Judging Books By Their Covers 11/01/2025
Low effort blog content, looking at the books in this Gizmodo list, no sequels or series let’s go!
“Sofia Bottom lives in Elysia, a small country forgotten by Europe. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. From the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, no artist is as revered as Sofia’s brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can fourteen-year-old Sofia, with her tin ear and enduring love of ancient myths, ever hope to win her mother’s love?
When the country’s greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, Clara turns to her daughter to smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But when the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, Sofia is forced to run for her life and loses her mother’s most prized possession. Frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost. On an epic journey through woods and razed towns, colliding with soldiers, survivors, and other lost children, Sofia must make the choice between kindness and her own survival.”
Cover: I’m torn on this one. The base image is nice and I do enjoy a good “edited painting” design, but the spraypaint effect is kind of cheap and looks like it was made using MS Paint. Plus, the typography is a bit too busy for my liking. This is a good idea that someone got a little off-track with.
Synopsis: Most of this is right up my alley. Fictional countries, young protagonists embroiled in conflict and danger, suggestions of the supernatural, it has less than four stars on Amazon …it all sounds great. The only thing giving me pause is that “Sophia Bottom” is a painfully twee protagonist name for an adult novel—it would be a bit much even for middle grade, frankly—so I hope that’s not an indicator of the overall tone. Don’t promise me survival in a war-torn land and then give me treacle.
Will I check it out? Yes
“Technology never works well the first time. Or even the second. Army veteran John Reiff is living proof.
John is revived in the back of a dilapidated ambulance, on the run from a shadowy organization that is desperate to take him back. He is the first one, their archetype, and they need to know what happened after his escape. What is happening to his body and his mind. And they need to know now.
Because Reiff knows things he shouldn’t. About them and about what they are hiding. A secret that has been in cold storage for several hundred years. And the insidious, methodical plan that has been in motion for half a century.
John Reiff is their key―a problem and the solution. A lab rat gone rogue at the worst possible time. But they will find him. They have to. And they will stop at nothing to get what they want.”
Cover: It’s a good thing that “a thriller of the near-future” tag-line is there, because if it wasn’t this would look like a completely generic action-thriller yarn about a guy named like Jack Harbinger shooting people for the US government.
Synopsis: I’m going to be entirely honest, the synopsis on this is so poorly-written that it made me immediately discount the entire book.
Will I check it out? No
As the heir to the Tianxia throne, Liyen must renew her kingdom’s pledge to serve the immortals who once protected them. But when her grandfather steals to save her life, the immortal queen commands the powerful God of War to attack Liyen’s home in revenge.
Liyen ascends vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals. To learn their secrets and to protect her people, she forges a tenuous alliance with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War.
A treacherous attraction ignites as they are drawn together. Yet darker forces are closing in and with her kingdom plunged into peril once more, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means losing everything…even her heart.
Cover: It’s fine, I guess. Too much purple makes it blend together and the title font is kind of bland.
Synopsis: This appears to be some kind of fanasy novel with romance elements. A kind of “romantic fantasy”, perhaps even a “romantasy”, if you will. And it looks like the protagonist and her love interest start out as enemies, and then become lovers??? What a wildly original concept.
Will I check it out? No
“The names Romulus and Remus may be immortalized in map and stone and chronicle, but their mother exists only as a preface to her sons’ journey, the princess turned oath-breaking priestess, condemned to death alongside her children.
But she did not die; she survived. And so does her story.
Beautiful, royal, rich: Rhea has it all—until her father loses his kingdom in a treacherous coup, and she is sent to the order of the Vestal Virgins to ensure she will never produce an heir.
Except when mortals scheme, gods laugh.
Rhea becomes pregnant, and human society turns against her. Abandoned, ostracized, and facing the gravest punishment, Rhea forges a dangerous deal with the divine, one that will forever change the trajectory of her life…and her beloved land.
To save her sons and reclaim their birthright, Rhea must summon nature’s mightiest force – a mother’s love – and fight.
