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Cozy up under your favorite warm blanket, light up your favorite candle, and pour yourself your favorite warm beverage. It’s time to talk about all the new books this week. As we make our way deep into fall, the release calendars get a little lighter. That means you’ve got a little more space to start tackling the titles that have stacked up on your TBR.
This week’s new releases are not as diverse or inclusive as they have been in prior weeks. That’s a function of a smaller pool of new releases–and it’s also something worth keeping an eye on in the months to come as publishers start to showcase their 2026 releases. It’s already looking like there will be fewer YA books than in previous years; whether that translates into fewer diverse books remains to be seen. We do not yet have access to the full range of 2026 releases, especially those coming out in the summer or fall of next year, so there’s plenty of time to see both a larger number of titles published for YA readers and a wider array of inclusive titles, too.
What’s on tap for this week’s new YA books? We’ve got some reads featuring gaming, computers, and romance, as well as a little bit of horror, including a YA title from a well-published adult horror novelist. There are new entries in several popular series, a demon from Hell, and more.
New Hardcover YA Releases This Week
How We Play the Game by Alexis Nedd
Fake dating meets competitive gaming? This sounds like a whole lot of fun.
Zora loves to game, and she’s good at it. She’s earned a reputation for her strategy. When game maker Wizzard invites her to take part in a summer academy, which culminates in crowning a national champion, she’s all in.
But Zora soon learns that there’s more at stake at the summer academy. Wizzard wants to crown a champion, sure, but their other goal is to create as many viral moments to get their name out there. Zora now finds herself competing not only against other gamers, but also against social media influencers. Among them is Ivan. He’s a fan favorite, and he also happens to be the person Zora had to betray to get her spot in the summer academy.
Zora may be great at the game, but her lack of streaming experience isn’t winning her favors in the competition. She’s ranking at the bottom. She realizes that her best bet of rising through the ranks and impressing the cofounder of Wizzard is to team up with Ivan. Will pretending to be dating him help her win over the streaming crowd? Or will that lie cause Zora to see an even bigger downfall?
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My Roommate From Hell by Cale Dietrich
Owen is all business. He’s not at college to have fun or goof off. He’s going to study hard to be prepared for the real world.
How annoying, then, that his roommate happens to be Prince Zarmenos, a (hot) prince from Hell. Literally. He’s there as part of the college’s first Earth/Hell exchange. Zar’s a wild child and everything Owen cannot stand. But rather than burn potential human/demon relations forever, Zar asks Owen to be his fake boyfriend and teach him how to be a proper human. As a reward, Zar will help Owen score a life-changing internship.
Things seem to be working out well for them. Except Owen has a secret: he’s really starting to like Zar’s wild ways, even if they are supposed to be mortal enemies. Is this fake dating really fake or will it lead to something more fiery?
This book follows a trend of many other YA books this year in that it’s publishing simultaneously in hardcover and in paperback.
Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman
Kyra grew up with a mother who struggled with drugs. It’s left Kyra haunted, including by vivid dreams; it’s also made her extremely unsettled as her peers at school begin trying a new party drug. She refuses to give it a try, but she’s feeling the side effects anyway. Everyone around her seems to be changing in weird and unsettling ways. Her brother’s personality is changing, and her best friend is acting like a stranger.
Logan is a new boy at school, and like Kyra, he seems to notice that there’s something strange going on. Kyra wants to know what’s going on and what this drug is that seems to be affecting everyone. But as she and Logan work to uncover the truth, it becomes increasingly clear that Kyra needs to explore her own past to understand. If she doesn’t, she may end up losing everyone she cares about.
You Had Me at Hello World by Rona Wang
Charise “Char” Tang wants out of her town and sees her ticket to a bright future in a highly selective hackathon being held at MIT. She’ll get to spend the summer building an app, which could open the door to so many opportunities.
But when she arrives, she’s paired with Khoi Astor. Khoi created last year’s most popular mobile game, and he’s a king at coding. He’s also easy on the eyes and very funny. Char cannot help but fall for him, even if he is dating her camp roommate.
The temperature isn’t the only thing rising this summer. So, too, are feelings Char has for Khoi, as well as the desperation she feels to forget about her heart and focus on the competition at hand. But can she truly ignore feelings like these?
New Hardcover Series Releases:
More Hardcover YA Releases This Week:
New Paperback YA Releases This Week
Dead Girls Don’t Dream by Nino Cipri
Voynich Woods are said to be haunted, and no one is supposed to go in alone. But Riley does when her younger sister Sam enters because she wants to learn about the local legend. It is not long before Riley becomes the victim of what lies in the woods.
Madelyn, who lives in the woods and has never been allowed to wander, decides to do just that one night when she realizes a stranger needs her help. She’s used her magic to resurrect Riley, and now the two girls’ lives are twisted together as they learn about one another–and about the thing in the woods that may not be solely legends.
Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar
Meghna and Rani used to be best friends. They’re not anymore, and Meghna is tired of being compared to her former perfect, do-no-wrong, brilliant former bestie Rani. Rani, on the other hand, is over having no agency in her own life. All Rani wants this year is to do well at the Young Scientist Exhibition.
But soon, Meghna and Rani realize that they are both being played by Zak. Instead of it amping up their frenemy relationship, though, the girls team up to take him down. They’re going to work together on a project for the Young Scientist Exhibition to create an app that exposes cheaters and liars.
Their target? Zak.
It won’t go smoothly and efficiently, but as the girls work to solve their little problem by the name of Zak, they discover that maybe the feelings between them are not gone. They’re just different.
New Paperback Series Releases:
More Paperback YA Releases This Week:
Don’t miss these great YA romantasy reads from 2025 or this moving guest post from Abdi Nazemian about the erasure of queer history via book bans.