New Release Tuesday: YA New Releases July 29th 2025

Young Adult New Releases July 29th 2025

Happy New Release Tuesday! The last release week of July is upon us, and we are starting to get into that fall surge of new books! I can’t wait for what this upcoming release season has in store for us YA lovers! Check out most of today’s YA releases below!

We Won't All Survive

by Kate Alice Marshall
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
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From the bestselling author of I Am Still Alive comes a new nail-biter that's part survival story, part murder mystery, and all thriller—perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson!

Two years ago Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs from that incident: the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back, a mountain of medical debt, and guilt for ignoring her sister’s warnings that the sweet boy next door was anything but.

When billionaire-turned-TV-host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can’t turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college—but when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location, something isn’t right. The set is empty. The gates close without warning, trapping them inside. Then one of them turns up dead. What appeared at first to be a tragic accident quickly transforms as more contestants start dying. With time and resources running low, surviving this show takes on a new meaning.

Soulmatch

by Rebecca Danzenbaker
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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Two-hundred years after World War III, the world is at peace, all thanks to the soul-identification system. Every 18-year-old must report to the government to learn about their past lives, a terrifying process known as kirling. Good souls leave the institute with their inheritance, a career path, and if they’re lucky, a soulmate. Bad souls leave in handcuffs.

It's a nerve-wracking ordeal for Sivon, who, given her uncanny ability to win every chess match, already suspects her soul isn’t normal. Turns out, she was right to worry. Sivon’s results stun not only her, but the entire world, making her the object of public scrutiny and anonymous threats.

Saddled with an infuriating and off-limits bodyguard, Sivon is thrust into a high-stakes game where souls are pawns and rules don’t exist. As deaths mount, Sivon must decipher friend from foe while protecting her heart against impossible odds. One wrong move could destroy the future lives of everyone Sivon loves, and she can’t let that happen, even if they’ll never love her back.

Bones at the Crossroads (Blood at the Root, #2)

by LaDarrion Williams
Published by: Labyrinth Road
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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In the sequel to the explosive, instant New York Times bestseller Blood at the Root, Malik returns to Caiman University, the HBCU for the young, Black, and magical, only to find new dangers and new secrets.

It's his freshman year at Caiman University, and all 17-year-old Malik wants to do is be a normal college student. Go to parties, choose a major, talk to girls, and learn some new magic

But instead, he's reeling from a summer of discovery, loss and betrayal, and still uncovering the truth about his powers and his legacy as the descendant of a powerful magical lineage. The family he only just discovered is already fractured beyond repair, and the mother he thought he knew—and risked everything to find—might be the biggest danger to the new life he's building. Malik is trying to find his footing in a world threatened by intertribal tension and the rising power of the Bokors. But how he can he use his power to protect a world he's not sure he'll ever fully belong to...

In a wholly unique and electric saga of magic, heritage, and community, Malik confronts the dark cracks of the magical world, and the darkness in himself.

Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.

Immortal Consequences (The Souls of Blackwood Academy, #1)

by I.V. Marie
Published by: Delacorte Press
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
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Six students at Blackwood Academy, an enigmatic boarding school located at the edge of the afterlife, must compete for the once-in-eternity chance to change their fate—or risk remaining stuck in purgatory forever. An unputdownable debut full of hairpin twists, shock betrayals and world-defying love, for fans of The Atlas Six.

Welcome to Blackwood Academy: the legendary school located at the fringes of the afterlife, where students are fated to spend the rest of eternity shepherding lost souls. Once a pupil enters the school’s arched gates, there is no way out…except for the Decennial, a once-in-a-decade celebration that rewards nominees who pass its trials with a choice: formally graduate and join Blackwood’s magical elite, or venture into the unknown and cross over to the mysterious Other Side.

Wren Loughty is certain that this Decennial, she has what it takes to earn the nomination—unless, that is, her academic archrival Augustine Hughes steals her spot.

Irene Manette Bamford has never cared about playing by the rules. She’s willing to break whatever (and whoever) stands between her and getting the hell out of Blackwood, including her best and only friend, Masika Sallow.

Olivier Dupont gave up on securing the nomination ages ago. But after he meets Blackwood’s newest student, Emilio Córdova, he’ll do anything to keep Emilio from leaving him and crossing over to the Other Side—even if it means claiming the victory for himself.

All of them are determined to be Blackwood’s chosen candidate–and all of them would do anything to win. But none of them are prepared for what’s to come. Because this Decennial will be different. This time, the Decennial isn’t a celebration…it’s a competition. And there can only be one victor.

Six nominees. Four trials. Untold danger. Wren, August, Irene, Masika, Olivier and Emilio are about to learn: there are some fates worse than death.

The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel (The Raven Cycle: The Graphic Novels #1)

by Stephanie Williams, Maggie Stiefvater, Sas Milledge
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Graphic Novel, Mythology/Folklore, Young Adult
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The first book in Maggie Stiefvater's #1 New York Times bestselling series The Raven Cycle, now gorgeously illustrated as a graphic novel!

Blue Sargent comes from a family of psychics. Only, she has never had the same clairvoyant abilities they had and has always felt too ordinary within the magic that surrounded her. Enter Gansey, a rich student from Aglionby, the town’s all-boys private school teeming with wealth, privilege, and trouble. Blue's always made it a point to stay away from its students, the Raven Boys.

