Oh, look! A post! Yeah, about that… I’ve been travelling the world on the back of a griffin – Buruu’s spawn to be exact. And then when I have uni he zooms me straight there and then we’re off again. I do all my assignments on his – Optimus’s – back. Pretty good routine I have.

HI SCAVENGERS! Why am I here? Specifically today?

It’s exciting to be participating in the cover reveal for Jay Kristoff’s KINSLAYER, the sequel to the god-fucking-awesome STORMDANCER – oh, and synopsis, must not the forget the kinslaying synopsis. (Sadly some peeps at Macmillan jumped the gun, most likely jizzing in their pants like I did at Supanova amidst people cosplaying with Sir Jay Kristoff standing right in front of me. Glad it didn’t seep through my red chinos. Would’ve been a seriously embarrassing – no, autocorrect! not embracing!!! – dilemma. And this is a seriously detailed parentheses.)

So yeah. The US cover for Kinslayer. IT’S. EPIC.

At Supanova last month Sir Kristoff handed me his phone… obviously I should’ve pretended I was looking at the cover and went through his emails instead, looking for the email to his editor of the Kinslayer draft and forwarded it onto myself. If only I was smarter. IF ONLY! Anyway, I digress. I stood staring, staring, staring, gazing at the beauty, at the lushness of the water, at the monstrosity of the sea dragon and the possessiveness of Buruu. At the left brown eye of Yukiko, at the left eye hiding behind her mop of shiny black hair ready to pounce, at the samurai sword she’s about to… SLICE AT ME! HOLY MOTHER OF *BEEP* *BEEEEEPP* I love her. I love it – this cover. …………….

……

***ATTENTION: THIS POST HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY SOME UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES DOWN——-**

We’re back. Sorry about that. I told him not right now. … Yes, my griffin, Optimus *diverts eyes*

Maybe I should get into the cover reveal? First I’ll share the synopsis!

KINSLAYER SYNOPSIS

A SHATTERED EMPIRE

The corrupt Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY

Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM

Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.

 FUCKING MONKEYS I NEED THIS BOOK NAOW!!!!

(I have adopted ‘fucking monkeys’ from Sir Kristoff)

I guess now for the cover reveals?

First I’ll share the UK/AUS cover. I came across this one a couple months ago since Tor peeps jizzed a bit too early, and I guess a blob projectiled straight onto the ‘enter’ key weighing it down and posting the cover reveal two months early. So here it is now in it’s glory (before it gets outshined by the US cover).

I must admit – it’s still pretty, and the yellow leaves are pretty, and Yukiko is… mhmmmm… not as pretty as illustration-Yukiko, especially with that stance and her doing it on water and all. If it were me, I would’ve slipped and ended up dead at the bottom of the waterfall, with the sword piercing right through my gut.

And now the US cover…

AHHH.

AHHH.

AHHH.

AHHH.

BURUU! ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!

THOUGHTS?!

LOOK AT THAT MOTHERFUCKING SEA DRAGON MOTHERMOTHERMOTHERMOTHER!

But I must say, this cover illustrates a bit of a spoiler for Stormdancer. *points at Buruu’s wings*

BUT WHO CARES? There’s my fierce Yukiko. Ready for round two, Yuki? I’ll be waiting…

Oh, yeah. The question.

Sorry. I totally forgot about the question. Too eager to share the covers that I almost forgot about the question. Almost. But you had to scroll through all that to get to the question.

Here’s the question for the uber quiz:

8. What special power does Yukiko have?

Pathetically easy question… But you’re the one answering it so good luck!

What you have to do:

On the ten blogs participating in this cover reveal there will be a question like ze one above (you will be able to find a list of participating blogs on Jay’s blog here). When you think you have all the right answers email them to Jay at <misterkristoffATgmailDOTcom> to be able to enter into the running for a major prize pack.

HOWEVER!

On each of the participating blogs you will be able to win an ARC of Kinslayer! Meaning one from this blog. My blog. SQUEEE!

