So many new covers have been revealed these past few weeks.
There’s no way I can fit them all in this post, even combined with the Part
1 I posted on Monday. So, if you want to see new covers that aren’t listed
here, I’d suggest digging around Goodreads. :)
Here are my thoughts on some of the covers I’m most
interested in.
Publication
Date: April 9, 2019
Hardcover, 384 pages, Tor Teen
Genres:
YA, Historical Fiction
When empires clash, a Princess, a
Knight, and an Assassin embark on the quest of a lifetime.
During the time of the Crusades, an
unlikely trio--a Christian princess, her affianced prince, and a Muslim
assassin--embarks on a quest to the court of the most fearsome warrior the
world has ever known, Genghis Khan.
My Thoughts
This cover is beautiful. It’s all swirly and blue and gold.
And I just adore it. The blue really contrasts with the gold, and the font
being all swirly makes the whole thing really pretty. The dagger and sword are
also super pretty. I’m just really digging this one.
There’s an ARC of this one at work that I plan to dig into
in a couple of weeks. It just looks so good. I’m trying to fill up some space,
so the short description for this one doesn’t mess up the look of this blog
post, so I’ll note that the cover for Undying,
which is down below, also has the blue-gold combo. I’m very interested in
whether this will become a popular cover trope. If so, you’ll probably hear
little complaint from me. Cuz I’m digging it.
***
Courting Darkness
(His Fair Assassin #4)
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
Hardcover, HMH
Books
Genres: YA, Historical Fiction/Fantasy
Death wasn’t the end, it was only
the beginning…
Sybella has always been the darkest
of Death’s daughters, trained at the convent of Saint Mortain to serve as his
justice. But she has a new mission now. In a desperate bid to keep her two
youngest sisters safe from the family that nearly destroyed them all, she
agrees to accompany the duchess to France, where they quickly find themselves
surrounded by enemies. Their one ray of hope is Sybella’s fellow novitiates,
disguised and hidden deep in the French court years ago by the convent—provided
Sybella can find them.
Genevieve has been undercover for
so many years, she struggles to remember who she is or what she’s supposed to
be fighting for. Her only solace is a hidden prisoner who appears all but
forgotten by his guards. When tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to take
matters into her own hands—even if it means ignoring the long awaited orders
from the convent.
As Sybella and Gen’s paths draw
ever closer, the fate of everything they hold sacred rests on a knife’s edge.
Will they find each other in time, or will their worlds collide, destroying
everything they care about?
My Thoughts
I’m glad they’re giving this series a makeover. The old
covers just weren’t doing the books any favors. Don’t get me wrong, I actually
like those covers, but they had a different vibe than what covers today are
doing. This one is pretty. The feathers and dagger really stand out, and the
font is simplistic, yet it really stands out from the black background. I
approve, though I doubt I’ll ever finish reading this series.
***
(The Gilded Wolves #1)
Publication
Date: January 15, 2019
Hardcover, 400 pages, Wednesday Books
Genres:
YA, Fantasy
Set in a darkly glamorous world The
Gilded Wolves is full of mystery,
decadence and dangerous but thrilling adventure.
Paris, 1889: The world is on the
cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new
life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one
keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin
Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks
him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his
true inheritance. To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will
need help from a band of experts:
An engineer with a debt to pay. A
historian who can't yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother
in all but blood, who might care too much.
Together, they'll have to use their
wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart
of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay
alive.
My Thoughts
I’m really not feeling this cover. It just looks weird to
me. The green leaves with the gold fount just aren’t my aesthetic when it comes
to book covers. Now, if this was in a garden, I’d be all for it, but since it’s
a cover, nah… Anywho, maybe it’ll look better once it’s actually printed. For
now, though, I’m not impressed.
***
Ship of Smoke and Steel
(The Wells of Sorcery #1)
Publication Date: January 22, 2019
Hardcover, 352
pages, Tor Teen
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Ship
of Smoke and Steel is the launch of a
cinematic, action-packed epic fantasy trilogy for fans of Leigh Bardugo and The
Legend of Korra.
In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the
great port city of the Blessed Empire, eighteen-year-old ward boss Isoka comes
to collect when there's money owing. When her ability to access the Well of
Combat is discovered by the Empire—an ability she should have declared and
placed at His Imperial Majesty's service—she's sent on an impossible mission:
steal Soliton, a legendary ghost ship—a ship from which no one has ever
returned. If she fails, her sister’s life is forfeit.
My Thoughts
I like this one. I’m not in love with it, but it’s
different. The girl-holding-swords-and-looking-threatening dynamic isn’t different,
but the style of artwork is. It’s more painted, like the Japanese calligraphy
style. I’m intrigued. I do wonder, though, where this girl’s left hand went…
***
Publication
Date: January 15, 2019
Hardcover, 352 pages, Henry Holt
Genres:
YA, Contemporary
For Sophie, small-town life has
never felt small. She has the Yum Yum Shoppe, with its famous fourteen flavors
of ice cream; her beloved marching band, the pride and joy of Acadia High (even
if the football team disagrees); and her four best friends, loving and
infuriating, wonderfully weird and all she could ever ask for.
Then August moves in next door. A
quiet guy with a magnetic smile, August seems determined to keep everyone at
arm's length. Sophie in particular.
