Can't-Wait Wednesday: Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn & Grievar's Blood by Alexander Darwin

        

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

This week's upcoming book spotlights are:

Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn
Publication: December 5th, 2023
St. Martin's Press
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"The year is 2050. Ava and her girlfriend live in what's left of Brooklyn, and though they love each other, it's hard to find happiness while the effects of climate change rapidly eclipse their world. Soon, it won't be safe outside at all. The only people guaranteed survival are the ones whose applications are accepted to The Inside Project, a series of weather-safe, city-sized structures around the world.

Jacqueline Millender is a reclusive billionaire/women’s rights advocate, and thanks to a generous donation, she’s just become the director of the Inside being built on the bones of Manhattan. Her ideas are unorthodox, yet alluring—she's built a whole brand around rethinking the very concept of empowerment.

Shelby, a business major from a working-class family, is drawn to Jacqueline’s promises of power and impact. When she lands her dream job as Jacqueline’s personal assistant, she's instantly swept up into the glamourous world of corporatized feminism. Also drawn into Jacqueline's orbit is Olympia, who is finishing up medical school when Jacqueline recruits her to run the health department Inside. The more Olympia learns about the project, though, the more she realizes there's something much larger at play. As Ava, Olympia, and Shelby start to notice the cracks in Jacqueline's system, Jacqueline tightens her grip, becoming increasingly unhinged and dangerous in what she is willing to do—and who she is willing to sacrifice—to keep her dream alive."

I really enjoy these types of futuristic sci-fi stories that seem to play with a lot of really experimental ideas. I can't wait to see what this author does with this premise! I've had an ARC of this for what seems like most of the year by now, but I've been holding onto it for closer to release and I can't wait to start.

Grievar's Blood (The Combat Codes Saga #2) by Alexander Darwin
Publication: December 5th, 2023
Orbit
Hardcover. 464 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"The second book in an action-packed science fiction trilogy set on a far future world where the fate of nations is determined by battle-hardened warriors who are trained to compete in brutal single combat.

In a world where single combat determines the fate of nations, the Grievar fight in the Circles so that the rest can remain at peace. But given the stakes, things are never so simple. The Daimyo govern from the shadows and plot to gain an edge by unnaturally enhancing their Grievar Knights.

Cego and his team enter year two at the world's most prestigious combat school, the Lyceum. Though he'd like to focus on his martial studies, Cego feels the pull of his mysterious past and two missing brothers.

Solara Halberd, daughter of the fighting legend, embarks on her own quest to bury the past. She must utilize every lesson her father taught her to explore unknown lands where evil lurks in the shadows."

So, full disclosure is that I still actually haven't had a chance to get to the first book, Combat Codes, but it's high on my TBR and I think this series sounds so fun! I'm excited that these books are coming out without huge waits, either, so hopefully I can catch up quickly.