This giveaway is international, it will end one week from today, you don’t have to follow me or anything like some other blogs participating because why should I force motivate someone to follow my blog just because I’m hosting a fully sick giveaway – all you have to do is leave a couple comments (they can be in the same ‘comment’), share this giveaway on twitter, and follow Jay Kristoff on Facebook and twitter. That’s all there is to it.

If you are kind you might also subscribe to Book Probe – but like I said, I don’t want to force you.

Additionally, don’t forget to preorder your copy of Kinslayer, which will be published on September 17th, 2013 – I seriously thought it was August *cry*. You can preorder at any of the online links below or, and what I recommend, is preordering through your local independent bookstore.

Find KINSLAYER at:
Goodreads | Fishpond | Bookworld
Book Depository | Amazon

Follow Jay Kristoff at:
Website | Goodreads | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

So that is it? I’ve winded down. Have you yet? I need this shiny book with its beautiful cover in my hands and on my shelf now. IMA!

Thanks to you for visiting my blog. I hope I didn’t offend anyone. I probably did much less than what Jay would do to you on his blog.

And a big thanks to Jay for allowing me to take part in the cover reveal and for trusting me with his life phone and sharing the cover with me early. And thanks also to Tor and Macmillan for being a bit too excited in their pantyhoses All good, folks!

You’re welcome back here anytime. Yukiko and me are now hand in hand.

Goodbye. For now.

So you know how a couple of weeks ago I revealed the covers for Marianne de Pierres’s Burn Bright? The trilogy’s international release? Well, that was to get you excited. Those covers will actually be used for free e-chapters – a little gothic taste to get you enticed.

Kubicki, the artist of the art that Random House Australia originally used for the trilogy’s covers, and Marianne have come to an agreement to share these amazing covers with the world (check out Kubicki’s site here). But as RHA had copyright with the titles and other details, they had to be altered a little bit, but they’re still pretty cool. I’m incredibly happy international folks are able to have the same cover art in addition to the goodness that the books hold.

BEHOLD! The covers for the international paperbacks:

Wait. What? Is that my blog and a quote from my review on the back of Shine Light?

WHY, YES IT IS!

*flails around the house at uni*

So what do you think? EXCITED?! I know I am!

The books are going to be available next week some time on Amazon so make sure you’re one of the first to purchase this awesome trilogy!

BEEPnews is a feature I post ever Sunday to keep you up to date on any book, event, entertainment, publishing, or other news that you may have missed in the past week.

LATEST COVER REVEALS

  
  
  
  
  
 

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DESIGN PROCESS OF SCHWAB’S ‘VICIOUS’ COVER

Tor recently revealed the cover for Victoria Schwab’s Vicious, a tale of an experiment gone wrong involving extraordinary abilities. This novel has me definitely intrigued. But Tor increases that interest by posting how the cover designer and illustrator came about to get the finished cover that you see on the left. Victo Ngai was the illustrator, the first name that came to editor Miriam Weinberg’s mind when the time to begin work on the cover came.

The last of these posts I read was for Jay Kristoff’s Stormdancer, which was fascinating. I like what Tor does, and they’re a publisher that fits right with my fantasy and science fiction devoting side. Their covers are equally amazing. And I absolutely love when covers are illustrated as there is a uniqueness and possession that that book holds that covers with stock images do not.

If I ever have my science fiction or fantasy works published I want them to be published by Tor with illustrations on the covers like these.

Read the post on Tor.com here, which at the end has Victoria Schwab discussing her thoughts on the cover, too.

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MILA 2.0 TRAILER

EW’s Shelf Life had the honour of revealing the book trailer for Debra Driza’s young adult debut Mila 2.0, which is published by Katherine Tegen Books and released in a few days time on March 12th, 2013.

Debra Driza’s MILA 2.0 is a high concept sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an android who was created in a U.S. government lab. If the title sounds familiar, it might be because a television drama based on the book is already in development with ABC and Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes.

I had not known that this book is being adapting for TV, and by Shonda Rhimes, too! I love Scandal, which was created by Rhimes, and so I’m definitely looking forward to the adaptation of Mila 2.0. I had an eARC but I didn’t get around to it. Will check it out though.

