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| Description: “She needed a bargaining chip and this was it. Raif’s daughter’s life for hers. And he knew damn good and well I was right. Just like he’d assured me the night I’d killed Azriel, this was far from over. His daughter was alive, I knew it. And I was going to find her.” For months Darian and her Shaede guardian Raif have searched for the Oracle who attempted to overthrow the Shaede Nation—and kill Darian in the bargain. But now that they’ve finally found the half-crazed Oracle, for their efforts they are granted a possibility too painful for Raif to imagine, and too enticing for Darian to ignore. More…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| A great continuation for the series, I love the sky brightening up to red in the background and the continuation of her hair blowing back from her face. | Looks great. No more baggy leather pants & I like the warmer orange colors. |
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| *Gorgeous image* I knew as soon as I saw the cover what series this belongs to. I’m not a fan of the title treatment (it looks a little cut-and-paste on the image behind it), but I adore the hair winding across her neck. | So pretty again. I loved the debut that brought the same subtle otherworldly details that the sequel cover repeats. The colors are subtle, but rich like a renaissance painting. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| A very “novella” cover when compared to the fabulous full-length covers. The cover model above is a good match for TOUCH, but that’s all I can say nice about it. | Looks too homemade. I know it's only an ebook novella, but we're starting to see some amazing art for in between novels (THREAD OF DEATH just last week). |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| First time I’ve seen the “Amish/Vampire” category tag, love it! This cover does a good job melding very pastoral images with suspense/fear, that dark spot at the bottom coupled with the title font is very effective. | I wish there was just a tiny hint somewhere (apart from the semi title spooky font) that this was a book with vampires, but it is very pretty. |
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| Description: What happens when happily ever after…isn’t? Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah. And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom. Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.
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| I love this cover. Her eyes are so striking, her position is fabulous, and the magic wand is subtle. I don’t know what to expect from Picoult as far as YA and Fantasy, but the cover is beautifully done. | Cute. I like the little wand that indicates a little magic inside. |
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| Description: I thought I knew myself. Then I met Caleb. Dez is a good girl who does as she’s told and tries not to be noticed. Then she rescues a boy from a cage, and he tells her secrets about herself. Now inside her burns a darkness that will transform her. Everything is about to change -- and neither Caleb, nor the Otherkin, nor those who hunt them are prepared for what Dez will unleash.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| I see what they did with pairing this cover model with the tiger, but I think making the eyes so fake on both ruins the effect. I do like the black background/grass, however, and how the way the title is arranged. **Note after reading Abigail’s comment: YA? What what?! Totally agree with her observation, never in a million years would have guess this was YA.** | Hmm. There is no way I would have guessed YA from this cover. Honestly I would have thought erotica before YA, so even thought the cover isn't bad, I think it's a complete miss for this book. |
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| Description: Queen Victoria rules with an immortal fist. Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle.
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| *Sigh* It’s so hard to do a steampunk cover that doesn’t look silly. I'd say that this one stops at “campy” and I do like the use of color (hence the thumbs up), but really? Dressing like a saloon girl wearing bike gloves? | Cheeky fun. I really like her little playful smile. |
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| Replacing Charlie’s gun with the sword makes this one look more fantasy than urban, but that matches the arc of the series. I love the runes trailing down her arm on to the sword. | Love this series. Love the art from Chris McGrath. Wish Hank was on the cover again (though I understand why he might not be). It feels a tad SF, as opposed to UF to me, but the splash of blue and purple against the mostly gray cover really works. |
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| Description: In a world so dark and seductive, expect nothing less than a triple-cross in the explosive all-new Ghostwalker novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan. In an underground club, a high-ranking public official spends his secret nights indulging in fantasies as exciting as they are depraved. For a seductive employee of the Dungeon, it’s her job to fulfill them. But she’s playing a far more dangerous game: one of blackmail, politics, and murder that reaches into the shadow world of the Ghostwalkers, and the creation of a spectacular, one-of-a-kind new weapon of defense. But when a dictator makes his own catastrophic moves, the Ghostwalkers have no choice but to bring in two major players, a man and woman both driven by passion and revenge. Both expendable. Both with nothing left to lose.
