Majestic Monday #15

Oh my gosh. It’s been waaayy too long since I’ve done this post. Not to mention how MIA I ended up being last week, to boot. Ah well, it’s in the past now.

For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.

This week, in honor of a spinoff and sequel releasing next week, I’m gonna gush about one of my favorite books. Again. That’s right – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab!

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

SERIES: Shades of Magic (Book #1)

LENGTH: 400 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 24 February 2015

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari–magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.Kell was raised in Arnes–Red London–and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive. 

Cover Rating: ❤️🩶🤍🖤❤️ • 5 colorful hearts

The Fragile Threads of Power is releasing next week, and the new covers for the first trilogy have already come out, so I thought it was past time to gush about the original ones. Especially since I much prefer them to the new ones, even if they now match the one for the new book.

This cover (and the covers for the rest of the Shades of Magic trilogy) incorporate the “colors” of the four Londons featured in the series. It’s also a unique art style, and it conveys the main mechanic of the novel.

I love the way the colors are used here – to Kell’s red coat, to differentiate the two Londons Kell is traveling between, and even in the letters of the title. I even like the way that the negative space looks, despite the emptiness. It makes the universe of A Darker Shade of Magic feel very vast.

Do you like the cover art of the Shades of Magic trilogy? What are your favorite book covers?

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #15

Ugh, it’s been waaayy too long since I’ve last done this post. I’m sorry – things have just been kind of nuts over the past few weeks.

Anyway, for anyone who is not aware, Majestic Mondays are a (supposedly) weekly meme I created, wherein I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it. And that’s pretty much it.

This week the novel art I’ll be gushing over is The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber. It’s the sequel to Once Upon a Broken Heart, another cover that I’ve admired in a prior Majestic Monday post.

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

LENGTH: 416 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Flatiron Books

RELEASE DATE: 13 September 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can…

Book Cover Rating: 💔💔💔💔 • 4 broken hearts

Much like the first book in this series, I really love the cover here. However, I honestly think I prefer the lavender to the rose gold used on OUABH’s. It’s for no reason in particular, though – I simply like purple covers, as people who’ve seen this post before may be aware.

I love how the black background appears to be a starry night sky. It makes me think of constellations – even more so with the beautiful purple arrow that takes center stage on the cover. It makes me think of Sagittarius a little, especially when a mythical figure known as the Archer exists in this series’ universe, and has a significant part to play in this book especially.

But yeah, Stephanie Garber’s publisher has a knack for choosing some very gorgeous cover art. And I mean all the cover art. The bindings are also lovely pastel colors, and the back covers are both pretty starry skies, similar to their fronts.


So yeah, sorry again for not doing this post for over a month. I promise that it’s never intended – stuff always seems to happen, and weekly wrap-ups were beginning to take a toll on me, so (double) posting on Mondays was hard. I’ve missed doing this post, though, so since Weekly Wrap-Ups are currently on a hiatus of sorts, you’ll probably see more of these.

And as always, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have a stupendous day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Birthstone Book Covers: August 2023

Since I decided to take an impromptu vacation last week, I had to postpone this post. But I’m back from my blogging vacay, so here’s August 2023’s Birthstone Book Covers.

Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.

August has one birthstone – Peridot.

This one was a bit harder for me than I expected it would be. Regardless, I did my best. The covers are all lighter green, at least.

Rules:

📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black) and link back to her so she can check out your post.
📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
📚 HAVE FUN!
📚 Nominate people if you want!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Maze Runner by James Dashner

As always, thank you to everyone who popped in and checked out my post. I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #14

Look! It’s back!! It’s been well over a month – which is far too long. But I’m finally, finally back with yet another Majestic Monday!

For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.

This week the book I’m admiring is A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand

SERIES: The Middlemist Trilogy (Book #1)

LENGTH: 560 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Casablanca

RELEASE DATE: 27 June 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She’s young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin―embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family―often forget Gemma exists.

Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.

Then she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan d’Astier. His family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and Talan, the only survivor, is determined to redeem their honor. Intrigued and enchanted, Gemma proposes a bargain: She’ll help Talan navigate high society if he helps her destroy the Basks. According to popular legend, a demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families’ blood feud―slay the demon, end the feud.

