Top 5 covers of 2021

Hello bookworms!! Welcome to Top 5 Tuesday!! This week’s topic is top 5 covers of 2021!! Although, I have to say, it’s been super hard picking a top 5 for this… I feel like publishers have been sending out their A-game this year. I haven’t seen any duplicate snakes on ten different books once. (LOL, remember when that happened?!)

Also, hi, apologies. I have been living in a self-induced work/Christmas/Marvel bubble this week with very little time for anything outside those three things, including sleep. BUT, the work stuff is mostly done for the year and there are no more movie releases at midnight and I went to bed at 10pm on a Friday so I am feeling caught up now. Ish. You know, except for blogging and reading — and also Christmas. But, we will get there!! Mostly I just wanted to say thank you for still tagging me even though I was absolutely nowhere to be seen this week.

If you missed the October-December topics please see this link. Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, and is now being hosted here @ Meeghan reads.

top 5 covers of 2021

Six Crimson Cranes — Elizabeth Lim

I LOVE the UK version of this cover (although the US is also very nice). I own the FairyLoot version which has more pinks and purple and less blue, and is still very pretty. But blue is my favourite colour, and this pastel rainbow cover is sublime.

Blurb:

Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.

Raikama has dark magic of her own, and she banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and, on her journey, uncovers a conspiracy to overtake the throne—a conspiracy more twisted and deceitful, more cunning and complex, than even Raikama’s betrayal. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she’s been taught all her life to contain—no matter what it costs her.

Lakesedge — Lyndall Clipstone

I’m actually really sad that I don’t have a copy of the US cover of Lakesedge. But mostly I’m disappointed that OwlCrate didn’t capitalise on just doing a slightly different version of this cover. The Aus cover is also good, but this one really shows those creepy, gothic vibes that the story is inspired by.

Blurb:

There are monsters in the world.

When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.

There are monsters in the woods.

As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…

There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.

Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under…

Lore Olympus Vol 1 — Rachel Smythe

Ok, so we’re back to the pastel pinks, purples and blues in this one, and I’m not sorry. There are so many things that I love about this cover, it’s hard to know where to start. Let’s go with the text. I love the chalkboard feel of the writing, and how it doesn’t look perfect — it has that hand-drawn feel about it. I also love that polar opposites that are Hades and Persephone, being literally upside down from one another, but also that Hades is in a cityscape and Persephone is on a horse in a field. You can’t really get more opposite than that, which shows their coming together from opposing sides. Basically I just really love it.

Blurb:

Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of mythology’s most well-known stories from creator Rachel Smythe. Featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story, Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated web-comic Lore Olympus brings the Greek Pantheon into the modern age with this sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

Lore — Alexandra Bracken

This was a very early contender of the year, but it’s still one of my favourites. I love how the cover is made to look like the statue of Medusa, but it’s that one glimpse through the letter O that shows the fierce determination on her face. It helps that I have ALWAYS been fascinated by Medusa’s story.

Blurb:

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.

Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man — now a god — responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost — and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

Lost in the Never Woods — Aiden Thomas

Again, this is mostly about colours for me. 2021 was definitely the year of pastel ombres on covers and I was HERE for it. I also LOVE the intricate details in this — the face silhouettes, the leaves and roots making the path, and the twisted tree trunks. It really is a beautiful cover.

Blurb:

When children go missing in the small coastal town of Astoria, people look to Wendy for answers.

It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road, and gets pulled into the mystery haunting the town.

Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, claims that if they don’t do something, the missing children will meet the same fate as her brothers. In order to find them and rescue the missing kids, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.

Can I also just take a moment to say, LOL. Not sure if you can see the patterns in the books I chose, that I didn’t even notice until I got to the end.

• Two books have the word “Lore” in the title.
• There are two Hades and Persephone retellings
• Two are modern-day Greek mythology retellings
• Actually, all of them are retellings in some form or another

I wonder if this has influenced my choices, or if this is just what I’m drawn to. It’s very interesting.

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What are your top 5 covers of 2021?