To put it simply, October is a very good month for books. And here are 6 of the most highly anticipated you do NOT want to miss!

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys – October 1st

If you love historical fiction, stunning prose, and a cover you’ll want to keep turned out to gaze upon on your bookshelf, this is the October read for you. Inspired by the true post-war struggles of Spain, The Fountains of Silence follows eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson, a photographer who arrives in Madrid in 1957 with his parents where he meets Ana, whose family’s interweaving obstacles reveal the lingering grasp of the Spanish Civil War. Their stories collide in an unforgettable way. If you love Ruta Sepetys, or are even just hearing about the queen of heartbreaking historical fiction now, it’s no secret that The Fountains of Silence has been eagerly anticipated all year.

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh – October 8th

If you hold this book you can basically FEEL it buzzing in your hands the hype is so high. The Beautiful doubles as a historical fiction murder mystery with…wait for it…VAMPIRES. This book has been HOTLY anticipated since it was announced and the YA world is more than ready to welcome the creatures of the night back into its shelves. Get ready to meet Celine, a young woman fleeing her life as a dressmaker in Paris for New Orleans. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien’s guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

I Know You Remember by Jennifer Donaldson – October 8th

This book is coming to save all of the thriller fans from the book hangover that Two Can Keep a Secret gave us and we CAN’T. WAIT. I Know You Remember is perfect if you’re making your intense, scary October reads list!

After three long years away, Ruthie Hayden arrives in her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska to this devastating news. Zahra was Ruthie’s best friend–the only person who ever really understood her–and she vows to do whatever it takes to find her.
Zahra vanished from a party just days before Ruthie’s return, but the more people she talks to, the more she realizes that the Zahra she knew disappeared long before that fateful night. Gone is the whimsical, artistic girl who loved books and knew Ruthie’s every secret. In her place is an athlete, a partier, a girl with secrets of her own. Darker still are the rumors that something happened to Zahra while Ruthie was gone, something that changed her forever…

As Ruthie desperately tries to piece together the truth, she falls deeper and deeper into her friend’s new world, circling closer to a dangerous revelation about what Zahra experienced in the days before her disappearance–one that might be better off buried.

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda – October 15th

CALLING ALL FANTASY FANS. We’d like you to meet your new obsession. It’s like An Ember in the Ashes. But with dragons. And with all the rich worldbuilding and heart-stopping terror Game of Thrones filled you with.

It’s Fireborne and you’re not ready.

Fireborne follows Lee and Annie, two orphans in the midst of a bloody revolution. Lee was a child of the royal family, the dragonborn, who ruled the empire with an iron fist…until the revolution. Lee’s family was slaughtered and he, small child at the time, was hidden in an orphanage as a commoner. Meanwhile, Annie, an actual commoner, was thrown into the same orphanage after losing her own family to the brutality of the dragonborn.

Now, years later, they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more different. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.

But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, Lee’s only surviving family, bent on reclaiming the city.
With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he’s come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi – October 15th

Did we mention how great October is for books? The new Tochi Onyebuchi book is getting ready to hit shelves!

This is the October read for you if you love Black Panther. Or amazing sci-fi. Or a pair of epic sisters fighting their way through a war back to each other. Lots of things to love here.

The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky.
In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life.
Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace, of hope, of a future together.
And they’re willing to fight an entire war to get there.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy – October 29th

This lush, romantic fantasy is our final highly-anticipated book on this list and the perfect way to close out October. Combine magick, sibling rivalry, and a North African-inspired fantasy world and you get this super exciting debut! A River of Royal Blood follows sixteen-year-old Eva, a princess born with the magick of marrow and blood–a dark and terrible magick that hasn’t been seen for generations in the vibrant but fractured country of Myre. Its last known practitioner was Queen Raina, who toppled the native khimaer royalty and massacred thousands, including her own sister, eight generations ago, thus beginning the Rival Heir tradition. Living in Raina’s long and dark shadow, Eva must now face her older sister, Isa, in a battle to the death if she hopes to ascend to the Ivory Throne–because in the Queendom of Myre only the strongest, most ruthless rulers survive.

This intense fantasy is the perfect tourniquet for your Children of Blood and Bone obsession and a Must on your fantasy list for fall!

Excited for The Beautiful? You’re not alone. Check out these 9 authors who got early tickets to the hype train!