But attacks on the Middlemist are increasing. The plot against the Basks quickly spirals out of control. And something immense and terrifying is awakening in Gemma, drawing her inexorably toward Talan and an all-consuming passion that could destroy her―or show her the true strength of her power at last.

Book Cover Rating: 👑👑👑👑 • 4 / 5 crowns

Firstly, I adore the color. The background is cyan which is one of my absolute favorite colors ever. I also love the darker swirl designs in the background as well. The variegated sizes of words in the title are also also really nice, and it makes the words pop more.

I also really like the way the crown on the cover looks. It’s front and center, clearly meant to be the star of the book cover. Being covered in ivy makes it look really pretty, too. I also really like how the gems in the crown (or are they eyes?!?) look. But yeah, aside from the crown, the cover art on A Crown of Ivy and Glass isn’t too busy, and I can appreciate that.

So yeah, I know it’s been forever since I’ve done this post and I’m sorry about that. But thank you for reading, as always, and I really hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #13

It’s been a month – which is waaayy too long. But I’m finally back with yet another Majestic Monday!

For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.

This week, I’m gonna gush about the cover of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

SERIES: The Empyrean (Book #1)

LENGTH: 662 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Entangled: Red Tower Books

RELEASE DATE: 2 May 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Book Cover Rating: 🪽🪽🪽🪽 • 4 / 5 wings

To start off, this is a gorgeous cover. We all know by now how much I like contrasting complementary colors in my covers, and this one has it, classic black on gold style. It’s very pleasing to look at.

I also like how the cover looks both geometric and natural at the same time. I love both things in my cover art, so both of these things together is just *chef’s kiss.*

It’s also not pictured here – as well as technically not part of the book’s cover – but I also love the edge art on the pages. It’s just beautiful, as well as being a reverse of the cover: as it’s gold on black. The bird imagery all over everything is just stunning in general, and my favorite thing about the book cover art.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and have an absolutely amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #12

It’s been several weeks – I think around six or so – which is waaayy too long. But I’m finally back with yet another Majestic Monday!

For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.

The book that I’m highlighting this week is The Bone Ships by RJ Barker.

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker

SERIES: The Tide Child Trilogy (Book #1)

LENGTH: 513 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Orbit

RELEASE DATE: 24 September 2019

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Two nations at war. One prize beyond compare.

For generations, the Hundred Isles have built their ships from the bones of ancient dragons to fight an endless war. The dragons disappeared, but the battles for supremacy persisted.

Now, the first dragon in centuries has been spotted in far-off waters, and both sides see a chance to shift the balance of power in their favor. Because whoever catches it will win not only glory but the war.

Book Cover Rating: ⛵⛵⛵⛵ • 4 / 5 ships

I really, really like this cover. I like the minimalist style they went with for the colors, and I like how the cover itself resembles an old map.

The dragon taking up the top right corner looks great, too. It looks so fierce and angry and I love it. I also like how the dragon almost looks like a sketch that someone added to a map or something.

The calligraphy font of the title might be my favorite part of the cover, though. It’s what initially caught my eye, and it’s just so pretty. (I love calligraphy.) I also like how the B and the S (haha, did not intend to do that) have read shading. It really makes the title pop.

Anyway, as always, thank you so much for reading, and have a perfect day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #11

It’s been a couple of weeks, and I’m feeling waaayy better, so I decided that it was more than time for another Majestic Monday!

For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.

This week I’m talking about Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco.

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Series: Kingdom of the Wicked (#3)

Length: 401 pages

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: September 27, 2022

Book Description:

Two curses.
One prophecy.
A reckoning all have feared.

And a love more powerful than fate. All hail the king and queen of Hell.

Emilia is reeling from the shocking discovery that her twin sister, Vittoria, is alive. But before she faces the demons of her past, Emilia yearns to claim her king, the seductive Prince of Wrath, in the flesh. Emilia doesn’t simply desire his body, she wants his heart and soul—but that’s something the enigmatic demon can’t promise her.

When a high-ranking member of House Greed is assassinated, Emilia and Wrath are drawn to the rival demon court. Damning evidence points to Vittoria as the murderer and she’s quickly declared an enemy of the Seven Circles. Despite her betrayal, Emilia will do anything to solve this new mystery and find out who her sister really is.

