Archives de catégorie : Speculative Fiction

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WOODS de Lily Braun-Arnold

In the vein of Wilder Girls and Sawkill Girls, WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WOODS is a dark, speculative, atmospheric thriller set on a college campus.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WOODS
by Lily Braun-Arnold
Delacorte, May 2027
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Egan, an introspective if not slightly self-conscious high school senior, travels to Ryland College to visit her best friend Jamie before Thanksgiving Break. Excited to see Jamie after months apart, but worried that their relationship has changed with distance, Egan isn’t sure what to expect of the weekend. Add to that the fact that Jamie has suddenly stopped communicating with her before the visit, and it’s a miracle that things seem normal between them when Egan arrives. Except…something is off about Ryland. Campus is virtually empty, students are acting strange, and there are crazy rumors flying around. Soon Egan can’t stop noticing everything wrong—students with mysterious bloody holes in the backs of their necks, fake smiles and vacant expressions, things moving beneath their skin. And Jamie, who seems to know more than she’s letting on…

When an illicit party in the woods takes a disastrous turn, Egan finds herself at ground zero of a deadly outbreak, fighting for survival. As time winds down, Egan must learn who to trust, and must confront the reality of her friendship with Jamie if they have any hope of getting out alive

Lily Braun-Arnold is currently an undergraduate at Smith College studying English. When she isn’t writing, she can be found working at her local independent bookstore, Watchung Booksellers, or daydreaming about living in outer space.

INVISIBLE GIRLS de Zoë Harris

Mean Girls meets Severance with shades of Never Let Me Go in this dark academia YA debut.

INVISIBLE GIRLS
by Zoë Harris
Godwin Books, Spring 2027
(via KT Literary)

The Fossbridge School for Timid Girls is a boarding school that exists outside of time and place, where girls frozen in their sixteenth year compete for their moment of triumph and freedom: Graduation. The only other way out is to Leave, but to do so is a shameful failure. Memories of the outside world fade quickly as the rigid rules and social hierarchy that dominate the girls’ days take over. Approval means survival and the right alliances are infinitely more valuable than trivial friendships.

But when shy Isra Sabri and brash Theda Keats arrive and begin to challenge and disrupt Fossbridge’s delicate ecosystem, cracks begin to show in the school’s serene facade. Whispers in their rooms at night…rumors of what really happens to girls who Leave…. The girls of lowly Tier C struggle to hold onto their faith in the only system they know. And at the center of it all stands Fossbridge’s mysterious headmistress, Miss Hainesworth, who is at once the source of all stability and the keeper of the girls’ deepest fears.

Told through the collective voice of the overlooked and unacknowledged, INVISIBLE GIRLS explores the cost of conformity and the power gained by extending inner strength outward to fortify others. With a speculative twist and timely social commentary, this dark academia novel is perfect for readers of The Grace Year and A Lesson in Vengeance.

Zoë Harris is an Australian living in Norway, where she is a UX content designer and founder of the Oslo Writers League. This is her debut novel.

WHAT ROUGH BEAST de Mindy McGinnis

Long-held grudges and ancient evils come to roost in this psychological, speculative horror that’s Don’t Let the Forest In meets Stranger Things.

WHAT ROUGH BEAST
by Mindy McGinnis
HarperCollins, October 2026

In a small town like Bethington, nothing stays buried forever…

Ava Germaine has learned her lesson: see something, don’t say something. Cast out at school, the only place she can find peace is Restoration Acres, the town’s animal sanctuary. Though the place sometimes seems more like an animal graveyard than a rehabilitation center, Ava’s job there is at least a constant distraction from the night everything went wrong—and the boy she still holds responsible.

Micah Harding is always prepared for the worst. As the sheriff’s son, he tries not to do things that reflect poorly on his family, especially since his dad helped him cover up his worst mistake yet. But he knows his secret is bound to come out.

Hailey Wagner is sick of being judged. And finally, things are going according to plan—until Ava Germaine starts talking. So if Hailey has to shut her up…she will.

As a strange entity begins to stir, ready to awaken—Ava, Micah, and Hailey find themselves wrapped in a centuries-old exchange, while barreling towards the truth of what ties their fates together.

