As of February 10, NYT Bestselling author Hafsah Faizal revealed the cover to her newest YA Fantasy duology via Instagram with the first novel titled A Tempest Of Tea ― slated for a Winter 2024 release!
According to Publishers Weekly the story is “Set in Ettenia, an amalgamation of 1920s and Victorian London with a dash of ancient Rome, the novel follows a gang of outcasts in a deadly heist led by Arthie Casimir to save her tearoom—which fronts an illegal blood house, where local vampires can purchase fresh blood.”
Cover artist is Valentina Remenar and art director is Aurora Parlagreco.
From Hafsah Faizal, New York Times–bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame, comes the first book in a hotly-anticipated new fantasy duology about an orphan girl and her crew who get tangled in a heist with vampires, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.
On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.
Calling upon a band of misfits, Arthie formulates a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not every member of her crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.
A Tempest Of Tea by Hafsah Faizal is set to be released February 20, 2024!
As of April 3 it was revealed via the author’s Twitter, the cover to the 2023 YA sapphic speculative thriller debut Gorgeous Gruesome Faces from Linda Cheng, slated for a Fall release with Fierce Reads!
Following a disgraced teen idol Sunny Lee, she comes face-to-face with the demons of her past and former bandmate in a workshop that brings about more questions than answers as competitors become injured and strangely mutilated, one by one.
Set in the cutthroat world of K-Pop, Cheng’s debut has been pitched as Yellowjackets meets She Is A Haunting, which also has a planned sequel.
Cheng has described her novel featuring elements of “terrible queer girls,” a “blood-soaked pop idol competition,” as well as “maybe the real treasure was the enemies we made along the way.”
Cover designer is Samira Iravani and letterer is David Milan.
After a shocking scandal that abruptly ended her teen popstar career, eighteen-year-old Sunny Lee spends her days longing for her former life and cyberstalking her ex-BFF and groupmate, Candie. The two were once inseparable, but that was then—before the tragedy and heartache they left in their wake.
In the here and now, Sunny is surprised to discover that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop in her hometown. Candie might be there chasing stardom, but Sunny can’t resist the chance to join her and finally confront their traumatic history. Because she still can’t figure out what happened that horrible night when Mina, the third in their tight-knit trio, jumped to her death. Or if the dark and otherworldly secrets she and Candie were keeping had something to do with it . . .
But the workshop doesn’t bring the answers Sunny had hoped for, nor a happy reunion with Candie. Instead, Sunny finds herself haunted by ghostly visions while strange injuries start happening to her competitors—followed by even stranger mutilations to their bodies. In her race to survive, Sunny will have to expose just who is behind the carnage—and if Candie is out for blood once more!
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng is set to be released November 7, 2023!
On The Booked Shelf we’re highlighting some of the many Young Adult covers revealed throughout the months of January & February! Get your tbr’s ready to add stunning debuts, sequels, sophomore releases from beloved authors, in addition to 2023 (even 2024) releases across fantasy, romance, to thriller, mystery and more! In case you missed them, here’s 12+ Covers!
On TBS all cover reveals are pitched with the source and if the information is available, the cover artist among other credits, a short blurb will accompany each book to offer a brief explanation as to what the novel is about.
Shadow Coven by S. Isabelle
As of January 13 via Twitter, author Sophie Isabelle revealed the sequel cover to her 2022 YA Paranormal debut The Witchery which will be titled Shadow Coven. Set at the Mesmortes Coven Academy, Logan is a witch struggling to control her powers and gets taken under the wing of the Red Three (Iris, Thalia, Jaliah). When the Haunting Season arrives and students turn up dead, these witches will have to join forces to stop the Wolves and break a hex on their haunted town.
The Haunting Season has ended, but dark magic lingers in the shadows.
After defeating the Wolves, Jailah, Logan, Iris, and Thalia want nothing more than a summer of fun and relaxation. But there is no rest for the wicked, especially when Death comes for Iris. She is to become a Reaper, tasked with banishing souls who refuse to cross over. But Iris suspects there’s something more ominous going on when Mathew’s role as her tether grows sinister.
Logan and Thalia are ready to prove themselves as witches. Except Logan still hears the howling Wolves and realizes that the Haunting Season may have awakened more than just her magic. And while Thalia wants to spend her days cleansing the Swamp for good, she finds herself heading to a place she swore she’d never go again: home. Witches have started going missing near Annex, and Thalia is convinced that her father is behind the disappearances. With the help of Logan and Trent, Thalia returns to stop him.
Meanwhile, Jailah is focused on her internship with the Haelsford Witchery Council until she discovers a treacherous magic hidden beneath Mesmortes, and there are those who will go to great lengths to keep it buried. So, she turns to the only person who understands, even if it’s the one witch who hates her the most.
Separated by distance, the coven is surrounded by magical and mundane threats that must be defeated before they lose their witchery–and each other–forever..
