The must-read books of spring 2024

polygon.com:

After a long and dreary winter, spring is finally upon us, and with the longer days and warmer weather comes a veritable bounty of new books to keep you busy while you dig out your sun chair and count down the days until the pool opens. Below you’ll find a list of 19 new titles that hit shelves during the months of April and May (and one that came out in March that’s not to be missed).

Among them are tales inspired by Thai and Chinese folklore, evil overlords who might not be so evil after all, the return of a favorite author to one of her beloved worlds, and several vampires who will make you scared of the dark again.

Take a look and let us know what you’re most anticipating reading this spring!

Part fairy tale, part horror novel, and part thrilling police procedural, Cynthia Pelayo’s new novel, Forgotten Sisters, tells the story of Jennie and Anna, two young women living in a bungalow located along the Chicago River. The house itself is unsettling in the way that most houses in horror novels are. The girls hear strange, unexplainable noises late at night and, from time to time, even disembodied voices. More alarming, however, is the number of drownings reported in the area, and the stranger who has taken a sudden and intense interest in Anna. Pelayo has crafted a modern Gothic ghost story that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Set during the bloody Napoleonic wars, The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox tells the story of two sisters, Cornelia and Lijsbeth, who were separated at birth but eventually find their way back to one another.

Cornelia is a talented naturalist with a love of plants and an innate gift that helps her bring even the most wounded soldiers back from the brink. Lijsbeth has lived a life of servitude, finding her only connection to nature in the flower arrangements she puts together for her employers. When they’re unexpectedly reunited, the sisters must put aside their differences and work together to find out what happened to their mother