Mindy McGinnis is the author of several young adult novels, including How Girls Are Made, Under this Red Rock, A Long Stretch of Bad Days, The Last Laugh, The Initial Insult, Heroine, The Female of the Species,and A Madness So Discreet, winner of an Edgar Award. She writes across multiple genres, including postapocalyptic, historical, thriller, contemporary, mystery, and fantasy. While her settings may change, you can always count on her books to deliver grit, truth, and an unflinching look at humanity and the world around us. Mindy lives in Ohio. You can visit her online at mindymcginnis.com.

EXIT d’Ezzedine C. Fishere

This highly original novel tells an alternative history in which the Arab Spring leads Egypt and the Middle East to the brink of nuclear war.

EXIT
by Ezzedine C. Fishere
Translated by Jonathan Smolin
American University in Cairo Press, November 2026

In what might be his last night on Earth, the Egyptian president’s translator Ali pens a letter to his estranged son, telling him of everything that has led him, and his country, to breaking point.

Ali is traveling aboard a cargo ship on a dangerous mission to accompany twenty-four nuclear warheads from North Korea to Egypt, where they will be launched at the Israeli occupation of Sinai. But he has blown the whistle on the operation and now must face the consequences: will he be celebrated as a hero or condemned as a traitor?

Fishere’s powerful storytelling offers an alternative history to events post-revolution in Egypt, hinging on the rupture of the Arab Spring. EXIT creates a compelling, and terrifying, vision of the Middle East, one that both teaches us about the present and warns of coming catastrophe.

“[A] wonderful ‘prophetic’ novel”—Jamal Khashoggi

Ezzedine C. Fishere is an Egyptian novelist, diplomat and academic. A distinguished fellow at Dartmouth College, his extensive diplomatic experience includes the Egyptian Foreign Service and the United Nations missions in the Middle East and East Africa. He has published ten novels in Arabic, two of which have been translated into English: Embrace on Brooklyn Bridge which was nominated for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (often referred to as “the Arabic Booker”) and The Egyptian Assassin which was adapted by Pan-Arab TV into a limited television series entitled, “Abou Omar El-Masry.” He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.

DEAD BATTERIES de Kate Maupin

A single mom and her neurodivergent son battle for survival and stability in a post-apocalyptic world, one that is arguably no less harsh to them then the pre-pandemic one, in this gripping, one-of-a-kind debut.

DEAD BATTERIES
by Kate Maupin
Crown, October 2026

Ever since May’s husband decided parenthood wasn’t for him and left, it’s just been May and her autistic son with high support needs, Davis, against the world. A rather unwelcoming one that never had much patience or understanding.

Then 99.9% of the population was wiped out by a virus in just a few weeks, and that world ended. May has kept herself and Davis alive only through the self-imposed isolation she got so good at in the Before. They have their routines, their cozy nest in an abandoned library, and most importantly, the old battery-powered Game Boy that offers Davis familiarity and comfort in a world that’s difficult to understand.

One day May runs into a stranger while out scavenging for the precious batteries that keep Davis’s Game Boy alive. This stranger calls himself Bird, he has intel—and a proposition. Supposedly there’s an entire haven of survivors nearby. Bird wants in, and he needs May and Davis to play along as wife and child in order to guarantee himself a spot. Besides, wouldn’t May want to be part of a community again?

Not particularly—but the survivors have batteries. So she reluctantly agrees. And while May knows better than to trust the man who ripped her and Davis out of their routines, she can’t help but open up to him. But when Bird’s true motivations come to light, her old life collides with the new in terrifyingly dark ways, forcing May to question how far she would go to protect her son. How long can she and Davis last until the batteries run out?

Kate Maupin is an award-winning author, educator, foster child advocate, and reformed Super Mom. She is a genre-hopping writer with work originating in academic nonfiction, but excited to make her fiction debut. She is a national speaker on education and parenting topics, and is a retiree of the executive board of the Connecticut Association for the Gifted. Her work with populations of high needs children, as well as her own journey in special needs parenting, brought her to the realization that all parents can benefit from an antibody to “super parenting.” Kate currently lives in the wilds of Connecticut with her husband, two sons, and a truly outrageous number of pets.