• Cover Illustrator: Thea Harvey – Cover Designer: Stephanie Yang – Release Date: September 19, 2023
Last Canto Of The Dead by Daniel José Older
Revealed on January 13 on the author’s Twitter, is the sequel + finale cover to the Outlaw Saints duology, a YA contemporary – urban fantasy set in Brooklyn where Mateo Matisse was born in the San Madrigal, an island in the Caribbean which for centuries has been refuge for pirates, Sephardic Jews fleeing the Inquisition and Cuban Santeros. Then a hurricane causes this diaspora to appear in Brooklyn and fifteen years later, Mateo is now a piano prodigy, but as he performs during the San Madrigal Grande Fete, gods and monsters appear. Then he’s thrust into into an ancient battle, unlocking magical powers that hold to key to uncovering the mystery of what happened to his homeland.
Two gods-turned-teenagers wage simultaneous battles in the Caribbean and Brooklyn in this sequel to Ballad & Dagger.
Healer. Destroyer. Creator. Mateo Matisse and Chela Hidalgo are not just two teenagers in love–they’re powerful gods in human form. Powerful enough to have saved their Brooklyn diaspora community from the wrath of an ancient enemy and to have raised their once-sunken native island of San Madrigal from the sea.
But soon they discover that their problems are far from over. On the shores of San Madrigal, two creature armies are battling for survival. And on the streets of Brooklyn, a once tight-knit community is divided, with two sides at each other’s throats. But worst of all, a heartbreaking prophecy rips these two young lovers apart, sending Mateo back to the city, where cops are now patrolling the streets, and keeping Chela tethered to the island, where chaos and death lurk around every corner.
Healer. Destroyer. Creator. As gods, their powers know no limits. But as teenagers–separated, desperate, grieving–what will become of them? And what will become of their people?
Join their battle and witness their love in this thrilling conclusion to the epic saga that began with BALLAD & DAGGER.
• Cover Artist: Daniel Dos Santos – Release Date: May 16, 2023
Fatima Tate Takes The Cake by Khadijah VanBrakle
As of January 18, debut YA author VanBrakle revealed via Twitter the cover to her debut coming-of-age novel centering around Fatima who loves baking and flirting with her new friend, but her parents approve of neither.
Seventeen-year-old Fatima Tate, aspiring baker (100% against her conservative parents’ wishes), leads a pretty normal life in Albuquerque: long drives with BFF Zaynab, weekly services at the mosque, big family parties, soup kitchen volunteering (the best way to perfect her flaky dough recipe!), stressing about college.
But everything changes when she meets a charming university student named Raheem. Knowing the ‘rents would FREAK, Fatima keeps their burgeoning relationship a secret… and then, one day, her parents and his parents decide to arrange their marriage. Amazing! True serendipity!
Except it’s not amazing. As soon as the ring is on Fatima’s finger, Raheem’s charm transforms into control and manipulation. Fatima knows she has to call the whole thing off, but Raheem doesn’t like to lose. He threatens to reveal their premarital sexual history and destroy her and her family’s reputation in their tight-knit Muslim community.
Fatima must find the inner strength to blaze her own trail by owning her body, her choices, and her future. Combining the frank authenticity of Elizabeth Acevedo and the complex social dynamics of Ibi Zoboi, FATIMA TATE TAKES THE CAKE is a powerful coming-of-age story that gives a much-needed voice to young Black Muslim women.
• Cover Artist: Fevik & Art Director: Kerry Martin – Release Date: June 13, 2023
A British Girl’s Guide To Hurricanes & Heartbreak by Laura Taylor Namey
On February 2, it was revealed through Twitter the cover to the A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea & Tomorrow spin-off following Orion’s younger sister Flora who heads to Miami after the passing of her mother to see her long-time friend Gordon and meets Miami Cuban influencer Baz Marín, leaving her heart more conflicted than ever.
Winchester has always been home for Flora, but when her mother dies, Flora feels untethered. Her family expects her to apply to university and take a larger role in their tea-shop business, but Flora isn’t so sure. More than ever, she’s the chaotic ‘hurricane’ in her household, and she doesn’t always know how to manage her stormy emotions. So she decides to escape to Miami without telling anyone –especially her longtime friend Gordon Wallace.
But Flora’s tropical change of scenery doesn’t cast away her self-doubt. When it comes to university, she has no idea which passions she should follow. That’s also true in romance. Flora’s summer abroad lands her in the flashbulb world of teen influencer Baz Marín, a Miami Cuban who shares her love for photography. But Flora’s more conflicted than ever when she begins to see future architect Gordon in a new light.
As of February 2, the cover for The Name Drop was revealed via Twitter. In a case of mistaken identity, two Korean-American teens find themselves in New York City for a summer at a massive tech corporation (one is Elijah the future CEO and the other is Jessica whose looking to make the most of her summer internship). After deciding to stay switched, they work to keep up the charade but also find themselves falling in love.
