy prince Arthur always imagined, Ira is a morose man, slowly transforming into a beast, his power over a dying forest waning.

Arthur enjoys the safety of the vale, and Ira’s company. But he yearns for his family. To safely return home and rescue Ira from a cursed and lonely existence, Arthur and Ira must reach the heart of the wood to heal the forest. Except the farther they venture from the vale, the more beastly Ira becomes. If they can’t complete their mission before he turns completely, Arthur could lose the man he’s falling for—and never see his family again."

I recently got an ARC on NetGalley of this one and I'm so curious about it, it sounds like it'll be right up my alley.

Seven by Joanna Kavenna

Publication: July 14th, 2026

Faber & Faber

Hardcover. 320 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Timely and timeless, a literary quest novel about trying to stay hopeful in hopeless times.

"To surrender yourself to the revelations of life and then to come back with the assertions of prose: that is the new heroism of the woman writer, and Kavenna is in the vanguard of it."—Rachel Cusk

Who decides the rules of the games we play?

In August 2007, or thereabouts, a young philosopher leaves Oslo, heading for Greece, on a mission to find the head of the Society of Lost Things, Theodoros Apostolakis. Fortunately Apostolakis isn’t lost but everything else is: ancient libraries, entire civilisations, priceless books and a beautiful ancient box, once used to play the world-famous game of Seven. The hunt for this small thing, among the countless lost things, becomes an absurdist quest through time and space: from the earliest human societies to the advent of AI.

Told, shared and mythologised by our narrator, along with a wild cast of dreamers, philosophers, poets, rebels and optimists, Seven is an extraordinary, uplifting journey through an ever darkening world."

I have no idea what to expect from this, but it sounds really interesting and I'm so curious!

Band on the Run: Xenophon and the First Great Mercenary Army's Epic Escape from Persia by Robert O'Connell

Publication: July 28th, 2026

Simon & Schuster

Hardcover. 256 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"A riveting retelling of one of the great adventure stories of antiquity—when Greek philosopher-warrior Xenophon led a stranded band of the “Ten Thousand” mercenary soldiers on a treacherous escape from the Persians.

400 BC. The Persian prince Cyrus the Younger hires an army of Greek soldiers to oust his brother from the Persian throne. But when Cyrus dies in battle during the army’s trek through the middle east, the army is stranded deep in enemy territory.

Led by Xenophon, a young Athenian philosopher turned solider, the Ten Thousand fought their way home through deserts and mountains, snowstorms, starvation, and relentless attacks, evolving into one of the most fearsome forces of the ancient world. Their journey, chronicled in Xenophon’s Anabasis, is one of history’s greatest military stories.

In Band on the Run, Robert O’Connell not only gives us an exciting and witty retelling of this story, but he has done so with a wise contemporary spin. For in his estimation, this was the battle that established the use of powerful mercenary forces. The attempted conquest of the Ten Thousand begins a historical line through Western history of the use of mercenary armies that has lasted up to our present day. And, as O’Connell shows, much misery and tragedy in human history has been due to this trajectory. This is a brilliant revisionist history with important lessons for our time."

The Classicist in me is so excited about this one!

Review: The Wreck of the Mentor by Eric Jay Dolin

The Wreck of the Mentor by Eric Jay Dolin
Liveright

Publication Date: June 2nd, 2026
Hardcover. 272 pages.

About  The Wreck of the Mentor:

"An astonishing true story—one of the most gripping maritime sagas of the nineteenth century—told by our era’s “expert literary steersman” (Washington Post).

From the best–selling author of Black Flags, Blue Waters comes the story of the American whaleship Mentor, wrecked in 1832 on a remote reef in the western Pacific. With supplies dwindling, the eleven surviving crewmen face not only the miseries of shipwreck in unfamiliar territory but also the profound uncertainty of contact with the Indigenous people of the Micronesian archipelago of Palau, who within days approach the deserted men brandishing axes, clubs, and spears. In this gripping saga of cultural collision, tribal wars, and dashed hopes, award–winning historian Eric Jay Dolin vividly reconstructs the Mentor’s doomed voyage, the years of perilous captivity, and the delicate negotiations and fraught naval rescue mission that followed.

