May 2025 book releases

Pigs, aristocrats and violent triplets

Contemporary & Literary Fiction

Gulf: A cinematic and unforgettable debut novel that casts a harsh desert light on often overlooked stories from the Arabian Gulf through the voices of five diverse women whose lives collide with devastating and profound consequences.

I want to read it because… From a wealthy Saudi housewife to a lonely, isolated Syrian woman seeking love within the confines of her arranged marriage to an ISIS fighter, Gulf presents us with five women living very different realities whose paths will eventually cross and tangle. I’ve been hungry for a multiple POV book like this for a while, especially one that will allow me to travel to a place I’ve never been to, so I’m especially thankful for having received an early copy of Gulf. We’ll see if I manage to pick it up in May!

Pig: Pigs are Valentina’s safe place. When she’s feeling overwhelmed, she lists the breeds until her mind becomes quiet again. (…) Every morning, she reads the note that her flatmate Clara has pinned on the fridge telling her what to wear and what to eat, before leaving for her job at a bookshop.

Sometimes Valentina’s colleagues invite her to drinks, but she never goes. She knows that Clara wouldn’t be happy if Vale socialised with others. As Clara’s told her plenty of times – who else would put up with her weird pig facts?

But a chance encounter at the bookshop leads to an exciting opportunity. As Vale steps into the world of other people, Clara tightens her grip: she isn’t yet ready to let go of her favourite prey.

I want to read it because… I’m not sure what’s going on here—it smells like toxic friendship?—but I’m intrigued because pigs!

Albion: The Brooke family are gathering in their eighteenth-century ancestral home to bury Philip: husband, father and the blinding sun around which they have all orbited for as long as they can remember.

Frannie, inheritor of a thousand acres of English countryside, has dreams of rewilding and returning the estate to nature: a last line of defence against the coming climate catastrophe. Milo envisages a treetop haven for the super-rich where, under the influence of psychedelic drugs, a new ruling class will be reborn. Each believes their father has given them his blessing, setting them on a collision course with each other.

Isa has long suspected that her father thought only of himself, and hopes to seek out her childhood love, who still lives on the estate, to discover whether it is her feelings for him that are creating the fault lines in her marriage.

And then there is Clara, who arrives in their midst from America, shrouded in secrets and bearing a truth that will fracture all the dreams on which they’ve built their lives.

I want to read it because… I’m always caught in the aristocratic web, even if said aristocrats are fictional. I need to know what’s hidden in the silver cabinet.

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Historical Fiction

The Bombshell: In the early nineties, a young woman’s radicalization sparks a widespread movement and media frenzy in this explosive novel of youthful passion, political awakening and first love.

I want to read it because… Was this inspired by Patty Hearst, I wonder? Either way, it sounds like top tier beach reading material. Just picture yourself by the sea, ice cold drink in hand, reading about Séverine, the French American daughter of a politician who was enjoying a sun-drenched summer in Corsica when, one night, a militant trio fighting for Corsican independence snatched her off her bike. Eventually, the captors grow fond of Séverine and the group’s politics ignite something within her. What follows is “a summer of passion and terror, careening toward an inevitable, explosive conclusion”.

Shopgirls: A new novel of found family, growing up, and the best and worst of the 1980s, revolving around San Francisco’s most exclusive department store, I. Magnin.

I want to read it because… If my love for In Fabric is anything to go by, I can’t resist stories set in department stores. Make it all happen in the 1980s and I’m sold faster than a discounted wedding dress.

The Devil Three Times: An audacious debut spanning eight generations of a Black family in West Tennessee as they are repeatedly visited by the Devil.

I want to read it because… I came across this new release the day after seeing Sinners in theaters. I found the movie extraordinarily well-made, but I’d been, for some reason, under the impression that it would be focused on the concept of making a bargain with the devil through music. The plot went a different direction, which left me wanting more. The Devil Three Times, which follows, among other characters, a woman named Yetunde who receives a piece of the Devil’s power in exchange for an incredible sacrifice, sounds exactly like the type of story I was left wanting after Sinners. Very, very excited about this one.

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Thriller & Mystery

Girls with Long Shadows: Pulsating with menace and narrated with hypnotic lyricism, Girls with Long Shadows is an electrifying literary thriller that captures how female teenage angst can turn lethal when insecurities are weaponized and sibling bonds are severed. Tense, lush, and painfully beautiful, it forces us to consider the lengths to which we will go to claim our own personhood.

I want to read it because… Identical triplets, a boy kisses the wrong sister, a moment of unspeakable violence ensues. TEA!

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Fantasy

Disco Witches of Fire Island: In the late 1980s, a coven of queer witches on New York's Fire Island strives to protect a young man facing a devastating tragedy.

I want to read it because… This sounds vibrant and decadent and fun!!!!!!

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Horror

The Starving Saints: A transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.

I want to read it because… There isn’t a single word in the summary above that does not speak directly to my very soul.

Immaculate Conception: Enka meets Mathilde in art school and is instantly drawn to her. Mathilde makes art that feels truly original, and Enka—trying hard to prove herself in this fiercely competitive world—pours everything into their friendship. But when Mathilde’s fame and success cause her to begin drifting away, Enka becomes desperate to keep her close.

Enter SCAFFOLD. Purported to enhance empathy, this cutting-edge technology could allow Enka to inhabit Mathilde’s mind and access her memories, artistic inspirations, and deep-seated trauma. Undergoing this procedure would link Enka and Mathilde forever. But at what cost?

I want to read it because… I tend to stay away from books with tech-fuelled premises because I’m trying so hard to forget about the world we live in when I read, but every once in a while there’s a book that captures my attention despite its techy themes, and that’s what happened with Immaculate Conception. Female obsession trumps my tech ick every time!

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No affiliate links have been used above. However, if you want to support the work I do here by using them, you can use my Libro.fm link for audiobooks and, if you’re purchasing books in Portugal, my WOOK affiliate link. Affiliate links are a way to support your favorite creators, and the companies they choose to endorse, free of charge. Thank you!

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