Aardvark Book Club is a monthly book subscription box in which members choose up to 3 hardcover books each month from a selection of new releases or previous selections. Aardvark Book Club ships to both the U.S. and Canada and provides a platform to discuss books. To get your first book for $4, use the promo code READBETWEENTHESPINES.
We know from a spoiler hint early in the month that The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling be will be a selection this month. Otherwise, the five other picks for June are unknown.
Hints #1, 2, & 3
Hint #4
Book #1
Hint 1.1: Includes a “dog”, rooting for the anti-hero, & puissance
For me, this is the toughest hint of the six. I am thinking it will be a novel with a strong anti-hero and a werewolf. A few books that come to mind: This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman, Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, and Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikman.
Hint 2.1: #allmyfriendsareheathens, #fightingdemonswithdemons😈, #deliverusfromevil, & #apriestanelfandawerewolfwalkintoabar
Hint 3.4: Heathens by twenty one pilots, The Only Sin Is Religion by Egomunk, Bury Me Face Down by grandson, She Wolf by Shakira, Doomsday Blue by Barbie Thug, The Devil Within by Digital Daggers, Paradise City by Guns N’ Roses, and Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode
Hint 4.3: The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, The Princess Bride, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Suicide Squad, Dungeons & Dragons, and The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
The Devils
Joe Abercrombie
A brand-new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie, featuring a notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey
Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.
Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.
Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: May 13
Publisher: Tor Books
Book #2
Hint 1.2: Supporting women’s rights and wrongs, sapphic gothic fiction, pink horror books, & special edition alchemy
Hint 2.4: #wasyourappetitespoiled🍽️, #beemyknightinshiningarmor, #savethebee🐝, & #todaysspecialismysterymeat
Hint 3.2: Appetite by Casey Edwards & Ali Edwards, Start a War by Klergy & Valerie Broussard, The Feminine Urge by The Last Dinner Party, Daisy by Ashnikko, Kill for You by Zolita, Window by Bonefield, Le château magique by Guihem Desq, and King by Florence + the Machine
Hint 4.1: Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh, The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica, The Bee Movie, Matrix by Lauren Groff, Slewfoot by Brom, Between Two Fires by Christopher Buchman, Yellowjackets, The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore, and The Lamb by Lucy Rose
The Starving Saints
Caitlin Starling
From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.
Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration
Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar’s walls
As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness—forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy—these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle’s new masters… or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.
Genre: Gothic Fiction; Horror
Publication Date: May 20
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Book #3
Hint 1.3: They’ve got bed chem, second chance, & small town romance
Since this hint outlines some common romance tropes, it could be alluding to a few different books, including Left of Forever by Tarah Dewitt and Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler.
Hint 2.2: #GETASIGNEDCOPY✍️, #itsgettinghotinhere🥵, #amaninuniform, #nottobeconfusedwithforkswa, & #shesgotmail💌
Hint 3.6: How Did It End? by Taylor Swift, Someone Like You by Adele, The Winner Takes It All by ABBA, Deeply Still in Love by ROLE MODEL, Still Into You by Isabella Kensington, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now by Céline Dion, You’re Still the One by Shania Twain, and This Love by Taylor Swift
Hint 4.4: Happy Place by Emily Henry, The Great British Bake Off, Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan, Before Midnight, The Parent Trap, Fire Chasers, Savor It by Tarah DeWitt, Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar, You’ve Got Mail
Left of Forever
Tarah Dewitt
An emotional, irresistible second-chance romance filled with sparkling humor, big feelings, and “melt your face off intimacy” (Jessica Joyce) from celebrated USA Today bestselling author Tarah DeWitt.
This time, they’ll get it right.
Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another . . . until they fell apart. Now divorced and in their 30s, Wren runs the bakery in town, while Ellis works as a firefighter. They live separate lives, though they are hardly off each other’s minds.
When Ellis and Wren move Sam into college, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Amid the gorgeous California coastline and the intimacy they have missed for years, Wren starts to think it just might be possible. But can the past truly be left behind? When words fail and old wounds resurface, it’s a soul-baring letter that could finally reveal the truth―or close the door on them forever.
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Book #4
Hint 1.4: Something here but we can’t remember, California, and multiple POV
I considered Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven, This Is Not A Ghost Story by Amerie, Parallel Lines by Edward St. Aubyn, and The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlich, but for now, I think The Memory Collectors will be my guess. I was hoping for Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings.
Hint 2.3: #orephusretelling, #onceinalifetimeopportunity, #twistedtimelines, #iacceptthetermsandconditions✅
Hint 3.3: The Night We Met by Lord Huron, Malibu 1992 by COIN, Time is Running Out by Muse, Malibu by Miley Cyrus, Ventura Highway by America, When We Were Young by Adele, I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith, and Journey to the Past by Christy Altomare
Hint 4.5: The Time Traveler’s Wife, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by , The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker, Dissolution by Nicholas Binge, Source Code, The Other Side of Night by Adam Hamdy, Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, Looper, and The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
The Memory Collectors
Dete Meserve
Four strangers time travel to the past and find themselves stuck on the day all their lives were changed in this stunning speculative mystery from award-winning film and television producer Dete Meserve, perfect for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Wrong Place Wrong Time, and The Paradox Hotel.
