Pucker by Melanie Gibson
(Razorbill / May 2006)
Thomas Quicksilver, known to his classmates as "Pucker," has always been an outsider. His crazy mother, the secret of his family's strange origins, and above all, the terrible scars on his face from a childhood fire--these things have kept Thomas isolated and lonely. But now, at seventeen, Thomas is suddenly given the chance to change all that.To be magically healed, even beautiful; to have girls throwing themselves at him. To fit in.
The question is, what is he willing to sacrifice? His home? His personality? His mother's life?
(Sorry for the bad-quality image. It was the only one I could find.)
This was a book that definitely caught my attention first via its cover. Too such incompatible elements, yet metaphorically similar. Plus, just a beautiful, almost ethereal, treatment of the bright firelight on the black background. Does this cover draw you in?
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
(Chicken House UK / May 4, 2009)
(Chicken House North America / May 1, 2010)
Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost.
This UK debut novel is stunning, terrifying, highly disturbing, and unlike anything I've read before. It also has a gorgeous color, brilliant in its simplicity. I love the butterfly silhouette. Again, it's used as a metaphor here--what is it with these art designers and their love for the butterfly's symbolism? Well, that's not my area of expertise, but I find it cute. The hardcover version that's going to be published this May (available in North America, I believe) is similar, but it doesn't have the dry, spiderweb-like cracks. I prefer this UK paperback version.
Losing Faith by Denise Jaden
(Simon Pulse / Sept. 7, 2010)
When Brie's sister, Faith, dies in a fall from a cliff, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood, Brie must also contend with increasingly distant parents, her boyfriend's betrayal, and her sudden outcast status at school. And once she's over the initial shock of Faith's death, Brie is encountering more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. She soon uncovers Faith's role in a dark and twisted religious cult...a cult that now wants Brie as a member.
Quite different from the first two, but stunning in its own way. As I've probably mentioned in previous Cover Lust posts, I seem to like white covers. The starkness of the hands feels a little choppy and out of place to me, but I do like the flowers that turn into--again--butterfly silhouettes. And that shade of violet is so pretty.
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I know there are more butterfly covers out there, but these, I think, are some of my favorites. How about you? Are there other covers featuring butterflies that you like, or that you'd like me to check out?
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