May's new releases are delivering fresh, boundary-pushing stories that refuse to be ignored. This month brings a queer sci-fi rebellion against AI censorship, an urban fantasy where a healthcare worker’s depression collides with supernatural power, and a haunted house mystery that intertwines true crime with colonial horror.
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Ignore All Previous Instructions by Ada Hoffman - May 12, 2026
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When her ex-boyfriend drags her into the black market, a meticulous autistic script supervisor must choose between her orderly life and smuggling inappropriate stories past the AI overlords.
Book Description
Kelli Reynolds loves creating stories more than anything in the world. But on Callisto, a generative AI company called Inspiration owns everything, including all the media, and only Inspiration determines which stories can be told.
Kelli has a rare and coveted job where her autism is to her advantage: She precisely edits AI output into “appropriate” stories for Inspiration’s massive TV audience. Her proudest creation is the pirate Orlando―a dashing do-gooder based on stories she used to tell friends.
Reenter Kelli’s ex-boyfriend Rowan, the person Kelli based Orlando on. Back when they were teenagers, their relationship was a secret. Kelli had thought that Rowan, a trans man, was her schoolmate Am, a girl.
Rowan is tangled up in the black market after he needed to get money for gender affirming surgery. He needs Kelli’s help with something . . . illegal. So, now Kelli has to decide: Will she risk the safe, tidy story of her life now for the world she once wished for? What would Orlando do?
Passionate, dangerous, and tender, Ignore All Previous Instructions is a sweeping, poignant novel about censorship, forbidden love, and growing up.
Who This Book Is For
For queer sci-fi readers, neurodivergent audiences, and fans of dystopian stories about censorship, identity, and creative resistance.
We Dance Upon Demons by Vaishnavi Patel - May 12, 2026
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When a statue grants her terrifying powers, a depressed reproductive healthcare worker must battle deadly suitors to save her clinic and claim the life she wants.
Book Description
As a reproductive health care worker in Chicago, Nisha is barely staying afloat in the ocean of abortion bans, screaming protestors, and her own all-consuming depression.
When she escapes to the Indian art exhibit at her favorite museum for a brief respite, Nisha suddenly finds herself bleeding, disoriented, and collapsed on the ground. The last thing she remembers is the statue that beckoned her to touch it. In the days that follow, Nisha feels a strange power coursing within her, one that attracts a host of dangerous and enigmatic characters who covet it for themselves.
Facing threats both otherworldly and distinctly human, Nisha must navigate uncertain alliances to piece together the centuries-old mystery of her odd and terrifying abilities. And as danger closes in on her loved ones, community, and the clinic she’s determined to protect, Nisha must make a choice about the life she wants—and fight all the demons standing in her way to get it.
Who This Book Is For
For fans of urban fantasy with feminist themes, reproductive rights activists, and readers who enjoy supernatural mysteries with mental health representation.
House of Margins by Tlotlo Tsamaase - April 21, 2026
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At a haunted colonial writing residency, a brilliant young African author must tell the story no one dares to exorcise the house's endless cycle of evil.
Book Description
Serial the podcast meets The Other Black Girl in a haunted house, as young African author disappears after being invited to an exclusive writing residency, and her sister is left only with a true crime podcast to help her uncover the truth about what really happened…
Anaya Sebeya is missing.
Before her disappearance, Anaya was a brilliant writer: a rising star. Invited to a prestigious writing residency at Günter Huis, an eerie colonial mansion on the slopes of Devil’s Peak, Anaya was supposed to craft the next great African literary masterpiece—and so were four other young, emerging writers, all competing for the grand prize. But Anaya never made it home.
When a sensationalized true crime podcast about Anaya emerges, claiming to reveal everything that happened at Günter Huis, her sister Ranewa is both skeptical and furious. But with each surreal episode, Ranewa begins to piece together a truth worse than she ever could have imagined…
At Günter Huis, Anaya’s nightmares consume her. Time slips away from her. Günter Huis inflicts distorted visions and terrible supernatural visitations, pushing Anaya to tell a story no one dares. But exorcising the house’s endless cycle of evil requires a sacrifice that neither Anaya nor her fellows are ready to make.
Who This Book Is For
For fans of supernatural horror, true crime mysteries, and literary thrillers exploring colonialism, race, and sisterhood.
From the far reaches of space to the haunted halls of a colonial mansion, May’s standout releases prove that the most compelling stories are those that dare to challenge, disturb, and inspire. Whether you crave the defiant creativity of queer sci-fi, the raw power of urban fantasy, or the chilling allure of supernatural mystery, these books demand a spot on your shelf.
Happy reading!