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| Love this particular tattoo. Though the over all composition is much more old-school-romance/thriller than paranormal to me, it matches the rest of the series. | The image quality isn't idea, but the overall impression is dated. It looks like a cover that belongs twenty years ago. |
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| Description: True love’s kiss just may prove deadly.... Mirabelle’s past is shrouded in secrecy, from her parents’ tragic deaths to her guardians’ half-truths about why she can’t return to her birthplace, Beau Rivage. Desperate to see the town, Mira runs away a week before her sixteenth birthday—and discovers a world she never could have imagined. In Beau Rivage, nothing is what it seems—the strangely pale girl with a morbid interest in apples, the obnoxious playboy who’s a beast to everyone he meets, and the chivalrous guy who has a thing for damsels in distress. Here, fairy tales come to life, curses are awakened, and ancient stories are played out again and again. More…
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| Love the back and forth of red and white. The blood looks a little Photoshopped, but doesn’t ruin it for me. | Prickly & sweet. It's a nice contrast between the rose and thorns. I'd be curious enough to pick this up in a book store. |
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| Description: Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is horrified when he comes home from school and finds his mother unconscious at the kitchen table, clutching a bottle of pills. The reason for her suicide attempt is even more disturbing: she thought she’d identified Ephraim’s body at the hospital that day. Among his dead double’s belongings, Ephraim finds a strange coin—a coin that grants wishes when he flips it. With a flick of his thumb, he can turn his alcoholic mother into a model parent and catch the eye of the girl he’s liked since second grade. But the coin doesn’t always change things for the better. More…
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| Looks more SciFi and UF, but definitely YA. Given the author’s comments, it sounds like the vibe fits the book. I like how the guy and girl’s face are mixed together with the same mouth. | I'm fast becoming a big fan of Sam Weber's art (love, love, love his cover for LIGHTBRINGER), & this cover is just another reason why. Beautiful realism and I love the ripple effect splitting the faces. |
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Stepback:
Not Yet Available for Pre-Order. | Description: N/A
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| That is one gorgeous man, love the look on his face ( though anyone else think it looks like he wearing a shrug?). I like how his ab tattoo compliments the detail along the bottom of the cover, very nice. I like the steam and posing, much more PNR than the fluffy contemporary covers earlier in the series. Kim Harrison is the only person who’s pulled off parody titles without making me wince, though, but ten books into the series I guess that’s not going to change… | Well that look just says it all, doesn't it? |
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| I’m not a big fan of the use of color on this cover. I see how they tried to pair the lantern with the author/title, but the flat use of that shade of orange doesn’t work for me when paired with the yellow and magenta on review/series. Take away that jarring magenta/yellow, and this would be a thumbs up. | Subtly different from the Shadow series, which is appropriate since it's a spin-off. I know the lantern from behind is a fairly popular scene, but I think it's worth repeating here. |
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| Description: Aries, Clementine, Mason and Michael have survived the first wave of the apocalypse that wiped out most of the world's population, and turned many of the rest into murderous Baggers. Now, they're hiding out in an abandoned house in Vancouver with a ragtag group of surviving teens, and trying to figure out their next move. Aries is trying to lead, but it's hard to be a leader when there are no easy answers, and every move feels wrong. Clementine is desperate to find her brother Heath, but it's impossible to know where he'd be, even if he is still alive. Michael is still haunted by the memories of his actions during his harrowing struggle to survive. And Mason is struggling with something far worse: the fear that he may be a danger to his friends.