New from the author of Seoulmates comes the story of two teens who find themselves entangled in a case of switched identities at their prestigious summer internship–but the switch just might give them both the summer they’ve been looking for… and true love.
When Elijah Ri arrives in New York City for an internship at his father’s massive tech company, Haneul Corporation, he expects the royal treatment that comes with being the future CEO—even if that’s the last thing he wants. But instead, he finds himself shuffled into a group of overworked, unpaid interns, all sharing a shoebox apartment for the summer.
When Jessica Lee arrives in New York City, she’s eager to make the most of her internship at Haneul Corporation, even if she’s at the bottom of the corporate ladder. But she’s shocked to be introduced as the new executive-in-training intern with a gorgeous brownstone all to herself.
It doesn’t take long for Elijah and Jessica to discover the source of the mistake: they share the same Korean name. But they decide to stay switched—so Elijah can have a relaxing summer away from his controlling dad while Jessica can make the connections she desperately needs for college recommendations.
As Elijah and Jessica work together to keep up the charade, a spark develops between them. Can they avoid discovery—and total disaster—with their feelings and futures on the line?
• Cover Artist: Michelle Kwon – Cover Designers: Gigi Lau & Alexandra Niit – Release Date: September 12, 2023
Prince Of Thorns & Nightmares by Linsey Miller
As of February 3, it was revealed through Twitter the cover to Miller’s newest installment in the Disney Princes Series. Prince Of Thorns & Nightmares is a YA Disney reimagining that’ll follow Sleeping Beauty from Prince Phillip’s point-of-view.
Prince Phillip tells his side of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty where once upon a dream was just the beginning…
Prince Phillip’s known from a young age that his destiny has already been decided for him by his father, King Hubert. His job is to smile and wave for the crowd and ride off into the sunset with his predetermined fiancé, Princess Aurora, after her curse is lifted on her sixteenth birthday. But just days before Aurora’s birthday party, Phillip experiences a strange burst of magic, and three fairies tell him that he is part of a prophecy set to defeat Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil. Suddenly Phillip feels as if he has a choice—maybe magic can be the freedom he has been looking for.
Although, having magic and working with fairies to retrieve powerful ancient artifacts would be much more enjoyable if he didn’t have to deal with her every night, a girl named Briar Rose who appears in his dreams on the other side of a mystical thorn maze. Phillip doesn’t know how he can be so annoyed by a person he can’t even see but having to hear the mysterious maiden’s laughs and jabs at him every time he goes to sleep is worse than any nightmare. But Phillip is starting to realize that Briar Rose isn’t so different from himself, and maybe they can change both of their fates one dream at a time.
• Cover Illustrator: Brittany Jackson & Designer: Scott Piehl – • Release Date: October 3, 2023
The Space Between Here & Now by Sarah Suk
Revealed through Twitter on February 3, was Suk’s newest YA following “a girl who time travels to her memories through scent.”
Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel back to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life.
When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom—a moment Aimee has never remembered before—she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest disappearance yet, but the memory doesn’t match up with the story of how her mom left—at least, not the version she’s always heard from her dad.
Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life. Along the way, she realizes she’ll need to reconcile her past in order to save her present.
• Cover Illustrator / Artist: David Curtis – Release Date: October 31, 2023
Something Kindred by Ciera Burch
As of February 6, Burch revealed through Twitter the cover to her 2024 YA debut where Jericka finds herself in a small Maryland town for the summer to see her estranged dying grandmother. Meanwhile, Jericka’s meeting a ghost girl, grappling with secrets of her family’s past and the town that doesn’t want to let her go.
Magical realism meets Southern Gothic in this commanding young adult debut from Ciera Burch about true love, the meaning of home, and the choices that haunt us.
Welcome to Coldwater. Come for the ghosts, stay for the drama.
Jericka Walker had planned to spend the summer before senior year soaking up the sun with her best friend on the Jersey Shore. Instead she finds herself in Coldwater, Maryland, a small town with a dark and complicated past where her estranged grandmother lives—someone she knows only two things about: her name and the fact that she left Jericka’s mother and uncle when they were children. But now Jericka’s grandmother is dying, and her mother has dragged Jericka along to say goodbye.
As Jericka attempts to form a connection with a woman she’s never known, and adjusts to life in a town where everything closes before dinner, she meets “ghost girl” Kat, a girl eager to leave Coldwater and more exciting than a person has any right to be. But Coldwater has a few unsettling secrets of its own. The more you try to leave, the stronger the town’s hold. As Jericka feels the chilling pull of her family’s past, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about her mother, her childhood, and the lines between the living and the dead.
Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni
On February 8, it was revealed through Omotoni’s Twitter the cover to her forthcoming YA debut focusing on “chaotic teens at an elite boarding school in England.” With a mystery at the heart of the story, it’s been described as a loose reimagining ofA Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Within the walls of Wodebury Hall, an elite boarding school in the English countryside, reputation is everything. But aspiring photographer Iyanu is more comfortable observing things safely from behind her camera.
For Iyanu’s estranged cousin, Kitan, life seems perfect. She has money, beauty, and friends like queen bee Heather. But as a Nigerian girl in a school as white and insular as Wodebury, Kitan struggles with the personal sacrifices needed to keep her place—and the protection she gets—within the exclusive popular crowd.
Then photos from Iyanu’s camera are stolen and splashed across the school—each with a juicy secret written on it. With everyone’s dirty laundry suddenly out in the open, the school explodes in chaos, and the whispers accusing Iyanu of being the one behind it all start to feel like déjà vu.
Each girl is desperate to unravel the mystery of who stole the photos and why. But exposing the truth will change them all forever.
Revealed through Twitter on February 9 was the debut cover to a YA fantasy centered around trans rivals at an elite magical university.
Rat Evans, nonbinary heir to one of the oldest magical bloodlines in New York, doesn’t cast spells anymore. For as long as Rat can remember, they’ve been surrounded by doorways no one else sees and corridors that aren’t on any map. Then one day, they opened a passage and found a broken tower in a field of weeds—and something followed them back.
When Rat is accepted into Bellamy Arts, all they want is a place to hide and to make sure they never open another passageway again. But when the only other person who knows what really happened last year—Harker Blakely, the dangerously gifted trans boy who used to be Rat’s closest friend—turns up on campus, Rat begins to realize that Bellamy Arts might not be as safe as they’d thought. And the tower might not be through with them yet.
Soon, Rat finds themself caught in a web of secrets and long-buried magic, with their friend-turned-enemy at their throat. But the closer they come to uncovering the truth about the tower, the further they’re drawn toward the unsettling powers that threaten to swallow them whole.
Revealed via the author’s Twitter on February 10, was the cover to Lee Baker’s forthcoming YA necromancy-fantasy set during the Tang Dynasty.
Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.
When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.
The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.
•Cover Designer: Kathleen Oudit & Photography: Lillian Liu – Release Date: October 3, 2023
Hatchet Girls by Diana Rodriguez Wallach
On February 14 via Twitter Rodriguez Wallach revealed the cover to her 2023 Horror-Thriller novel Hatchet Girls set around an imagining if the history surrounding the Borden murders were repeated over 100 years later. Release date is slated to be October 10, 2023.
When Mariella Morse accuses her boyfriend, Vik Gomez, of murdering her wealthy parents with an axe, the town is quick to believe her. It doesn’t help that Vik is caught standing over her parents’ bodies with blood on his hands, unable to remember anything about the night in question.
But Vik’s sister, Tessa, knows that Vik would never be capable of such a gruesome crime. Haunted by the mistakes she made that led her family to move to Fall River, MA in the first place, she sets out to prove her brother’s innocence.
Tessa’s search for answers will lead her into a sprawling, notoriously cursed forest, where she and Mariella must face a darkness that has lurked within their town since before the days of Lizzie Borden—the original axe murderess of Fall River.
There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer
Revealed via Twitter on February 15, was the cover to Springer’s Contemporary-Horror Comedy debut about a scary movie buff who hosts a Halloween bash, but things take a sinister turn when she & her guests are forced to put their survival skills to the test.
Seventeen-year-old Noelle Layne knows horror. Every trope, every warning sign, every survival tactic. She even leads a successful movie club dedicated to the genre. Who better to throw the ultimate, most exclusive Halloween party on all of Long Island?
With some of the top influencers in her school on the guest list, including gorgeous singer-songwriter Archer Mitchell, her popularity is bound to spike. She could really use the social boost for an upcoming brand expansion. Nothing is going to ruin this party.
Except…maybe the low budget It clown she hired for a stirring round of tag. He axes one of her classmates. From the looks of his devilish grin and bag full of killer tricks, he’s just getting started.
A murderous clown is out for blood, but Noelle has been waiting her entire life to prove that she’s a Final Girl.
• Cover artist: Betsy Cola – Release Date: September 5, 2023
The Search For Us by Susan Azim Boyer
On February 15 revealed via Twitter was the cover to Azim Boyer’s sophomore contemporary novel following “Two half-siblings who have never met embark on a search together for the Iranian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran father they never knew.”
Samira Murphy will do anything to keep her fractured family from falling apart, including caring for her widowed grandmother and getting her older brother into recovery for alcohol addiction. With attendance at her dream college on the line, she takes a long shot DNA test to find the support she so desperately needs from a father she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.
Henry Owen is torn between his well-meaning but unreliable bio-mom and his overly strict aunt and uncle, who stepped in to raise him but don’t seem to see him for who he is. Looking to forge a stronger connection to his own identity, he takes a DNA test to find the one person who might love him for exactly who he is—the biological father he never knew.
