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Not Yet Available for Pre-Order. | Description: Elysandra Winters has always yearned for a life of adventure on the rolling seas and is willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill her dream. When her Privateer father continually refuses to allow his only daughter to sail, Ellie defies him, disguises herself as a boy, and goes in search of a captain who will give her a chance to prove her worth. Thanks to the cursed selkie blood coursing through his veins, Daniel O'Rourke needs the sea to survive. After giving up on his humanity and spending three years in seal form, he decides to give his human side another chance. Daniel goes in search of a job and a sense of normalcy, earning himself a position aboard Captain Winter’s ship, The Surf Runner. However, his new captain’s first assignment has nothing at all to do with sailing, and everything to do with his headstrong young daughter. More…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| I love the style of this cover, just like a classic painting. The light on her skin, the texture of the image, all so gorgeous. | I'm right on the fence with this one. I like the muted colors and the pirate garb, but nothing about this says paranormal, and her face is off in some way that I can't quite figure out. |
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| Description: Ashline Wilde is about to discover that when you’re the reincarnation of a Polynesian volcano goddess, “new beginnings” are just a myth. Leaving the fiery ruins of her sophomore year behind her, Ash travels to the sizzling beaches of Miami, hot on the trail of the little sister she’s only seen in visions. But her happy family reunion isn’t all palm trees and paradise. A cult of evil gods-on-earth, known as the Four Seasons, has kidnapped her sister to use in its terrifying new religion. Soon, the streets of Miami erupt in chaos and violence…and Ash gets caught right in the tropical crossfire. Ash isn’t without help, however. Unexpected romance arrives in the form of Wes, an Aztec god of night with his own vendetta against the Four Seasons. As memories of Ash’s previous life begin to flicker into her dreams, the boundaries between ally and enemy, life and death, and love and hate all bleed together. More…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Pairing the orchid with the lava crust is a great way to pull in two central elements for this story. Eye catching and nice title font. | Striking just like the first cover, but distinct enough to be interesting all by itself. It's a powerful image having a flower growing out of lava. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Something about his facial expression doesn’t work for me (a little too angry), but Shelly Laurenston’s name outweighs any haughty dude. Very excited to read this one. | I'm not a fan of the yellow font, but the shadowing/lighting on him is really good. |
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| Description: Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn’t slept properly for months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Sometimes he half-wakes, paralyzed, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. His doctors say sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless - but to Elliott they’re terrifying. Convinced that his brush with death has attracted the spirit world, Elliott secures a job at a reputedly haunted museum, determined to discover the truth. There, he meets the enigmatic Ophelia. But, as she and Elliott grow closer, Elliott draws new attention from the dead. One night, during an out of body experience, Elliott returns to bed to find his body gone. More…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| This cover is so ominous and chilling, I love wispy graphics that brings to mind both smoke and blood diffusing in water. | I'm a huge fan of the smoke effect, and they've managed to make it look so sinister this time. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| These colors and staging reminds me of classic SciFi covers like Vatta’s War, but the sword and zeppelins hint at Steampunk. I’m on the fence, I would have liked the genre to be a bit more clear, but I do like the gold/red glow. | It's hard to top the clockwork cat from the first cover, but this is a strong sophomore effort. |
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| Description: Emma Jane Hellsbane just unwittingly triggered a whole bunch of nephilim to come into their powers—and this new army has teamed up with Bariel, demon straight from Hell, who’s made it his mission to kill all the magisters on Earth. When they come after Eli, Emma and Officer Dan must work together to save him, but this makes Eli all the more tempted to Fall for Emma. And his fighting his feelings for her means Heaven has taken notice. Now Emma isn’t just fighting off demons, rogue nephilim and Fallen angels, she’s defending her womanhood to the judgmental Seraphim angels, too, who want to separate Eli from Emma Jane. Can she protect Eli, Officer Dan, and find her rogue father? For Emma Jane, it’s all in a day’s work as Heaven’s ultimate bounty hunter.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| I can’t decide if I like her ankle boots or her sword more, very cute. A successful transition from cartoon to real model. | Love the background completely, but it looks like she's modeling a handbag that got switched out for a sword. I wish she looked a little more capable of actually wielding that sword. |
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Not Yet Available for Pre-Order. | Description: Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option. It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left...his soul.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| The movement in this cover is nice, though if it weren’t for the crossed scythes I don’t think I’d peg it as Paranormal YA. I like how her hair flairs out and follows the title. | I'm lukewarm about this one. I love the little scythes in the series detail, and there is an alluring quality to the baby faced model, but it does look a little too homegrown for my taste. |
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Not Yet Available for Pre-Order. | Description: THERE’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND DOOM. No wager is too outrageous for Simon Fitzgerald, the most reckless of the Disillusionists. His dark secrets drive him to take increasingly extreme risks, but he’s never lived so quite so dangerously as when he hooks up with Midcity’s most powerful prognosticator. Fawna Brady is tormented by the destinies she sees for those around her. To Fawna, knowledge of the future is a cage she’d do anything to escape. She’s stunned to discover a taste of the freedom for which she yearns at the side of Simon, the one person in the world who despises everything she is, everything she stands for. Simon’s defiant attitude toward destiny captivates Fawna, but will her love destroy him? And will Simon rush headlong into the delicious doom she offers?
