In the age of social media, online literary niches like BookTok, Bookstagram, and BookTube have become indispensable tools for finding your next favorite read. But with an abundance of new releases dropping every week, some gems are bound to fall through the cracks. That’s why, today, I’m recommending seven phenomenal books that never got their flowers. Read on to learn why you should give these overlooked novels a chance!
Before Mars by Emma Newman
Grief makes time elastic, stretching it into hours that feel like days, then contracting it sharply, snapping it back, until you blink out of a reverie and find the day is almost over. I’m not sure how long I have lain here, on my bed, back in Principia. There’s no hunger. No thirst. Barely any connection to my body. Just this limbo, this gray expanse in which shock and misery wrap themselves around me like thick fog.
— Emma Newman, Before Mars
The third standalone novel in Hugo Award–winning author Emma Newman’s Planetfall series, this cerebral sci-fi thriller is gripping from start to finish. In Before Mars, a geologist stationed on a Martian base must undergo a psychological odyssey to reveal the truth when she starts to uncover clues suggesting a corporate conspiracy is afoot. Newbie sci-fi fans will find this slow-burn character study an accessible and engaging intro to the genre.
Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk
Circles protected. Circles bound. Circles defined a space, cut it away from the physical plane to marry it to the realm where matter was meaningless, where quintessence made the rules. But this magical ground was a jumble sale of manifestations, and I had no time to take the markings apart and decipher their purpose.
— C. L. Polk, Even Though I Knew the End
Despite its remarkable critical success, I rarely see this charmingly magical novella grace my feed. Even Though I Knew the End tells the story of a supernatural detective who must hunt down a prolific paranormal serial killer to secure a future with the woman she loves. Sapphic fantasy meets noir in this bingeable little book that will stir your soul.
Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz
Trigger Warning: This book contains discussions of kidnapping, murder, and trauma. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Ruth was well aware of the hierarchies of victimhood that determined whether you might be considered an ‘innocent’ victim or one who had somehow contributed to your own demise (not unlike the commentary on social media, she’s often thought). But this was the most explicit way of saying it.
Only some deaths matter.
— Jacqueline Bublitz, Leave the Girls Behind
The sophomore novel from author Jacqueline Bublitz, this timely thriller is haunting in all the right ways. Leave the Girls Behind follows a woman obsessively investigating the serial killer who murdered her childhood best friend to unmask his secret accomplice. In an era dominated by true crime, Bublitz’s feminist take on crime fiction provides not just twists and thrills but food for thought. (p.s. Read my review of Leave the Girls Behind here!)
Tell Me Something Good by Court Stevens
Trigger Warning: This book contains discussions of gun violence, cancer, and sexual violence. Please exercise personal care while reading.
We don’t live to see all the ripples we make, but we must make them all the same.
— Court Stevens, Tell Me Something Good
The first adult offering from author Court Stevens, Tell Me Something Good, is small-town suspense at its finest. Stevens’ premise speaks for itself: When an accidental death resurfaces long-buried family secrets, a decades-old mass murder comes back to haunt a rural Kentucky town. This deeply moving mystery, populated with flawed yet lovable characters, speaks to the lengths we’ll go for those we cherish. (p.s. Read my review of Tell Me Something Good here!)
Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell
Surit’s memory, unbidden, presented him with a flash from the Note: Tennal, his presence like a lightning bolt, pressing his hand to Surit’s chest and making an invitation. Tennal had not grown safer. Surit had only come to know him: the one burning star in a system of inert planets, flaring so brightly it was dangerous to orbit. Every layer of him Surit had witnessed was annihilating. Every step he got closer to Tennal was in full acceptance of his own destruction.
— Everina Maxwell, Ocean’s Echo
I’ve already recommended the first book in Maxwell’s Resolution Universe series, Winter’s Orbit, and I’m just as big a fan of its standalone sequel, Ocean’s Echo. This stellar love story follows a hot-mess socialite and a scrupulous soldier who must merge their minds to prevent a world-altering war. From slow-burn romance to intergalactic hijinks and political intrigue, this book has it all.
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
After we found our clothes and she finally fell asleep, I lay awake, pressed against her, trying to memorize the way she fitted so perfectly against me. I needed her more than I’d ever needed anyone. She softened my harsh edges. She made me better—she made me less who I was and more the person I wanted to become. The only trouble was that she had never been meant to be mine.
— Audrey Coulthurst, Of Fire and Stars
To all my sapphic romantasy lovers out there, this one’s for you. In Of Fire and Stars, a princess with a secret magical gift must work with the prickly sister of her betrothed to thwart a political plot and protect her kingdom. This cozy queer debut promises star-crossed lovers, fierce heroines, magical machinations, and plenty of adventure.
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
Sometimes the only way to win a game is to let the pieces think they’re the ones playing it.
— Stuart Turton, The Last Murder at the End of the World
Turton’s debut, The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, gets a fair amount of hype on bookish socials, but I haven’t seen nearly as much buzz for his other works. His latest, The Last Murder at the End of the World, follows a group of amnesiac villagers who must identify the killer amongst them before a deadly fog overtakes their island home. An inventive and intricately designed whodunit, this post-apocalyptic murder mystery solidifies Turton as a masterful thriller writer.
While they may not be as widely known, these novels are just as incredible as any viral BookTok sensation. Give them a try to discover some hidden gems!
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Discover more of the Bookstr Team’s favorite reads on our Bookstr Team Recommendations shelf on Bookshop!