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DARK DAYS BEHIND THE SCENES

HarperTeen posted on YouTube a behind-the-scenes look and a culmination of recordings filmed during the latest Dark Days winter tour, featuring Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Tahereh Mafi, and Veronica Rossi, as they travel across US states with early morning plane flights and lots and lots of book signings.

BEA BUZZ BOOKS ANNOUNCED

BEA has announced its adult’s, young adult’s and children’s buzz books for the 2013 expo. Are you going to BEA and want to know which books are going to be buzzing endlessly for the duration of the expo? Check out the list of books at Publisher’s Weekly here.

For the young adults books the only one I recognise is Anna Jarzab’s Tandem, coming October 2013 from Delacorte Press.

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CATCHING FIRE PORTAITS

Over the past week a number or character portraits for the Hunger Games: Catching Fire film were released featuring the dazzling costumes designed by Trish Summerville.

The faux-magazine for The Hunger Game‘s setting Panem (a.k.a. the dystopian future version of North America), Capitol Couture, has begun unveiling a series of “Victory portraits” that showcase various main characters in new fancy attire – as should be featured in the actual Catching Fire movie.

The characters include Katniss (on the left), Peeta, Gale, Joanna, Finnick, President Snow, Cinna, Beetee, Effie, and Haymitch. Check out a gallery of all these portraits at Screen Rants here.

These portraits make me so giddy about Catching Fire. I WANT IT NOW! (By the way, do you notice the mocking jay on the top of Katniss’s dress?)

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MAZE RUNNER LEAD OFFERED

Will Poulter, best known for his role as the annoying Eustace in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film, has been offered a leading role in the film adaptation of James Dashner’s The Maze Runner, in cinemas February 14th, 2014 and directed by Wes Ball.

It is not known which role Poulter has been offered but fans of the books have announced their thoughts on James Dashner’s Facebook posts such as this and this. Many are against him playing Thomas, and I too don’t think he fits the part. But in my opinion I think he could be good as Newt or Alby.

As this is the first of the casting news for The Maze Runner we will surely get more announcements within the next few months.

Read the article at Deadline here.

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In recent weeks Marianne de Pierres announced that her Burn Bright trilogy – Burn Bright, Angel Arias, Shine Light – which was originally published by Random House Australia, will be available through Amazon for an international release at the end of March. With this release comes new covers. Although the original cover arts make up some of my very favourite covers ever, the newly designed covers present a gothic imagery that pretty much saturates these books. Of course, I prefer the original covers; nothing will beat them. But on Amazon, Marianne’s books will fit right in with the new covers.

Since I first read Burn Bright back in 2011 and the sequels when they came out I had been pining for these books to be picked up by international publishers, mostly in the UK and the US, so that more readers would be able to share in the same magic of Naif’s travels within her world that I had experienced. I have sent these books to bloggerly friends in the US and UK more than a year ago – I’m unsure whether they’ve gotten around to them yet, and I hope they do – but I want more people, such as Amazon customers, browsers, and ordinary folk, to come across Marianne’s books and decide to pick them up for themselves.

I feel incredibly happy to share with you these new covers. I’m incredibly proud of Marianne, too. I also would like to say a thank you to Random House Australia for allowing the Burn Bright trilogy to be available through Amazon and to tread the international boards, making these books – hopefully – more successful. After all, there are many readers anticipating these books to be published in their country, and now, finally, they are able to.

So what do I say to you now? When Marianne’s Burn Bright trilogy hits Amazon at the end of the month… SUPPORT THEM!

And now the cover reveals:

To view these covers larger click on the following links.

Burn Bright
Angel Arias
Shine Light

So what do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

If you’re interested check out my reviews:

Burn Bright
Angel Arias
Shine Light

And once again: SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

Last year I attempted a news sort of post through video format called The YA Broadcast. That failed miserably as I hadn’t the experience, the patience, and time to sit there collecting, filming, and editing. That feature covered new book cover and trailer reveals, film and TV news, publishing deals, as well as other exciting news in the book world for mainly YA and MG. However, I did have some competition with This Week in YA, which if you haven’t already done so please go subscribe to that channel. Jeffrey and I began our individual news features at practically the same time – me just a week ahead – but he had all the equipment, the support, the professionalism that I didn’t have. So I stopped. I quit. Because, honestly, I sucked.

