You already know what time it is! (No, it’s not summertime yet.) We at THP need to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month before that. And this month, we had serious trouble narrowing down our options.
We’re celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with another lovely roundup featuring AAPI authors and characters. All of these are must-read book recommendations, but we’ll let you pick your faves. Here are six new AAPI books to add to your TBR!
Content Warning: The Honey POP encourages mindful reading and checking the author’s website for content warnings.
The Encanto’s Curse By Melissa de la Cruz
Let’s start our list of AAPI books with a banger of a sequel! The Encanto’s Curse by Melissa de la Cruz is a Philippine-inspired fantasy that concludes the duology of The Encanto’s Daughter. This book picks up several months after MJ Rodriguez’s coronation. A vampire-like monster called a manananggal has started attacking her kingdom at night. When the monster turns out to be MJ herself, she flees to the mountains with a select group from her court. The only hopes of MJ breaking her curse lies deep within her heart.
Release date: March 4
Order The Encanto’s Curse here!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MELISSA DE LA CRUZ:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE
The Romance Rivalry By Susan Lee
We can never say no to an AAPI contemporary romance! Susan Lee‘s new book, The Romance Rivalry, follows a rivals-to-lovers college romance between two Korean American book reviewers. Irene Park is determined to fall in love using romance book tropes. Her plans change when her online rival, Aiden Jeon, ends up at the same college as her. They turn it into a competition to see who falls in love first, which then turns into a fake relationship, as fate would have it. We’ll let you guess what happens next…
Release date: May 13
Order The Romance Rivalry here!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUSAN LEE:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE
Eliza, From Scratch By Sophia Lee
Next in our AAPI book roundup is Eliza, From Scratch by Sophia Lee! Eliza Park has her senior year all planned out: graduate as salutatorian and finish her college apps early. But a mix-up with her schedule lands her in Culinary Arts, an unweighted class. It doesn’t help that Eliza’s cooking partner is Wesley Ruengsomboon, an arrogant-yet-talented classmate. She grapples with her lack of cooking skills at school and her grieving mother at home, culminating in a coming-of-age story that made us cry more than once.
Release date: May 13
Order Eliza, From Scratch here!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SOPHIA LEE:
INSTAGRAM | TWITTER
Love Craves Cardamom By Aashna Avachat
Moving on to some South Asian representation: let’s talk about Aashna Avachat’s debut novel, Love Craves Cardamom! Archi Dhawan travels to her parents’ homeland of Rajasthan, India for a semester abroad. She has sworn off boys and dating, choosing to focus on curating an art exhibit for her internship. On her first day in Jaipur, however, Archi meets a handsome stranger on the train and then again at work. Archi and Shiv’s romance is what Bollywood dreams are made of, even with a secret that could make or break them.
Release date: May 20
Pre-order Love Craves Cardamom here!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AASHNA AVACHAT:
INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE
A Forgery Of Fate By Elizabeth Lim
Introducing A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim: an upcoming AAPI romantasy that combines fairytales like “Beauty and the Beast” with Chinese folktales like “The Magic Paintbrush.” After her father becomes lost at sea, Truyan Saigas must support her mother and younger sisters using her ability to paint the future. She signs a marriage contract with a mysterious dragon lord. Only now, she must help him infiltrate the Dragon King’s inner circle and paint a future that could topple both the mortal and immortal realms.
Release date: June 3
Pre-order A Forgery of Fate here!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ELIZABETH LIM:
INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE
Saving Face By Mansi Shah
Finally, our last AAPI book recommendation is Mansi Shah‘s new contemporary novel, Saving Face! This book follows Ami Shah, a woman with a skincare empire whose hard work and investments are about to pay off. Slight problem: she’s a total fraud. An ambitious new journalist sets out to write a full-length profile on her, jeopardizing her identity and reputation. Ami has no choice but to return to her home in Singapore and face the decisions she made twenty years ago.
Release date: August 12
Pre-order Saving Face here!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MANSI SHAH:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE
We hope you found your next read from our roundup of AAPI books! Which of these titles are you adding to your list?
How else are you celebrating AAPI heritage month? Let us know on Twitter! You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.
Need some more book recs? We got them!
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