All roads may lead to Rome, but they began with Rhea Silvia.”
Cover: The cover itself is fine, but I need to rant for a second: I hate this trend of giving genre novels snappy movie-style taglines. They’re always obnoxiously cool and edgy, like “THEY THOUGHT SHE WOULDN’T…BUT THEN…SHE DID” which is just one of many things that makes so many adult genre novels these days feel like aged-up YA.
Synopsis: Speaking of which, if you changed the names on this it could absolutely be one of those not-YA novels I’m always complaining about. That’s already the kiss of death for me, but on top of that it’s also a Roman myth retelling, which regular readers will know I have an irrational aversion to.
Will I check it out? No
“James and Johnny Golden were once inseparable. For as long as she can remember, James shared an almost supernatural connection with her twin brother, Johnny, that went beyond intuition—she could feel what he was feeling. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life.
When James arrives in the secluded town of Six Rivers, California, to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to revisit the ominous events of their shared past and finally face Micah, the only other person who knows their secrets—and the only man she has ever loved.
But as James delves deeper into Johnny’s world, she realizes that their unique connection hasn’t completely vanished. The more she immerses herself in his life, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was hiding something, and he’s not the only one. The deeper she digs, the more she is compelled to unravel the truth behind the days leading up to Johnny’s death. Ultimately, James must decide which truths should come to light, and which are better left buried forever.”
Cover: Love the top half of this, the painterly brushstrokes are really nice. Unfortunately it’s kind of spoiled by the bottom half, where the big glowing…road flare? Or whatever it is? Is distracting and makes the whole composition seem overly busy. I’m also not entirely sure what tone this is going for; it seems light and fluffy, but the plot synopsis sounds a lot heavier.
Synopsis: I like a good mysterious past, all the better if it’s being unravelled in the wake of someone’s unexplained death and/or disappearance. But despite being quite long, this synopsis feels too vague to really hook me. Some books just don’t have plot set-ups amenable to being described in a few paragraphs, which may be what’s happening here, but either way the description leaves me cold.
Will I check it out? No
“When the gold-dusted court invitation arrives at Suraya Saab’s forge, she believes it’s a joke. Nobles might seek her skills as a bladesmith—one of few who can imbue her work with precious jadu, the last source of magic in the realm—but she has no qualifications as a potential bride for the crown prince. Still, the invitation is the chance at adventure, and the means to finally visit the capital city her late mother loved.
But what awaits her in Kaldari is nothing she could have imagined—and fraught with danger. It’s not the crown prince, but his impossibly handsome, illegitimate half-brother, Roshan, who captures her interest…and her ire. The invitation isn’t a quest to find a suitable bride, but a veiled hunt for the Starkeeper—a girl rumored to hold the magic of the stars in her blood. And across the city, unrest is brewing between the noble houses and the rebel militia.
When the rebels attack, Suraya and Roshan find themselves on the run, trying to deny their simmering attraction and the knowledge that Suraya herself might be the Starkeeper. But Roshan is guarding secrets of his own. And with no control over the power stirring within her, Suraya has drawn the attention of a dark god, an immortal whose interest might be the biggest threat of all.”
Cover: The artwork is fine, if a little gaudy, but what is with that title treatment? It’s hideous, and it looks like it should be on a middle-grade novel and not something aimed at adults. Also, not a problem with the cover as a whole, but a Rebecca Yaros recommendation does not inspire confidence in me.
Synopsis: This is a textbook case of either how not to write a synopsis, or how not to write a plot, I’m not sure which. The inciting incident sounds incredibly uninteresting (your plot should never start with “the main character has no reason to get involved with the story but decides to just for the hell of it”), the apparently-quite-important detail about a rebellion against the noble houses is thrown in as a (gramatically incorrect) afterthought, the dark God seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the plot (unless he’s actually Roshan, hope that wasn’t supposed to be a twist), and overall it’s extremely tropey and derivative. Of course the prince has a smouldery half-brother who the main character is annoyed by even though he’s so hot, of course they get horny over each other while fleeing for their lives, of course there’s a rebellion, there’s always a fucking rebellion in these books, I’m pretty sure the major publishing houses won’t even look at your post-YA romantasy if it doesn’t have A Rebellion for the protagonist to join at the end of the first book.
