Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!
The Dorians by Nick Cutter
Publication: May 19th, 2026
Gallery Books
Hardcover. 400 pages.
Pre-order:
Bookshop.org |
Amazon
From Goodreads:
"On a remote island in the Canadian wilderness, five elderly volunteers from different walks of life are given a tantalizing offer: to stall their biological clocks or even reverse them, restoring their lost youth. The chance to put death on pause—forever, perhaps. The remarkable secret lies in the high-tech harnessing of an ancient and extraordinary biological agent…one with no conscience, yet possessed with a single-minded purpose that has helped it persist for eons: the will to survive. The dark heart of unbridled human ambition finds its apex in an unholy experiment that now tests the limits of both creator and subject, eclipsing all bounds of morality and sanity…."
This sounds like it could get pretty weird, and knowing Nick Cutter... it will be.
Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett
Publication: May 12th, 2026
Page Street YA
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order:
Bookshop.org |
Amazon
From Goodreads:
"I’m the only one left hunting the monster, the only one left with a chance of saving us all.
Raised in a town surrounded by a labyrinthian, man-eating swamp, Lili craves nothing more than to track down the monster lurking in its depths and kill it.
The monster’s curse claims the flesh and bone of every adult in town, stealing them away, piece by piece. For generations, people have tried to kill it or escape the town altogether, but every path out of town leads them right back in.
Caleb, a bookish boy with dreams of freedom, is hungry to escape. He thinks that with Lili’s help and knowledge of the swamp, he can make a map to freedom. And Lili hopes that with a better sense of its territory, she might finally find and kill the monster.
Together, they chart the swamp’s shifting terrain. Sharing in the danger and the beauty of the landscape sparks a friendship between them―and then something more. However, what they discover disrupts everything Lili thought she knew about the town, her father, the monster―even herself. The truth at the root of the curse could devour them all. And Lili must decide if risking her life to be the town’s savior is worth sacrificing her own chance of escape."
Raised in a town surrounded by a labyrinthian, man-eating swamp, Lili craves nothing more than to track down the monster lurking in its depths and kill it.
The monster’s curse claims the flesh and bone of every adult in town, stealing them away, piece by piece. For generations, people have tried to kill it or escape the town altogether, but every path out of town leads them right back in.
Caleb, a bookish boy with dreams of freedom, is hungry to escape. He thinks that with Lili’s help and knowledge of the swamp, he can make a map to freedom. And Lili hopes that with a better sense of its territory, she might finally find and kill the monster.
Together, they chart the swamp’s shifting terrain. Sharing in the danger and the beauty of the landscape sparks a friendship between them―and then something more. However, what they discover disrupts everything Lili thought she knew about the town, her father, the monster―even herself. The truth at the root of the curse could devour them all. And Lili must decide if risking her life to be the town’s savior is worth sacrificing her own chance of escape."
I know I don't really read YA anymore, but I'm a little bit of a sucker for a premise like this, so.. I'd definitely check it out!
The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
Publication: May 5th, 2026
Bantam
Hardcover. 368 pages.
Pre-order:
Bookshop.org |
Amazon
From Goodreads:
"'Irresistible—bright and sharp and rife with danger, like a shard of mirror.'—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
Not all fairytales were meant for children.
Aria Stokes is finally feeling settled—she lives in a tiny New York apartment, works as a bookseller at a local shop, and has even taken a leap of faith in love by indulging her attraction to bookstore regular Jasper. And he seems to already know her so well.
As a Valentine’s Day surprise, Jasper gets the two of them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library—the grandiose establishment famed for its immersive genre-based reading rooms and, more notoriously, its rumored hauntings. While Aria normally loves all things ghastly, this place holds more dark secrets than she’d prefer Jasper to know. Like that the last time she was here, she left a body behind.
But when the automatic-door entry malfunctions and Aria, Jasper, and the five other people in their tour group become trapped in the library, they are forced to venture through the storied rooms and hidden passageways of the Daedalus in search of escape . . . and Aria quite literally has nowhere to hide from the shadows of her past. Then the group learns there’s a murderer in their midst.
Now, as she tries to break out of the library’s intricate reading rooms, Aria has to decide who she can trust—and what secrets are best kept buried—if she wants to make it out alive."
Not all fairytales were meant for children.
Aria Stokes is finally feeling settled—she lives in a tiny New York apartment, works as a bookseller at a local shop, and has even taken a leap of faith in love by indulging her attraction to bookstore regular Jasper. And he seems to already know her so well.
As a Valentine’s Day surprise, Jasper gets the two of them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library—the grandiose establishment famed for its immersive genre-based reading rooms and, more notoriously, its rumored hauntings. While Aria normally loves all things ghastly, this place holds more dark secrets than she’d prefer Jasper to know. Like that the last time she was here, she left a body behind.
But when the automatic-door entry malfunctions and Aria, Jasper, and the five other people in their tour group become trapped in the library, they are forced to venture through the storied rooms and hidden passageways of the Daedalus in search of escape . . . and Aria quite literally has nowhere to hide from the shadows of her past. Then the group learns there’s a murderer in their midst.
Now, as she tries to break out of the library’s intricate reading rooms, Aria has to decide who she can trust—and what secrets are best kept buried—if she wants to make it out alive."
I just got an ARC of this, so I'm excited to check it out--this sounds like a fun little mystery in the perfect setting! I'm always up for a locked room premise.
