melissa walker » The Novel Hermit

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Waiting On is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Ashes to Ashes by Melissa Walker
December 23, 2013
Katherine Tegen Books
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Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

If I Stay meets the movie Ghost in this first book in a teen duology about a teenage-girl-turned-ghost who must cling to the echoes of her former life to save the people she left behind.

When Callie’s life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven.

Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind.

However, Callie uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls who always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.

As she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love-and break.

Why I’m waiting?

Dark secret about the spirit world? Although that is an extremely cliché description, color me intrigued! I’m not usually a fan of book that contains spirits or ghosts because those freak me out, but I’m interested in finding out the backstory of those spirits or souls, especially Thatcher who seems to be extremely important, and seeing what threat they pose to living beings by staying on Earth. It’s an interesting take on what it means to live (even after death).

I hope there’s a pottery making scene (Ghost reference, yeeahhh!).

What books are you waiting on?

Inspired by Pure Imagination Blog and Stacked.

Let’s be honest, nobody follows the age-old cliché that tells us not to judge a book by its covers. If you say you do, I am side-eying you. Book covers are the first thing that attracts any of us readers to a book. Before you pick up a book, the cover can essentially make or break a book. If I don’t like a cover design, I won’t pick it up. Lucky for us, publishing companies publish different cover designs, especially when a paperback book comes out. Sometimes we like it, sometimes we don’t. Whatever the changes with cover designs, I will discuss it.

Today, we look at the cover of Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker.

I don’t like the paperback cover of Unbreak My Heart. It irritates me because of the romantic-esque design, which makes me scrunch my nose in distaste. I’m not a big fan of couples showing PDA on the front cover, especially if the romance doesn’t play a large part in the book like the cover design suggests. Yes, there’s a budding romantic relationship between Clementine (the main character) and the boy she meets, but it is not the most important part of the book. A large part of this book is about Clementine on a sailboat, trying to forgive herself for betraying her best friend. Do we have any semblance of that on the cover? No. We have a kissing couple with the girl lifting her leg up (this is not the Princess Diaries!).

I prefer the hardcover design because what you see is what you get in the book – Clementine on a sailboat, thinking back to the events that brought her out to the open sea. I like that everything is covered in pink except the girl, the sails, and the ocean. That’s the focus. It’s more memorable to me since I rarely see YA cover designs of people on a sailboat. Whereas, the paperback…well, you know my thoughts on it.

Final thought: I wish the paperback wasn’t changed to this gag-inducing cover (I have a cold-heart. ;D). The hardcover design is a better image of the Unbreak My Heart story. But that’s my personal preference.

What did you think of the cover design and the changes? Do you like it? Is there anything you would change?

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY | Ashes to Ashes by Melissa Walker

Cover Change | Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker