{"id":168228,"date":"2025-04-02T12:49:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T12:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/new-ya-book-releases-this-week-april-2-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T12:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T12:49:34","slug":"new-ya-book-releases-this-week-april-2-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=168228","title":{"rendered":"New YA Book Releases This Week, April 2, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.<\/p>\n

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Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor\/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor\/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

View All posts by Kelly Jensen<\/a><\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve officially entered the second quarter of 2025. How has your reading been going so far this year? For me, it\u2019s been a solid one. I have read almost every night before bed\u2013something I haven\u2019t done in a long time\u2013which means I\u2019ve also read way more books this year so far than in many recent years. It\u2019s been primarily YA, so one of my goals for this quarter is catching up on some of the non-YA I have on my TBR but haven\u2019t gotten to yet. Those\u2019ll be punctuated, of course, with YA. <\/p>\n

The start of April means we\u2019ll get a nice deluge of new YA books on shelves. This is busy season in publishing, but like with March, new releases tend to happen more at the top of the month than later on. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As we move through the month, I wanted to give a heads up that you might see some of my colleagues heading up this newsletter a little bit more than usual. I\u2019ll be on leave for a bit to take care of a family member, but you will be in excellent hands. It\u2019s always nice to hear from new voices on a topic, and no one will steer you wrong. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive into this week\u2019s new releases. As usual, series books are listed beneath their respective format. <\/p>\n

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What\u2019s Up in YA? Newsletter<\/p>\n

Sign up for\u00a0What\u2019s Up In YA? to receive all things young adult literature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

New YA in Hardcover<\/h2>\n
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\"beasts\"beasts<\/a><\/p>\n

Beasts<\/a> by Ingvild Bjerkeland, translated by Rosie Hedger<\/h3>\n
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Society collapsed after the world was taken over by the beasts. There\u2019s no power. Cars have been abandoned everywhere. People who haven\u2019t disappeared are hiding. <\/p>\n

Abdi and his little sister are on the run, hoping to save their lives by getting to the sea. As their journey unravels, they share what happened to bring the beasts about and how it is they have survived so far. <\/p>\n

This work of horror straddles the line between middle grade and YA and is in translation from Norweigan. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"the\"the<\/a><\/p>\n

The Coven Tendency<\/a> by Zoe Hana Mikuta<\/h3>\n
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It\u2019s been the family legacy to as premiere necromantic Spectacle at the Museum entertaining the City\u2019s elite, so while it is annoying Vanity Adams has to be shielded from the outside while she waits, she at least knows it\u2019s better than being stuck in the Sanatorium with less fortunate witches. <\/p>\n

As much as it is also annoying she\u2019s had her magic taken from her while she waits, Vanity\u2019s sister Arrogance might hold the key for remembering how and where to use that magic. Perhaps life in a holding pattern is more exciting than Vanity could have ever imagined. <\/p>\n

This one\u2019s for fans of bloody magical witch stories. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"meet\"meet<\/a><\/p>\n

Meet Me at Blue Hour<\/a> by Sarah Suk<\/h3>\n
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Yena Bae is spending the summer working in her mom\u2019s memory-erasing clinic in Busan, South Korea. She\u2019s never quite felt happy or eager to build new relationships after her best friend Lucas walked out of her life unannounced four years ago.<\/p>\n

By happenstance, Lucas is also in Busan for the summer. He\u2019s there helping with his grandfather who as Alzheimer\u2019s. Lucas wants to get his grandfather in a clinical trial to restore his memories.<\/p>\n

Yena and Lucas run into each other, and while Yena is shocked to see him, she\u2019s far more shocked that he doesn\u2019t remember a thing about her or their friendship. His memories are gone. <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll spend the summer figuring out what happened in the before and figuring out whether or not rebuilding the friendship is possible. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Transform your reading experience! Become an All Access member and unlock a treasure trove of exclusive content\u2014must-read articles, deep dives, and curated recommendations\u2014with unlimited access to 20+ members-only newsletters, community features, and more. Sign up now for only $6\/month!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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\"messy\"messy<\/a><\/p>\n

Messy Perfect<\/a> by Tanya Boteju<\/h3>\n
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Cassie Perera is a junior at St. Luke\u2019s, and she\u2019s always been a stellar student. As she\u2019s starting the new year, she\u2019s surprised to see her former best friend Ben back at St. Luke\u2019s. He was bullied for being gay, and Cassie believes that she could have done more at the time to help him. <\/p>\n

So she\u2019s decided to be proactive this time around. Cassie has teamed up with the local public school to create an underground Gender and Sexuality Alliance. It\u2019ll help Ben, maybe, while also really and truly being an opportunity where Cassie can become a little more honest about her own identity.<\/p>\n

But as Cassie\u2019s new friends are helping her find who she truly is, she\u2019s finding herself in a sticky spot of balancing her new found freedoms and happiness with the responsibilities she feels she has to be a perfect daughter, perfect student, and perfect Catholic girl. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"the\"the<\/a><\/p>\n

