Since starting my blog I’ve compiled a list of debuts by black authors that are being released next year. So, (drum roll, please), here’s what I’m looking forward to in 2023! Supporting authors of colour is an important part of fighting for diversity in publishing and pre-orders are generally considered to make or break a novel. I’d urge people to pre-order these books so we can back these new writers.
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- Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown
Generations of Montrose women—Augusta, Victoria, Willow—have lived together in their quaint two-story bungalow in California for years. They keep to themselves, never venture far from home, and their collection of tinctures and spells is an unspoken bond between them. But when seventeen-year-old Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, their quiet lives are thrown into disarray. For the other women have been withholding a secret from Nickie that will end her relationship before it’s even begun: the decades-old family curse that any person they fall in love with dies.
Genre / Theme: Women’s fiction, magic, generational secrets
Publication date: 28th February 2023 (US and UK)
Publisher: Harper Collins (US) / Headline (UK)
Author IG: @diane_marie_brown
I’d recommend it to lovers of… ‘Memphis’ by Tara Stringfellow and ‘The Witches of Moonshyne Manor’ by Bianca Marais
Click here to pre-order: (US link) and (UK link – bookshop.org)
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2. Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni
At an elite boarding school in the English countryside, Nigerian cousins Iyanu and Kitan are thrown into the middle of a schoolwide conspiracy when everyone’s juicy relationship secrets are released “Burn Book style” the week before the annual Valentine’s Day Ball.
Genre / Theme: Young Adult, contemporary
Publication date: 5th September 2023
Publisher: HarperCollins (US) / Scholastic (UK)
Author IG: @aleemawrites
Recommended to lovers of… ‘Ace of Spades’ by Faridah Abike Iyimide
(It looks like pre-order links aren’t available yet but I will update when they are)
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3. One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris
It’s been eight years since Sara left her home in Savannah, Georgia, following a terrifying sexual assault that led to the birth of her daughter. But when Sara’s father falls ill, she’s forced to return home. While caring for her father and running his bookstore, Sara is desperate to protect her daughter from the Wylers, the family of the man who assaulted her. But she soon learns that her attackers’ twin brother Jacob has also just returned to Savannah and their two worlds collide in unexpected ways.
Genre / Theme: Contemporary, romance
Publication date: 11th July 2023 (US)
Publisher: Source Books (US)
Author IG: @terahsharris
Click here to pre-order: (US link)
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4. The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade
When her sister, Sutton, goes missing, Casey is furious. Everyone paints a picture of Sutton’s perfection: the popular cheerleader with a doting boyfriend and limitless future, but Sutton manipulated everyone around her. When Sutton reappears, Casey knows she should be relieved. Except Sutton isn’t the same. She remembers nothing about while she was gone—or anything from her old life, including how she made Casey miserable. As Casey sets out to find what happened to Sutton, she starts to wonder whether she really knew her sister to begin with.
Genre / Theme: Young adult, speculative, thriller
Publication date: 27th June 2023 (US)
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Author IG: @lilymeade
Click here to pre-order: (US link)
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5. Yomi and the Fury of Ninki Nanka by Davina Tijani
Yomi and her younger brother Kayode are supposed to be on the trip of a lifetime visiting The Gambia with their Uncle Olu. Instead, their uncle’s work has made this the most boring holiday ever! But when Yomi witnesses the Dragon King, Ninki Nanka, being kidnapped from the sky, things get a lot more exciting…
Genre / Theme: Middle grade, fantasy, graphic novel
Publication date: July 2023
Publisher: Viking PRH
Author IG: @davinatijani
(Pre-order links aren’t currently available but I’ll update when they are)
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6. Rosewater by Liv Little
Elsie is a sexy, funny, and fiercely independent woman in south London. But, at just 28, she is also tired. When Elsie is suddenly evicted from her social housing, her fragile foundations threaten to collapse entirely. With nowhere left to go, Elsie turns to her childhood friend, Juliet, for help. Between their reruns of Drag Race and nights smoking on the balcony, something else soon begins to glimmer in Elsie’s heart . . .
Genre / Theme: Contemporary, romance, LGBTQ
Publication date: 20th April 2023 (UK) / 25th April 2023 (US)
Publisher: Dialogue Books (UK) / Get Lifted Books (US)
Author IG: @livslittle
Recommended to lovers of… ‘Queenie’ by Candice Carty-Williams
Click here to pre-order: (US link) and (UK link – bookshop.org)
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7. Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
The Urban Promise Prep School vows to turn boys into men. Students, J.B., Ramón, and Trey are forced to follow the prestigious “program’s” strict rules. But when the principal is murdered, the trio emerges as the case’s prime suspects. With all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested. But is the true culprit hiding among them?
Genre / Theme: Young adult, mystery, thriller
Publication date: 31st January 2023 (US) / 2nd February 2023 (UK)
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co (US) / Pan Macmillan (UK)
Author IG: @officialnickbrooks
Recommended to lovers of… ‘The Hate You Give’ by Angie Thomas
Click here to pre-order: (US link) and (UK link – bookshop.org)
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8. Dazzling by Chikodili Emelumadu
Treasure and her mother lost everything when Treasure’s daddy died. Haggling for scraps in the market, Treasure meets a spirit who promises to bring her father back – but she has to do something for him first.
Ozoemena has a patrilineal destiny to defend her people by becoming a leopard. Her father impressed upon her what an honour this was before he vanished, but it’s one she couldn’t want less.
As the two girls reckon with the legacy of decisions made by their fathers, other students start to vanish and both girls must make difficult choices.
Genre / Theme: Literary, magical realism
Publication date: 16th February 2023 (UK) / August 2023 (US)
Publisher: Hachette (UK) / Abrams Books (US)
Author Twitter: @chemelumadu
Recommended to lovers of… ‘An Ordinary Wonder’ by Buki Papillon
Click here to pre-order: (UK link – bookshop.org)
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9. Someone Had to Do It by Amber and Danielle Brown
Brandi Maxwell is living the fashion intern dream. Except, the dream looks more like living on the breadline, scrubbing sick from couture dresses, and dealing with daily microaggressions. Still, she can’t help but fangirl over model, icon and heiress to the fashion house, Taylor.
It-girl Taylor only wants two things: her father’s money and Brandi’s boyfriend. Nothing will stand in her way. Certainly not a poor Black girl from New Jersey. But when Brandi overhears something she shouldn’t, their fates become dangerously intertwined.
Genre / Theme: Thriller, suspense
Publication date: 27th December 2022
Publisher: Graydon House (US) / Hachette (UK)
Author IG: @amberanddanielle
Recommended to lovers of… ‘The Devil Wears Prada’
Click here to pre-order: (US link) and (UK link – bookshop.org)
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10. All Your Children, Scattered by Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse
This novel follows three generations torn apart by the Rwandan genocide. Blanche returns to Rwanda after building a life in Bordeaux with her husband and young son, Stokely. Reuniting with her mother, old wounds are reopened while Stokely, caught between two countries, tries to understand where he comes from and where he belongs.
Genre / Theme: Historical, translated fiction
Publication date: 23rd February 2023 (paperback UK)
Publisher: Europa Editions
Author IG: @beataumubyeyimairesse
Recommended to lovers of… ‘Of Women and Salt’ by Gabriela Garcia
Click here to pre-order: (US link) and (UK link – bookshop.org)
Amina's Bookshelf 