Illustrated by more than 100 images and maps, The Wreck of the Mentor is at once a powerful story of survival and a revealing window into the great Age of Sail?a time when maritime ambition collided with local sovereignty, and when the outcome of one voyage rippled across oceans and empires."

If you've followed my reviews for any length of time, you'll probably be aware that I have a bit of an obsession for any nonfiction about shipwrecks or survival stories, so naturally when I saw The Wreck of the Mentor was coming out and also available on NetGalley, I had to immediately request it. 

One thing that I think is helpful to know about this book is that it doesn't focus solely on the wreck of the Mentor itself. Rather, it uses the Mentor's wreck as a jumping-off point for a much broader history of the Western Pacific island regions, as well as the various interactions and relationships between the native indigenous peoples that inhabit those islands and the Englishmen, Americans, and other foreigners who arrived on their shores. In many ways, this book is less a shipwreck narrative and more a history of Palau and the surrounding region during a period of increasing contact with foreign nations, which was a positive for me, though I can see others maybe wanting more of the shipwreck. I especially enjoyed learning about the customs, social structures, and daily lives of the people who inhabited these islands. It felt incredibly informative without losing sight of the fact that these were real human people and stories at the heart of everything going on.

One of the most interesting aspects of this book was learning about the many different communities that inhabited the islands of the Western pacific and how varied their interactions with foreign visitors could be. Some were welcoming, some cautious, and some wanted absolutely nothing to do with the foreigners. What I liked was that Dolin really took the time to explain the reasoning for any of these reactions. For example, a previous ship may have cheated them, harmed them, or otherwise left a bad impression, so of course they weren't going to be thrilled to see another group arrive and welcome them with open, trusting arms. Conversely, some communities really benefited from trade or had very positive relationships that developed, so they were often much more open to visitors. One particularly interesting example involved natives who were initially a bit hostile towards the Mentor castaways because they thought they were English, whom they had a bad past experience with, but once they learned that the Mentor was in fact American, they were much more receptive and open to them. 

I also appreciated getting a glimpse into the various islands and their inhabitants. The book explored how they interacted, competed, formed alliances, and went to war with one another. For instance, after the Mentor wrecked, different groups sought to secure access to Captain Barnard of the Mentor and his supplies. The natives wanted to keep them there and promised to build them a boat to return home in exchange for supplies, while the Koror peoples from a different area sent messengers to attempt to persuade Barnard to join them instead and help them build their return ship in exchange for access to their resources. Barnard's loyalty was really just to returning home, so his loyalty was very much swayed by who he felt could successfully build that return ship, which led to an atmosphere that often felt a bit tense and suspicious from everyone involved. From this account and many others like it, it really became clear that diplomacy, trade relationships, and a huge amount of distrust and suspicion played incredibly important roles in shaping what occurred.

Something that also intrigued me was how many of the castaways chose to remain on the islands and live a different life away from their home country. As a result, these people often became translators or intermediaries of sorts for future foreign visitors and castaways, which was an interesting dynamic to explore. Likewise, some of the indigenous peoples would send some sons or daughters abroad with the castaways as they returned home to learn more about foreign cultures and customs. I found this cultural exchange really interesting and complex, and it was fascinating to hear about the different experiences. At the same time, there were also some less than ideal situations for some of the castaways, as for instance some of the Mentor survivors who were inadvertently left behind were effectively held hostage and treated quite poorly (which is a bit of an understatement) by the indigenous peoples. 

The research is easily the strongest aspect of this book. It's incredibly through and detailed, and you will come away from this having learned about a huge variety of other ships and wrecks that passed through this region and the different trials and experiences they underwent. I especially appreciated the extensive footnotes, which not only provided additional commentary or explanation on something mentioned in the text, but also provided a variety of additional resources for the information itself. I've also been a sucker for footnotes, so I appreciated how well these were done. 

