2018 Wrap Up | Favorite Covers – Life of a Literary Nerd

As 2018 is coming to a close, it’s time to start making all kinds if wrap up/reflection posts about out favorite and least favortie bookish things this year! Now I decided to start with my favorite book covers or the year because I love talking about book covers. This list will be a mix of books I’ve read in 2018, books releases in 2018, and books with pretty covers I haven’t read ~~yet~~. So it’s just a big nonsensical list of pretty things.

There’s no real ranking in this list, just whichever books I thought of first.

A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole. I love the space vibes and the contrast from the glowing flowers.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I love how simplistic the covers it. The light colors that look like thrones and the dead branch. And how the branch weaves within the title.
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore. The flowers taking over the cover, the golden font, and the girl reaching out – I love it all and I think it’s perfect for the story.

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw. I love the etching style of the illustrations and the night motif.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. The green tones, the flowers, vines, and person all becoming one and competeing on the right side. beautiful.
Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier. The monochromatic design really works and you can’t go wrong with dragons.

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson. What’s not to love about denim jackets and amazing pins and patches?
Onyx & Ivory by Mindee Arnett. I love grey, it my favorite color and it makes this cover look kinda creepy in the best way. I also think ampersands are great.
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough. This cover perfectly captures the title and I think that’s really cool

Pride by Ibi Zoboi. The detail in the cover is amazing. I love the character profile and the bright pop of blue.
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman. Again the scetched are so pretty and I love how they’re overlaid on the waves.
Sea Witch by Sarah Henning. The tentacles, the sea witch, the murky waters. LOVE.

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell. I know book 2 came out this year, but I only read book 1 and I just think the snake know is visually really cool.
Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak. I love the pale blue color and the blueberry illustrations. Perfect for spring.
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh &Elise Chapman. The neon/glow in the dark style illustrations on the dark night sky background is so beautiful and looks like a tapestry.

The Deepest Roots by Miranda Asebedo. I guess i jsut have a thing for super dark backgrounds with pops of color.
Dry by Neal & Jarrod Shusterman. The raindrop doubling as flames is so perfect for a story about a drought.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Come on, you knew this would be on here right.

Always Forever Maybe by Anica Mrose Rissi. I love the bleeding ombre colors.
Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno. Another beautiful illustration cover. I lvoe the muted tones.
We’ll Fly Away by Bryan Bliss. Looking at this kinda makes me sad, the paper becoming the plane and then being broken apart.

500 Words or Less by Juleah del Rosario. The fall tones and the art style is so pretty and works great together.
Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh. Another that was an obvious choice.
Meet Cute by Jennifer L. Armentrout. All the cute couples on the cover are adorable.

The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig by Don Zolidis. The polaroid style is a favorite and I love the story the serie tells.
Save the Date by Morgan Matson. This is just fun.
9 Days and 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno. Another polaroid style but with bright colors and cutesy pics.

Ink by Alice Broadway. So much beautiful and intricate detail.
Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering. I love the repeating title and having “lie” crossed out with actual lies written over.
In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey. This looks like a fairytale illustration.

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake. All the stars and pretty colors.
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi. The pale pink with the dark illustrations. I’d loe it as a print.
The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. WeymouIth. The deer head with the antlers and all the flowers. And the monochromatic color palette!

Tyle Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles. I haven’t stopped thinking about this cover since it was revealed in 2017 and it is so unbelievably beautiful.
The Cursed Sea by Lauren DeStefano. The gemstons and the pattern on the ship’s sails!
Fierce Like a Firestorm by Lana Popović. So many detailed illustrations that I’m sure relate to a million things in the book.