What would you do if you could spend an hour in your past? Four strangers in the beach town of Ventura, California are about to find out.
Elizabeth aches for one more precious hour with her son who died in a senseless accident. Andy is desperate to find his first love who vanished after a whirlwind romance. Logan craves the rush of surfing and mountain climbing, yearning to reclaim the freedom he lost after a misstep landed him in a wheelchair. Brooke is looking for an hour of relief from the guilt of an unforgivable mistake.
Enter Aeon Expeditions, the groundbreaking time travel invention of Mark Saunders—which allows some lucky clients the chance to spend an hour in their past. Even though Aeon’s technology ensures time travel can’t alter the future, all four clients, including Mark’s ex-wife Elizabeth, yearn to revisit the hour that changed their lives forever.
But when their “hour” extends beyond sixty minutes, they find themselves stranded in the past. As their paths intertwine unexpectedly, they unearth shocking secrets hidden in the shadows of their shared history: All their lives were shattered the same night on a secluded highway by the beach. As they delve into the hidden truths of that pivotal hour, a startling revelation emerges. They were not alone. Someone else was present, harboring deadly intentions.
The Memory Collectors is a heart-wrenching, genre-bending novel brimming with hope, grief and second chances.
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Publication Date: May 20
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Book #5
Hint 1.5: Hot girl problems, paintings as book covers, and wry MC
Hint 2.5: #worstNYever🍾, #queeningheteronormativity, #gapyear, #poetproblems
Hint 3.1: Unexplainable by Nemo, Enlightenment (Main Title Theme) by Cristobal Tapia De Veer, Clear Cut by Tallulah Guard, Immaterial by SOPHIE, Too Good to be True by Kacey Musgraves, Vertigo by Beach Bunny, Getting Older by Billie Eilish, and It’s Called: Freefall by Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Hint 4.2: Good Girl by Aria Aber; Rosewater by Liv Little; I May Destroy You; Paula Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrew Lawlor; All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam ; Fleabag; Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney; Bellies by Nicola Dinan; and Stage Dance by Torrey Peters
Disappoint Me
Nicola Dinan
An electrifying story of love, betrayal, and the complicated allure of bougie domesticity.
You can fall in love with an outline, you can even make a home with one, but there will come a time where you can’t deny the bones their flesh. A person is no fewer than two things.
Thirty years old with a lifetime of dysphoria and irritating exes rattling around in her head, Max is plagued by a deep dissatisfaction. Shouldn’t these be the best years of her life? Why doesn’t it feel that way? After taking a spill down the stairs at a New Year’s Eve party, she decides to make some changes. First: a stab at good old-fashioned heteronormativity.
Max thinks she’s found the answer in Vincent. While his corporate colleagues, trad friends, and Chinese parents never pictured their son dating a trans woman, he cares for Max in a way she’d always dismissed as a foolish fantasy. But he is also carrying baggage of his own. When the fall-out of a decades-old entanglement resurfaces, Max must decide what forgiveness really means. Can we be more than our worst mistakes? Is it possible to make peace with the past?
Funny, sharp, and poignant, Disappoint Me is a sweeping exploration of love, loss, trans panic, race, millennial angst, and the relationships—familial and romantic—that make us who we are.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: May 27
Publisher: The Dial Press
Book #6:
Hint 1.6: Book within a book, early release, and ???? (with Perfect Fit, Under Loch & Key, and Dissolution)
Hint 2.6: #understoodtheassignment, #earlyrelease, #smalltownrumorgrapevine, #twocankeepasecretif…
Hint 3.5: Secret by The Pierces; Blood // Water by grandson; Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve by Taylor Swift; When I Was A Young Girl by Feist; I Revenge by MXMS; no body, no crime (feat. HAIM) by Taylor Swift; Trouble by Valerie Broussard; and Heart Is Black by Escondido
Hint 4.6: Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead, Cruel Summer, First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, Luckiest Girl Alive, The Unraveling by Vi Keeland, The House In the Pines by Ana Reyes, The Haters by Robyn Harding, and The Last Word by Taylor Adams
Someone Knows
Vi Keeland
An English professor’s deadly past comes back to haunt her in this chilling and sexy thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Vi Keeland.
As a college English professor, Elizabeth looks forward to the start of each new semester teaching her creative writing seminar. At least until she reads chapter one of TheReckoning, a tale about a high school senior who has an affair with her teacher. To anyone else it would be the beginning of a great page-turner, but to Elizabeth it is the beginning of the end.
She knows this story. It’s all familiar because she lived it. The girl in the story was her best friend Jocelyn, and Elizabeth knows exactly how the story will end—with the professor dead. Because she was the one who killed him.
Someone knows what Elizabeth did twenty years ago and her secret is about to be exposed, but who is the mystery student submitting the chapters? In an effort to find out, Elizabeth returns to her Louisiana hometown where it soon becomes clear that no matter how many years have gone by, she can’t escape her past.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publication Date: June 17
Publisher: Emily Bestler Books