The Notorious Virtues<\/a> by Alwyn Hamilton<\/h3>\n
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Nora is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in the entire country. Her mother owns all of the money and magic imaginable, and Nora herself has plenty of attention for being born into such a lot. But when Nora\u2019s mom is found dead, suddenly the family fortune and acclaim are the center of a power grab. It\u2019s not just Nora who will get the goods. She\u2019s competing against her cousins in an ultimate magic competition.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be easy, and it won\u2019t be straightforward. There\u2019s a twist: Nora\u2019s aunt\u2019s illegitimate daughter, Lotte, is part of the competition as well. She\u2019s not particularly welcomed into the competition, either. <\/p>\n

Then Nora discovers that there\u2019s something even more dark afoot: her mother\u2019s death was nothing short of murder. Nora must entrust a reporter to help uncover what happened, even though that reporter hates everything Nora and her family stand for. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story of political power, of class differences, and of a magic competition with intense stakes not only for the country, but for the cousins, too. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"run\"run<\/a><\/p>\n

Run Away With Me<\/a> by Brian Selznick<\/h3>\n
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Danny\u2019s spending summer in Rome as his mom is working at a mysterious museum. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a 16-year-old, of course, and he\u2019s taking advantage of getting to know the ancient city. That\u2019s when he encounters Angelo.<\/p>\n

Before long, Danny and Angelo are spending every moment together. At first, it\u2019s all about the city. Soon, though, they begin to share bits and pieces of their own lives\u00a0with\u00a0one another. That helps them build a home between them and romance begins to flourish.<\/p>\n

But as much as Danny worries about telling Angelo about never feeling like he has had a home or fallen in love\u00a0with\u00a0another boy, the reality is that Angelo might be harboring even darker secrets that could end things between the two before they ever really begin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

New series releases in hardcover this week: <\/p>\n

New YA in Paperback<\/h2>\n

You may need to toggle your view when you click the link to see the paperback edition. <\/p>\n

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\"ariel\"ariel<\/a><\/p>\n

Ariel Crashes a Train<\/a> by Olivia A. Cole<\/h3>\n
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Ariel\u2019s mind is scary. Aside from everything she contends with on the outside\u2014demanding parents, being queer, being\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cbig girl,\u201d no longer having her older sister at home to spend time with\u2014she cannot stop imagining violent situations.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s hopeful that\u00a0a\u00a0new summer job at\u00a0a\u00a0carnival will help, even if it means some of her rituals and routines are not what they used to be. She\u2019s making friends and enjoying herself.<\/p>\n

But how long until she cracks and what\u2019s going on inside splits her in half?<\/p>\n

This is\u00a0a\u00a0book exploring obsessive-compulsive disorder.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"dead\"dead<\/a><\/p>\n

Deadstream<\/a> by Mar Romasco-Moore<\/h3>\n
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Teresa survived a car accident that killed her best friend, and she\u2019s been struggling to do more than hang out in her bedroom and watch her favorite streamers. She\u2019s found an online community that\u2019s helped as she\u2019s worked through her grief and her fear of what might happen if she leaves home. <\/p>\n

But one night while watching a favorite streamer, Teresa notices a weird figure in the background. The streamer\u2019s behavior becomes weirder and weirder over the next few videos before he dies on screen. <\/p>\n

Teresa is scared and worried about what happened, and things only amplify as more streamers seem to be visited by this weird figure and then seeing their own behaviors change. But what\u2019s going on? What can Teresa do to save her community and herself? <\/p>\n

Getting to the bottom of this may require working through the walls she\u2019s put up in her physical life first. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"emmett\"emmett<\/a><\/p>\n

Emmett<\/a> by L. C. Rosen<\/h3>\n
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A gay take on Emma<\/em>? Yes, please!<\/p>\n

Emmett\u00a0Woodhouse lives the good life and he knows it. So to keep himself humble, he likes to volunteer. Among those things are charity work and letting an irritating friend sit with him at lunch. Then Emmett decides he\u2019s going to provide his services as a matchmaker. He set up his bestie with her boyfriend and they\u2019ve been very happy.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s putting his skills to the test with Harrison. Harrison, who happens to be one of Emmett\u2019s friends-with-benefits, wants a boyfriend and per Emmett\u2019s extensive list of things that at part of gay culture, this situation is fine. Emmett doesn\u2019t want a boyfriend and Harrison does, so he\u2019ll find Harrison a good one. <\/p>\n

In the quest to pair Harrison up, though, Emmett\u2019s beliefs about what he does and doesn\u2019t want in terms of his own romantic life come into question. What happens when he\u2019s so determined to make someone else happy that he loses his own happiness in the process? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"the\"the<\/a><\/p>\n

The Payback Girls<\/a> by Alex Travis <\/h3>\n
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Meghan is going to have the best senior year possible. Everything\u2019s going her way, and while her basketball star boyfriend\u2019s friends haven\u2019t been the most welcoming of her, Meghan knows what it is to feel left out. She\u2019s always been one of the only Black kids in her school. <\/p>\n

So when Meghan learns that her boyfriend Nate is also still dating two other girls, Robin and Bria, she\u2019s furious. Why wouldn\u2019t she be? He\u2019s been lying to her. <\/p>\n

But when Nate is found beat up in the locker room after a game, all finger point to the three girls. The three of Nate\u2019s girlfriends now need to work together to clear their names.<\/p>\n

Too bad Meghan doesn\u2019t remember everything that happened the night of the game. Too bad the more things the girls learn about that night actually further implicate them in the crime. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

New series releases in paperback this week:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n