Looking for a new book to get your teeth into? A whole host of exciting new novels are being published this year. From rom-coms to gritty dramas, take a look at our top picks for books being published throughout 2021, and be sure to add to your must-read list!
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One of the Good Ones - Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite
Release date: 5 January
There is a lot of hype surrounding this newly published novel, and we can't wait to check it out. The synopsis reads: "When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath.
"As Kezi becomes another immortalised victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic. One of the good ones. Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?"
One of the Good Ones, £13.99, Amazon
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The Wife Upstairs - Rachel Hawkins
Release date: 5 January
Love a bit of Jane Eyre? Try out the new adaptation of the novel following Jane, a dog walker who falls head over heels in love with Eddie Rochester, a handsome bachelor with a hidden secret...
The Wife Upstairs, From £2.99, Amazon
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Influence - Sarah Shephard
Release date: 6 January
Do you simply love a social media drama? Then get your hands on this one! The story follows a group of girls; Internet-famous Delilah, child star turned media darling Jasmine, the happy girl-next-door Fiona and online star Scarlet as they all attempt to hide part of themselves. The synopsis reads: "To everyone clicking, DMing, following and faving, these girls are living the dream; but are they really? The sun is hot in California... and someone's going to get burned."
Influence, From £4.99, Amazon
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I Give It A Year - Helen Whitaker
Release date: 7 January
This is a story of love, friendship, rejection and bravery which looks at the emotional fallout of a cheating husband and whether it’s easier to stay or leave. The moving book is filled with Helen's witty humour and at times you'll be moved to tears. The story revolves around protagonist Iris on New Year’s Eve, having just discovered that her husband of a decade, Adam, is cheating on her. She kicks him out and moves her Dad in to help with the children, but as he starts to show signs of Alzheimer’s she realises how hard bringing up two children will be on her own whilst juggling a busy career. For the sake of the children she decides to give her husband one more chance. But is it braver to stay than to run? And can anyone fall in love with the same person twice?
I Give It A Year, £7.91, Amazon
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The Push - Ashley Ordain
Release date: 7 January
A story of motherhood which follows a mum who is certain there is something 'very wrong' with her child from the moment of her birth, despite her husband telling her she's imagining things. Get ready for a psychological thrill ride.
The Push, From £7.99, Amazon
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Siri, Who Am I? - Sam Tschida
Release date: 12 January
After suffering from amnesia due to a head wound, Mia decides to put her life back together by using her Instagram to piece together just who she was before the accident - and she doesn't like what she sees. As she finds out more about herself, will it be too late to undo her lies online and become the person she wants to be?
MORE: 11 great podcasts to listen to in 2021
Siri, Who Am I?, From £8.99, Amazon
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Concrete Rose - Angie Thomas
Release date: 12 January
Liked The Hate U Give? If so, this is an absolute must-read. The story is this time focused on Starr's father, Maverick Carter, 17 years before the events of the first novel. The synopsis reads: "With his King Lord dad in prison and his mom working two jobs, seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter helps the only way he knows how: slinging drugs. Life's not perfect, but he's got everything under control. Until he finds out he's a father..."
Concrete Rose, From £5.31, Amazon
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The Charmed Wife - Olga Grushin
Release date: 21 January
We love a twisted fairytale gone wrong! In this scenario, it is Cinderella who is having a bad time of things. Thirteen-and-a-half years later after marrying Prince Charming, she seeks out her witch to help her once again - but this time Cinderella doesn't ask for anything to win her Prince. This time, she wants him dead.
The Charmed Wife, From £9.99, Amazon
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Girl A - Abigail Dean
Release date: 21 January
After her mother dies in prison, the young woman with a terrible past must track down the siblings that went through the same tormented childhood as she did after being made the executor of her mother's will. You won't be able to put it down.
Girl A, From £7.99, Amazon
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The Ex Talk - Rachel Lynn Solomon
Release date: 28 January
Can't resist a rom-com? This one will be right up your street. Two sparring colleagues at a radio station are forced to work together as co-hosts on a new show which gives listeners relationship advice. We don't even need to hint what happens next, right?
The Ex Talk, From £7.49, Amazon
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The Kindest Lie - Nancy Johnson
Release date: 2 February
Described as capturing "the heartbreaking divide between Black and white communities and offers both an unflinching view of motherhood in contemporary America", the story follows Ruth Tuttle, a woman who is unsure about having more children after being forced to leave her baby behind as a teenager. Returning to her home town, which is full of searing racial tension, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy looking for connection.
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The Kindest Lie, From £7.99, Amazon
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The Project - Courtney Summers
Release date: 2 February
From the bestselling author of Sadie comes this thriller about an aspiring journalist who is determined to save her older sister from a cult after a man comes forward to say that the cult murdered his son.
The Project, From £6.94, Amazon
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The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah
Release date: 2 February
From the author of the gorgeous The Nightingale comes a new story following a mother who is forced with an impossible decision; whether to fight for her homeland or escape with her children into safety. Since The Nightingale is a universal heartbreaker, we can only imagine this one to be equally devastating.
The Four Winds, From £7.99, Amazon
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The Downstairs Neighbour - Helen Cooper
Release date: 4 February
Love a domestic thriller? If so, this one is a must-read. In a townhouse converted into apartments, three families live separate lives until Freya, the teenage daughter of the couple upstairs, mysteriously vanishes. As the police become involved and Freya's parents desperately search for answers, they begin to realise that the truth behind their daughter's disappearance may lie closer to home than they were expecting. Intrigued? So are we!
