The Beholder, by Anna Bright
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Series?: The Beholder #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Length: 448 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 4/5

Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match, a partner who will help secure the future of her people. Now that day has finally come.

But after an excruciatingly public rejection from her closest childhood friend, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.

From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and under the eye of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks…and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending.

You guys, FROM THE AUTHOR HERSELF, the story behind that freaking gorgeous cover:

The story behind the cover is super simple: I wanted romance, and I literally begged for it.

Okay, backing up.

At YALLfest 2017, Lily Meade and I sat around daydreaming about what my cover would look like. (You can literally watch us goofing around, there is video evidence.)

One of us says, OH MAN, WHAT ABOUT ROSE GOLD?

I asked for rose gold on my cover. Harper, for some reason, gave it to me??????

As for the rest of it: I’ve been a huge fan of girl in a dress covers for ages.

I asked for one. I did not get one. But the thing I realized, after I saw the INCREDIBLE COVER HarperCollins’s Michelle Taormina and Vault49 magicked up for me, is that it was never about the girl. It was never about the dress. It was always about something else– drama, romance, that sense that the book is going to sweep you away.

And that’s how I ended up with my BEHOLDER figurehead, exactly as I describe her in the book, on my cover. I want to weep when I think about it. It’s so gorgeous.

Here. Just. Like. Look at it again. 

Also, if you’re curious, here’s the Pinterest board I sent Harper when they asked what I wanted on my cover. You can see a lot of romance (figureheads, arms flung out, the 1998 cover of Ever After) here, even in the beginning!

 

AUTHOR INFORMATION

I believe in woods, mountains, highways, cobblestones, roller coasters, dancing, concerts, cherry Pop Tarts, books, and magic.

When I’m not reading or writing on my couch, I’m dragging my husband off on an adventure, communing with Salem (my kitten/spiritual familiar), or causing trouble at One More Page Books, where I work.