Once upon a time, I wrote a post about a YA trend that involved hearts. Lots and lots of hearts. Well, apparently hearty covers must really be selling well, as they are still absolutely everywhere. And, the more I looked into it, the more I found heart-astic covers on not-so-recent releases. It’s been something we’ve been stumbling into over the last 5 or so years.
In other words, the heart is here to stay.
You Had Me At Halo by Amanda Ashby
Undercover by Beth Kaphart
Jenna & Jonah’s Fauxmance by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth
My Beating Teenage Heart by C.K. Kelly Martin
Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors
The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder
Dangerous to Know by Katy Moran
But I Love Him by Amanda Grace
Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
Recovery Road by Blake Nelson
While some of these I find rather blah (see Fauxmance), there are also some pretty unusual takes on the idea. Like the last two with a girl making a heart with her hands – it’s cute but also slightly sad…
But my favourite has to be the very first – You Had Me At Halo. The pun is fantastic and the cover adorable – all round, very cute!
Favourites anyone?
Your ghost host at Dead Book Darling
Kay's been blogging about urban fantasy, young adult and werewolves since 2009. She's a firm believer in the many uses of the towel, the science of deduction and other fandom in-jokes. To support her book-buying habit, Kay keeps up a day-job as a science journalist (so feel free to ask her about Physics).
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Ooooh great catch! I hadn’t noticed that. It’s funny how book covers go through such trends. we should write fashion mags about them 😉
@Cait – DUDE. BookCover!Fashion Magazine would be fan-freaking-tastic. *subscribes*
The “making a heart with your hand” thing is actually REALLY popular, especially since Taylor Swift started doing it!
I hadn’t realised how many hearts were used in YA fiction. I guess it’s just really easy to do. My favourite is But I Love Him (although I can’t seem to imagine the title without it sounding whiney, haha).
I found two more in my collection. One recent, one not so recent:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22205.This_Lullaby
and
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9735120-it-s-not-summer-without-you
I love the first one as well! Adorable title and I love the use of the heart.
Oh I love posts like this! So much fun to see the same concept (in this case HEARTS) used in such different ways.