June 2026 Aardvark Book Club Hints & Picks

Hints


Book #1

Hint 1.1: Castle dining room

Hint 2.5: Anyone who asked Santa for a unicorn; Hopeless romantics who ditched dating apps in favor of Medieval Times; Been burned by Hinge?; Those who have Saint-Malo saved on their Pinterest boards; Brittany, Brittnee, Britney, Britni, Brittny, Britany, Brittney, etc. or Ann, Anne, Ayn

The Unicorn Hunter

Katherine Arden

In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest—and unknowingly alters the fate of her world—in this dazzling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.

Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies.

But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany.

Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners.

The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination. 

While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret. 

Or so she thinks.

In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: June 2, 2026
Publisher: Del Rey

Book #2

Hint 1.2: Bedroom with two beds and exercise equipment + clown pictures

Hint 2.1: Blucifer conspiracy theorists (like wtf is up with those eyes?), Collection of John Denver records, Hikers who want to scale Half Dome, and People who’d willingly stay overnight in Room 237, All work and no play…

Headlights

C.J. Leede

Every instinct tells him to run. Every memory tells him he can’t. Perfect for fans of The Shining and Longlegs, bestselling author CJ Leede’s Headlights is a pulse-pounding hunt across the frozen wilderness of Colorado.

Special Agent Daniel Stansfield is ready for a change. Burnt out and defeated by the job, it’s his last day with the FBI. But before he can turn in his badge, he’s summoned back to Denver, the city he ran from four years ago, with a chilling message: it’s happening again. 

Seemingly innocent people are waking up on the side of the highway, with no memory of how they got there, wearing the skin of victims they’ve allegedly never met. And they each share one haunting detail: a strand of a stranger’s hair is tied around their tongue.

Now Daniel is pulled back into the gruesome cycle, and every clue leads him deeper into the shadows of his own past. He will have to confront the ghosts of his traumatic childhood and face what’s been hunting him all along― before he and the people he loves become the next victims. 

Genre: Horror, Thriller
Publication Date: June 9, 2026
Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Book #3

Hint 1.3: Pilates studio with dummies?

Hint 2.4: Those with a complicated sense of “home,” Anyone who ever wished they had a twin, Deep thinkers who ruminate on The Ship of Theseus paradox (gotta love a thought experiment), Severance viewers looking to fill the void waiting for 33. Can we talk about that milchick dance scene?

Sublimation

Isabel J. Kim

Doppelgängers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal, and the harsh permanence of the border: Sublimation is a thrilling and provocative debut for fans of Severance that asks what you’d sacrifice for a different life from award-winning author Isabel J. Kim.

The border cuts you in two.

When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home.

Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral.

She doesn’t know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life.

How far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make?

Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: June 2, 2026
Publisher: Tor Books

Book #4

Hint 1.4: Detective’s office

Hint 2.6: Those have beef with the month of May, Was your ex a taurus or gemini?, You if you’ve ever wondered what happened to that kid from high school, Readers who want to see what the hype is about, Anyone’s who watched a true crime documentary in the last year or has listened to the Serial podcast.

The Anniversary

Alex Finlay

Every May 1st, a serial killer stalks a small town. Every year he comes for them . . .

On May 1, 1992, Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley hardly know each other.

Jules is high school queen bee in a small Midwestern town when she survives a brutal attack by the elusive May Day Killer―a predator who strikes every May 1st and then vanishes without a trace. Quinn, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, is arrested the same night after trying to break up a fight and nearly killing someone.

By morning, their lives are forever connected.

A year later, Jules is haunted by trauma and guilt, tormented by one question: Why was she spared? Quinn is newly released from juvenile detention and returns home to devastating news―the unsolved murder of his mother.

Over the next decade, their lives are revisited on a single day each year: May 1st.

As the years pass, secrets surface, lies unravel, and the paths of Jules and Quinn draw closer together. Two mysteries edge toward the truth―what really happened the night Jules was attacked, and who murdered Quinn’s mother? All the while, the May Day Killer is still out there.

And the clock is racing toward another anniversary.

Twisty, high-concept, and emotionally charged, The Anniversary is an addictive murder mystery and nail-biting thriller―but it’s also a tender, heartrending story about fate, innocence lost, and two people bound by a single day. With its masterful structure and propulsive tension, The Anniversary reaffirms Alex Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.

Genre: Thriller
Publication Date: May 12, 2026
Publisher: Minotaur Books

Book #5

Hint 1.5: Bedroom from the 1800s

Hint 2.3: Contribution to Urban Dictionary, Romantics who want to live out their Bridgerton fantasies (specifically Penelope & Eloise fans), Self-identifying wallflowers looking for a rake, Opposites attract, “I actually do cuss a little.”

The Very Definition of Love

Sophia Benoit

Bridgerton meets Emily Henry in this fresh take on regency romance about a wallflower writing a dictionary of bawdy slang who arranges her own marriage to the ultimate instructor: the town rake.

1816—Harriet Bancroft doesn’t mind that she’s on her fifth season with no marriage prospects, it gives her more time to write her dictionary of modern slang. Words are her passion, especially the exciting, filthy ones men have kept hidden from women for far too long.

Enter the ultimate teacher . . .

When Harriet accidentally finds herself in a compromising situation with the notorious rake Lord Alexander, she has no choice but to sort of kidnap him and strong-arm him into an elopement. This arranged marriage has a very particular condition—it will be in-name-only, leaving each of them to follow their own interests. For Harriet that’s her work; for Alexander, that’s women.

But love has a different lesson in mind . . .

But soon Alexander’s rakish lifestyle is not nearly as fun as spending time with Harriet, and Harriet’s beginning to worry that she might actually like her husband. Behind the closed doors of their respectable home, things become a little . . . complicated. After all, who better teach her the very thoroughmeaning of these indecent words than the renowned lover, Lord Alexander Stirling?  

Perhaps this marriage will teach them both a little more about that word they’ve been avoiding—love.

Genre: Historical Romance
Publication Date: June 23, 2026
Publisher: Slowburn

Book #6:

Hint 1.6: LGBTQIA+ teen’s bedroom

Hint 2.2: People who watch Sims 4 legacy series on YouTube (part 15), bonus points if you’re into Sims 4 maxis match cc; Those in MESSY friendship groups; Anyone who’s ever been grounded for sneaking out; You if half your closet is ‘borrowed’ from your friends (like that’s definitely m’s sweatshirt).

Girl’s Girl

Sonia Feldman

A hypnotic debut about the pivotal summer that shatters the delicate balance between three best friends.

Fifteen-year-old Mina’s whole world is her two best friends, but after an unexpected kiss, the established dynamics of their trio quickly unravel. Everything that was once shared openly, from clothes to secrets, now feels impossibly fragile. Loyalties shift and tensions simmer across the long days of this pivotal summer, where the girls have nowhere new to go and everything new to feel.

Looking back, an adult Mina traces the undercurrents of longing that shaped her first experience of desire. The rituals of girlhood—gossip, selfies, sleepovers, and videogames—become threads in a delicate, volatile web of intimacy, in which everything feels achingly fleeting and permanently etched. Loving one person, Mina learns, can change the way we love everyone else—including ourselves. 

Bold, vulnerable, and sharply observant, Girl’s Girl is a sundrenched and dewy snapshot of modern girl culture set in the blaze of one suburban Midwest summer.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publication Date: June 2, 2026
Publisher: The Dial Press