It’s that time of week again, so it’s time for another Majestic Monday.
Majestic Mondays are when The Blog that Nobody Knows takes a look at some pretty book covers. That’s it, that’s what we do.This week, the three book covers I’m gonna highlight are Defy the Night, The Paper Magician, and Once Upon a Broken Heart.
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
Series: Defy the Night [Book #1]
Length: 467 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: September 14, 2021
Book Description
A desperate prince.
A daring outlaw.
A dangerous flirtation.
In the Wilds of Kandala, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade has been watching people suffer for too long. A mysterious sickness is ravaging the land and the cure, Moonflower Elixir, is only available for the wealthy. So every night, she defies the royal edicts and sneaks out, stealing Moonflower petals and leaving the elixir for those in need.
In the palace of Kandala, Prince Corrick serves as the King’s Justice, meting out vicious punishments and striking fear into the hearts of agitators and outlaws. Corrick knows he must play this role convincingly–with a shortage of elixir and threats of rebellion looming ever closer, the King’s grip on power is tenuous at best, and Corrick knows his brother is the kingdom’s best hope for survival.
But when an act of unspeakable cruelty brings the royal and the outlaw face to face, the natural enemies are faced with an impossible choice–and a surprising spark. Will they follow their instincts to destroy each other? Or will they save the kingdom together… and let that spark ignite?
First off, as usual, this cover is gorgeous. It’s purple and gold once again (hmm, is there a pattern here, I wonder?), and I just love how the neon effect on the golden lettering looks on the purple.
The flowers are also lovely, and I love how they frame the title and the castle cast in shadows. Everything in this cover stands out, and I absolutely adore it.
Cover Rating: ★★★★✯ • 4.5 / 5 stars
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
Series: The Paper Magician [Book #1]
Length: 234 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: September 1, 2014
Book Description
Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever.
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.
An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.
To start off, I just love covers that incorporate a monochrome scale, paired with one, distinct color. It’s similar to what V. E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series does, and I find this book cover art beautiful in the same way.
I also love all the red lines here, and how they still appear to be connected in some fashion, despite not doing so in any visible way. I think that the contrast and different pairings with all these colors here are also really pretty.
Cover Rating: ★★★☆☆ • 3 / 5 stars
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
Series: Once Upon a Broken Heart [Book #1]
Length: 408 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: September 28, 2021
Book Description
Once Upon a Broken Heart marks the launch of a new series from beloved author Stephanie Garber about love, curses, and the lengths that people will go to for happily ever after.
For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings…until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.
Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game — and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…
Getting into the cover, I’m starting off with one of my favorites. Contrast. I adore the black background and the pale pink dots (that glisten in the hardcover version), that sit atop it.
I also love the pink heart that almost appears to be made from locks of hair, and how it looks to be rotting from the inside out. And the day that the ivory font is used for the title and author, and how it still stands out, despite looking similar to the pink of the art, is just gorgeous.
Cover Rating: ★★★★★ • 5 / 5 stars
And that’s it for this week’s Majestic Monday. Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them (and their covers)?
Join me next Monday for (most likely) the same type of thing, as well as next time for book bookish things! Thank you, as always, for reading.
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