Waiting on Wednesday: Beautiful Covers

This is pretty exciting because I think this is our first official Waiting on Wednesday post. Usually, we just squee about stuff whenever we want, but I actually had the foresight to put this up on a Wednesday! :)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

We actually have 3 books we're eagerly waiting on, and they all have gorgeous covers. They are...

1) SERAPHINA by Rachel Hartman / Pub Date: July 10, 2012

Blurb from goodreads: Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.

So, I actually am cheating on this one because I've read it! I received an e-ARC through Netgalley, and it was my most recent read. I LOVED IT, so much so that it's in my Waiting on Wednesday because I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this beautiful book (look at that cover!)!

I'll review it in depth closer to its publication date, but suffice to say, it was an excellent read, filled with unspoken but deeply felt things. The worldbuilding was detailed, the dragons fascinatingly alien, and the heroine touchingly insecure yet brave. She was a refreshingly strong female character whose strength doesn't come from her ability to kick butt; it comes from her smarts. KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR THIS ONE!


2) UNSPOKEN by Sarah Rees Brennan / Pub Date: September 11, 2012

Blurb from goodreads: Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met . . . a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

I love SRB's writing, her skilled handling of themes, and her amazing humor. This has been described as a modern gothic mystery, complete with a family of shady blonds and an intrepid young heroine, plus a dash of the supernatural. Awesome!

I've already read the first 3 chapters! You can too here: UNSPOKEN preview!


3) THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater / Pub Date: September 18, 2012

Blurb from goodreads: “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

I'm intrigued by the blurb, and I'm in love with the cover! Also, you may recall that I am deeply enamored with Maggie Stiefvater's last book, THE SCORPIO RACES (yeah, it's not a YA infatuation, it's true love). So I'm eager to see where her writing takes me next!

I'm saving these chapters, but you can read a 2 chapter preview here: The Raven Boys preview!


What books are you looking forward to?