Written by Hillary Tagliafierro
You know what we bookish people love apart from reading about great characters and intricate stories? Amazingly designed covers!
Cover-buys are totally a thing and in the last few years, we have seen young adult designers upping their game and that is directly reflecting on our TBR stacks. This year is no exception and, as a result, it was really hard to narrow down this list!
10. Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao
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Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix is the sequel to Forest of a Thousand Lanterns in the Rise of the Empress series, which went through a major cover change. Sometimes cover changes don’t really work and just make us angry, but this time we don’t mind! The new covers are so pretty that it’s difficult to stop staring at them. The flowery patterns and the bold red background make this book stand out on the bookshelves.
The series is an East Asian reimagining of the Evil Queen legend and revolves around the character of Xifeng, a girl who has to use her dark powers in order to fulfil her destiny and become the Empress.
9. The Truth Lies Here by Lindsey Klingele
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Let’s say you’re looking for a good young adult thriller. Everyone knows it’s not a good idea to read the synopsis (or at least the entirety of it) to have the best shocking reading experience. In this scenario, wouldn’t this cover make you immediately and unbiasedly want to buy The Truth Lies Here without having heard anything about it?
The smart use of the shadow created by the body of the girl to make the title suggests that the main character could have something to hide. The maroon shades of the woods also contribute to the atmosphere and the beauty of the cover.
No spoilers, of course, but this book revolves around Penny, an aspiring journalist who decides to work with two boys of completely different backgrounds in order to find her father and the truth behind multiple murders.
8. Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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After debuting with Starfish, Akemi Dawn Bowman released a new contemporary this year, and the cover looks as stunning as the previous one. The colours and the background wave immediately give a fresh summer-y vibe that are totally on brand given that this book takes place in Hawaii and features a surfer.
Rumi, the main character of this story, has to deal with the grief that comes with the loss of her sister, and she seems to be metaphorically represented by the bird taking flight.
7. My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows
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My Plain Jane is the second book in the hilarious Lady Janies series which retells the stories of different historical Janes in a fantastical and funny way. This cover totally represents the story and makes us laugh without even opening the book thanks to the little scribbled comments. However, the most amazing characteristic of this cover is the colour contrast. Who knew light blue and fluorescent yellow could work so well together? Let’s hope we get another outstanding colour combination on the cover for the next book!
6. Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard
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Sara Barnard’s covers are always shiny and spectacularly artistic and Goodbye, Perfect is no exception. Every detail was perfectly taken care of: the gold foil sunflower, the typography and the colours all contribute to make this book stand out between all others on a bookshelf.
Goodbye, Perfect is about two best friends and the problems that arise when a big secret is revealed.
5. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
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This sci-fi with contemporary vibes was first published last year in the UK, but this year it was finally released in the United States as well with a different and amazing new cover.
The title and the illustration perfectly match in their message; the simplicity of it all is what makes the reader understand that the book is totally centred on the girl in the middle. Romy Silvers is in fact the main character and in the story she’s the only survivor on a spaceship directed to a new human colony which is… years and years apart.
4. Sadie by Courtney Summers
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Sadie is Courtney Summers’ first book published by the new Macmillan YA and adult coming-of-age imprint Wednesday Books, and we can see that in the style change of the author’s book covers. While her previous covers relied more on photography, Sadie’s cover is striking in its own way with a lot of white space that gives the beautiful central illustration of the main character, her red hoodie, the title and the author’s name the importance they deserve. The illustration is perfect to represent the vibe of the story: that is only the last detail that makes this cover one of the best of 2018.
This dark contemporary standalone talks about two sisters—one murdered, one in search of revenge—in an original podcast format.
3. Fierce Like a Firestorm by Lana Popović
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As its predecessor Wicked Like a Wildfire, Fierce Like a Firestorm has a lovely flowery cover and a solid background. The inside of the book is also as beautifully written as the outside suggests. This fantasy with poetic imagery revolves around two sisters dealing with their magical powers and a curse that haunts their family line.
2. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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What If It’s Us is the collaboration everyone was waiting for: what is better than Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera working together on a LGBT contemporary, merging their cute and heartbreaking styles? What we weren’t expecting was that the book would have such a great cover. The pastel colour scheme works wonderfully to attract our attention but the best part is the detailed illustration of the main characters. Sometimes having characters on book covers stops us readers from imagining our own version of the characters, but this time the illustration is so fitting that we can only admire it and wish we could get more collaborations between these authors (and of course similar covers) in the future.
The book is about two boys who meet-cute at a post office and slowly fall in love with each other.
1. Blood of a Thousand Stars by Rhoda Belleza
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This cover couldn’t have not been the number one of this list. The sci-fi sequel and conclusion to Empress of a Thousand Skies has such a gorgeous cover that it outshines all others, including the cover of the first book. The galaxy plus the profile of the Asian model inside the pink nebula (we love inclusive covers!) make this cover an instant favourite and might encourage some readers to buy this book without even reading the synopsis. This duology follows two unlikely allies as they try to save the galaxy from a conspiracy.
