We are thrilled to be revealing the cover for Kate Anderson’s Here Lies Olive, which follows sixteen-year-old Olive who summons a ghost to find out what happens after people die, she then must team up with her maybe-nemesis/maybe-crush, her ex-best friend, and a strange new girl to find his unmarked grave before he loses who he is and becomes a danger to everyone she loves.
Releasing on October 24th from Flux Books, Here Lies Olive can be added to your Goodreads and it’s now available to pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, or North Star Editions (where you can get 30% off fall release pre-orders using code FALL23 and free shipping when you spend over $100!).
Before we get to the big reveal, read on what Kate thought about her cover, which was created by illustrator Raluca Burcă, designer Karli Kruse, and Tina Doffing at Astound.
“I didn’t have a clear vision for the cover, except for two things: I knew that I wanted dark florals and cemetery iconography, specifically the winged skull that appears on many graves from the 1600s. The illustrator did a fabulous job nestling headstones with beautiful iconography among deep purple flowers. From there, we included something symbolic of each of the five main characters. I love that we were able to subtly acknowledge Olive and all her pals. But my very favorite part of the cover design is the wisp of smoke from a pair of candles that have just been blown out. Not only does this represent an important moment in the story, but also the theme of death and Olive’s search for what comes after.”
SYNOPSIS
Growing up in the dark tourism capital of the United States, sixteen-year-old Olive should be comfortable with death. But ever since an allergic reaction almost sent her to the wrong side of the grass, she’s been terrified that there is no afterlife. And after the death of her surrogate grandmother, Olive has kept everyone at arm’s length because if there’s Nothing after we die, relationships and love can only end in sorrow.
When she summons a spirit to answer her questions about death, Olive meets Jay, a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died. Olive agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave in exchange for answers about the other side and what comes next.
Meanwhile, someone—or something—is targeting Olive’s classmates, and the longer Jay lingers, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for having brought Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe-nemesis, maybe-crush Maren, ex-best friend Davis, and new girl Vanessa to free Jay’s spirit before he’s trapped as a malevolent shade and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive must face her fear of death and risk losing another person she loves to the Nothing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Anderson lives in Utah with her husband and four children. When she’s not writing, she’s embroidering her favorite book covers, exploring the mountains, or planning road trips to places that are off the beaten path–the weirder, the better. Here Lies Olive is her first book. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @kateanderwrites.
