Top Ten Tuesday #5 - Stunning Cover Designs

Top Ten Tuesday is a Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where I will be picking from their top tens and attempting to reveal what my thinking is behind these choices.

I can't simply stop at 10 books, because there are way too many brilliant cover designs to choose from. Instead, here is a list of my favourite 20 in absolutely no order. They all pretty much peak for themselves in terms of how they're awesome, but if you disagree or think I've missed something out, don' hesitate to comment!

Angelfall - Susan Ee  ---  Cress - Marissa Meyer  ---  Wither - Lauren Destefano

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch  ---  Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell  ---  Sweetly - Jackson Pearce

The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly  ---  Enchanted - Alethea Kontis  ---  Coral and Bone - Tiffany Daune

 

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern  ---  Some Quiet Place - Kelsey Sutton  ---  Dance of Shadows - Yelena Black

Gospel of Loki - Joanne Harris  ---  Matched - Ally Condie  ---  These Broken Stars - Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Splintered/Unhinged - A.G. Howard

Crossed - Ally Condie

WARNING: This is the second novel in this series. Please don't read on unless you've read the first one because I guarantee this content will ruin the first one for you.

I tried reading this after I'd read Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. It was the second in that series too and it totally put me off of this book because they are so different. My advice to you is to read the books in the same series one after the other, and to read them with different books and genres in between to differentiate better.

So anyway, the point is that I may be a little prejudiced because I was so into the other story that I wasn't ready for this one. The plot is good, but in my opinion it is a little too slow going. The first book was great, but you can definitely tell that this is the middle book - often the most difficult to write. Here, Ky and Cassia have been separated by the Society and are desperate to find each-other again.

The plus side is that we find out so much more about Ky. In this book, he has a voice and along with it comes a lot of extra information to process. We understand him so much better, and I think this is a good thing. Sometimes, though, I found that the voices got confused. I flicked back through to the beginning of each chapter a few times just to check who was speaking.

We also have a few new and exciting characters who are quite likeable, as well as some information about the Rising... and not forgetting a very interesting secret.

So overall this book wasn't particularly enthralling, and nor was it awful. Until the third book comes out, I think I'll reserve judgement on the series as a whole; the end seems promising though.

As for this book, I think it's a 5/10.

Reached is out in November 2012

Matched - Ally Condie

Cassia lives in a world where everything is regulated for the good of the community. There are 100 songs, 100 poems, 100 paintings and everyone learns enough for what they need in their jobs. No-one writes or draws, and everyone carries 3 pills to help them along with their lives.

The society chooses their job, their partner, the day of their death, their clothes. They are fed meals that keep them healthy, and are given long lives because disease has been eradicated.

But there is a dark and sinister side to this society. They are only perfect because of the lengths some people are willing to go. And if you don't conform, they can do anything to you. They are always listening, monitoring your movements, conversations, even your dreams.

In this story, Cassia, is matched with the person she is meant to spend the rest of her life with... there's just one problem. He might not actually be the one.

This fast paced and clever story leaves you wanting more and you can hardly put it down. The characters have strong personalities that are difficult not to get attached to. The book is all about the growth and strength of the main character and eventually her realisation that her society is wrong. It is the perfect teenage story as it mixes breaking the rules and love to combine in one excellent and almost grown-up narrative.

This is perfect for those teens starting to read dystopian novels.

Unbelievably, for a teen read, this deserves a 10 out of 10.