Will I check it out? No
“Noah has been losing his polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of her many conspiracy theories. But when his phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles and his parents locked in a terrifying trancelike state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it.
Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.
But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart—literally—as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend glued to a screen. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn—but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?
”
Cover: Creepy and effective, no complaints here.
Synopsis: Unconventional zombie apocalypse? Love it! Extremely ham-fisted social commentary? Hate it. Look, I enjoy books with political messages, and it sounds like this one is saying things I agree with heartily. But for the love of God, make it a bit less obvious what you’re trying to say. It’s like nearly a decade of Twitter has eroded people’s ability to be subtle about anything.
Will I check it out? Yes, but reluctantly
“Ancient Assyria, 9th century BC.
An orphan is raised on the outskirts of a brutal empire. Heir to a tragic prophecy, Semiramis dreams of wielding power and escaping her destiny.
Far away, a reluctant prince walks the corridors of his gilded palace in a city built by the gods. Ninus would rather spend his days in books and poetry than conquering the world of men. But when he meets Onnes, a broken, beautiful warrior, something awakens in them both. And as they grow into young men, their friendship deepens into something fiercer still.
That is until Semiramis arrives.
A savage love soon erupts between them all, even as a dark threat to the kingdom mounts. And before long, all three will be forced to learn the lesson of the gods – in Babylonia, you must bend the world to your will.
”
Cover: What did I just say about the taglines? The rest of the cover is fine, I guess, if very standard for this sort of historical fiction.
Synopsis: I have a very narrow range of interest when it comes to historical fiction, and 9th century Assyria falls well outside that range. Also, love triangle is a big turn-off.
Will I check it out? No
(After this point I decided to skip the rest of the ancient Greece/Rome/Wherever books because I would just be repeating myself)
“Life has thrown Zelu some curveballs over the years, but when she’s suddenly dropped from her university job and her latest novel is rejected, all in the middle of her sister’s wedding, her life is upended. Disabled, unemployed and from a nosy, high-achieving, judgmental family, she’s not sure what comes next.
In her hotel room that night, she takes the risk that will define her life - she decides to write a book VERY unlike her others. A science fiction drama about androids and AI after the extinction of humanity. And everything changes.
What follows is a tale of love and loss, fame and infamy, of extraordinary events in one world, and another. And as Zelu’s life evolves, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.
Because sometimes a story really does have the power to reshape the world.”
Cover: I think this cover is kind of hideous overall, but it offers an opportunity to comment on something I’ve been noticing lately: why do so many books by African women have covers with the protagonist in silhoutte, looking off to the side? I’m not making it up, here’s just a small sample:
What’s up with that? It seems to be specific to female characters, which is extra odd.
Synopsis: I have enjoyed multiple Nnedi Okorafor books in the past, despite their genres not really fitting into my usual taste. This sounds much more to my liking, so I’m immediately interested.
Will I check it out? Yes
“Edie is done with crime. Eight years behind bars changes a person—costs them too much time with too many of the people who need them most.
And it’s all Angel’s fault. She sold Edie out in what should have been the greatest moment of their lives. Instead, Edie was shipped off to the icy prison planet spinning far below the soaring skybridges and neon catacombs of Kepler space station—of home—to spend the best part of a decade alone.
But then a chance for early parole appears out of nowhere and Edie steps into the pallid sunlight to find none other than Angel waiting—and she has an offer.
One last job. One last deal. One last target. The trillionaire tech god they failed to bring down last time. There’s just one thing Edie needs to do—trust Angel again—which also happens to be the last thing Edie wants to do. What could possibly go all hammajang about this plan?”
Cover: Too busy, with too many flat blocks of colour blending into each other. The blobby book cover style isn’t good for rendering non-abstract images.
Synopsis: The setting sounds fascinating, but the plot sounds cliched. “One more job” stories are a dime a dozen, and they don’t automatically become interesting if you set them in the atmosphere above an ice planet. Also, the synopsis is pretty poorly-written, which isn’t a good sign.
Will I check it out? No
“In a world ruled by the cruel and merciless Stars, Elara has been cursed by fate. A prophecy promises she will fall for a Star, but that it will kill them both.
So when Ariete, Star of Wrath, War and Chaos, descends to wreak havoc on Elara’s kingdom, she flees her home—the Kingdom of Night—for the neighbouring Helios, Kingdom of Light.
And strides straight into the arms of an enemy prince.
Fearing that Ariete might turn his sights to Helios next, Prince Lorenzo is forced to train Elara as a weapon—one worthy of battling against the tyrannical reign of the Stars. But there are shadows even within the Kingdom of Light—and they threaten to reveal the darkness in Lorenzo’s past and the ancient magic that slumbers in Elara’s veins.
And with it all comes an undeniable, star-crossed pull between Elara and Lorenzo that neither can seem to resist...”
Cover: This is the sort of cover I find very frustrating. All of the elements are there to make something striking and attractive, but they’ve been assembled all wrong. The author’s name and the name of the series blend uncomfortably into the overly-busy background, the title text is jammed uncomfortably close to those stars, the tagline (another snappy tagline) looks cramped between the horns of the moon.
Synopsis: All of these romantasy novels are the same god damn thing. Once again, this reads for all the world like it’s supposed to be YA—the “kingdom of night” and “kingdom of light”, are you serious—even though it’s ostensibly not. Add in an obvious love triangle in the making, handsome prince, protagonist with hidden powers…if you’ve inhaled the air inside a book shop lately, you’ve already read this.
Will I check it out? No
(At this point I decided to start skipping the romantasy books as well)
“Kerry’s life is in shambles: Her husband has left her, her drinking habit has officially become a problem, and though the deadline for her big book deal—the one that was supposed to change everything—is looming, she can’t write a word. When she sees an ad for a caretaker position at a revitalized roadside motel in the Catskills, she jumps at the chance. It’s the perfect getaway to finish her book and start fresh.
But as she hunkers down in a blizzard, she spots something through the window: a pale arm peeking out from a heap of snow. Trapped in the mountains and alone with a dead, frozen body, Kerry must keep her head and make it out before the killer comes for her too. But is the deadly game of cat-and-mouse all in her mind? The body count begs to differ...”
Cover: Make the title text red instead of Baja Blast-flavoured and either reduce or remove the distracting dust particles, and this could have been decent, if still kind of unexciting.
Synopsis: Isolated hotels and snowed-in locations are among my favourite settings. The protagonist doesn’t sound too interesting—writers writing about the struggle of being writers gets old fast—but if the mystery, thrills and/or spooks are strong enough, I can put up with that.
Will I check it out? Yes
“A series of drawings by a pregnant woman conceal a chilling warning.
A child’s picture of his home contains within it a dark secret message.
A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth into a terrifying investigation.
Can you find the hidden clues in these strange pictures and discover what connects them all? Once you do, you will never forget the sinister truth that is revealed.”
Cover: Did you know this book is Japanese? It’s very important, we put the title and author name in Japanese and made the cover look like a bento box. Because the book is Japanese, you see. It’s from Japan. The person who wrote this? Also from Japan. They live there, in Japan. Where they wrote this Japanese book, which is also from Japan.
Synopsis: Love a good horror short story collection, love spooky hidden messages hidden in things, this is all A+ Ronan material. Apparently it’s written by a Youtuber, which is a little concerning, but maybe it will turn out well.
Will I check it out? Yes
“On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see a cozy ramen restaurant. And only the chosen ones—those who are lost—will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.
Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop’s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike its other customers, for he offers help instead of seeking it.
Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice—by way of rain puddles, rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a night market in the clouds.
But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own—and risk making a choice that she will never be able to take back.”