But I love sharing bookish news as I can share the excitement with other readers like you. Only you get what the excitement is about. It’s what makes this community so engaging, this community of readers, bloggers, authors, and publishers, where things keep happening, keep building the excitement levels to extreme heights. Everyday I wake up hoping that there’s buzz worthy news. Everyday I wake up anticipating news to make me giddy over. Everyday I wake up looking forward to discovering what has been shared or revealed overnight so that I can share it with my readers and followers, mostly on my blog’s Facebook page here. So I thought I’d do a post every now and then, maybe every fortnight, possibly once a month, sharing all the news that has thrilled me.

Therefore, it is with excitement that I introduce to you BEEPnews, a feature where I share books, event, entertainment, and publishing news to keep you updated – all in the one place! I hope I can keep with it. I hope I can do myself proud. And I hope you enjoy these posts. What do you think? Tell me what you think. Tell me how I can do things such as this better. Please. And thank you.

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In the last few weeks there have been numerous cover reveals and I plan to share most of them with you… now. Below might look more like a collage (click on the cover to be taken to the book’s Goodreads page), but I will spotlight some books that have just sprung up out of no where or deserve special recognition and attention.

There’s quite a bit for this post.

HAS IT REALLY BEEN 15 YEARS?

Well, Bloomsbury celebrated 15 years last year in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, so what I say now should’ve been said back then. But to round it off, has it really been 15 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone went from having one writer, Jo Rowling, to millions of readers?

I remember being 5 or 6 and receiving a package from my Godmother with Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets inside. That was when I entered the world of Harry Potter. I was a strong reader when I was young, but my understanding and insight of these books, especially of those first two, has changed exponentially. What Harry Potter gave me when I was young though was a sense of adventure, the knowledge that there really is magic. The books opened my mind to the unseen, to worlds behind brick walls and fireplaces and toilet bowls as a means for transport.

It’s been nearly 15 years since U.S. readers first met Harry Potter and traveled with him to Hogwarts via J.K. Rowling’s now-classic series. To mark this milestone, Scholastic will be publishing seven all-new covers on its U.S. trade paperbacks editions this September and today reveals the first one, forHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Read more of this article at Publisher’s Weekly.

I understand these are the US covers and, yes, by Scholastic. But to honour Jo Rowling I thought it’d be good for them to revert back to the original Commonwealth title Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Nonetheless, I will be getting myself copies of these editions just because I love the illustrations by Kazu Kabuishi. I’m looking forward to seeing the covers for the rest of the series.

• • •

DAHL REDESIGNED

The Puffin imprint of Penguin in both the US and the UK are coming out with these slick and fun new covers for the entire Roald Dahl collection. They should be in stores now.

• • •

MOAR CASSANDRA CLARE – HOW MUCH MORE IS THERE?

MTV’s Hollywood Crush revealed the cover and a description on Cassandra Clare’s and Joshua Lewis’s (CC’s husband) The Shadowhunter’s Codex. I think it’s a pretty stunning cover. Raziel looks completely possessed and HUUGEEE!

Fans will surely recognize the winged figure as Raziel (creator of the Shadowhunter race), pictured here with the infamous mortal instruments. The Codex, referenced in both “The Mortal Instruments” and “The Internal Devices” is the official guidebook to the world of Shadowhunters. Through Clary’s copy, readers will become privy to the warriors’ history, demon taxonomy, rune catalog and training manual, among many other tidbits. Clary’s drawings and notes are also included!

Read more of this article at Hollywood Crush.

The Shadowhunter’s Codex will be published in October, 2013.

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MOAR ANDREA CREMER – I NEED MORE!

Just today, when I woke up actually, Bookish.com revealed the cover, title, and description for the fourth book in Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade “series”. Yes, it was originally a trilogy, in addition to the prequels, but who says that we have enough Andrea Cremer anyway? Certainly not I. This was a big surprise.

“‘Snakeroot’ focuses on Adne’s struggles to adjust to the post-Witches War world of the Searchers. She’s plagued by disturbing dreams and visions, all of which draw her to the gardens of Rowan Estate. The cover image perfectly depicts the way in which Adne has become entangled by her own turbulent emotions and an encroaching dark magic.”

OTHER RECENTLY REVEALED COVERS

                            

  

ANZ COVER FOR AMY TINTERA’S ‘REBOOT’

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

TRAILER FOR ELSIE CHAPMAN’S ‘DUALED’

So I read this book called Dualed last month. I have my review scheduled for tomorrow. I have an interview with its author, Elsie Chapman, next week. And it releases on February 26th from Random House Books for Young Readers. The trailer was recently exclusively released by MTV.com not long ago and here it is below:

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CARRIGER TALKS ON PODCAST

Gail Carriger, the author of Etiquette & Espionage, discusses her foray into YA literature, archeology, and silly character names the most recent episode of PW Kidscast, which you can listen to through here.

Etiquette & Espionage was published on February 5th, 2013 from Little Brown Books for Young Readers and it is about a 14 year old girl as she learns to be a lady as well as a spy in a steampunk backdrop. Visit the Goodreads page here.

It’s one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It’s quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

• • •

CONFUSING DEMIGODS THE WORLD OVER

So… you know how Rick Riordan has been incredibly successful with his Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series and then the not so huge The Kane Chronicles? Well, he answered to fans’ and readers’ emails and wrote a short story, a short story that makes the two mythological worlds collide and the characters of Percy and Kane. This short story is titled The Son of Sobek.

From Publisher’s Weekly:

The never-before-published story will appear as a bonus in the paperback edition of The Kane Chronicles, Book Three: The Serpent’s Shadow (Disney-Hyperion), which is due out May 7, 2013. (Click here to read an excerpt from the story.)

Now, I haven’t yet finished The Kane Chronicles – I have only read the first book – so I’m not impressed with myself that I won’t be able to read this short story until I finish Riordan’s Egyptian trilogy.

Riordan says he’s pleased with how the experiment turned out, and hopes his legion of devoted readers enjoys reading it. “I imagine they’ll want more and start asking ‘Where’s the rest? It’s only a short story?’ ” But Riordan has not yet decided on whether Carter and Percy will appear together in other projects. “It’s possible,” he says. “I’d love to play around with that idea, and I always like to leave some room to create other adventures for my characters. My problem is never ideas. I’ve got more than I’ll ever have time to write. It’s all about how many I can get to, and which ones readers want to see the most.”

Read the rest of the article at Publisher’s Weekly.

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There has also been LOTS of exciting film and TV news recently. I should really just get stuck into refreshing your memory of what was made known recently.

THE BOOK THIEF IS FINALLY BECOMING A FILM!

NEW DEALS

Farrin Jacobs at the Poppy imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has acquired Wildlife by Fiona Wood. It’s the story of two teen girls – one still reeling from the death of her boyfriend, and the other, the reluctant model for a new ad campaign who is trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be; they meet during a semester in the wilderness and learn about friendship, loyalty and love. Jacobs acquired it plus an untitled novel, as well as the author’s first novel, Six Impossible Things, which was first published in Australia. Wildlife is scheduled for summer 2014; Cheryl Pientka at Jill Grinberg Literary Management brokered the deal for North American rights.

YAY FOR AUSSIES BREAKING INTO THE US! So happy for Fiona!

*

The author of Clarity and its sequel as well as The Dead and Buried and middle-grade Sleuth or Dare, Kim Harrington, has announced that Penguin’s Children will be publishing her contemporary YA thriller under the name K.A. Harrington with the title Forget Me.

From Publishers Marketplace:

K.A. Harrington’s FORGET ME, set in a dying town full of abandoned places, in which a 17-year-old uploads a photo of her dead boyfriend to a social media site and the facial recognition software tags him with someone else’s name: a boy who lives two towns away and looks just like him, but is very much alive, to Shauna Rossano at Penguin Children’s, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.