I also loved the abundance of photos and images included throughout the book. While many nonfiction books do already often include some photographs, usually clustered in some center sections of the book, I am someone who loves a visual of what's being discussed, so I always welcome more. In The Wreck of the Mentor, there were drawings and images throughout the depicted anything from weapons and tools discussed to island landscape, depictions of figures discussed (often with a note on their accuracy of portrayal, which I appreciated), or even some depictions of the ships themselves. I found these really helped bring the history to life for me and helped me really visualize the people, places, and events described. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this well-researched and fascinating read, and I really came away feeling like I learned much more about Palau and the Western Pacific region than I anticipated, and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. It you're looking for a more straightforward shipwreck story, then I might point you in the direction of some other readers since the scope of this book actually feels quite a bit broader than that, but if you're at all interested in maritime history, cultural encounters, and history, then I think you'll have a great time with this one.

*I received a copy of The Wreck of the Mentor courtesy of the publisherr in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Anticipated June 2026 Releases

   

Somehow it's June, and rather than spend time wondering (as always) how time goes by quickly, let's just take a look at some of the many new releases that will be gracing the shelves in June! 

Be sure to let me know which June releases you're most looking forward to (even if it's not listed below) and happy reading, everyone!

Six Savage Thrones by Holly Race || June 16th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Tinder Box by M.R. Carey || June 23rd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Children by Melissa Albert || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

What Came West by Josh Weil || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Headlights by CJ Leede || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Hunger & Thirst by Claire Fuller || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Door in Penrose Forest by Sean David Robinson || June 23rd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Heart of the Nhaga by Lee Young-do || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Wreck of the Mentor by Eric Jay Dolin || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay || June 30th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein || June 23rd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Reimagining of Thornwood House by Jaleigh Johnson || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Traveler by Joseph Eckert || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Game of Oaths by S.C. Bandreddi || June 2nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Lightning Beneath the Sea: The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age by James M. Tabor || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Summer Fun Massacre by Craig DiLouie || June 16th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Endless Blue Beneath by Shannon English || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Nymph by Sofia Montrone || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus || June 24th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Summerwork by Carrie Mesrobian || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The American School of Spies by Stephan Talty || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris by Andrea Wulf || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Contrapposto by Dave Eggers || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America's Future by Fergus M. Bordewich || June 9th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

What are your anticipated June releases?

Review: Love Shots by Travis M. Riddle

Love Shots by Travis M. Riddle
Independently Published

Publication Date: May 29th, 2026
Ebook. 487 pages.

About Love Shots:

"They're dying for a chance at love.

America’s #1 dating show, Love Shots, gathers young, sexy singles in a tropical villa to compete in cheeky challenges, find love, and win a huge cash prize—with no small amount of drama. 

Things go off-script when a recently ejected competitor reappears in the villa. But she isn't the girl the cast remembers... Something is deeply, horribly wrong with her, and she’s not the only danger lurking in paradise. 

These 20-year-old influencers must fight to survive against a security team they believed was there to protect them, an onslaught of terror they can barely comprehend, and producers who have a decidedly sinister finale in mind, all while desperately trying to escape an isolated island. 

But what chance do they have when hundreds of cameras are aimed at them, watching their every move?

Love Island meets Jurassic Park in this twisted, thrilling satire from the author of Carapace and The Narrows."

If you love dating show and horror/thrillers, then this is going to be your new perfect match made in heaven... or maybe hell? It's a satire that Riddle pitched to me as "Love Island meets Jurassic Park" and honestly, that's a very apt description. Last year, I read Riddle's previous release while traveling, and this year I had another trip coming up so I figured, why not make it a tradition and read a Travis M. Riddle book while traveling again? And what a good idea that was, because this book kept me absolutely hooked.