Cover: Nice. I like the text elements more than the artwork, but it’s a pleasent composition. And apparently you can turn the hardcover jacket into an origami boat? That’s fun.
Synopsis: Oh boy, this could go one of two ways. Are we getting some of that sweet, sweet surreality that I love, or overwhelming twee? Haruki Murakami, or Matt Haig? I want to believe it’s the former, but the cover is making me think it will be the latter.
Will I check it out? No
“The city of Bulwark is aptly named: a walled city built to protect and preserve the people who managed to survive a series of great cataclysms, Bulwark was founded on a system where sacrifice is rewarded by the AI that runs the city. Over generations, an elite class has evolved from the descendants of those who gave up the most to found mankind’s last stronghold, called the Sainted.
Saint Enita Malovis, long accustomed to luxury, feels the end of her life and decades of work as a bio-prosthetist approaching. The lone practitioner of her art, Enita is determined to preserve her legacy and decides to create a physical being, called Nix, filled with her knowledge and experience. In the midst of her project, a fellow Sainted is brutally murdered and the city AI inexplicably erases the event from its data. Soon, Enita and Nix are drawn into the growing war that could change everything between Bulwark’s hidden underclass and the programs that impose and maintain order.”
Cover: I don’t know if there’s a name for it, but there’s a whole slew of covers that look exactly like this and I hate them all. Boring title font, literally flat images, a little 3D-effect box with a picture of the moon or whatever in it. Bleh.
Synopsis: The premise sounds interesting, but I’m a bit concerned with how long the synopsis takes to get to the actual plot and how disconnected the individual plot points feel from each other. Like I said earlier, there are some stories that are just difficult to sum up in the space allotted to a back cover, and maybe this is one of them…or maybe it’s just lacking a strong central hook.
Will I check it out? Yes
“They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.
Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.
Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid...and it’s usually paid in blood.
”
Cover: I’m indifferent on the image—it’s a striking concept, just maybe a little too flat for my liking—but I love this vintage horror novel revival that’s going on right now. Yes, it’s kind of corny and shallow and it’s in serious danger of becoming over-used, but I still love it. These fonts and title treatments just have so much character.
Synopsis: This is facing a serious up-hill battle due to the fact that I haven’t liked a single thing Grady Hendrix has ever written. He’s the John Scalzi of horror, leaning on referential humour and cheap pop-cuture recognition to paper over weak writing. That said, this sounds like a great premise. The disturbing underground network of teen reform camps in America is a topic that really feels like it should have gotten more mainstream attention by now, and living in Ireland there’s obvious historical parallels to our recent history as well. And I like stories about people tapping into powers and realms they don’t fully understand and suffering unintended consequences.
Will I check it out? Yes
“After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea “Bennie” Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship, and her reputation to uncover what’s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it’s right—but also because she hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs.
Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can’t remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she’s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and half into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the town itself.”
Cover: I absolutely love the cover image, but what is with that hideous text? The title looks horrible cheap next to the gorgeous artwork, and the author’s name is even worse. This is a travesty.
Synopsis: The witch trend shows no sign of stopping. This one at least isn’t “cosy” and has some edge to it, so I’m interested. It sounds like there’s a good mystery and here and maybe some evocative writing.
Will I check it out? Yes
“On the outskirts of Rainbow Town, there is an old, abandoned house. They say that if you send a letter detailing your misfortunes there, you could receive a ticket. If you bring this ticket to the house on the first day of the rainy season, you’ll be granted entrance into the mysterious Rainfall Market—where you can choose to completely change your life.
No one is more surprised than Serin when she receives a ticket. Lonely and with no real prospects for a future, Serin ventures to the market, determined to create a better life for herself.
There, she meets a magical cat companion named Issha and they search through bookstores, perfumeries, and fantastical realms while Serin tries to determine what her perfect life will look like.
The catch? Serin only has one week to find her happiness or be doomed to vanish into the market forever.