I’m still waiting for that book that I’m in. Read more about the deal here.

 *

Delacorte will publish two untitled books by the author of Tiger’s Curse series, Colleen Houck, with the first book scheduled for mid-2015. (source)

The story follows teenager Lilliana Young, whose visit to an Egyptian exhibit brings her face to face with a recently awakened mummy-turned-handsome-sun-god.

*

Tor Starscape has acquired Tobias S. Buckell’s (Halo: The Cole Protocol) debut YA novel The Island in the Sky, as well as its sequel. It is set to be published at the end of 2014. (source)

The book follows a Caribbean boy, Kadie, who gets the opportunity to travel to the stars when a starship arrives on Earth offering lottery slots to volunteers in exchange for leaving alien diplomats behind.

*

Lauren DeStefano, author of the dystopian Chemical Garden trilogy, has been signed on with Simon & Schuster to write a utopian series called The Internment Chronicles, with the first book titled Perfect Ruin and is slated to release on February 11th, 2014. (source)

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 15-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan’s older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

I still have yet to read Fever or Sever, but this new utopian series sounds extremely intriguing and I’m looking forward more to the covers actually. Haha!

Read about some other publishing deals on this PW’s Rights Report.

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Lastly, Tim Federle’s debut novel Better Nate Than Ever was published recently. Tim drank coke at Sardi’s with some Broadway Kids to celebrate the release of his book via Playbill.

Man, that was A LOT of news. Next time there probably won’t be as much… I can only hope.

I hope you enjoyed this post, despite its length, and if you enjoy it I will continue to do it. Maybe I’ll continue to do it even if you didn’t. But it was fun… and time-consuming again… but the more I get used to it compiling it as I go the easier it will become.

Hope you’re excited about as much of the above as I am.

Here are some covers that have been released for upcoming books in the last few months.

Firstly I have to show you some covers of Michael Grant’s upcoming releases.

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On the left we have the redesigned cover for the US paperback of BZRK and on the right is the cover for the sequel (hardcover) BZRK Reloaded, out in the US in October. Yes, they’ve redesigned from the simplistic original cover. These new covers are bold and eye-catching, but I just don’t think they represent the story well other than all the nanobots or biots there.

Then there’s the German (I think) cover for BZRK Reloaded below, which comes out in April. Hopefully the UK/ANZ cover sticks with the original cover like the German cover has done. It is released in UK/ANZ in August.

Besides the German BZRK Reloaded there is the UK/ANZ cover of Light, the final book in the Gone series, which NEEDS TO HURRY ITS PRECIOUS TUSH UP (comes out in April). The pages on the side are black with a crack and white light coming out, in line with the previous coloured page edges.

          

      

      

        

        

Out of these I’m most excited for James Dashner’s new series beginning with The Eye of Minds. The cover is incredibly effective that I’m sure it will have no trouble being picked off the shelf because of it. The Night Itself is another book that I’m most looking forward to reading, and although I thought the cover might be a bit better than the cover above, this cover is still cool and a bit retro. The Oathbreaker’s Shadow looks like something I’ll enjoy too.

As for an adult release, Samantha Shannon’s first book, The Bone Season, in a possible seven book series had its cover and synopsis revealed and it sounds highly intriguing. The cover isn’t all that WOW! though, but it must represent something in the book.
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Which covers do you like best? Which books are you most looking forward to reading?

Here are some of the latest Young Adult covers that have been unveiled by publishers.

Click on the images to go to Goodreads pages.

What are your favourite covers below?

Australian Cover Reveals

New US Cover Reveals

US Sequel & Companion Cover Reveals

I literally tumbled out of bed this morning when I learned that I am being sent 1 of 6 Aussie proof copies of Stormdancer. I shrieked and flailed my arms like a lunatic. Even more so a lunatic because this had to happen when my exams begin in two days time. Yeah, I know! Tell me about it. But that doesn’t stop me from still reading it even 5 mins before an exam. I feel as though when I read instead of studying I make myself more relaxed and not susceptible to that rush and stress and impending doom that many people usually have before an exam; I’m not one of them. I’ve done enough of them to know that preparation is the key to doing great and that is what I am: prepared.