Instead of a DNA match with their father, Samira and Henry are matched with each other. They begin to search for their father together and slowly unravel the difficult truth of their shared past, forming a connection that only siblings can have and recovering precious parts of their past that have been lost. Brimming with emotional resonance, The Search for Us beautifully renders what it means to find your place in the world through the deep and abiding power of family.
Cover Artist: Petra Braun & Designer: Olga Grlic – Release Date: October 24, 2023
House Of Marionne by J. Elle
On February 16, via the author’s Twitter and Penguin Teen, the cover to Elle’s newest YA romantic fantasy series was revealed. According to the publisher it centers around “a glamorous magical world of social elites, forbidden love, and a dark magic that could destroy it all.”
From New York Times bestselling author J. Elle comes a modern-day YA romantic fantasy series opener about a glamorous magical world of social elites, forbidden love, and a dark magic that could destroy it all.
A must-read for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J. Maas, and Bridgerton.
BURY YOUR SECRET OR DIE FOR IT.
17 year-old Quell has lived her entire life on the run. She and her mother have fled from city to city, in order to hide the deadly magic that flows through Quell’s veins.
Until someone discovers her dark secret.
To hide from the assassin hunting her, and keep her mother out of harm’s way, Quell reluctantly inducts into a debutante society of magical social elites called the Order that she never knew existed. If she can pass their three rites of membership, mastering their proper form of magic, she’ll be able to secretly bury her forbidden magic forever.If caught, she will be killed.
But becoming the perfect debutante is a lot harder than Quell imagined, especially when there’s more than tutoring happening with Jordan, her brooding mentor and— assassin in training. When Quell uncovers the deadly lengths the Order will go to defend its wealth and power, she’s forced to choose: embrace the dark magic she’s been running from her entire life or risk losing everything, and everyone, she’s grown to love.
Still, she fears the most formidable monster she’ll have to face is the one inside.
Brimming with ballgowns and betrayal, magic and mystery, decadence and darkness, House of Marionne is perfect for readers who crave morally gray characters, irresistible romance, dark academia, and a deeply intoxicating and original world.
• Cover Artist: Elena Masci & Designer: Theresa Evangelista – Release Date: August 29, 2023
A Tall Dark Trouble by Vanessa Montalban
Revealed through Tor.com on February 23, was the cover to Montalban’s YA contemporary fantasy debut following 3 generations of Cuban brujas navigating love, magic and murder set during present-day Miami and 1980’s Cuba.
Twin sisters Ofelia and Delfi know better than to get involved with magic. Their mom has seen to that. After all, it was magic that cursed their family, turning love into a poison. Romance is off the table for the Sanchez women. They’ve seen the curse take hold enough times to know how that road ends. And yet. Sometimes a girl catches feelings and just can’t help herself.
When Ofelia and Delfi begin having premonitions of a series of murders, the sisters know it is time to embrace their magical inheritance to get to the bottom of the mystery and save innocent lives. Teaming up with their best friend Ethan and with brooding detective-in-training Andres, the sisters set out to learn the truth. They just need to make sure Mami doesn’t find out what they’re up to.
Meanwhile, in 1980 Cuba, Anita struggles with a different magical conflict. Her mother, Mama Orti, is a bruja who belongs to a secret coven of elders and Anita knows she will be forced to join the coven herself one day. She sees no escape, though the thought of staying and letting this future claim her is terrifying. Ofelia, Delfi, and Anita’s stories collide as each woman steps into her power and embraces who she truly is, refusing to be subdued by any person, coven, or curse.
In this stunning YA contemporary fantasy, debut author Vanessa Montalban explores the interlocking struggles of three generations of women in one family. An unputdownable debut for anyone who roots for magic, sisterhood, and love.
↷WNDB revealed the cover to My Father, The Panda Killer / Magic Has No Borders / All The Fighting Parts ↷ Simon Teen, Epic Reads & Wednesday Booksposted wrap-ups revealing their newest covers for the 2023 Fall season ↷ Revealed via the author’s social media for Page Street YA: YA debut pitched as Buffy x Filipino Folklore, YA Horror-Thriller about a girl who must figure out what happened to her older sister in house where they filmed an amateur horror film years ago ↷ On Las Musas Books was the cover to The Moonlit Vine a novel about a girl uncovering her Taino heritage ↷Jessica Lewis revealed via Twitter the cover to Monstrous pitched as following a “fierce, sapphic girl on a bloody quest for revenge and the giant snake contracted to help her” ↷ Susan Dennard revealed through her newsletter the sequel cover to The Luminaries titled The Hunting Moon
Which of these 2023 YA Novels are you most looking forward to?