Love Shots is inspired by the popular TV show with a very similar name, and if you are familiar with that show then you'll find yourself very familiar the general format and workings of the show portrayed in this book. We've got beautiful people in a beautiful setting... and yet, somehow, it ends up being a bit of a nightmare. 

The story sets out fairly normally in the middle of a current season of the show, Love Shots, and we quickly get to know the many characters that are a part of it this time around. Riddle always puts a lot of time and development into his characters, so despite there being quite a large cast, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp of the main players due to the detailed introductions for each of them. Admittedly, I did mix up a few here and there, but no more than I usually would with a larger cast size. The relevant characters were are portrayed with layers and depth (though some may have had personalities that were, perhaps, slightly less naturally "deep" than others, but, you know...) and I liked getting to know all of them. Their backgrounds were all unique enough that I was engaged in learning about their personalities and how it affected their behavior on the show, and especially in seeing how they ended up reacting to different scenarios as the more intense events of the story unfolded. 

The narrative is split among many different POVs from the contestants, as well as glimpses behind the scenes from the producer, editors, and a few others working on the show. These behind the scenes POVs are where we really first start getting hints that things might not be quite what they seem. From the beginning, we don't know exactly what is going to be happening to these contestants, and I think Riddle's slow trickle of clues worked extremely well for building that tension and anticipation as we slowly learned more and more about the more sinister aspects of this production.

I was actually a little surprised by how much time the book spent letting us readers settle into the "normal" life of the villa before things really kick off, but I didn't mind it at all because it gave me more time to get to know the character and better understand the dynamics among them and their within their current relationships. I also shouldn't have been surprised because one of my favorite things about Riddle's writing is how it never feels rushed and he really takes his time to describe thing and set a scene, and this is exactly what it felt like was happening here--something that I still really appreciate about his writing.

Love Shots does a fantastic job with its exploration of reality dating shows themselves and just how manufactured they can be. How much editing is done to tell narratives that are perhaps the exact opposite of what's actually happening? How do producers make sure fans are shocked by something that wouldn't really be shocking if they knew the reality? How is the outcome ensured to be exactly what the producer wants? There's much manipulation behind the scenes of these shows in real life, and I loved how Riddle explored all of that in this book. It really highlights the predatory nature of the show in some very intense and literal ways that I found excellently and cleverly done.

I also appreciated the commentary on and highlighting of some larger societal issues that are found within these types of shows. For example, he touches on things like the heteronormativity of dating shows (I mean, when you think about it, isn't it actually quite wild how aggressively straight these shows are in how they act like nothing else exists?) as well as the unique pressures and expectations placed on men and women alike, especially in the influencer era of these shows.

Without going into too many details to avoid spoilers, once sh*t hits the fan, there's truly no going back. This book absolutely basks in its violence and body horror, and I think that will make it a huge hit for fans of the genre. Once the story crossed a certain point, it was incredibly action-heavy for the remainder of the novel. It basically felt like a constant spiral into chaos that left me feeling almost as overwhelmed as the contestants themselves. At first, it's almost so weird or unbelievable that skepticism feels warranted, but then suddenly you can't look away as pure havoc is unleashed. The shifting POVs worked especially well because each character experienced some different aspect of what happened, and this really allowed for more variety in the storytelling itself. This also, of course, only added to the feeling of confusion and panic. It's brutal, relentless, and showed very little (if any?) mercy to anyone.

The book also doesn't take itself too seriously, and the satire is evident throughout. While it stands on its own, there are plenty of absurd and darkly funny moments woven into the narrative that keep things lighter and entertaining--after all, it is a reality dating show. People are expected to be at least a little vain, shallow, dramatic, and entertaining, and some of the decisions made throughout the story are exactly the kind of behavior that reality TV thrives on.