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| This is one frowning man that totally works for me. His expression, his “not quite perfect” tattoos… he looks like a real person, an individual. I’m also loving the classic comic book vibe, the shadows on his face and eyes are so compelling. | I knew Simon was hot...but he looks so beautifully broken too. I can't quite tell if that's supposed to be a tear on his cheek or not. |
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| Description: Between an angel and a desperate woman comes salvation and a raw passion that challenges them at every turn… When Aurora Robinson attempts to open a rift between dimensions to embrace her true heritage, an arrogant Archangel is the only one who can save her from the jaws of hell. And while she owes Gabriel her life, she's determined not to fall at his feet-despite the desire she feels whenever they're together. More…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| I agree with the author, this cover model is gorgeous. I love his ephemeral wings and his hand on her arm… ok, just him in general. | Wowza. This is stunning. Beautiful colors and lighting, and I love the pose |
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| Description: 15 year old Tiger Lily, proud and fierce, wild and misunderstood, doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland, and immediately falls under his spell. Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, big-hearted but hard to reach, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything - her family, her future - to be with the haunted, hunted, courageous boy who loves her. When - as a punishment for her rebellious ways - she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter. More...
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Simple and lovely, I really like the effect of the written title against the petals. | I actually thought this was a flower at first glance, then I spotted the girl. It's a nice way to draw you in. |
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| Description: A fantastic debut from the winner of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards novel contest. When Erika wakes up after a horrific car crash, she finds herself somewhere between earth and heaven, between life and death. She doesn't want to accept help from Jeremiah, who she's not sure she can trust, even as she finds herself drawn to him, following him into a grim city of souls. She's not sure who wants to help her and who wants to hurt her. And she's desperate to get back to her children. Shawn's never thought about having to shoulder the responsibility of caring for his young sister Megan and his reckless older sister. And he never imagined that the three of them would find themselves in a haunted wood, sometimes chased, sometimes assisted, never sure where they're headed. More…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| The overall effect is great, but I can’t look too closely at the statues’ faces (they’re a little silly). The colors are great, terracotta warmth, and I love the title font. | Pretty enough, but I would never guess this was contemporary paranormal. It looks like a historical |
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| Description: NEVER LET ME GO meets HIS DARK MATERIALS in a beautiful, haunting YA debut, the first book in The Hybrid Trilogy. Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart? When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Very striking cover is (love the silhouette and her eye). Still, it feels more Science Fiction than anything Paranormal. Then again, a dystopian vibe may be what they were looking for, given the description. | So cool. I love the optical illusion with the two faces. Perfectly fits the description. |
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| Description: Stand by as Riley prepares to kick some serious demon butt for the last time in this thrilling, dramatic and sexy conclusion to THE DEMON TRAPPERS series. Riley's always known that Beck had a chequered history, but she's not prepared for what it actually means to be in love with a guy with this many dark secrets. Now that he's finally admitted to himself that he's in love with her too, there's no more hiding the truth about his past. And as it turns out, fending off a demon apocalypse is nothing compared to what's to come. . .
