Recent YA Book Cover Makeovers

Hey Guys!

Today I am coming to you with a post on YA books which have recently had a cover change.  The famous saying is penned ‘out with the old and in with the new’ and this month it definitely feels like the YA book universe is living up to the saying.

If you didn’t know recently Author Sabaa Tahir of ‘An Ember in the Ashes’  released that her well-loved book series would be getting a cover makeover. A decision met with very mixed responses, some hated the idea of their being a cover change mid way through the series whilst others applauded it.

I have yet to read An Ember in the Ashes, I have a copy of the original cover sat on my shelf waiting to be picked up. I have heard amazing things regarding this book but I have just not gotten around to it yet. Too many books, too little time but the new cover designs look without a doubt absolutely gorgeous. I completely understand those who weren’t in favor of the decision because unmatching editions makes them uncomfortable and their mental health can suffer such as those with OCD as if they own the first two in the series the final book will not match. For me personally I am not effected by this, but as someone who owns mismatched editions  I adore these new covers and applaud Sabaa Tahir’s decision to change them. She stated in an interview;

We had been talking about re-jacketing the covers to match how the story has developed and I will be blunt, I really wanted a to see a brown girl on these covers. And I wanted her in a position of power. How often have I seen book covers with a hero dead center? All the time. But how often is that hero a POC? Not often enough. I wanted this beautiful brown girl to be in that classic hero’s pose — center stage, looking right at you, like a badass. And I wanted a brown man beside her, because that’s how I imagined the characters in my head.

And she is so right.  I really applaud her for this because we do have tons of books which feature White Women on the covers and there is a lack of POC on book covers and in books. The new book covers look like this;

LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL! This cover really makes me want to pick up the series more. and when I first saw it I thought you know what a young girl is going to see this cover in a book store and see that she is represented in literature, see she has a heroine that she can find herself within more and that really touched me. I am so privileged to have grown up reading books with leads that I can easily relate to because they represented me and I wish every child had that opportunity to fully see representation. The original covers looked like this;

Now these covers are so beautiful as well but the new covers with the models just seem so much more fierce. 

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Now let’s take a look at other Young Adult Books which have recently taken a Book Cover Makeover…

Covenant Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Old Covers

New Covers

I really love these new cover designs for this series. The Covenant Series is one that I feel is so underrated and not very well-known. I hope these covers also bring with them a whole new host of fans that can find the love for the series which I myself did. These designs seem a lot more eye-catching, exciting, unique and colourful than the old versions.

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Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo

Old Covers

New Covers

Like ‘An Ember in the Ashes’  I have yet to read the ‘Shadow and Bone’ series but I do own the original covers.  Looking into these two designs from a ‘blind’ perspective in the sense I don’t have an idea of what the series really is about then I have to say I prefer the original covers. I like how they each match and are coordinating along each other and the typography really is beautiful.

So there we have some new Young Adult series which have recently received a book cover makeover. I am rather excited about most of these changes and I can’t wait to see them on the shelves of my local bookstore! 

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What do you think of these new cover changes? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!