One last note I wanted to make was that I don't usually read too many reviews for books before writing my own because I don't want to be accidentally influenced, and I very rarely see reviews for Riddle's before writing my own reviews (since in the past I read them too early for there to be many reviews yet), but this time I noticed a couple comments mentioning some oversexualization of the women in this book. I completely understand where those readers are come from, and if that's how the book made them feel then that's absolutely valid and I'd never argue that or tell them they're wrong to feel that way. That being said, for me, having read many of Riddle's works, I personally felt like this oversexualization was actually very intentional and done to reflect how much these shows (and society itself) oversexualizes women in these absurd, uncomfortable ways as well. It felt more self-aware than accidental, and I think my own interpretation of this to me highlighted how much these shows do stuff that is just as egregious as some of what is written, if not more. That doesn't mean everyone will enjoy it or feel comfortable even knowing that, but I felt it could be worthwhile to note why it didn't bother me as much, since it felt like the book knew what it was doing and was commenting on those attitudes rather than embracing them and enforcing them. 

While this wasn't my favorite of Riddle's work (and given how much I love so many of his books, that'd be a hard feat to accomplish!), it was still an absolute blast. I'd recommend this to fans of satire, thrillers, a little bit absurdity, and a hearty appreciation for some bloody moments.

*I received a copy of Love Shots courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Amazon

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Ghost-Eye by Amitav Ghosh, What Came West by Josh Weil, & The Children by Melissa Albert

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

Ghost-Eye by Amitav Ghosh

Publication: June 16th, 2026

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Hardcover. 336 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Magical realism meets 1960s India in a novel about a girl with mysterious powers—who might be able to access memories of a past life.

The Gupta household is in a state of three-year-old Varsha, beloved daughter of strictly vegetarian Hindu parents, has just demanded to be served fish. Moreover, she possesses an inexplicable knowledge of different species and preparations— knowledge that almost seems to have come from a past life.

Perplexed, the Guptas turn to Dr. Shoma Bose, a psychiatrist who lives with her husband, Monty, and nephew Dinu in Calcutta. Little do they know that Shoma has been investigating what she calls “cases of the reincarnation type” for years—and in Varsha, she may have found her next patient. Such cases, she believes, are much more common than people realize, and she sets out to prove that Varsha led a past life that her wealthy family can barely fathom—and that she might possess special powers, too.

Meanwhile, Dinu grows up oblivious to the research Shoma has been conducting in secret. Years later, while sorting through his late aunt’s possessions, he uncovers Varsha’s case file—and so begins a quest to track her down. If Varsha really is a “ghost-eye,” then her unique abilities could be what’s needed to thwart plans for a new coal plant that will destroy one of India’s last pristine wildernesses. Moving from 1970s Calcutta to our ecologically threatened present, Amitav Ghosh’s Ghost-Eye is a captivating work of magical realism for our time."

I first read an Amitav Ghosh novel as an assigned reading back in college, and I always meant to read more of his work. This sounds like it could be a great one to dive back in with!

What Came West by Josh Weil

Publication: June 2nd, 2026

Doubleday

Hardcover. 512 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Author of the New York Times Notable The Great Glass Sea (“The most unexpected second book by a writer of note to appear in years.” –John Freeman, Boston Globe) returns with a gripping adventure story that probes the expansive, shifting wilds of the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush.

Since childhood, Silas Hall has never been at ease with people. Only alone in nature, can he find peace. He is relentlessly bullied by classmates and even proximity to his own family fills him with dread. Still, despite his increasing isolation from others, he manages to forge a connection with Delia, a non-verbal housekeeper, and is surprised by the strength of the bond he feels with the child they come to share. But as his son, Elisha, grows up, even that closeness becomes more than Silas can bear. So, he leaves his family to travel west, journeying ever farther in search of a life in which he might belong.

Under the cover of the wilderness, Silas burrows deeper into seclusion. By late 1840, he is one of few white people to have crossed the Sierra Nevada, where he coexists with the native Nisenan villagers at a mutually wary distance. But this fragile peace is disrupted when the promises of the Gold Rush bring a sudden flood of other whites west, leading Silas to commit an act of violence that will drive the last chapter of his life and incur upon the world he loves the full wrath of the world he fled.

