The Heir by Kiera Cass Cover Reveal

If you have not read the Selection Series please note that there are spoilers below:

If you ask almost any young adult book fan if they have either heard of or read the Selection Series most of them would say yes. In fact the Selection Series is one of the most popular series besides the ones that have been made into movies like Divergent, The Mortal Instruments and anything by John Green. Walk into any ya section in a bookstore or library and they proudly have either The Selection, The Elite or The One on display. If you go on popular entertainment news sights they usually have some articles about the series or the plans that failed to make it into a TV show. It has a large fanbase built into the stories of America, Maxon, Aspen and Marley as well as other great characters. Its not my favorite series, but its one of my favorites.

A short story was posted online at  http://unlockmoreselection.com/ that was set after The One ended. The story revealed that America was pregnant with the heir of the kingdom! Plus it went into details of other characters after the last book. It made me so excited. So when it was announced that the series was continuing the series past the end of the last book I was so happy. I was a little worried about quality of the books, but was happy that I was able to read more into the world. A while later they announced the cover of the new book The Heir. I wasn't expecting much but when I saw it I almost cried with joy.

 

I cannot get enough of this cover. This has to be the best cover I have ever seen out of any book, ever! The cover just tells so much of the story without saying a single word. The colors are amazing. I will be preordering this book in hardback once that becomes an option. When it was announced all I could do was stare at the cover and try to figure out the story with the cover. In the past covers except for The One the dresses have always been bright and colorful. Princess Eadlyn's dress is a light grey. Maybe she is not as happy as her mother was. Maybe she is a little more quite, a little sadder. Maybe she is more of an introvert. The dress though is absolutely beautiful, making her look like a true princess. The other clue that she may be a little sadder or a different mindset than her mother is the background. In the Selection, The Elite and The One the backgrounds had the lights/ shimmer effects on a white background while The Heir has a black background. While it is so beautiful it helps to show that Eadlyn is a different person than her mother America. Also with the other books the reflections in the background always reflected America and in The Heir they still do. Even though Eadlyn is in front of them. This is a major change which has me thinking that Eadlyn lives with the inner expectation of being as great of a queen as her mother. It also could be the public putting on the expectation on her as well, which would make sense because America would be a great Queen and they may be afraid of losing her in the future. The Goodreads synopsis also confirms some of what I've said as well.

"Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought."

 

But wait, Eadlyn has a twin brother Ahren. Is Eadlyn older than her brother? Women in that world can't have their own selection, so what happened to cause that? Also I thought Maxon said that he was going to get rid of the selection. What happened to bring it back? Does Eadlyn have any other siblings? Kiera said in her blog that Ahren was not exactly like his twin. What does that mean? Is he more evil or crueler? Also (and this is important) does America survive the birth of the twins? The more and more I think about it the more I think that its a possibility that she dies in childbirth. I really hope that doesn't happen. Only time and The Heir will tell.

 

What questions do you want answered with The Heir? What other books are coming out in 2015 that you are looking forward to?

For more info on The Heir covershoot and to see the video of the shoot click the link below:

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2014/10/23/kiera-cass-the-heir-cover-exclusive/ 



Spooky Halloween Reads

Its that time of year. Time to pull out the warm, cozy sweaters, eat anything and everything pumpkin or pumpkin spice flavored, and curl up with a spooky book. If you are looking for some good suggestions based on how scary you want it then you have come to the right place. Here are some spooky suggestions based on the fear level:

Most scary

The Madman's Daughter By Megan Shepard

The dark retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells tells the story of JulietMoreau living in the shadow of her fathers dark legacy. Her father was a Doctor in London but was thrown out of the community due to his questionable practices and techniques. This book at time is dark, scary and will keep you at the edge of your seat. This is the first book in a three part series that is sure to entertain if you want your heart to race and to not be able to put down.

Middle of the line

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

I probably talk about this book too much but that is because I love it so much. It is by far my favorite book listed out of the four. It tells the story of Jeremy Johnson Johnson , a boy who can hear voices that he finds out are ghosts. He lives in a small town that shuns him because he can hear the voices of things that are not there. While I can't go into very many details without spoiling it but it is very much worth reading. It kept me at the edge of my seat. In fact, I was so entranced that it made me late getting back to work on my lunch break.

Least Scary

The Graveyard Book by Neal Gaiman

This book tells the story of Nobody (Bod) Owens, a boy who grows up in a graveyard surrounded
by ghosts. This story is more light than the others, focusing more on Bod and his family and the issues of growing up surrounded by the dead. In my opinion this is a classic book for any middle schooler and is definitely middle grade.

Or

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

 

Coraline tells the story of a girl who moves into a new home. She is bored of her family, bored of her neighbors, and stuck inside on a rainy day. She finds a door in her home that leads to a new world. A world that is strangely familiar to her own, except her parents let her do whatever she wants, and they have buttons for eyes. I enjoyed this book more than the Graveyard Book, it seemed more creepy and a better story overall (but other book lovers love the Graveyard Book, so that is why I chose to include it in this list.). I read the graphic novel version of this one and while the story was good, the drawings and art were not the best. I would like to read the actual real version of this book. There was also a movie made (which was good, but confusing at times).

 

Hope these suggestions make your Halloween even spookier than normal! What are your favorite Halloween reads? Leave a comment below sharing your favorite.