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| Holy crap, the blood on the pavement leading up to the van… that pushes every *shivercreepy* button I have. I also like the use of lighting and the skyline. Not sure I’d differentiate this from horror/thriller, but very well done. | A halfhearted up. I like the bus, cityscape, and colors, but I feel like something is missing. |
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The Art:
| Description: Does an abandoned asylum hold the key to a frightful haunting? Everyone's heard the stories about Graylock Hall. As the new kid in town, Neil Cady wants to see Graylock for himself. Especially since rumor has it that the building is haunted. He's got fresh batteries in his flashlight, a camera to document the adventure, and a new best friend watching his back. More…
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| Gorgeous cover art and very well arranged. I like how the title/author font and color blends so beautifully into the cover. | Very cool how her transparentency is more pronounced is certain areas. Raises all kinds of questions about her without even a glance at the description. I'm intrigued. |
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| Description: The author of the acclaimed, eclectic anthology The New Dead, returns with 21st Century Dead, and an all new lineup of authors from all corners of the fiction world, shining a dark light on our fascination with tales of death and resurrection... with ZOMBIES! The stellar lineup of contributors for this new volume includes: Orson Scott Card, China Mieville, Simon R. Green, Daniel H. Wilson, Elizabeth Hand, Dan Chaon, Jonathan Maberry, Duane Swiercyznski, Caitlin Kittredge, Brian Keene, Amber Benson, S.G. Browne, Thomas E. Sniegoski, and—with his first published prose—Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter.
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| Love the use of color on this cover, but the “All New” badge takes me out of the moment. I also love how the contributors’ names pour the eye down toward that seething mass of zombies fighting to get out of the cover and eat me. Me in particular. Freaking me out, man. | I'd rather see something like The Walking Dead posters, but this does tell you exactly what to expect. |
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| Description: Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she’s bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother. After a suicide attempt, and now her parents' separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications (again!) and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home and school. She refuses to be daunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom, or that her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless séance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends—yet not to her—Rinn is determined to find out why she can’t be "touched" by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exists. More…
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| I agree with Marta, the dissonance of trying to figure out which way is up with this cover is fantastic. Falling up towards her own reflection… very well done. | I almost dismissed this as just another rippling water cover (pretty but nothing new), then I realized she's not under water. The reflection is above her, even though her hair looks like she's falling etc. Makes me want to keep looking at it. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| The cover art for book two seems out of step for the series (the blue doesn’t pop enough to be a clear match), but I love the color driven covers. This is a great green, love the cover model’s pose, just wish the title looked less “tacked on” (though a title that long is going to be hard to position). | Love the oz shade of green used here, & the skull detail is always fun. I do wish they hadn't shown so much of her face this time, though. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Though I like a good cartoon cover, this one is a little too cutesy for my taste. | I'm a fan of the 'I Dream of Genie' homage here. Cute, fun, and playful. |
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| Woof, Fabio is a brunette now? There are so many old-school-romance, schlocky elements to this cover not even the huge sword could save it. Not a fan. | He's a little too mullet Billy Ray Cyrus for my taste. |
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| Description: Eons ago, vampires tried to turn the dark Fae to harness their magic, only to create a demonic enemy more powerful than they could have imagined. Now, the Vampiric Fae are on the move, hunting anyone in their path. As the war with the vampires ratchets up, Myst, Queen of the Indigo Court, enshrouds New Forest in her chilling grasp. Cicely Waters, owl shifter and Wind Witch, has rescued the Fae Prince Grieve at a great cost. Their reunion has lost them the allegiance of the Summer Queen-and the tolerance of the vampires. In desperation they turn to the Consortium for help. Now, to regain the good will of Lainule, they must dare to enter the heart of Myst's realm. But as Cicely and Grieve embark on their search for the heartstone of Summer, Winter is already wreaking her terrifying revenge.
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| This cover model reminds me of SHADOW WALKER (in a good way). I love how she’s a splash of darkness against the snow. | These covers are so cliche urban fantasy--but in a good way. The owl and snowy setting are a nice change up, but I can't help thinking that Cicely must be freezing. |
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And as a final treat, our beloved ex-ATUF girl makes her film debut in this delightful “Making of an Indie Book Cover”. As a Photoshop novice, this entire short was utter magic to me.
And our picks for Best & Worst…
| Best | Worst |
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Which are your Best and Worst?
The Unquiet is my favorite of the bunch. The Otherkin cover makes me giggle. I lover her stripes, but it looks like she is doing her business in the grass.
ReplyDeleteOk, now *I* can't stop laughing. Oh boy...
DeleteDitto!
DeleteOh Wow!
ReplyDeleteThanks for such an awesome post =)
I so so want to read the Touch series!