In interweaving parts, one a third-person account of Silas’s flight from the manhunt that pursues him and the other an epistolary narrative from Silas to his abandoned, What Came West confronts different forms of American the yearning for freedom and the grandeur of the wild, the corrupting nature of greed, the unforgiving ideals of Manifest Destiny, and the environmental destruction and genocide wrought upon native peoples living on the land that would become known as “Gold Country.”

What Came West is the story of a soul split after a defining moment and the ways in which one man tries to save himself and the world he loves as it vanishes beneath his feet."

Something about this one just really pulls me in, so I'm hoping I have a chance to pick it up next month!

The Children by Melissa Albert

Publication: June 2, 2026

William Morrow

Hardcover. 416 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"An intoxicating, haunting new novel from New York Times bestselling author Melissa Albert, in which the estranged adult children of a legendary author, written into their dead mother’s beloved fantasy series, contend with the vine-like creep of legacy, memory, and magic.

Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods.

In one, she lives in the wooded shadow of her family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of her mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where her magical adventures have made her a household name. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother’s readers imagine: she and her older brother are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the lichen-clotted woods they’ve made their playland. As Edith Sharpe’s books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame—until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith’s series unfinished and her children the sole survivors.

Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere’s childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she's spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s creative genius?

Wise to the mythic weight childhood memories gather over time, The Children whispers to you from the hallway outside your bedroom, lights flickering as you turn the pages of a book that didn't seem so scary a moment ago. It's a story for anyone who's ever revisited an old favorite and found it cast in a darker light, the line separating magic and memory blurring as the gap widens between the authors we imagined and the people they turn out to be."

I haven't read anything from Melissa Albert in years and I'm so intrigued by this premise. 

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Animal Room by Lauren Acampora, The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden, & It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

The Animal Room by Lauren Acampora

Publication: June 9th, 2026

Grove Press

Hardcover. 384 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"From the award-winning author of The Wonder Garden comes a set of linked stories spotlighting human-animal relations—and revealing the tensions that threaten to fracture a suburban New England community

Tensions simmer in small-town Connecticut. A city transplant is haunted by the deer carcass hanging in her neighbor’s garage. A psychiatric patient believes she’s becoming a bird. A disgraced oil executive invites his granddaughter’s kindergarten class to tour his home menagerie—what could go wrong? Rumors spread and fires burn in this second short story collection from award-winning author Lauren Acampora.

As in Acampora’s debut The Wonder Garden, The Animal Room delves deep into the town of Old Cranbury and its eclectic mix of residents. Incisive and moving, these stories chart the interconnected lives of neighbors, relatives, coworkers, enemies, lovers, and the animals around them, turning an unflinching eye to the natural world to shed light on human nature. Through its riveting ensemble, The Animal Room paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of contemporary American life that is strikingly unique."

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

Publication: June 2nd, 2026

Del Rey

Hardcover. 368 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest—and unknowingly alters the fate of her world—in this dazzling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.


“I loved every moment I spent in this magical, dangerous, and haunted realm in the company of its clever and captivating duchess.”—Naomi Novik, author of A Deadly Education

Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies.

But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany.

Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners.

The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination.

While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret.

Or so she thinks.

In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power."

It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

Publication: June 9th, 2026

Crooked Lane Books

Paperback. 288 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.

1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher, and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who, despite all the care they’ve given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.

When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy is convinced that Peter Pan, the entity that she believes killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.

When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all."

5/17-5/26 Blogging Break!

 I will be taking a quick break from May 17th-May 26th! I still have a scheduled Can't-Wait Wednesday post coming up for 5/20, but otherwise there won't be any posts during that time. But don't worry, I have some great reviews scheduled and coming up, so stay tuned! :)