Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I’m Looking Forward to for the First Half of 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic for bloggers to choose and list their top ten. This week’s theme is Top Ten Books I’m Looking Forward to for the First Half of 2017.

There are so many amazing books being released next year. Some of my favourite series, favourite duologies, are coming to an end and I can’t wait to see how things tie up for my favourite characters. Not to mention there are some beyond amazing debut novels being released which I have been so excited for since they were announced. This list could have gone on forever, I had more than ten books I could have picked but I kept it to the best of the best.

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Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
Release Date: 3^rd January 2017

As far as time travel books go Passenger was one of the best I’ve read, and one of my favourite reads of 2016. There are a few mixed reviews out there but personally I loved it, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the second, and last book, of the duology.

All Etta Spencer wanted was to make her violin debut when she was thrust into a treacherous world where the struggle for power could alter history. After losing the one thing that would have allowed her to protect the Timeline, and the one person worth fighting for, Etta awakens alone in an unknown place and time, exposed to the threat of the two groups who would rather see her dead than succeed. When help arrives, it comes from the last person Etta ever expected—Julian Ironwood, the Grand Master’s heir who has long been presumed dead, and whose dangerous alliance with a man from Etta’s past could put them both at risk. 

Meanwhile, Nicholas and Sophia are racing through time in order to locate Etta and the missing astrolabe with Ironwood travellers hot on their trail. They cross paths with a mercenary-for-hire, a cheeky girl named Li Min who quickly develops a flirtation with Sophia. But as the three of them attempt to evade their pursuers, Nicholas soon realizes that one of his companions may have ulterior motives. 

As Etta and Nicholas fight to make their way back to one another, from Imperial Russia to the Vatican catacombs, time is rapidly shifting and changing into something unrecognizable…and might just run out on both of them.

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By Your Side by Kasie West
Release Date: 31^st January 2017

I binge read all of Kasie West’s YA contemporary books and she has now become a favourite author of mine. There are two new releases from her next year but I think I am more excited for By Your Side than Lucky in Love, I’m definitely interested in the concept of two characters being trapped in a library overnight.

In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favourite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumours about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

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Wires and Nerves, Volume 1 by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: 31^st January 2017

When it comes to favourite series of mine The Lunar Chronicles is one of the ones at the top. I have read everything Marissa Meyer has released to date and now I am eagerly awaiting the release of this book. I’m so excited to see more from Iko and the rest of the Rampion crew.

In her first graphic novel, #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller Marissa Meyer follows Iko, the beloved android from the Lunar Chronicles, on a dangerous and romantic new adventure—with a little help from Cinder and the Lunar team.

In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new, action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold. When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers’ leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.

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A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
Release Date: 28^th February 2017

Chances are everyone who follows me knows how much I love this series and how badly I need this book right now. After the ending to A Gathering of Shadows I have been desperate to find out what happens to Kell, Lila and Rhy. A year is too long to wait, and February still seems so far away.

The battle between four magical London’s comes to a head in this stunning finale to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Magic trilogy by rising star V. E. Schwab

London’s fall and kingdoms rise while darkness sweeps the Maresh Empire—and the fraught balance of magic blossoms into dangerous territory while heroes and foes struggle alike. The direct sequel to A Gathering of Shadows, and the final book in the Shades of Magic epic fantasy series, A Conjuring of Light sees Schwab reach a thrilling culmination concerning the fate of beloved protagonists—and old enemies.

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The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig
Release Date: 28^th February 2017

Another amazing time travel duology that became a favourite read of mine in 2016. The concept behind the way Nix and her father travelled was so unique and well written, and it came together with the characters to create an unforgettable story. I’m sure The Ship Beyond Time will be just as amazing.

The breathtaking sequel to the acclaimed The Girl from Everywhere. Nix has escaped her past, but when the person she loves most is at risk, even the daughter of a time traveller may not be able to outrun her fate—no matter where she goes. Fans of Rae Carson, Alexandra Bracken, and Outlander will fall hard for Heidi Heilig’s sweeping fantasy.

