Can't-Wait Wednesday: Green Frog by Gina Chung, The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang, & Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff

   

 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.

Green Frog by Gina Chung
Publication: March 12th, 2024
Vintage
Paperback. 240 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"A short story collection that explores Korean American womanhood, bodies, animals, and transformation as a means of survival.

Equal parts fantastical—a pair of talking dolls help twins escape a stifling home, a heart boils on the stove as part of an elaborate cure for melancholy, a fox demon contemplates avenging her sister's death—and true to life—a mother and daughter try to heal their rift when the daughter falls unexpectedly pregnant, a woman reexamines her father's legacy after his death—the stories in this collection are hopeful and heartbreaking, full of danger and full of joy.

Chung is a master at capturing emotion, and her characters—human and otherwise—will claw their way into your heart and make themselves at home."

Another short story collection that sounds like it'll be weird and wonderful and I'm looking forward to  checking it out!

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
Publication: March 26th, 2024 (US)
MIRA
Hardcover. 312 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"“What if I told you that the feeling we call love is actually the feeling of metaphysical recognition, when your soul remembers someone from a previous life?”

In the year 4 BCE, an ambitious courtier is called upon to seduce the young emperor — but quickly discovers they are both ruled by blood, sex and intrigue.

In 1740, a lonely innkeeper agrees to help a mysterious visitor procure a rare medicine, only to unleash an otherworldly terror instead.

And in present-day Los Angeles, a college student meets a beautiful stranger and cannot shake the feeling they’ve met before.

Across these seemingly unrelated timelines woven together only by the twists and turns of fate, two men are reborn, lifetime after lifetime. Within the treacherous walls of an ancient palace and the boundless forests of the Asian wilderness to the heart-pounding cement floors of underground rave scenes, our lovers are inexplicably drawn to each other, constantly tested by the worlds around them.

As their many lives intertwine, they begin to realize the power of their undying love—a power that transcends time itself…but one that might consume them both."

I'm not typically a big romance fan, but I'm just so intrigued by the setup of this story that I'm really excited to see what it's all about, as it sounds really creative!

Empire of the Damned (Empire of the Vampire #2) by Jay Kristoff
Publication: March 12th, 2024 
St. Martin's Press (US)/Harper Voyager (UK)
Hardcover. 736 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

Gabriel de León has saved the Holy Grail from death, but his chance to end the endless night is lost. Drawn into an uneasy alliance with the mysterious vampire Liathe, Gabriel must now deliver the Grail to ancients of the Blood Esani, and learn the truth of how Daysdeath might be finally undone.

But the Last Silversaint faces peril, within and without. Pursued by terrors of the Blood Voss, drawn into warfare between the Blood Dyvok and duskdancers of the frozen Highlands, and ravaged by his own rising bloodlust, Gabriel may not survive to see the Grail learn her truth.

And that truth may be too awful for any to imagine."

I've actually already read an ARC of this back in December that the publisher so generously offered to me, but I still am looking forward to seeing the final product with all the illustrations and everything. This has been a pretty fun series so far, I'm curious to see where Kristoff will take the story.