The Downstairs Neighbour, From £3.99, Amazon
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The Gilded Ones - Namina Forna
Release date: 4 February
Love a good fantasy novel? The first instalment of the Deathless series follows Deka, a teenager who hopes her blood will run red during a ceremony so that she may become a member of her village. When it runs gold, she has two choices; face a consequence worse than death or join an army of girls just like her.
The Guilded Ones, From £3.99, Amazon
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A Lady's Formula for Love - Elizabeth Everett
Release date: 9 February
Loved Bridgerton? We have a feeling you'll adore this if so! Lady Violet Hughes, the secret founder of a sanctuary for female scientists and a spy on a confidential mission for the Crown is given a protection officer, the solitary Arthur Kneland. We'll let you guys figure out what happens next...
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A Lady's Formula for Love, From £7.49, Amazon
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You Have a Match - Emma Lord
Release date: 15 February
This one sounds like the perfect lockdown read! Imagine if you do a DNA test only to find out that you have a secret older sister? The synopsis reads: "The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption."
You Have a Match, From £6.80, Amazon
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The Echo Wife - Sarah Gailey
Release date: 18 February
A futuristic domestic drama? Sign us up. The synopsis reads: "Martine is a genetically cloned replica made from Evelyn Caldwell’s award-winning research. She’s patient and gentle and obedient. She’s everything Evelyn swore she’d never be. And she’s having an affair with Evelyn’s husband. Now, the cheating [expletive] is dead, and the Caldwell wives have a mess to clean up. Good thing Evelyn Caldwell is used to getting her hands dirty."
The Echo Wife, From 6.99, Amazon
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The Lost Apothecary - Sarah Penner
Release date: 2 March
Eighteenth-century London - and a secret apothecary shop - collide with present day as historian Caroline Parcewell looks into the series of unsolved apothecary murders from 200 years before... only to see her own life become embroiled with the store.
The Lost Apothecary, From £8.99, Amazon
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Who is Maud Dixon? - Alexandra Andrews
Release date: 4 March
After becoming the assistant to the celebrated author Maud Dixon, aspiring writer Florence is left with a mystery after waking up in hospital having narrowly survived a car crash with no idea how it happened, or where Maud has gone. So where is Maud? Who was in the car with her? The synopsis reads: "Florence feels she may have been played, but wait, if Maud is no longer around, maybe Florence can make her mark as a writer after all..."
Who is Maud Dixon?, From £8.99, Amazon
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All Our Hidden Gifts - Caroline O'Donoghue
Release date: 30 March
We love a YA fiction every so often, and this one sounds immense. The story follows Maeve, who finds a pack of tarot cards and quickly becomes the most sought-after diviner in her school. The synopsis reads: "But when Maeve's ex-best friend, Lily, draws an unsettling card called The Housekeeper that Maeve has never seen before, the session devolves into a heated argument that ends with Maeve wishing aloud that Lily would disappear. When Lily isn't at school the next Monday, Maeve learns her ex-friend has vanished without a trace."
All Our Hidden Gifts, From £5.79, Amazon
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Of Women and Salt – Gabriela Garcia
Release date: 15 April
This stunning debut novel from Gabriela Garcia is set to be a fierce and powerful read. Described as both epic yet intimate, Of Women and Salt connects three generations of Cuban and Cuban American women. Set in present-day Miami, Jeanette is clouded with addiction, yet takes in the daughter of a neighbour detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. In Cuba, Jeanette's grandmother holds the key to their family's secrets.
This vast account of family, culture, politics, and the traumas has received rave reviews from literary critics lucky enough to capture Garcia's debut before it launched – don't miss out on this captivating read this summer.
Of Women and Salt, £11.99, Amazon
One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston
Release date: 6 May
From the author of the heartmelting romance Red, White and Royal Blue comes a new novel about love, chance encounters as well as a healthy dose of time travel. When August moves to NYC, she struggles to find her place in the new city before meeting Jane, an enigmatic girl who always seems to be travelling on the subway... and just happens to be stuck there after being displaced from the 1970s.
One Last Stop, From £5.83, Amazon
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Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins-Reid
Release date: 27 May
Set in 1980s California, this hedonistic novel is about one unforgettable night for the Riva family. Siblings Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit throw their annual end-of-summer party which changes their lives forever. Written by the author of The New York Times bestselling novel Daisy Jones and the Six, we already know this is going to be a page-turner.
Malibu Rising, From £11.55, Amazon
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The Yearbook - Holly Bourne
Release date: 13 May
From the bestselling author of How Do You Like Me Now? comes this Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower YA novel. Protagonist Paige works on the school newspaper and plans to take down the popular girl, Grace, with shocking consequences. If you're a little bit obsessed with coming-of-age stories from the 00s, you'll love this.
The Yearbook, From £7.99, Amazon
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Bad Choices - Lucy Vine
Release date: 10 June
Looking for a relatable, laugh-out-loud kind of read? Lucy Vine's new novel is an honest story about female friendship. Told from two different women's perpectives, it's an easy read but will have you hooked from page one.
Bad Choices, From £7.37, Amazon
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