I don't know about you, but it has gotten harder and harder for me to keep up with all of the books I want to read over the last year or two. Especially ARCs. Because, let me just be honest, I get sent A LOT of ARCs.

That said, here are five Black and brown books that I am VERY excited about.

WITCH QUEEN RISING by Savannah Stephens - April 21st, 2026

Witch Queen Rising is a fantasy set in New Orleans, where the Prime--a title given to the person entrusted to rule over all New Orleans witches--passes back and forth between two powerful families. Until Seraphine Barreau is chosen to replace her mother after she dies under mysterious circumstances. Seraphine is not only unique because of the way she comes into power, but also for her ability to feed on magic and make it her own. Now she is going to have to juggle her responsibilities to her people while learning how to embrace her identity, fight for the community and find a cure for a parasitic curse making its way through New Orleans witches.

THIS IS HOW THE WORLD ENDS by Disco Barrington - September 16th, 2026

In this near-future dystopian, we follow Emma Cartwright as she braves beyond the boundaries of a disaster-ridden Britain. Her country is at war, floods are ravaging the streets, and the people still alive are fighting for survival and control.

THE KILLING SPELL by Shay Kauwe - April 14th, 2026

200 years ago, a flood destroyed Hawaii and released magic into the world. To survive, Hawaiian leaders forged a treaty with LA to establish a new home for her people. But that treaty is about to expire and Kaw--one of five Hawaiian clan leaders--is struggling to keep her people in house and home. Wielding her magic to make a living, she fights for her people day and night. Which only becomes more complicated when a prominent Filipino activist is murdered by a spell that could have only been created with her people's magic.

INDIGENT by Briana N Cox - This one came out last week, but I am excited to dive in still.

A haunting and intimate look at the crippling effects of gentrification and generational poverty, Indigent follows a local handyman named Xavier as he investigates a pattern of mysterious disapprearances happening at Leigh Pierce Estates. But unfortunately for him, cracking the case ends with him being infected with the same curse that landed his neighbors stuck in the basement, rotting from self-destructive cycles meant to explore the cycles of codependency and complicity that are forced on people just trying to survive.

BIG GIRL BLITZ by Danielle Allen - April 14th, 2026

Jazmyn Payne is forced to go home, despite her many bad memories, when her favorite aunt falls ill. Which turns out to be a stroke of fate when Lamar Anderson sits down next to her at a local bar. Despite her home town being filled with memories of all of the reasons she struggled to love her body growing up, she soon realizes that it might be able to offer her more if she'll just let it.

Let me know which ones are on your radar already! And if you plan to grab copies of any of this upcoming books, please use my links. Those small commissions do help me to continue creating content at the pace I do. Thanks!

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