Can't-Wait Wednesday: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy & The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

  

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights upcoming releases that we can't wait to read. 

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Publication: March 4th, 2025
Flatiron Books
Hardcover. 320 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together."

I feel like I've been seeing this book around for so long, I'm excited it's finally being released soon! I'm really intrigued by this premise and am really curious to see what the author will do with this setting and concept. 

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
Publication: March 4th, 2025
Tordotcom
Hardcover. 144 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.

“Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath.”

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.

There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…"

Amal El-Mohtar is one of the authors of This Is How You Lose the Time War and I'm very curious to check out this new work from her! I have a feeling the writing is going to be gorgeous.