”
Cover: There are approximately five thousand books on the shelves right now that look exactly like this. That said, this is one of the more attractive examples I’ve seen; I like the colour contrast, the use of dark blue tones makes it stand out a bit, the text is unobstrusive and minimalistic whole still retaining some character.
Synopsis: zzzzzzzzzz. The Rainfall Market? More like the Snoozefall Market. More like Rainsleep Town. Serin? Give me some Seritonin because otherwise I’m in danger of falling asleep at my desk.
Will I check it out? No
“Professor Everard, weird fiction scholar and proclaimed critic of H.P Lovecraft’s works, is no stranger to making people mad. Giving convention presentations on the triteness and melodrama of Lovecraft’s work pays the bills, though. Sometimes he even gets laid.
When he angers a beautiful but dangerous witch and devotee of Lovecraft’s work, she casts a spell on him, sending him to a dimension where Lovecraft’s works are very real—and very deadly. Everard must find a way through this alternate dimension to get home, before the worst of Lovecraft’s horrors prove what a master of monstrosities he really was.”
Cover: Ugh. The stones-as-face idea is solid, but it’s ruined by the awful title font, which looks like it should be on a snack food aimed at children, and the authors names forming the outline of the skull is just tacky. Hard pass.
Synopsis: This sounds absolutely insufferable. I would still find the premise stupid even if it was about a completely fictional writer, but the HP Lovecraft circle-jerking makes my skin crawl. Also, the Amazon page describes it as “humouresly transgressive” which is one of those phrases that immediately makes me run in the opposite direction.
Will I check it out? No
“Clara Woods is a killer—and perfectly fine with it, too. So what if she takes a couple of lives to make her own a little bit better? At the bottom of her garden is a flower bed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace—or so she’s always thought.
Then the girls arrive.
Lily and Violet are her nieces, recently orphaned after their affluent parents died on an ill-fated anniversary trip. In accordance with their parents’ will, the sisters are to go to their closest relative—who happens to be Clara. Despite having no interest in children, Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls’ assets—not only to bolster her dwindling fortune but also to establish what she hopes will be her legacy: a line of diamond jewelry.
There’s only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara’s ghosts . . . and call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability—and they know far more than they should.”
Cover: Too much green. The composition is strong, but slathered in all that green it becomes boring.
Synopsis: This is going to come entirely down to tone. Books with villain protagonists tend, in my experience, to get a little too self-consciously quirky about it, expecially in the modern era where self-conscious quirkiness is, for some reason, all the rage. If the POV character in this is a grounded and realistic depiction of someone being a scoundrel for selfish reasons, then great, if she’s mugging at the reader like Cruella De Vil then I’m not interested.
Will I check it out? Yes
“2005: While researching her Japanese ancestors, Isla travels from Scotland to Kagoshima. There, a vicious typhoon hurls her through a strange white gate and back to 1877, amid the dawn of the Satsuma Rebellion – the conflict that ended the samurai.
When she meets Keiichiro Maeda, a samurai who introduces her to a way of life only previously encountered in books, Isla begins to wonder if she has found her true home. But as the samurai fight a losing battle, she is increasingly distraught. Should she forewarn Keiichiro and save the man she loves or let him die the glorious death he so believes in, proud to the end that he remained a faithful warrior?
And what will become of Isla? Is she willing to leave the past behind, knowing her future will forever be changed? ”
Cover: It would be great for a more low-key, realistic novel, but seems far too restrained for historical fiction involving time travel. The BookTok-friendly physical edition with sprayed edges is a lot more appropriate for the genre, but is also hideous.
Synopsis: I said I wasn’t going to cover any more romantasy, but I just have to comment on this one, because…it’s Outlander. This is just the plot of Outlander, except instead of a Scottish woman going back in time to 18th-century Scotland and meeting a sexy highlander, it’s about a Scottish woman going back in time to 19th-century Japan and meeting a sexy samurai. Even the bit where the protagonist has foreknowledge of a battle that her love interest might die in is straight from Outlander. I know it’s become normal for authors to shamelessly rip each other off, but this is still pretty blatent.