Together Emilia and Wrath play a sin-fueled game of deception as they work to stop the unrest that’s brewing between witches, demons, shape-shifters and the most treacherous foes of all: the Feared.

Emilia was warned that when it came to the Wicked nothing was as it seemed. But, have the true villains been much closer all along? When the truth is finally revealed, it just might end up costing Emilia her heart.

Book Cover Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀 • 5 / 5 skulls

So eventually, I think I’d like to give this series a shot, even though it appears to have quite a bit of focus on romance. And I’m gonna be honest here: the covers of this series are definitely part of the reason why I want to try it, though the plot summaries also seem interesting.

Anyway, back to the cover of this book specifically: I really like it for some reason. Black and white and red always look good together and it’s part of what sets it apart for me from the other covers in the series. I also love the crown and how it looks on the skull. The blank backdrop also makes everything stand out so well.

The thing I like the most about the cover, however, are the smoldering roses around the skull, and the rubies glistening in its eye sockets. It just looks sooo good. I love this cover.

What do you guys think of this cover? Have you read any of the books in The Kingdom of the Wicked series? If you have, what did you think of the book(s)?

Thanks for reading, and have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2023

It’s March now, and spring is imminent, but it also means that February is over. So I’m gonna go over February’s statistics on The StoryGraph!

I didn’t read nearly as many books as I’d hoped, but I also didn’t read any less than I did in January, so I’m going to count that as a win.

Also, post #100 let’s gooo!!

So, uh anyway, now, on to the stats…

February 2023 Reading Stats

😐 Moods: Lots of moods in the books in February, Adventure of course being the biggest one, as per usual. My other moods were Mysterious, Emotional, and Dark, which also checks as every one of those except Emotional usually appears on my little pie chart.

👢 Pace: Most of the books I read are medium-paced, and that still shows here, but there dud read a book that I felt was fast-paced this month.

🔢 Page Number: I read a lot of longer books than I usually do in February, as 3/4 of them were 500+ page books. My preferred length of books is between 300 and 499 pages, and you can still see that a little bit here.

📖 Fiction/Nonfiction: 100% fiction once again. I swear I have a couple of nonfiction books on my TBR. I swear.

🎭 Genres: I upped the genres I read from last month. All of the books I read were Fantasy, which is my favorite genre so it’s absolutely no surprise. Most of them were also YA, which also isn’t a surprise as most fantasy that I read tends to be YA. Oh and Science Fiction! Hi there, second favorite genre! I read a lot less Romance than I expected to, even though all of the books I read technically featured it, to some degree.

📄 Format: All of the books I read last month were paperbacks.

Rating: My average rating for the month of February was 4.0 stars exactly. Not surprising – I gave all of the novels I read 4 stars, lol.

📉 Pages Read Daily: Once again, I was kind of all all over the place with the amount I read. I read more pages closer to the beginning of February, which makes sense, as I was able to read about three books in the first half of the month.

The Books I Read in February

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Winter by Marissa Meyer
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up

So I didn’t read and review as many books in February that I’d wanted, but hey, I got sick in the last week and a half, and when I’m really not feeling well I just don’t want to read. But I finally finished A Conjuring of Light, and I finally finally finished Cress, which I’m really happy about.

What books did you read in February? What did you think of them? Did we read any of the same books?

Thank you, as always, for reading, and have a marvelous day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #10

It’s been forever (a month) since the last one of these. (Sorry.) I really do love doing these, but since I started doing Weekly Wrap-Ups consistently, I haven’t had as much time to do Majestic Mondays as I’ve wanted.

Because of this, I’ve decided that some adjustments have had to be made. So, instead of highlighting three book covers, I’ve made the decision to go back to covering individual book covers, similar to my original Majestic Monday post.

For those who don’t know (since it’s been a while), Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover, and talk about what I like about it.

This week, I’m talking about a fantasy book that you might have heard of: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Series: The Roots of Chaos (#1)

Length: 848 pages

Genres: Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Fiction

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Release Date: February 26, 2019

Book Description:

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–but assassins are getting closer to her door. 

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. 

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Book Cover Rating: 🍊🍊🍊🍊 • 4 / 5 oranges

So, I personally, will never read this book – for various reasons – but that doesn’t mean I can’t admire the cover. And highlight the book for those who might be interested, the few who read this blog.

