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Rae Ryan
6 6 min read

July 2026 Diverse New Releases

July’s new speculative fiction books from marginalized authors are here, offering fresh voices and unforgettable stories! From dark magic to dragon riders, these reads are perfect for your summer TBR.

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Funerals Are for the Living by Sami Ellis- July 21, 2026

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When a car crash leaves her with a dead sister and fragmented memories, a determined Junie Daniels must confront Williamsville's dark magic to protect her sister's corpse before the town claims both Daniels girls.


Book Description

A month ago, Junie Daniels was in a car crash that left her with a dead sister, fragmented memories of the accident, and a mother too checked-out to plan a funeral.

The cheapest grave plot Junie can find is in the next town over. Sure, Williamsville is still proudly named after a slave master who was rumored to dabble in dark magic—but this is North Carolina, after all.

When unexplained occurrences start happening at the graveyard, though, Junie and her best friend, Omari, investigate. And it’s not long before Junie and Omari are taken…

Williamsville wants both Daniels girls. But Junie will do anything to protect her sister—even if it's only her corpse.


Who This Book Is For

For fans of YA supernatural horror and dark fantasy.




The Bird Tribe by Lucinda Roy - July 7, 2026

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When the Dream of Freedom stalls, winged Ji-ji must embark on a perilous transatlantic pilgrimage to uncover if she's an engineered experiment or part of an ancient Flying African myth before her people lose faith forever.


Book Description

Yearning is the only compass you need to fly a way home.

Two years after Ji-ji’s miraculous flight on her own impossible wings, the Dream of Freedom has stalled. The Rising promised by Prophet Dreg has not occurred. Ji-ji’s fellow seeds, living in bondage on plantings, had started to believe the legend of Flying Africans was more than just a myth enslaved people told themselves.

But in a polarized nation, torn apart by a Civil War Sequel, faith is slippery.

Ji-ji’s quest to discover the truth behind her people’s origin story will send her, Afarra, and the men they love on a perilous transatlantic pilgrimage to find answers to questions that haunt her: Were Wingchildren engineered by those who experimented on imported humans? Or is she part of an improbable myth? An ancient tribe of Flying Africans from the Cradle, who etched their own remarkable story into the stuff of dreams.


Who This Book Is For

For fans of speculative fiction and magical realism who love stories of liberation and identity.




Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle - July 7, 2026

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From Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Bury Your Gays, comes Fabulous Bodies, a supernatural joyride where Drive meets Beetlejuice.


Book Description

Poppy Stringer was born to be a star.

An aspiring fashion influencer by day, Poppy moonlights as a grave robber to make ends meet, wheeling and dealing dead bodies across Palm Springs.

When her hero, the flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar Eddie Michaels, unexpectedly dies, Poppy gets a call to retrieve his body from the medical examiner’s office for a lucrative sum. It could be the last job she’ll ever need—if everything goes to plan. But the night’s delivery quickly veers off course when Eddie wakes up.

Now Poppy must fight for her life if she hopes to survive this blood-soaked joyride of carnage and extravagant entertainment.


Who This Book Is For

For fans of campy horror with queer characters.




Lovestuck by Farah Naz Rishi - July 14, 2026

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A touch of magic meets a romantic mystery in this delightful YA rom-com, where a love-cynical teen with the ability to manipulate emotions gets in over her head when she accidentally curses the school bad boy into falling in love with her.


Book Description

Of all her sisters, only Riya inherited the full powers of their peri ancestor, a fey creature specializing in emotion magic…especially the sacred power of love

Riya has never been interested in love—much to the disappointment of her best friend, Mel, who really, really wants Riya to get Mel and her crush together before senior year’s over. The only thing Riya cares about, truthfully, is forgetting the last, disastrous time she used her powers

So, when Mel finally convinces her to give her crush a tiny push, she’s horrified when the peri magic lashes out of control yet again. Instead of a casual love spell, she’s placed an accidental love curse on the school bad boy, Kian Kho. Riya doesn’t like Kian one bit—but if the curse isn’t reversed by the next full moon, his unrequited love could leave him literally heartbroken.

As the letters, public declarations, flowers, and songs pile up, there’s only one way master her peri magic and break the curse—before they’re both love-stuck forever.


Who This Book Is For

For fans of Young Adult rom-com contemporary fantasy.




Love and Gravity by Samantha Sotto Yambao - July 14, 2026

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In this unforgettable novel by the bestselling author of Water Moon, a young Isaac Newton falls in love with a girl living in modern-day San Francisco, defying the laws of physics to forge a seemingly impossible connection.


Book Description

Andrea Louviere is seven years old the first time he appears. While she’s alone in her bedroom, practicing her beloved cello, the light shivers and a crack forms in the wall. Through the crack, she sees a candle, a window, a desk—and a boy. In the eerie silence, the boy clearly sees Andrea too. Then, as quickly as it opened, the crack closes and he vanishes.

Over the years, summoning the boy becomes an obsession for Andrea. On her seventeenth birthday, she receives a three-hundred-year-old love letter from Isaac Newton. Andrea knows that Isaac will change the world with his groundbreaking discoveries; the letter tells Andrea that she will change him.

As Isaac’s letters intensify in passion and intimacy, Andrea grows determined to follow his clues to their shared destiny—despite a burgeoning romance in the present. Only when she discovers the way into Isaac’s time does Andrea realize that she faces a heartbreaking decision between what was . . . and what might be.


Who This Book Is For

For fans of thought-provoking contemporary literature with fantasy elements.




The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell - July 14, 2026

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When a battle leaves him with three heads and a stump, a bickering dragon sneaks into a rider academy, only to discover all his heads agree on one thing: protecting his rider from the invaders threatening their homeland.


Book Description

Garrodigh was once a four-headed dragon, among the most powerful in Kardoša. After an unfortunate incident, he now has three heads, one stump, and a daily whirlwind of internal bickering. Centerhead wants to rain death upon all humanity, Bottomhead is like a feral cat, and Upperhead is under the delicate delusion that he is, in fact, human.

When a nearby battle goes awry, Garrodigh sneaks into an elite dragon rider academy, pretending to be tame to get free food and a warm bed. Lucky for him, rider Rania Charvátová is desperate enough for a dragon of her own that she overlooks his eccentricities.

As Garrodigh recovers under Rania’s care, all three heads start to turn, for the first time, in the same direction. Each wants to protect her from the invaders who killed their fourth head—the same invaders who seek to conquer Kardoša. When the academy comes under attack, can this wild dragon and his wilder rider save their homeland together?

This cozy fantasy intertwines epic battles with loving friendships, sharing an utterly unique perspective on what it means to be a “monster.”


Who This Book Is For

For fans of cozy fantasy, dragon adventures, and found family stories.





These July speculative fiction releases from marginalized authors deliver magic, adventure, and heart. Which one will you pick up first?

Happy reading!

/rae/