But when Gansey asks her to join him and three other Raven Boys on his quest to find a long-forgotten Welsh king rumored to be sleeping beneath the mountains of their quiet Virginia town, Blue doesn’t hesitate. She jumps at the chance to finally be a part of something real and full of magic, a world she was born into yet one that always stood just out of reach. Soon enough, she’s swept into a strange and shifting world woven into theirs, one far more dangerous than anything they could have dreamt up.

Now reimagined as a stunning full-color graphic novel adapted by Stephanie Williams and illustrated by Sas Milledge, The Raven Boys unravels a thrilling plot around a cast of characters impossible to forget.

A Theory of Dreaming Deluxe Limited Edition: Sequel to A Study in Drowning

by Ava Reid
Published by: HarperCollins
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Return to the immersive, lush, and dreamlike world of the instantly bestselling dark academia fantasy A Study in Drowning as the aftermath of their first discovery pulls Effy and Preston on a final adventure and brings their haunting love story to its end in this stunning sequel and final book in the duology.
All stories come to an end.

Effy learned that when she defeated the Fairy King. Even though she may never know exactly what happened at Hiraeth, she is free of her nightmares and is able to pen a thesis with Preston on the beloved national fairy tale Angharad. She has finally earned a spot at the literature college, making her the first woman in history to enroll.

But some dreams are dangerous, especially when they come true. The entire university—and soon the entire nation—is waiting for her to fail. With the Fairy King defeated and Myrddin’s legacy exposed, Effy can no longer escape into fantasy. Who is she without her stories?

With Effy under threat, Preston is surprised to discover a rage simmering inside him, ringing in his ears like bells. He begins to dream of a palace under the sea, a world where he is king—visions that start to follow him even in waking.

As the war between Llyr and Argant explodes, Effy and Preston find themselves caught in the crossfire: Effy losing her dreams and Preston losing himself in his.
Are dreams ever truly just dreams?

Glorious Rivals (The Grandest Game, #2)

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
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Millions, hearts, and lives are on the line in this heart-stopping sequel to The Grandest Game by #1 bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Seven players arrived on Hawthorne Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win the Grandest Game. Millions are at stake, but so are hearts—and lives. The players now must race to win the game, solve myriad mysteries, and survive the twists and turns of Glorious Rivals.

The stakes get higher, the game gets twistier, and everything heats up in this newest installment in the TikTok sensation Inheritance Games Saga.

The Last Tiger

by Julia Riew, Brad Riew
Published by: Kokila
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology/Folklore, Young Adult
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Inspired by true stories from the authors’ grandparents’ lives during one of the darkest periods in Korean history,The Last Tiger is a debut young adult fantasy novel about the power of love to give voice to a silenced people.

In a colonized land where tigers are being hunted to extinction and ancient magic stirs, two star-crossed teens from opposite worlds—Lee Seung, a servant yearning for freedom, and Choi Eunji, a noble girl defying tradition—join forces to try and reshape their respective fates.

But their relationship evolves from begrudging accomplices to bitter adversaries as they soon find themselves on opposite sides of a battle over the last tiger, a symbol of their people’s lost freedom and key to the liberation of their country. As the ties between Seung and Eunji are complicated by their conflicting loyalties, tensions rise—especially when a charming princeling of the empire begins to rival for Eunji's affection.

In this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story of forbidden romance, antagonists turned allies, oppression and liberation, neither Seung nor Eunji can abandon their mission—or each other. And as they embark on separate quests to find the elusive creature, each must also find the power within themselves to make their own destiny.

Heartbroken (Villains, #12)

by Serena Valentino
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology/Folklore, Retellings, Young Adult
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She missed the days of wonder. But those days were long past. All that remained was the anger.

You may think you know the story of the Queen of Hearts, the bloodthirsty tyrant known for seeing red. Surely you’ve heard of the young girl Alice, who fell through the rabbit hole to a place called Wonderland, and how she defeated its villainous ruler in order to find her way back home.

But have you ever wondered about the Queen’s own first day in Wonderland? Did she encounter the same wonders—and horrors—as Alice? Are the laws of the land her royal decree—or a desperate attempt to bring order to a place that refuses to make sense?

And why is she so angry?

It may be hard to answer, with any certainty, questions about a world created from the broken shards of others. In the end, it all comes down to a woman fighting against the darkness within, and her unlikely friendship with a little white rabbit.

Star Wars: The Acolyte: The Crystal Crown

by Tessa Gratton
Published by: Random House Worlds
on July 29, 2025
Genres: Media Tie-In, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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An exciting adventure starring fan-favorite Jedi Padawans Jecki and Yord from the Disney+ live-action series, Star Wars: The Acolyte.

While their Jedi Masters clean up a political mess left behind by one of their own, Jedi Padawan Jecki and her least favorite fellow Padawan Yord are drawn into a planet-wide coming-of-age ritual as featured guests. But when things unexpectedly turn deadly, Jecki and Yord will have to use all of their abilities and work together to keep each other—and their new friends—safe.

This young adult novel is Star Wars meets The Hunger Games and offers fans of The Acolyte a chance to spend more time with two of their favorite characters from the show.

Cemetery Boys (Cemetery Boys, #1)

by Aiden Thomas
Published by: Square Fish
on July 29, 2025
Genres: LGBTQIA+, Paranormal, Young Adult
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CEMETERY BOYS by New York Times-bestselling author Aiden Thomas is coming out in paperback on July 29!

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.