First off, I absolutely love the dragon. I love how it’s blue and contrasts perfectly with the orange background. Secondly, I really like the way that the tower the dragon is twined around looks too. Ancient, mildly weathered, and important looking.

I also love that the background is actually orange. I know, I know, the title has the word orange in it, why wouldn’t the cover? But you’d be surprised – some covers just don’t take the hint. And Priory’s cover looks gorgeous to boot.

I also really like how, if you look closer, the backdrop has two shades of orange! And one of them looks like a tree moving in the breeze or something! So there’s literally an orange tree on the cover! I love it when a cover is good.

What do you guys think of the cover? Have you read The Priory of the Orange Tree? What did you think of it?

Thanks for reading, and have an amazing day/night! Join me next week for another Majestic Monday. That’s right, they’re here to stay this time!

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #9: Tress of the Emerald Sea, Unnatural Magic, Siege and Storm

Whoa, barely made it! It’s still a Monday though, so there’s still time for Majestic Monday! You know, that thing where I point out pretty book covers and we admire them together.

This week, the book covers that I’m highlighting are: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson, Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner, and Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo.

Tress of the Emerald Sea (The Cosmere) by Brandon Sanderson

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one.

With the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie.

But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea.

Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

I’ve done a cover with similar colors before, and those who have seen that Majestic Monday post know how that turned out.

Cover Rating: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

I love green and gold together. And this cover goes above and beyond by juxtaposing multiple shades of green against one shade of yellow-gold. I love how it makes it stand out. And both colors paired with black so that specific things appear in shadowy, low details? Very nice.

Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner

A “brilliant and terrifically fun”* debut novel brings an enchanting new voice to fantasy.

Onna can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village school. But despite her incredible abilities, she’s denied a place at the nation’s premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don’t think there’s anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education. But as soon as Onna arrives, she’s drawn into the mysterious murder of four trolls.

Tsira is a troll who never quite fit into her clan, despite being the leader’s daughter. She decides to strike out on her own and look for work in a human city, but on her way she stumbles upon the body of a half-dead human soldier in the snow. As she slowly nurses him back to health, an unlikely bond forms between them, one that is tested when an unknown mage makes an attempt on Tsira’s life. Soon, unbeknownst to each other, Onna and Tsira both begin devoting their considerable talents to finding out who is targeting trolls, before their homeland is torn apart…

Cover Rating: ★★✯☆☆ • 3.5 / 5 stars

This cover is even vaguer looking than the first one, but it makes up for it with more colors. I love how all of the different colors used are just in shades of pastels. It really stands out against the black backdrop. The whole thing kind of reminds me a little of those felt-drawing things for kids.

I also love the way that the leaves look. I really like twisting vines and forest imagery, so it’s no wonder this cover caught my eye. The cover also looks rather wild with the leaves and such, and really calls attention to the “unnatural” part of the title.

Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone Trilogy Book #2) by Leigh Bardugo

Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Alina Starkov’s power has grown, but not without a price. She is the Sun Summoner–hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Shadow Fold. But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies for long. 

 The Darkling is more determined than ever to claim Alina’s magic and use it to take the Ravkan throne. With nowhere else to turn, Alina enlists the help of an infamous privateer and sets out to lead the Grisha army. 

 But as the truth of Alina’s destiny unfolds, she slips deeper into the Darkling’s deadly game of forbidden magic, and further away from her humanity. To save her country, Alina will have to choose between her power and the love she thought would always be her shelter. No victory can come without sacrifice–and only she can face the oncoming storm. 

Cover Rating: ★★★★★ • 5 / 5 stars

I love, love, love this cover. I know that it isn’t the original Siege and Storm cover, that it’s another edition, but I honestly prefer this cover. It’s far more unique than the original, even with its relative simplicity. (Then again, the first covers for the Shadow and Bone trilogy were pretty simple, too.)

I love the colors on this one the most, which is why I chose to highlight this cover over the other two in the trilogy. (The others are beautiful too, though.) I just really like blues, greens, and in-betweens, and this cover has a lot of that. And the good magic against the black background is just *chef’s kiss*. Who’s excited for Season 2?


What are really awesome covers that you’ve recently discovered? How about your all-time favorites? Have you read any of the books that I highlighted?

Thank you so much for reading and have an amazing day/night! See you on the flip side for more bookish things.

See you later ~Mar