Nix has spent her whole life journeying to places both real and imagined aboard her time-travelling father’s ship. And now it’s finally time for her to take the helm. Her father has given up his obsession to save her mother – and possibly erase Nix’s existence – and Nix’s future lies bright before her. Until she learns that she is destined to lose the one she loves. But her relationship with Kash – best friend, thief, charmer extraordinaire – is only just beginning. How can she bear to lose him? How can she bear to become as adrift and alone as her father? 

Desperate to change her fate, Nix takes her crew to a mythical utopia to meet another Navigator who promises to teach her how to manipulate time. But everything in this utopia is constantly changing, and nothing is what it seems—not even her relationship with Kash. Nix must grapple with whether anyone can escape her destiny, her history, her choices. Heidi Heilig weaves fantasy, history, and romance together to tackle questions of free will, fate, and what it means to love another person. But at the centre of this adventure are the extraordinary, multifaceted, and multicultural characters that leap off the page, and an intricate, recognizable world that has no bounds. The sequel – and conclusion – to the indie darling The Girl from Everywhere will be devoured by fans of Rachel Hartman and Maggie Stiefvater. Includes black-and-white maps.

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The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon
Release Date: 7^th March 2017

The Bone Season is an all-time favourite series of mine; the two books that have been released are amazing, and I have high hopes for the third and the rest of the series as well. There is so much I want to see happening, so much I think will happen, and so much I think will end up breaking my heart.

Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London’s criminal population.

But, having turned her back on Jaxon Hall and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilizing the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know it…

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Hunted by Meagan Spooner
Release Date: 14^th March 2017

I’ve never read a book by Meagan Spooner on her own before, but I loved her Starbound series which was written with Amie Kaufman so I have high hopes for Hunted. Plus it’s a fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast so I feel like I’m bound to love it.

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them. 

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance. 

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

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Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Release Date: 28^th March 2017

Laini Taylor’s first series was incredible, so I have been eagerly awaiting her releasing a new book ever since I finished Dreams of Gods and Monsters. Strange the Dreamer already has so much hype surrounding it but as it’s being written by Laini Taylor I know it’s going to live up to it.

A new epic fantasy by National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? and if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage.

Welcome to Weep.

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A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
Release Date: 28^th March 2017

The Star-Touched Queen is one of my top reads of 2016, everything about this book was beautiful; the writing, the character’s the world-building. I thought it was a standalone so when it was announced there was a companion novel being released it jumped to the top of my to-read list.

Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighbouring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes—a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor.

Reaching the tournament is just the beginning. Once they arrive, danger takes on new shapes: poisonous courtesans and mischievous story birds, a feast of fears and twisted fairy revels.

Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength. But what Gauri and Vikram will soon discover is that there’s nothing more dangerous than what they most desire.

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Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab
Release Date: 13^th June 2017

I feel the fact that there are two books by V.E. Schwab on my list this week just goes to show how much I love her work. While This Savage Song isn’t my favourite of her book, that honour goes to the Shades of Magic series, it was still a great read and I am still so excited to get my hands on this one.

Kate Harker is a girl who isn’t afraid of the dark. She’s a girl who hunts monsters. And she’s good at it. August Flynn is a monster who can never be human, no matter how much he once yearned for it. He’s a monster with a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost.

Nearly six months after Kate and August were first thrown together, the war between the monsters and the humans is terrifying reality. In Verity, August has become the leader he never wished to be, and in Prosperity, Kate has become the ruthless hunter she knew she could be. When a new monster emerges from the shadows – one who feeds on chaos and brings out its victim’s inner demons – it lures Kate home, where she finds more than she bargained for. She’ll face a monster she thought she killed, a boy she thought she knew, and a demon all her own.

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So what do you think? Did you take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, if so let me know who some of your new favourite authors whose work you read for the first time in 2016 are.