Will I check it out? No
“The Historian meets Under the Skin in this searingly provocative literary horror novel about one woman’s determination to stay alive at any terrifying cost.
In Osaka, two strangers, Jake and Mariko, miss a flight, and over dinner, discover they’ve both brutally lost loved ones whose paths crossed with the same beguiling woman no one has seen since.
Following traces this mysterious person left behind, Jake travels from country to country gathering chilling testimonies from others who encountered her across the decades—a trail of shattered souls that eventually leads him to Theo, a dying sculptor in rural New Mexico, who knows the woman better than anyone—and might just hold the key to who, or what, she is.
Part horror, part western, part thriller, Old Soul is a fearlessly bold and genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one man’s quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an end.”
Cover: The only part of this I don’t love is how the “S” in “Soul” used a different font. I get what they were going for, but it looks like a mistake and it’s really distracting to the eye. Otherwise this is excellent.
Synopsis: Have you ever seen a synopsis that seems almost perfect, and then the back cover or author endorsement comes along and ruins it? That’s the case here. Globe-trotting investigation into a mysterious creepy person? Hell yes, I wish I could do that in real life. I am immediately on board. But why, oh why, does the book have to compare itself to The Historian, a novel I hate with my whole-ass being? For that matter, why are we still using a book that came out twenty years ago as a comparison?
Will I check it out? Yes, but warily
“For the last year, Holly and Brian have been out of sync. Neither can forget what happened that one winter evening; neither can forgive what’s happened since. Tonight, Holly and Brian race toward Pinebuck, New York, trying to outrun a blizzard on their way to the ski village getaway they hope will save their relationship. But soon they lose control of the car—and then of themselves.
Now Sheriff Kendra Book is getting calls about a couple in trouble—along with reports of a brutal and mysterious creature rampaging through town, leaving a trail of crushed cars, wrecked buildings, and mangled bodies in the snow.
To Kendra, who lost another couple to the snow just seven weeks ago, the danger feels personal. But not as personal as it feels to Holly and Brian, who are starting to see the past, the present, and themselves in a monstrous new light . . .”
Cover: This is a well-designed cover, it’s creepy and striking, truly…but unfortunately it kind of reminds me of the evil snowmen from Calvin and Hobbes, which means I have trouble taking it seriously. I think we all should have learned by now that snowmen can’t be scary.
Synopsis: Reading about bickering couples is usually about as much fun as being trapped in a car with a real bickering couple, which is a big point against this. On the other hand it sounds like the narrative focus is more on the sheriff character, and snowy environment + monster = Ronan fun-times.
Will I check it out? Yes
“In the glass city of Amoria, magic is everything. And Naila, student at the city’s legendary academy, is running out of time to prove she can control hers. If she fails, she’ll be forced into exile, relegated to a life of persecution with the other magicless hollows. Or worse, be consumed by her own power.
When a tragic incident further threatens her place at the Academy, Naila is saved by Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage. Finding Naila a kindred spirit, Haelius stakes his position at the Academy on teaching her to harness her abilities. But Haelius has many enemies, and they would love nothing more than to see Naila fail. Trapped in the deadly schemes of Amoria’s elite, Naila must dig deep to discover the truth of her powers or watch the city she loves descend into civil war.
For there is violence brewing on the wind, and greater powers at work. Ones who could use her powers for good… or destroy everything she’s ever known. ”
Cover: My immediate reaction upon seeing this was that it reminded me of a Trudi Canavan book I read years and years ago. Then I spotted the Trudi Canavan recommendation. Come to think of it, that book also had “mage” in its title. Has anyone seen Trudi Canavan and Annabel Campbell in the same place together?
Synopsis: Yeah sorry, I’ve got nothing. This is the fantasy novel equivalent of clear, unflavoured soup: it passes through my brain without leaving a single impression behind.
