Old Books, New Looks {11}

Time again for another round of Old Books, New Looks, where I feature the covers of books that have already been released and their redesigned paperback counterpart! :) Sometimes I like the new better, sometimes I like the old. Here's a few that I've come across lately:

The OLDIES  vs.  The NEWBIES 

I loved the impact of the original. The new one looks like they were trying to make it look like an adult book. Pretty and simple though, I guess.

 I like them both, actually. I didn't read this so I don't know which fits better, but the original is definitely more unique.

Don't understand this change at all! I loved the original cover!

 Ugh. What an awful change. The guy looks so cheesy!

 And here, dear friends, is an example of the changes I dislike the most---when they change the cover AND the title. I actually really love both these covers, but why the title change? Are they trying to trick people into buying it twice? Did they just decide that this one worked better? Inquiring minds want to know! And heads up, someone has the new one mistakenly marked at Lucid #2 at Goodreads, but it's actually the same book.

So weigh in! What do you think of these makeovers?

Old Books, New Looks {7}

Time again for another round of Old Books, New Looks, where I feature the covers of books that have already been released and their redesigned paperback counterpart! :) Sometimes I like the new better, sometimes I like the old. Here's a few that I've come across lately:

      The OLDIES  vs.  The NEWBIES

Let's just talk about these, shall we?
Unspoken: Noooo!...I loved the original cover. So unique. The new one? Not so much. Doesn't stand out to me at all.
Auracle: The original cover was perfect, can't see why they would change it---if I saw the new one on Amazon, I would have thought it was self-published, to be honest.
The Twin's Daughter: I like the new better...with the old cover, I wouldn't have thought this was a YA book. 
Lucid: The new cover looks like too many others that I've seen, plus the old one wins my heart for being purple :) Also, the original shows you right away that it's about dreams.
The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers: Loved the original and prefer it, but I see how the new one kind of goes with the current trend and has kind of a cool retro feel. 
The Wicked and the Just: Another one that I'm really disappointed with the change. The original was stunning. The new is kind of blahhh.

So to sum up...I like the originals for all but Twin's Daughter. Everyone weigh in!! What do you think of the changes?

Becky's View: Lucid by P.T. Michelle

Lucid by P.T. Michelle
♦ self-published
♦ release date: July 9th, 2012
♦ ebook, 272 pages
♦ intended audience: Young adult
♦ series: Brightest Kind of Darkness, book 2
   (review of book 1)
*Spoiler alert! Description and review may contain spoilers for book 1 in the series!*

Once Nara combines her prophetic ability with Ethan’s power to outsmart Fate at his own deadly cat-and-mouse game, she’s more determined than ever to help Ethan learn the meaning behind the raven sword tattoo that suddenly appeared on his back after their confrontation with Fate.

During her quest to uncover the tattoo’s secrets, Nara enlists the help of some new friends and discovers her own surprising connection to Ethan.

While Nara digs deeper into the mystery, her desire for answers leads her down a dangerous path full of powerful and ruthless enemies. Swept into an age-old battle, Nara quickly learns that keeping one’s enemies close can be a necessary evil, making an intangible enemy she can control far more preferable to the human enemies she can’t.

Review: With Lucid, this series continues it's awesomeness.  Brightest Kind of Darkness was easily one of my favorite reads last year, and while Lucid left me a little less starry eyed, it was still a fantastic, exciting read.  

Lucid really had a very different feel from BKoD, mainly because Ethan is hardly present in it at all. It takes place shortly after book one left off, and Ethan is gone for most of the book to try and rebuild a relationship with this parents.  I thought this might bother me at first, but I actually loved how the connection between him and Nara and the ravens came a little more to light because he was gone. Plus, it gave us a chance to see Nara stand on her own two feet and grow as her own character---and for her to have a chance to let some new people into her life.  And when I say new people, I mean Drystan---lovely Welsh, kick-ass parkour-doing, all around good guy with a few interesting secrets of his own.  I love watching parkour, so to see it incorporated into a story and used as a cool kind of self-defense added a really unique touch to this story.  For those of you dreading that this will spin into a love triangle, have no fear.  I think we're safe there.  He makes a good friend to Nara, there's a great connection there.  I hope he has a part in book 3 because I can't wait to hear more about his background and his part in all of it.  