Anyway, moving on… I just wanted to share the Australian cover for Jay Kristoff’s Stormancer, book one of The Lotus War series. Yes – it’s the same as the UK cover… SURPRISE! It was said that there might’ve been another cover designed for the Australian edition, but they were still making up their mind back then. And so they went with UK cover; still a great cover. There’s a calmness and tranquility about this cover that the US cover (which has won over my eyes and mind and splattered my brain) doesn’t. They are two covers with two different takes on the atmosphere and voice of Stormdancer, and they will both be on my shelf, side-by-side, together, for eternity, for eons, in my lifetime, their spines touching, their pages crinkling and growing old together. Oh boy I’m getting overboard.

Don’t forget to add Stormancer to Goodreads here and watch out for my review which will be coming very very very very soon.

And you can find Jay:
Blog
Twitter

May you not be attacked by a Thunder Tiger on your morning leisurely walk or run. May you, however, find a girl like Yukiko in your dreams (no bedwetting please!)

Links:

• April’s post on book blogging professionalism.
• Anna’s “There is no such thing as a free book” post.
• The latest “negative review” debacle.
• The Sydney Morning Herald article on teens reading raunchy novels instead.

Books coming out this week (February 6th – 12th):

Note: If you plan to purchase/pre-order through the Book Depository any of these titles, please use my link on the right for affiliates so that I can hold giveaways in the future. Thank you.

[US]

Monday 6th:
• The Rivals by Daisy Whitney (sequel/companion to The Mockingbirds)

Tuesday 7th:
• Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood (debut)
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (debut) 
• Dead To You by Lisa McMann
• Once: Before Midnight; Golden; Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey

Wednesday 8th:
• The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney (sequel to The Iron Witch)
• Pure by Julianna Baggott

[AUS]

Tuesday 7th:
• Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (debut)

Sarah Alderson’s Catching Suki short story can be downloaded from the Girltank’s Facebook page.

Here is what Sarah has to say about it:

I was asked by a charity called Girltank that supports young girl change makers across the globe  if I might be able to support them in some way and, because kick ass girls are my favourite sort of girl, and because I’m passionate about social change and empowering young women I jumped at the chance.
We came up with the idea of using Catching Suki to help raise awareness of their goal – which is to find 10,000 young women social entrepreneurs, innovators and heroes in 100 days.
So to download your free copy of  CATCHING SUKI (a short story from Suki’s POV) for FREE (for a limited time only) all you need to do is go here and sign up to nominate either yourself or someone you know who is making change happen in the world (could be a school project, could be something they’re doing in their community to make life better for other people).
The director of Girltank said, ’We want to show the world that young women from every region of the planet are making powerful contributions to society and leading social change. We want to tell your stories! So send us the names of the best examples of young women innovators from Chicago to Hong Kong to Capetown to Buenos Aires. Then spread the word to your networks! As a thank you, each entry will receive a copy of “Catching Suki,” a short story by U.K.-based author Sarah Alderson (Hunting Lila and Fated).’

(Click on covers for Goodreads or more information about that book.)

• The Hunger Pains by Harvard Lampoon trailer (THIS IS HILARIOUS!):

• Wonder by R.J. Palacio trailer (this is cute):

• Holly Black’s Black Heart trailer and glimpses of new covers (not thrilled with the new covers at all):

YA Movie News

• If you haven’t watched the new The Hunger Games trailer then WHAT ARE YOU FREAKING WAITING FOR?! Only under two months until the movie and I am OHHHHH! AHHHHH!! so excited. What about you? Here’s the trailer for your pleasure again:

• In other movie news, Viola Davis has been cast as Amma for the Beautiful Creatures films adaptation. What are your thoughts on this? I think it’s a perfect choice. Now let’s just see Logan Lerman be cast as Ethan.

That’s all for this week’s YA Broadcast.

What was your favourite part about this week?

Also, have anything to share please email me.

And, got any suggestions on how I can improve this? Should I break it up over the week?

Cheers.