Here at The Booked Shelf were are so honored to be sharing the cover to YA debut author Angela Montoya’s fantasy romance novel, Sinner’s Isle releasing Fall 2023! In this spellbinding tale, a powerful witch is held on a remote island, desperate to escape and a charming pirate prince finds himself marooned on the witch’s island home. Soon the pirate and witch are forced to work together to outwit their enemies, but more importantly escape, before its too late.
Rosalinda is trapped in Sinner’s Isle, where young women known as Majestics, beautiful witches with dangerous magic, are both loathed by society yet coveted by powerful men who wish to use them. Under the watchful eye of her power-hungry headmistress, Rosa’s certain her phantom magic makes her most favored at this year’s Offering, a fiesta for the wealthy to engage in drink, damsels, debauchery and where Majestics’ powers are put on display…for the wealthy choose a witch to serve them for life.
Mariano, the Prince of Pirates, has spent his entire life sailing the high seas. That is until, the king’s fleet attacks his ship, leaving him marooned on Sinner’s Isle, with his late mother’s enchanted chain meant to guide him to his heart’s desire. Before he can loot the isle of its vast riches and be on his merry way, Rosalinda steals his amulet and holds it ransom. Her price for its return? Let her escape the Isle with Mariano before the Offering’s end. As they attempt to outwit each other and their enemies, the pirate prince has found himself a (brazen) bewitching headache.
Now without further ado, the cover, illustrated by Zarin Baksh (@nir4z):
Cover Illustrator / Artist: Zarin Baksh – Publisher: Joy Revolution (Penguin Random House)
Rosalinda is trapped on Sinner’s Isle, an island filled with young women like her—Majestics, beautiful witches loathed by society for their dangerous magic yet revered by powerful men who want to use them.
For years, she has been kept under the watchful, calculating eye of Doña Lucia. Now eighteen, Rosa will be the prized commodity at this year’s Offering, a fiesta for the wealthy to engage in drink, damsels, and debauchery. That is why she must flee—before someone forces the vicious phantoms within her to destroy everything she touches.
Handsome, swashbuckling Mariano has long sailed the high seas as the Prince of Pirates. Then the king’s fleet attacks his father’s infamous ship, leaving him marooned on Sinner’s Isle with only an enchanted chain meant to lead him to his heart’s desire. Instead, he falls into the hands of a brazen (although) bewitching headache—Rosa.
Together they must outwit each other and their enemies before the Offering ends and it’s too late to escape the perils of Sinner’s Isle
Told in dual POV, the novel can best be pitched in these four phrases according to the author’s tweet ft. a “Broody pirate with a heart of gold / Baddie witch tired of people telling what she can and cannot do / Blackmail & / Phantoms that can tear the world apart.”
Montoya’s Latinx fantasy romance is being released under the Joy Revolution Books imprint, through Random House Kids, a division of Penguin Random House Publishing. Cover Designer is Trisha Previte.
Sinner’s Isle by Angela Montoya is set to be released October 31, 2023!
You can preorder now and add the novel to Goodreads:
The Booked Shelf is delighted to be highlighting an exclusive cover reveal for NYT & USA Today Bestselling author Lynn Painter whose known for her YA romcoms Better Than The Movies and The Do-Over. Well get ready because releasing in Fall 2023, is her newest YA novel Betting On You, which has been pitched as a spin on When Harry Met Sally (Painter’s homage to Nora Ephron).
Featuring dual POV, the “boy falls first” and fake dating it centers on Bailey whose newest job at a hotel waterpark reunites her with an old acquaintance turned co-worker Charlie. They met during a flight to Omaha the year prior after Bailey’s parent’s divorce. These two polar opposites look forward to hanging out and gossiping, especially about a pair who continuously flirt and cozy up to one another. This leads them to make a bet on whether the cozy couple will actually end up dating because they can never be “just friends” (Charlie) or whether that can be proven wrong (Bailey).
But as Charlie realizes he’s fallen for Bailey and developed a crush on her, what makes him even more terrified to admit his feelings is when they agree to a fake relationship in order to disrupt the pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her new boyfriend. And Bailey soon starts seeing him differently too…
Have the secrets and crushes complicated or doomed these polar opposites before they’ve even realized?
Now without further ado, the cover, illustrated by Liz Casal:
Cover Artist: Liz Casal – Publisher: Simon Teen
When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip.
Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their coworkers—particularly two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong.
Bailey and Charlie keep close track of the romantic progress of others while Charlie works to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. Terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known, what doesn’t help his agenda is Bailey and Charlie “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her mom’s new boyfriend.
Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama—but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret—a secret that involves Bailey and another bet Charlie may have made. Can the two make a real go of things…or has Charlie’s secret doomed them before they could start?
Painter’s YA novels, especially Better Than The Movies, have garnered quite an audience via #Booktok with the #BetterThanTheMovies hashtag reaching 35.2 million views. Painter has also recently announced a BTTM sequel slated for Fall 2024!
