Happy December book friends and let’s talk New YA Releases coming out in December 2021.
And more specifically my Top 5 Reads!
In this post I’ll be sharing my Top 5 books of December.
A Closer Look: New YA Releases December 2021
It’s the last month of the year. And that means casting your votes for some of your favorite reads of the year.
But, we don’t want to forget that there are books coming out this month to keep on your reading radar.
Well book friends this Top 5 are books I’m planning on reading once I get the physical copy in my hands.
As always, remember, as we continue to read, make sure that we keep adding Own Voices, BIPOC, Indigenous and Native American stories, and LGBTQIA+ reads to our shelves. Keep the momentum friends of broadening our bookshelves to reflect the diverse topography of the world.
Let’s dive into the new YA Releases in December that you should definitely add to your TBR’s.
Contemporary
The Big Reveal by Jen Larsen
Addie is a talented dancer, a true-blue friend, fat, fierce, and driven. When she’s accepted into the prestigious dance program of her dreams, she thinks nothing can bring her down—until she realizes she doesn’t have enough money to go.
Refusing to give up, Addie and her friends decide to put on a top-secret, invitation-only burlesque show to raise funds.
But word soon gets out, and the slut- and body-shaming begin. Has Addie been resisting the patriarchy, or playing right into its hands?
Perfect for fans of Jennifer Mathieu and E. Lockhart, The Big Reveal asks hard-hitting feminist questions while reveling in some of life’s greatest joys: chasing your passions, falling in love, and embracing yourself exactly as you are.
LGBTQ Contemporary Romance
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich
Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.
On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?
Here’s To Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Ben has spent his first year of college working on his fantasy manuscript with his writing partner Mario, who is a great Spanish tutor, and an even better kisser. So why can’t he stop thinking about the fact that Arthur’s back in town two years after they called it quits?
Arthur is in New York for a dream internship on Broadway, with a boyfriend back at home that he couldn’t be happier with. But when he comes upon Ben cuddled up with a mystery boy, he starts to wonder if his feelings for Ben ever truly went away.
Even as the boys try to focus on their futures, they can’t seem to help running into each other in the present.
Is the universe forcing them to question if they’re actually meant to be?
Fantasy
The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska
It’s Karnawał season in the snow-cloaked Kingdom of Lechija, and from now until midnight when the church bells ring an end to Devil’s Tuesday time will be marked with wintry balls and glittery disguises, cavalcades of nightly torch-lit “kuligi” sleigh-parties.
Unbeknownst to the oblivious merrymakers, two monsters join the fun, descending upon the royal city of Warszów in the guise of two innocent girls. Newfound friends and polar opposites, Zosia and Marynka seem destined to have a friendship that’s stronger even than magic. But that’s put to the test when they realize they both have their sights set on Lechija’s pure-hearted prince. A pure heart contains immeasurable power and Marynka plans to bring the prince’s back to her grandmother in order to prove herself. While Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for her own.
When neither will sacrifice their ambitions for the other, the festivities spiral into a wild contest with both girls vying to keep the hapless prince out of the other’s wicked grasp. But this isn’t some remote forest village, where a hint of stray magic might go unnoticed, Warszów is the icy capital of a kingdom that enjoys watching monsters burn, and if Zosia and Marynka’s innocent disguises continue to slip, their escalating rivalry might cost them not just the love they might have for each other, but both their lives.
Historical Fantasy Fiction
The Righteous by Renée Ahdieh
Following the explosive events of The Damned, Odette faces a vampire’s final death. The Court of the Lions have done everything they can to save her but have failed. A healer from the Sylvan Vale could help her, but only Arjun Desai, as a half fey, can cross the boundary between realms. The Sylvan Vale is a world Arjun despises, and in return, it despises him.
But knowing it could save Odette, he returns to the Vale with all haste, leaving the mirrored tare between the two worlds open and unwittingly setting the stage for both love and war. It’s mere days until Pippa Montrose is to wed Phoebus Devereux and become a member of his well-heeled family, offering salvation to her own. But Celine is missing.
Pippa has no idea where her best friend has gone, but she’s certain it’s in the company of vampire Sébastien Saint Germain and that Arjun can lead her to them. Pippa enjoins the help of Eloise, the daughter of a powerful sorceress, to discover the gateway Arjun uses to travel between worlds. Pippa, tired of hesitating in life, marches right through in search of her friend. But what she discovers on the other side is a dangerous, duplicitous world full of mischief and magic she doesn’t understand, and most unexpectedly, she finds love.
Backlist Recommendation
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them
Is your backlist finally shrinking? If you’re like me, Beat the Backlist Challenge is the perfect way to keep track of ticking off books from our backlist.
Sheaf & Ink
Search no further for a Backlist Recommendation for the month of December. As I post books I’m eyeing to read and purchase this month, I still have a goal of reading books from my backlist.
Yes, I know I’m a mood reader…
But if I want to check off those titles that have been on my shelves for well…
You know what I mean.
I’ll be joining you this month on my backlist recommendation of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera’s What If It’s Us!
But what I really want to know: What books are you looking forward to in December?
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December 2021 YA releases on my Bookshop site. Click the link in the caption above to pre-order or order your copy ⬆️
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