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Fits well with the other covers in the series, very bold “Miami Ink” look. | I love the bright, saturated colors, but I think it's too similar to the first book. |
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| Description: Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the "prince" of their pride. But she resisted long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian's sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory. The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there's no guarantee they'll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning.... Loyalties are tested and sacrifices made in the explosive conclusion to Sophie Jordan's Firelight trilogy.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Love the return of the red curls, but not a big change from VANISH in terms of composition. | It's interesting that they chose to reveal more than Jacinda's face, wonder the significance of that... and I'm loving the fiery red. I do wish that they would start using a different image. It's the exact same one in all three covers. A different pose or angle would have given them more impact. Still pretty though. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| This looks like a YA-appropriate version of Ellen Connor’s NIGHTFALL, I love it! | My favorite cover in this series. Warm colors and I love the back to back pose...they both look capable. |
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| Description: My breath came in fits and starts. And I was gone, in a flash, back to the loop. Back to my other…my other me… my other places. My other times. All Emery Land wants is to be like any other seventeen year old—to go to school, hang out with her friends, and just be normal. But for as long as she can remember, she’s suffered from something akin to seizures. And in recent years they’ve consumed her life. To Emery they're much more than seizures, she calls them loops—moments when she travels through wormholes back and forth in time and to mysterious places. The loops are taking their toll on her physically. So she practically lives in the hospital where her scientist father and an ever-growing team of doctors monitor her every move. Although they don’t believe her claims of time travel, the doctors are extremely interested in the data they collect when Emery seizes – too interested. More…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Very intense and claustrophobic, this granular, TV effect is interesting. | I'm not sure why she's underwater based on the description. It sounds very cool, but the cover isn't anything special |
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| Description: A supernatural series set in Manhattan during the 1920s that follows a teen heroine reminiscent of two of the era's most famous literary women—Zelda Fitzgerald and Dorothy Parker. The story will be a wild new ride full of dames and dapper dons, jazz babies and Prohibition-defying parties, conspiracy and prophecy—and all manner of things that go bump in the neon-drenched night.
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| A little plain, but I like the “old fashion” carnival-esque feel. | Description sounds intriguing, but I'm just not connecting with this style at all. |
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Not Yet Available for Pre-Order. | Description: Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally. Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can’t. Like the fire that killed his parents. Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he’s not doing it. More than Gabriel’s pride is at stake -- this could cost him his family, maybe his life. And no one seems to hear him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Layne understands family problems, and she understands secrets. She has a few of her own. Gabriel can’t let her guess about his brothers, about his abilities, about the danger that’s right at his heels. But there are some risks he can’t help taking. The fuse is lit…
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Continuing the tradition of proud, 80’s manhood. I like how the colors match the main characters’ powers and each guy gets his moment in the spot light. | Loving these covers. Julia was dead on about The Outsiders vibe. |
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| Julia’s Thoughts | Abigail’s Thoughts |
| Alexia looks a little more stern in this one, but another elegant, Victorian cover. | I love omnibus covers in general, but the ones for this series have been especially good. Love that they have created a distinct but still very recognizable look. I'm still a fan of the Orbit covers, but I actually think the background is better integrated on the omnibus cover. |
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And our picks for Best & Worst…
| Best | Worst |
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Which are your Best and Worst?
Great covers this week! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since you've had such a packed edition! There are so many good ones this week that it's hard to pick a fav! Thanks for sharing, I love this feature!
ReplyDeleteThis is an exceptionally good batch of covers.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious why the rating system, basically good/bad, was chosen. It's so black and white and doesn't allow for pretty good covers to be differentiated from WOW! And Okay or so-so covers from thumbs down.
What ever the reason, I really love the covers feature post.
Karen, every week Abigail and I wish we had more "hands". I think this rating is hanging on for simplicity more than anything else, we just haven't figured out an easy way to indicate a more nuanced response in graphical form. The comments, however, are where we get to quibble and explain how *much* we really liked or disliked a cover.
DeleteJulia said it perfectly.
DeleteI agree with the worst being the Libba Bray book. It's sad because I love the covers for her Great and Terrible Beauty series.
ReplyDeleteI love these posts!! I get to see so many pretty covers and this one was no exception :)
Exactly. The Great and Terrible Beauty covers were so strong, this was a let down.
DeleteI think that my favourite cover is Embers and Echoes. I don't much care for The Diviners or Call of the Sea.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited to see a new Libba Bray book! But you're right, the cover was a dud. All her past covers are excellent.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's just me, but I swear I see a face coming out of the girl's ribs in Archangel of Mercy as if he's pushing thru her skin. I love everything else about the cover tho. Grim made me think of the angels from Dr. Who. Great set of covers.
ReplyDeletemy favred ar Spark & Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer Archangel of Mercy by Christina Ashcroft/ so want those
ReplyDeleteI've come to really enjoy these postings as I am a bit of a cover whore. It was neat to actually have a cover in the grouping today -- a nifty milestone for me after following the postings for a bit now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the unexpected perk today. :)