Margaret Rogerson Announces ‘Sorcery Of Thorns’ Novella Releasing In 2023

On June 13, Margaret Rogerson revealed through her Instagram that the NYT Bestselling 2019 standalone YA fantasy standalone novel Sorcery Of Thorns would be receiving a follow-up novella slated for a January 2023 release with Simon Teen titled The Mysteries Of Thorn Manor.

According to her post, the story will take place “two months after” the epilogue in Sorcery Of Thorns and is pitched as “a lighthearted, romantic comfort-read mystery that reveals previously untold secrets about the world and characters.” The book is planned to be released as a hardcover.

As for what inspired the novella Rogerson stated ” The truth is that I was in a dark place after Covid isolation and lost a lot of confidence in my writing. I decided to try this as a way to help rediscover my love of writing, and hopefully bring some comfort and happiness to my readers, too, since many of you have asked for some extra content like this…”

Rogerson also revealed that Charlie Bowater will return to design the cover. No additional news yet as to other translations for the title.

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

The Mysteries Of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson is set to be released January 17, 2023!

‘Foul Lady Fortune’ by Chloe Gong Cover Reveal

On January 20, a People Exclusive revealed the cover to Chloe Gong’s forthcoming 2022 spinoff to her New York Times Bestseller These Violent Delights titled, Foul Lady Fortune.

Following a familiar character from the completed duology, Foul Lady Fortune will center around Rosalind “who serves as a Nationalist spy in 1931 Shanghai in a captivating retelling of Shakespeare’s As You Like It,” according to the article.

“Even before I finished writing my debut, the seeds of this spin-off were taking root. Rosalind was a character who had such a compelling background, who made terrible mistakes that I wanted to explore, but she remained in the background because it wasn’t her story. Now she gets her time in the spotlight: to fall in love (and be loved back!), to fight for what she believes in, and I’m so proud of how she shines,” Gong shared in a statement with PEOPLE.

Foul Lady Fortune, which will also be a duology, is going to follow the vein of “Romance and Shakespearean drama” as established in Gong’s previous novels.

According to Gong’s tweet, there will be a “7-person cast” with POV narrators including Celia Lang and Alisa Montagova.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the first book in a captivating new duology following an ill-matched pair of spies posing as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders in 1930s Shanghai.

It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption from her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.

Code name: Fortune.

But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.

To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong is set to be released September 27, 2022!

These Violent Delights Sequel Title Reveal by Chloe Gong

As of January 13, Chloe Gong, New York Times Bestselling author of These Violent Delights announced the sequel title through a Twitter video which revealed Our Violent Ends.

The video, at only 24 seconds long, features a black screen with white flower motifs stating, “These Violent Delights have Violent Ends….” leading into the full title Our Violent Ends.

Gong’s historical fantasy debut is an imaginative Romeo & Juliet retelling set in Shanghai during the 1920’s. It follows former flapper Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov, her first love and betrayal. Cai is part of a criminal network above the law and Montagov is part of the rival gang, the White Flowers. However when danger arises, the two must work together before the city comes crumbling down.

Cover artist is Billelis. These Violent Delights was an instant NYT Bestseller, received over 4 starred reviews, and was even a Barnes & Noble Top 10 Best YA Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2020 pick.

Our Violent Ends is set to be released November 16, 2021.

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong is out now!

5 Young Adult Mystery Books For Your 2019 TBR!

Who doesn’t love a good mystery book that sends a chill down down your spine or that keeps you guessing until the very end?

Today on The Booked Shelf I’m recommending 5 YA Mystery novels that have released or are soon to-be released in 2019!

1. Spin by Lamar Giles

Sixteen-year-old Paris Secord’s (aka DJ ParSec) career–and life–has come to an untimely end, and the local music scene is reeling. No one is feeling the pain more than her shunned pre-fame best friend, Kya, and Paris’s chief groupie, Fuse. But suspicion trumps grief, and since each suspects the other of Paris’s murder, they’re locked in a high-stakes game of public accusations and sabotage.

Everyone in the ParSec Nation (DJ ParSec’s local media base)–including the killer–is content to watch it play out, until Kya and Fuse discover a secret: Paris was on the verge of major deal that would’ve catapulted her to superstar status on a national level, leaving her old life (and old friends) behind. With the new info comes new motives. New suspects. And a fandom that shows its deadly side. As Kya and Fuse come closer to the twisted truth, the killer’s no longer amused. But murdering Paris was simple enough, so getting rid of her nobody-friends shouldn’t be an issue… 

2. Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal

Five friends cursed.

Five deadly fates.

Five nights of retribución.

If Lupe Dávila and Javier Utierre can survive each other’s company, together they can solve a series of grisly murders sweeping though Puerto Rico. But the clues lead them out of the real world and into the realm of myths and legends. And if they want to catch the killer, they’ll have to step into the shadows to see what’s lurking there—murderer, or monster?

3.  The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu

Remy Tsai used to know how her story would turn out. But now, she doesn’t even know what tomorrow will look like.

She was happy once. Remy had her boyfriend Jack, and Elise, her best friend—her soulmate—who understood her better than anyone else in the world.

But now Jack is dead, shot through the chest—

And it was Elise who pulled the trigger.

Was it self-defense? Or something deeper, darker than anything Remy could have imagined? As the police investigate, Remy does the same, sifting through her own memories, looking for a scrap of truth that could save the friendship that means everything to her.

4. The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi—a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother—it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls.

Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house—despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s ten students is missing, and when students and teachers alike begin to behave as if possessed, the forces haunting this unholy cliff will no longer be ignored.

One of these spirits holds a secret that could unravel Mavi’s existence. In order to survive she must solve a cosmic mystery—and then fight for her life.

5. Songs From The Deep by Kelly Powell

The sea holds many secrets.

Moira Alexander has always been fascinated by the deadly sirens who lurk along the shores of her island town. Even though their haunting songs can lure anyone to a swift and watery grave, she gets as close to them as she can, playing her violin on the edge of the enchanted sea. When a young boy is found dead on the beach, the islanders assume that he’s one of the sirens’ victims. Moira isn’t so sure.

Certain that someone has framed the boy’s death as a siren attack, Moira convinces her childhood friend, the lighthouse keeper Jude Osric, to help her find the real killer, rekindling their friendship in the process. With townspeople itching to hunt the sirens down, and their own secrets threatening to unravel their fragile new alliance, Moira and Jude must race against time to stop the killer before it’s too late—for humans and sirens alike.