We are now about half way through April and this is generally around the time in which I like to talk about my most anticipated books that will be coming out next month! There are actually quite a few books coming out in May 2015 that I would love to get my hands on!

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Undertow 

Author: Michael Buckley

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Release Date: May 5th 2015

Page Count: 384

ISBN: 9780544348257

Goodreads Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker’s life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a five-nation race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world’s initial wonder and awe over the Alpha quickly turns ugly and paranoid and violent, and Lyric’s small town transforms into a military zone with humans on one side and Alpha on the other. When Lyric is recruited to help the crown prince, a boy named Fathom, assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, and there are forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Only, what if the Alpha are not actually the enemy? What if they are in fact humanity’s only hope of survival? Because the real enemy is coming. And it’s more terrifying than anything the world has ever seen.

Why I’m excited: I actually had the chance to read an early preview/excerpt from this book and it had me very intrigued. I’m usually not too big on sci-fi and fantasy but I am trying to find a few books to help ease me in to the genre.

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The Wrath and the Dawn 

Author: Renee Ahdieh

Publisher: Puntam Juvenile

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Release Date: May 12th 2015

Page Count: 388

ISBN: 9780399171611

Goodreads Synopsis: A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights. Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

Why I’m excited: I also had the chance to read an early excerpt from this novel as well. There is quite a bit of hype surrounding this book and that was enough to get me excited, and the excerpt sealed the deal. Once again, it’s another fantasy which is a genre I would really like to explore some more.

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Never Never: Part 2 

Author: Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Publisher: N/A

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal

Release Date: May 17th 2015

Page Count: N/A

ISBN: 9781311051158

Goodreads Synopsis: N/A

Why I’m excited: I read Never Never: Part 1 after the incredible amount of hype surrounding it earlier this year. It ended with an insane cliffhanger and I think I speak for everyone who has read it when I say, I need to know what happens RIGHT NOW.

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Made You Up

Author: Francesca Zappia

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mental Health

Release Date: May 19th 2015

Page Count: 448

ISBN: 9780062290106

Goodreads Synopsis: Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn’t she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal. Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

Why I’m excited: This seems very unique and creative. Judging by the description, it seems as though both the narrator and the reader are unable to tell the difference between reality and fiction. Also, the synopsis implies that fans of Wes Anderson will enjoy this story, and I am definitely a fan of Wes Anderson. This also seems kind of similar to Mosquitoland, a book I read earlier this year that I fell in love with, in the way that the main character behaves.

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Hold Me Like A Breath

Author: Tiffany Schmidt

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Thriller

Release Date: May 19th 2015

Page Count: 400

ISBN: 9780802737823

Goodreads Synopsis: Penelope Landlow has grown up with the knowledge that almost anything can be bought or sold—including body parts. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families that control the black market for organ transplants. Penelope’s surrounded by all the suffocating privilege and protection her family can provide, but they can’t protect her from the autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise so easily. And in her family’s line of work no one can be safe forever. All Penelope has ever wanted is freedom and independence. But when she’s caught in the crossfire as rival families scramble for prominence, she learns that her wishes come with casualties, that betrayal hurts worse than bruises, that love is a risk worth taking . . . and maybe she’s not as fragile as everyone thinks.

Why I’m excited: I mean, the synopsis had me at “selling body parts” and “rivalling crime  families”. I love dark and twisted, as crazy as that makes me sound, and this book synopsis sounds perfect for my tastes.

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Anything Could Happen

Author: Will Walton

Publisher: Push

Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQ, Contemporary

Release Date: May 26th 2015

Page Count: 288

ISBN: 9780545709545

Goodreads Synopsis: When you’re in love with the wrong person for the right reasons, anything could happen. Tretch lives in a very small town where everybody’s in everybody else’s business. Which makes it hard for him to be in love with his straight best friend. For his part, Matt is completely oblivious to the way Tretch feels – and Tretch can’t tell whether that makes it better or worse. The problem with living a lie is that the lie can slowly become your life. For Tretch, the problem isn’t just with Matt. His family has no idea who he really is and what he’s really thinking. The girl at the local bookstore has no clue how off-base her crush on him is. And the guy at school who’s a thorn in Tretch’s side doesn’t realize how close to the truth he’s hitting. Tretch has spent a lot of time dancing alone in his room, but now he’s got to step outside his comfort zone and into the wider world. Because like love, a true self can rarely be contained. ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN is a poignant, hard-hitting exploration of love and friendship, a provocative debut that shows that sometimes we have to let things fall apart before we can make them whole again.

Why I’m excited: I really really hope that this book doesn’t end in a happily ever after cliche. I know that sounds awful to say, but there are too many LGBTQ stories that revolve around a gay character falling in love with his “straight” best friend only to find out that he in fact was actually also gay this whole time. I just want to find a story that is a little more realistic. The synopsis talks about exploring friendship and I just hope that this story takes a different route than all the cliches before it.

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Nowhere But Here

Author: Katie McGarry

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Release Date: May 26th 2015

Page Count: 496

ISBN: 9780373211425

Goodreads Synopsis: An unforgettable new series from acclaimed author Katie McGarry about taking risks, opening your heart and ending up in a place you never imagined possible. Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she’s curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn’t mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both. Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They’re the good guys. They protect people. They’re…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club’s most respected member—is in town, he’s gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it’s his shot at his dream. What he doesn’t count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down. No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.

Why I’m excited: After Sons of Anarchy ended, I am in deep withdrawal mode. I actually also read an excerpt from this novel as well and it just felt so Sons of Anarchy. The chapter I read didn’t deal with any romance though, so I’m sure that will feel a bit different from the show, but honestly I just need another motorcycle club/family to follow.

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Extraordinary Means

Author: Robyn Schneider

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Release Date: May 26th 2015

Page Count: 336

ISBN: 9780062217165

Goodreads Synopsis: From the author of The Beginning of Everything: two teens with a deadly disease fall in love on the brink of a cure. At seventeen, overachieving Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it’s easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French. There, Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times. But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down. Told in alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.

Why I’m excited: This sounds very interesting. I love a good YA Contemporary, but I’m starting to read a lot more of them lately and it’s always refreshing to find one that stands out. I also love alternating points of view so I’m really excited about that, especially because the characters seem so different from one another.

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Wow, so I’m excited about way more books coming out in May than I was excited about in April. I probably won’t be able to purchase + read all of these titles in the month of May, but I am really excited about all of them nonetheless.