Betting On You by Lynn Painter is set to be released November 28, 2023!
You can read more about it on Lynn’s website or add the novel to Goodreads:
On The Booked Shelf we’re doing a cover reveal highlight from January 12 via Twitter for A Warning About Swans by R.M. Romero, her newest original YA fairytale novel in verse about a swan girl dreamed into existence who rejects her gift to escape to the human world in 1880 Bavaria. Romero’s novel is slated for a Summer 2023 release with Peachtree Teen!
Hilde was dreamed into existence by Odin and alongside her five sisters, they were granted cloaks that allow them to transform into swans. Each of the sisters has a unique gift, Hilde’s of which involves being able to lead the souls of dying creatures to the afterlife. Hilde meets a handsome boy with no inheritance by the name of Baron Maximilian von Richter. The two form a pact, she will manifest the riches he desires and in return, he takes her to the human world.
After learning about activities deemed fashionable, in response to her struggling to fit in the court of King Ludwig II, Hilde hires non-binary Jewish artist Franz Mendelson to paint her portrait (of which he does so with wings). As she feels drawn to overtime, Richter becomes more controlling. Then when Hilde’s swan cloak goes missing, Mendelson’s gift in painting the true nature of souls becomes her only hope in having it returned.
As of January 30 during the ALA Youth Media Awards, Romero’s 2021 novel The Ghosts Of Rose Hill was recognized as a Sydney Taylor Notable Book, for books that “authentically portray” the Jewish experience (according to JewishLibaries.org)
Cover artist is Daria Hlazatova.
Swan Lake meets The Last Unicorn by way of the Brothers Grimm in a dreamy, original fairytale in verse which transports readers to the Bavarian Alps.
Bavaria. 1880. Hilde was dreamed into existence by the god Odin, and along with her five sisters, granted cloaks that transform them into swans. Each sister’s cloak is imbued with a unique gift, but Hilde rejects her gift which connects her to the souls of dying creatures and forces her to shepherd them into the afterlife—the “Other Wood.”
While guiding the soul of a hawk to the Other Wood, Hilde meets the handsome Baron Maximilian von Richter, whose father was once a favorite of the king and left him no inheritance. Hilde is intrigued by Richter’s longing for a greater life and strikes a deal with him: She will manifest his dreams of riches, and in return, he will take her to the human world, where she will never have to guide souls again.
But at the court of King Ludwig II in Munich, Hilde struggles to fit in. After learning that fashionable ladies are having themselves painted, she hires non-binary Jewish artist Franz Mendelson, and is stunned when Franz renders her with swan wings. The more time she spends with Franz, the more she feels drawn to the artist’s warm, understanding nature, and the more controlling Richter becomes. When Hilde’s swan cloak suddenly goes missing, only Franz’s ability to paint souls can help Hilde escape her newfound prison.
A Warning About Swans by R.M. Romero is set to be released July 11, 2023!
Set a few years after Cuban Girl’s Guide, it follows Orion Maxwell’s younger sister Flora as she heads to Miami after the passing of her mother, in addition her family’s recommendations she apply to university and take up a larger role in the tea-shop business.
After escaping to Miami for the summer to visit her long-time friend Gordon and get away from her “hurricane” of emotions, Flora finds her heart conflicted when she’s also caught in the flashbulb of Miami Cuban influencer Baz Marín who also shares her love for photography.
A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea And Tomorrow has wrapped on filming for it’s YA adaptation starring Maia Reficco (PLL: Original Sin) and Kit Connor (Heartstopper), which initially took place in Yorkshire, England during August of 2022. No word yet on a release date or streaming service that will acquire the film from ACE Entertainment and TeaShop Films. Namey’s novel was also a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick during 2020.
Cover designer is Karyn Lee and illustrator is Andi Porretta.
In this highly anticipated companion to the New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club YA Pick A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, Flora Maxwell heads to Miami to find a path for her future . . . and finds her heart along the way.
Winchester has always been home for Flora, but when her mother dies, Flora feels untethered. Her family expects her to apply to university and take a larger role in their tea-shop business, but Flora isn’t so sure. More than ever, she’s the chaotic ‘hurricane’ in her household, and she doesn’t always know how to manage her stormy emotions. So she decides to escape to Miami without telling anyone –especially her longtime friend Gordon Wallace.
But Flora’s tropical change of scenery doesn’t cast away her self-doubt. When it comes to university, she has no idea which passions she should follow. That’s also true in romance. Flora’s summer abroad lands her in the flashbulb world of teen influencer Baz Marín, a Miami Cuban who shares her love for photography. But Flora’s more conflicted than ever when she begins to see future architect Gordon in a new light.
A British Girl’s Guide To Hurricanes And Heartbreak by Laura Taylor Namey is set to be released September 26, 2023!