Country stars, revenge plots, and a
few fake kisses (along with some excellent real ones) await Sophie in this
hilarious, heartfelt story.
My Thoughts
Another contemporary release from Emma Mills. Okay, so I’m
not the biggest fan of Emma Mills’s covers. And I’m definitely not a fan of
this one. Her third book had a good cover, it was all stitchy looking, but
these peelings or petals or whatever, aren’t pleasing to my eye. Usually with
Emma Mills books, though, there’s a very pretty design on the naked book.
***
Skyward
Publication Date: November 6, 2018
Hardcover, 400
pages, Delacorte Press
Genres: YA, Sci-Fi
From Brandon Sanderson, the #1 New
York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, and
the internationally bestselling Mistborn series, comes the first book in an
epic new series about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous
world at war with aliens.
Spensa's world has been under
attack for hundreds of years. An alien race called the Krell leads onslaught
after onslaught from the sky in a never-ending campaign to destroy humankind.
Humanity's only defense is to take to their ships and combat the Krell. Pilots
are the heroes of what's left of the human race.
Becoming a pilot has always been
Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring above the
earth and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with that of her
father--a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his
team, leaving Spensa's chances of attending Flight School at slim to none.
No one will let Spensa forget what
her father did, but she is determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a
possibility. They've doubled their fleet, which will make Spensa's world twice
as deadly . . . but just might take her skyward.
My Thoughts
Okay, so I’m not a fan of this cover. I mean, it’s okay, I
guess… It could’ve been so much better though. It looks kind of like those old
sci-fi covers from the ‘80s and ‘90s. I think I different font choice could
have been better. Not to mention, I hate it when the author’s name is larger
than the title. It’s just stupid. The book isn’t called “Brandon Sanderson.”
*sigh* At least it’s purple.
***
(Unearthed
#2)
Publication
Date: January 8, 2019
Hardcover, 384 pages, Disney-Hyperion
Genres:
YA, Sci-Fi
Trapped aboard the Undying's
ancient spaceship and reeling from what they've learned there, scavenger Mia
and academic Jules are plunged into a desperate race to warn their home planet
of the danger humanity's greed has unleashed. From the mountains of Spain to
the streets of Prague, the sequel to Unearthed is a white-knuckle ride that
will send readers hurtling back to earth, and leave them breathless until the
last page.
The earth's fate rests in Mia and
Jules's hands in the epic conclusion to New York Times best-selling authors
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner's tomb-raiding sci-fi duology.
My Thoughts
Gotta say, I love this cover. I think it’s way prettier than
the first one. Plus, it’s got that same blue and gold combo that I’m really
digging. I still haven’t read the first book yet, but I know these covers are
supposed to really match the source material. That makes me happy. I also like
how the designers incorporate the titles into the world of the novel. It’s
nice.
Oh, and one more major thing. I’m a sucker for sun glares on
books. The only other one I’ve seen like this one is Gena Showalter’s The Darkest Surrender. If you’ve seen
any others, please let me know. I just think they’re so pretty.
***
The Tesla Legacy
Publication Date: March 12, 2019
Hardcover, 368
pages, Tor Teen
Genres: YA, Sci-Fi
THE
TESLA LEGACY follows a precocious young
scientist named Lucy Phelps whose fateful encounter in the Tesla Suite of the
New Yorker Hotel unlocks her dormant electrical powers. As Lucy struggles to
understand her new abilities through scientific experimentation, she is thrust
into a centuries old battle between rival alchemical societies.
One side wants her help and the
other wants her dead, but both believe she is the next step in human evolution.
Unfortunately, carriers of the genetic mutation—including Nikola Tesla—have a
greatly reduced life expectancy. Even if Lucy can outrun her enemies, she can’t
outrun herself.
My Thoughts
This book isn’t on the top of my most anticipated list, but
the cover is very intriguing. It’s all purple, silver, and shimmery. I hope it
has some foil on the printed dustjacket to make is shine. That would be really
pretty.
***
Publication
Date: January 8, 2019
Hardcover, 432 pages, Bloomsbury YA
Genres:
YA, Fantasy
Two sisters become unwitting rivals
in a war to claim the title of Emperor in this sweeping tale of ambition,
sacrifice and betrayal for readers of Sabaa Tahir and Alwyn Hamilton.
All hail the Girl King.
Sisters Lu and Min have always
understood their places as princesses of the Empire. Lu knows she is destined
to become the dynasty's first female ruler, while Min is resigned to a life in
her shadow. Then their father declares their male cousin Set the heir instead—a
betrayal that sends the sisters down two very different paths.
Determined to reclaim her birthright,
Lu goes on the run. She needs an ally—and an army—if she is to succeed. Her
quest leads her to Nokhai, the last surviving wolf shapeshifter. Nok wants to
keep his identity secret, but finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with
the girl whose family killed everyone he ever loved…
Alone in the volatile court, Min's
hidden power awakens—a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set's reign…or
allow Min to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one Emperor, and
the sisters' greatest enemy could turn out to be each other.
My Thoughts
I like this cover. I don’t love it, but I like it. I think
it’d be prettier if the background wasn’t such a drab gray and the font wasn’t
so blah. It also reminds me a lot of Mistborn’s
cover. The girl looks completely different, but the background a font don’t.
***
Those are some recently revealed covers. What do you think?
Do you like them?
