Artsy Shelf – 38 – Dressed in Black

Last year, there seemed to be a trend of covers with gorgeous red dresses and beautiful white ones. While these trends are far from over, 2012 seems to be the year of the black dress. It’s something we had seen a lot on the covers for the Fallen series by Lauren Kate – and in fact, some of these covers look like they could belong with the series – but I’ve noticed a lot more of them in the recent months.

Here are a few of YA releases coming in 2012, featuring girls dressed all in black :

I was a bit indifferent to the cover of Defiance by C. J. Redwine, until I took a closer look at it and realized two things : first, the girl is not wearing a dress but a beautiful black cape. She looks more like an adventurer, an assassin or a spy than like a beautifully dressed girl in need of saving. I really like that, and from the summary on Goodreads, it seems the cover is a good illustration for it! The second thing I noticed when looking at it is the castle/city at the bottom of her cape. It’s a nice touch!

Do these covers work for you? Are you getting tired of the stunningly dressed young women on the covers of YA fiction? Do you, like me, wish we could have girls a little less passive, or do you prefer the more evocative poses?

Artsy Shelf – 37 – With a lot of Heart

♥ Happy Valentine’s Day lovely readers! ♥

This specific holiday tends to bring either the love or the exasperated sighs, I know. But I love celebrations – and this one brings lots of lovely memories from my childhood!

My mom always made it as a celebration that included not only significant others, but also family and friends. So, that’s a little of what I want to do here today; but instead of offering you valentines, I am offering you book covers with a lot of heart!  ♥

I believe they are mostly, if not all, 2012 releases. I know without a doubt that Unbreak my Heart and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight are my favorites – with a special mention for Shooting Stars because, camera!

I love the glasses on Between You & Me, though! I have always wanted glasses like these, but the only ones I ever find are kids ones.

Do you have favorites among these, or are you just not into heart covers?

This or That? (4)

Once more I appeal to you judgement to help me decide on a next read!

This time around I picked a bunch of YA novels I was very excited about upon receiving, but who ended up waiting on my shelves to receive some love.

The Selection :

Abandon by Meg Cabot : This take on Persephone by an author I usually enjoyed hasn’t received the warmest welcome, but I’m optimistic that it will be a better fit for me than The Goddess Test.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano : A dystopian novel where human longevity is around 25 years old and young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamy. I haven’t had much luck with YA dystopias this year, so hopefully this one will go better?

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand : This story of an half-angel girl has received some great reviews. Not only that, but I have often seen it recommended in reviews of other books with angels. It seems to be a bit different from the trend from what I understood, which is always good.

Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes : A story of a girl raised by a werewolves pack (you’d never guess by the title!). I love werewolves, even more than vampires these days, and this one intrigues me.

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly : About a young girl who has the ability to see into the future and people’s dreams. She doesn’t know where her powers come from, but I’m guessing it has something to do with angels. Just a hunch! It also received some positive reviews.

So, what do you think? You can answer by the poll and, if you have any thoughts to share on the books (either because you’ve read one or want to know more about another, or anything really!), you can always comment below 🙂

Artsy Shelf – 36 – Serene Walk

We’re back to the serious stuff this week as I feature covers that I actually love.

It’s a theme I have kind of done before, with the Walking Away and Walking Away Together features.

This time, I picked covers with a similar composition – tiny figures walking in the distance – and similar tones. There’s something serene, peaceful, quiet in these covers – almost too quiet, I’d say.

I like them all, but The Man who Disappeared really gets my attention. I love the cover, the composition and the title placement.

Blood Red Road is very mysterious. The cover is almost bare but not in a boring way, making me wonder about the character without giving away answers.

Do you appreciate the soft tones and the quietness of these covers? Or do you prefer them with more punch, more drama?

Artsy Shelf – 35 – The Almost Kiss

I think the similarity between these covers is pretty obvious, right? 🙂

The Artsy Shelf is usually my sweet spot to feature covers I love or themes that always catch my eyes on book covers. I hope you’ll forgive me as this week, I am doing the opposite by featuring a trend not that I dislike, but I don’t really get.

I do kind of like the Forget You cover. The tones are sunny, summery and I’ve been missing the sun these days (something that rarely happens to me in the fall!) But the “almost kiss” feels more like a movie poster and except “Romance!”, they don’t really scream much to me. Without hating them, I don’t think I would pick them out in a store. Would you?

I do want to read some of these though, despite their covers 😛

Artsy Shelf – 34 – Curl up in White

Somewhat following the last feature on white dresses, today I have selected covers who also have white dresses, but also present a character curled up on the ground.

I’m pretty sure The Opposite of Amber and Far From You use the same image in reverse, and I do think the first one works best for me.

My favorite though would be between  Ash and The Girl Who Chased the Moon. I love the contrast and simplicity of the first one, but the second one has a magic and poetry that drives me to it immediately.

Do these covers work for you, or do they miss the mark? Which one is your favorite?