As for the parts where Ethan does make an appearance, things get pretty steamy. :)  But he was also a little too intense and possessive and it turned me off from him a bit. It sounds like he's been through a lot and learned a great deal while he was away, so I can't wait to find out more about what he's uncovered about his powers and his connection to Nara.  I loved all the raven-lore we get to read about while Nara is frantically researching to find an answer to their mystery.  She finds a raven sanctuary and what happens on her first visit there is absolutely magical.  There are some serious baddies after Nara and her raven research, but what they're after and why is a mystery that has yet to be unraveled in the next installment.  We also get a lot more insight into what happened with Nara's dad.  Lucid leaves us with a bit of surprise twist, a bit of a cliffhanger, and a few more questions, so now I'm eagerly anticipating book 3!

So, I do have one small negative---and really, it may just be me and my own bizarre idiosyncrasies on this one.  In my own crazy reading quirks, there is one writing mishap that trips me up every time.  It's when one phrase is used too many times.  I'm not going to say what phrase it was, because I don't want anyone else to catch on to it if it doesn't bother them (kind of like when someone points out a flaw in a picture that you never noticed, and from then on that's all you notice. )  However, for my review, it was worth mentioning because it completely distracted me every time it came up, even enough to momentarily pull my mind out of the story. 

Aside from that, an awesome sequel that left me with enough questions to start craving the third installment!! I also can't wait for the third book's cover reveal---the first two have been gorgeous!

Visit P.T. Michelle: Website  •  Facebook  •  Twitter

Purchase Lucid at: Amazon  •  BN.com   •  Smashwords

(coming soon to paperback, too!)

Happy Book Birthday, Lucid by PT Michelle! (+ Giveaway!)

Just wanted to give a quick shout out for P.T. Michelle & Lucid, the next in the Brightest Kind of Darkness series! Happy Book Birthday!!

Brightest Kind of Darkness was one of my absolute favorite books of last year. You can check out my review here. If you've never heard of this series, you must track it down soon...you can find both books here. Amazing stuff, and I can't wait to get more of Inara & Ethan!!

So, in honor of the new release, I want to give away an e-copy of each book so someone new can discover this wonderful series!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover reveal: Lucid by P.T. Michelle

I can't say enough about P.T. Michelle's book, The Brightest Kind of Darkness. I LOVED it. I recommended it to everyone I know, I mention it whenever I can on this blog...it completely blew me away. If you haven't seen my full review of it, click here and check it out.

So, why am I telling you this now? Well, because today I'm helping reveal the gorgeous cover for book #2, Lucid!! LOOK!

Definitely looking forward to this! I need more Nara & Ethan!
Look for it Spring 2012!

Waiting on Wednesday - The Purpley Edition

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for. For my WoWs, I'll be choosing a Sooner (books released in the next month or so) and a Later (books further out). Here's what I'm eagerly anticipating:

Sooner:

Hollow Pike
by James Dawson

hitting shelves February 2, 2012 from Orion Children's

description:
Something wicked this way comes... She thought she'd be safe in the country, but you can't escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her. Lis thinks she's being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn't believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn't believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you're alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps... Hollow Pike - where witchcraft never sleeps.

My thoughts: This definitely sounds good and creepy. And what a brilliant cover!

Later:
Lucid
by Ron Bass & Adrienne Stolz

hitting shelves July 19, 2012 from Razorbill

description:
What if you could dream your way into a different life? What if you could choose to live that life forever?

Sloane and Maggie have never met. Sloane is a straight-A student with a big and loving family. Maggie lives a glamorously independent life as an up-and-coming actress in New York. The two girls couldn't be more different - except for one thing. They share a secret that they can't tell a soul. At night, they dream that they're each other.

The deeper they're pulled into the promise of their own lives, the more their worlds begin to blur dangerously together. Before long, Sloane and Maggie can no longer tell which life is real and which is just a dream. They realize that eventually they will have to choose one life to wake up to, or risk spiraling into insanity. But that means giving up one world, one love, and one self, forever.

My thoughts: This sounds really good. I've always been fascinated by stories about dreams and lucid dreaming!

Purple seems to be a popular color for covers this coming year! There are sure to be more of these purpley editions in the future! :)