The Most Anticipated Books of 2018
Emelie Mano ’20 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
The best way to start the new year is with a new book. 2018 is a big year for some of the most anticipated books in the reading community. Here are just a few releases that will have many readers hitting the shelves after their release dates.
Brave by Rose McGowan – January 30th
Due to the recent push for social justice regarding women in the entertainment industry, one of the best ways to spread awareness of such harassment is through the written word. Rose McGowan, most recognized for her role on Charmed as well as her recent involvement in the Harvey Weinstein scandal, does exactly this in her new memoir, Brave. These detailed events of testimony and truth bring to light the sickening reality and cruelty of the Hollywood industry. This includes many of her experiences where she was constantly on display in a world of targeted sexualization and deliberate sexism. She was robbed of her personal image and identity as Hollywood marketed her image for profit. McGowan hopes to inspire other women to come forward, dismantle this multi-billion dollar business built on misogyny, and be brave.
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert – January 30th
Melissa Albert incorporates a lyrical prose along with a page-turning plot within her debut dark YA fantasy novel The Hazel Wood. As if written with a soft spot for book lovers, Albert’s novel centers around the granddaughter of a reclusive author, whose popular books about fairytales might be less fictional than it would seem. After her grandmother passes away on her estate, The Hazel Wood, Alice’s mother is kidnapped by a mysterious figure from the “Hinterland,” the very cruel supernatural setting which inspired her grandmother’s dark tales. While she fights to distinguish between reality and the supernatural, Alice searches for her mother, as well as the possible reason why her own story went so wrong. Albert incorporates both dark, whimsical and stunning imagery while also touching upon the darker side of fairytales that society seems to dismiss.
The Elizas by Sara Shepard – April 17
Fans of The Pretty Little Liars series will be looking forward to Sara Shepard’s upcoming release of The Elizas. Her adult fiction debut focuses on an entwining mystery that begins with a woman, Eliza, discovered at the bottom of a hotel pool right after publishing her new novel. Her friends and family constantly insinuate that it was merely one of Eliza’s failed suicide attempts. However, Eliza remembers a different story. Unable to recall the exact details from her accident, Eliza tries to piece together that night and shares her manuscript along the way. The novel rotates between Eliza’s uneasy search for the truth as well as the suspect who she believes tried to kill her, and the equally twisting tale of her character in the manuscript.
War Storm by Victoria Aveyard – May 15th
The fourth installment in the Red Queen series, Victoria Aveyard’s final novel draws readers back into Mare Barrow’s story as she and her friends face their greatest adversaries yet. Heartbroken from Cal’s betrayal, Mare fights to permanently secure freedom for Reds and newbloods like herself. She hopes to overthrow the kingdom of Norta once and for all, starting with Maven. With the inevitability of War on the horizon, Mare and the Scarlet Guard have no choice but to side with the prince who broke her heart along with his Silver allies. However, though each character is guaranteed to be tested through this last test of sacrifice and rebellion, it is clear that not all will survive. Aveyard has left readers wondering about Mare’s fate at the end of every novel, leaving War Storm as the ultimate finale for readers hoping for a happy ending for Mare and her friends.
Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare – December 4th
The final novel in The Dark Artifices trilogy, Cassandra Clare answer the questions that have left readers spinning since Lady Midnight in Queen of Air and Darkness. Emma and Julian’s fate comes to a final conclusion, including the multiple conflicts between the Shadowhunters and the looming danger ahead of them. While half of the Blackthorns rush to Los Angeles to desperately find the answer to the source of the disease that is killing the warlock race, Emma and Julian attempt a dangerous mission back into the land of Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. With the weight of the world on their shoulders, the parabatai must set aside their forbidden love in order to save the Shadowhunters as well as everyone they love, as Clary and Jace did once before them. Though Clare has hinted that there may not be a happy ending in this ultimate finale, readers will not have to say goodbye to the Shadowhunter universe yet as the events will ultimately lead to the next trilogy: The Wicked Powers.