Will I check it out? No
“At first glance, Princess Mariama lives a charmed life at the imperial palace in Timbuktu with servants catering for her every need. But deep within the palace walls, a terrible trial takes place for the princess’s hand in marriage. Ninety-nine suitors have died and the princess is determined to end the carnage before another life is lost.
Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, Amie has lost everything. Her family, her status, her love. Forced into service for the emperor’s daughter she dreams of nothing but escape and a chance to be reunited with her childhood sweetheart.
But all is not as it seems at court, and the more Amie learns about the princess’s circumstances, the closer the girls become. Increasingly drawn to the princess in ways she doesn’t understand, Amie must make a choice between running away with the boy she loves or helping the princess to end the trials forever. . .”
Cover: Bleh
Synopsis: Okay, this is interesting. All the elements are here for the exact sort of book I’ve been dismissing lately: princess main character, death-game “trials”, love triangle, it sounds like your typical post-YA romantasy. But. Having one of the protagonists be trying to stop the not-Hunger Games is just enough of a spin on the familiar concepts to make me somewhat interested. Most of the time with these books it feels like the author is just mindlessly going through the motions, stringing tropes together until they hit the requires word count. The impression I get from this synopsis is that some actual thought has gone into it, and I’m curious to know if that is actually the case.
Will I check it out? Yes
“Duster Raines has demons. Some visit him in his dreams, reminding him of the choices he made in combat to survive. Others visit him while he’s awake, demanding he pay penance for those sins. But lately, he’s started seeing an alternate version of reality where he leads a life of importance full of wealth and power. Visions so vivid, they seem more real than the life he lives as a PI, scrounging the gutters of Los Angeles for an easy buck. It’s enough to drive anyone insane.
Pulled into a missing persons case he never wanted, Raines finds himself framed and hunted by the government. But as he searches for answers to clear his name, he discovers a truth he never could have imagined. He possesses the ability to bend spacetime to accomplish incredible feats. With these powers, maybe he’s got a shot at the life he deserves.
There’s only one problem standing in his way, the other Duster Raines. ”
Cover: Decent design, but it’s seriously lacking in sauce. It needs more oomph. More pizzazz. Publishers, hire me as a consultant, I give very clear and actionable advice.
Synopsis: DUSTER RAINES, TAKE ME HOOOME, TO THE PLAAA sorry. Parallel dimensions and a guy able to bend spacetime sound interesting, but it’s going to have to work very hard to overcome my dislike of hard-boiled noir tropes. “Troubled detective with a Dark Past” is one of the most tiresome and worn-out cliches imaginable.
Will I check it out? Yes (derisive)
“What do we owe our family and friends in times of wild uncertainty?
That’s the question the women of Leyna Krow’s beguiling, darkly fabulist story collection grapple with as they strive to be good mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, wives, and companions in a world that is constantly shifting around them. Set in the Pacific Northwest, these stories blend high concept magic with the sometimes subtle, other times glaring, realities of climate change.
As protagonists contend with doppelgänger babies, hordes of time travelers, mysterious portals, and supernatural siblings, there lurks in the background the effects of the region’s rapidly shifting environment. There are wildfires, wind storms, unrelenting heat, disrupted butterfly migration patterns, a new plague, and a catastrophe on the slopes of Mount Rainier that reverberates through three generations of a single family over the course of a half dozen linked stories.
With Krow’s signature blend of sardonic whimsy and unsettling insight, Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids imagines the rules to be broken, choices to be made, and even crimes to be had for the sake of the people, and places, we love.”
Cover: I like the throwback fonts, I said so earlier, but this 60s hippy shit was never actually good. I, an elder millenial born in 1987, have decreed it to be so. Also the “upside down landscape” thing has been done to death, people need to knock it off.
Synopsis: Inexplicable void? You mean like the national debt? AYYYYYYYY. This post took a lot longer to write than I intended, I don’t know if you’ve noticed. I’m always down for fiction about the coming climate catastrophe, and if it’s delivered in the form of surrealist short stories, all the better. Out of all the books on this list, this is the one I’m probably the most eager to read.
Will I check it out? Yes