On January 25, revealed through Twitter was the cover to NYT Bestselling author Kalynn Bayron’s first foray into YA slashers and horror with You’re Not Supposed To Die Tonight, releasing Summer 2023!
At Camp Mirror Lake, Charity Curtis gets the dream job of playing the “final girl” where guests pay to be scared in a full-contact terror game, which recreates from a classic film, Curse Of Camp Mirror Lake. However, co-workers suddenly start disappearing and with one found dead, Charity and her girlfriend Bezi will need to find out what the killer is after.
Bayron shared her novel is meant to be an “ode” to the genre while “[centering] queer Black girls, which in and of itself, is enough.”
Cover artist Fernanda Suarez. Bayron’s previous YA novels include Cinderella Is Not Dead, her This Poison Heart duology and her forthcoming novel as part of Fierce Reads’s Remixed Classics Series.
At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?
This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.
Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.
But the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?
You’re Not Supposed To Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron is set to be released June 20, 2023!
As of January 5, Penguin Teen revealed the cover to debut author Hailey Alcaraz’s forthcoming YA contemporary novel pitched as a retelling of ‘Gone With The Wind’ titled Up In Flames, slated for an October 2023 release.
Ruby Ortega an “unapologetic flirt” finds that her life comes crashing down when the California wildfires devastate her hometown and destroy her parent’s business. In the aftermath and all seeming hopeless, Ortega takes on a resilient nature as she tries to rebuild in addition to helping undocumented people among her town, with the help of a mysterious boy.
Cover artist is Jeff Ostberg and designer is Danielle Ceccolini.
Gorgeous, wealthy, and entitled, Ruby has just one single worry in her life—scheming to get the boy next door to finally realize they’re meant to be together. But when the California wildfires cause her privileged world to go up in flames, Ruby must struggle to find the grit and compassion to help her family and those less fortunate to rise from the ashes.
At eighteen, Ruby Ortega is an unapologetic flirt who balances her natural aptitude for economics with her skill in partying hard. But she couldn’t care less about those messy college boys—it’s her intense, brooding neighbor Ashton who she wants, and even followed to school. Even the fact that he has a girlfriend doesn’t deter her . . . whatever Ruby wants, she eventually gets.
Her ruthless determination is tested when wildfires devastate her California hometown, destroying her parents’ business and causing an unspeakable tragedy that shatters her to her core. Suddenly, Ruby is the head of the family and responsible for its survival, with no income or experience to rely on. Rebuilding seems hopeless, but with the help of unexpected allies—including a beguiling, dark-eyed boy who seems to understand her better than anyone—Ruby has to try. When she discovers that the fires also displaced many undocumented people in her town, it becomes even more imperative to help. And if she has to make hard choices along the way, can anyone blame her?
Up In Flames by Hailey Alcaraz is set to be released October 3, 2023!
As of November 8, Publishers Weekly exclusively revealed the cover to YA contemporary romance author Maurene Goo’s newest novel that has a sci-fi twist, Throwback, which is slated for a 2023 release with independent publisher Zando Books.
The novel follows Samantha Kang, whose never gotten along well with her mother Priscilla, until she’s found herself transported back to the 90’s…with her teenage mother! While wondering where she fits in this analog world, she wonders if her mother is someone she could actually become closer too as she tries to journey back home.
Goo had this to say about the story which “fulfills a long-held ambition” stating “I always knew that I wanted to write a mother-daughter book, but it took years for me to figure out a way to write one that wasn’t just overwrought with angst,” she said. “My own relationship with my mom in my teens was fraught—like Priscilla and Halmoni’s [Priscilla’s immigrant mother]—and I needed to find an entry into the subject that was fun, somehow. I got to thinking about time travel, because I love time travel stories, and realized my favorite movie, Back to the Future, was a perfect inspiration point. What if you could go to school with your Korean mom? That concept alone is so loaded with possibility.”
Cover designer is Natalie Sousa and illustrator is Kemi Mai.
Back to the Future meets The Joy Luck Club in this YA contemporary romance about a Korean American girl sent back to the ’90s to (reluctantly) help her teenage mom win Homecoming Queen.
Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You know what’s harder? Being the daughter of one. Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla—and has never understood her bougie-nightmare, John Hughes high school expectations. After a huge fight between them, Sam is desperate to move forward—but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.
To her shock, Sam finds herself back in high school . . . in the ’90s . . . with a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now this Gen Z girl must try to fit into an analog world. She’s got the fashion down, but everything else is baffling. What is “microfiche”? What’s with the casual racism and misogyny? And why does it feel like Priscilla is someone she could actually be . . . friends with?
Sam’s blast to the past has her finding the right romance in the wrong time while questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. Will Sam figure out what she needs to do to fix things for her mom so that she can go back to a time she understands?
Throwback by Maurene Goo is set to be released April 11, 2023!
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