Fun fact about me: I hate boats. And ships. And canoes. Ok, to be fair, I’ve never actually been in a canoe, but I’m 99.9% sure I would hate them. I have been on some cruises, and I didn’t hate those, but cruises are a special exception because they’re basically floating towns with neverending food. Anyway, unless there’s ever a zombie apocalypse and the zombies can’t swim, I will choose land every time if given the option.
Buuuut that doesn’t mean I don’t still think ships can be beautiful! Especially the ones with billowing white sails, like many of the ones in this post. So, despite my personal feelings about the topic, let’s enjoy looking at all these pretty covers!
*Normally I link the book covers to Amazon, but I’m having some issues with that at the moment, so I’ve included text links to Amazon (which are affiliate links) under my thoughts for each book.*
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The Girl from Everywhere Series by Heidi Heilig
These are both so unique, and I love how there’s just this, like, little fantastical twist of water on each one rather than a whole sea.
Lioness of Kell by Paul E. Horsman
I love the look of the characters as well as their ominous-looking ship in the background!
The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl
It’s simple but pretty.
Magic of Blood and Sea by Cassandra Rose Clarke
I love this artwork and how the color really pops!
Across the Darkling Sea by K. Ferrin
The ship looks so daunting and scary and magical all at once, and the cover overall is so eye-catching!
Traveler by L.E. DeLano
This one is also unique and just so pretty with the colors and the swirl!
Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman
Fairly simple, but still so eye-catching with the contrast!
Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell
I just love the whole look of this one and the gorgeous dark blues.
My Favorite #1:
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
I actually didn’t notice the ship in this one until someone pointed it out, so for anyone else who didn’t notice either, it’s in the reflection under the bottle! How cool is that? And the whole cover is just gorgeous.
My Favorite #2:
Burning Bright by Melissa McShane
This whole thing is beautiful with the woman, the burning ship, the map blending in the sky area, and the yellow and blue goes so well together!
I love the uniqueness of the Travelers cover! I’m also not really a big fan of any kind of boat. It’s not like I get seasick, but there is something uneasy about it.
It’s gorgeous! Ah, well, I do get seasick lol. And I can understand your uneasiness too, it’s scary being surrounded by water because what if something goes wrong???
I love Unhooked and Burning Bright (which I am pretty sure I own on my Kindle). I’ve never been on a cruise or really out in a boat much. I love the water but have no desire to be way out in it.
They’re both beautiful! Yeah, it’s a bit freaky being entirely surrounded by water.
I would pick the exact same two as my favorites. Passengers has such a pretty cover I was almost tempted to buy it even tough i wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the book. The reflection is so cool, I had noticed that one of the earlier times I saw it, but it’s such a great detail. Burning Bright I actually got during a free run. I like how it has that female in her pretty dress on it and the clear sea theme with the water and the boat as well.
The Girl From Everywhere covers are great too and definitely unique. And the Lioness of Kell cover is a great one too, with the characters on the foreground and the ship behind them.
A series I really like with ships on the covers is Alex Lidell’s Tides series.
I also don’t like boats, as I get terribly seasick and the whole thing of only seeing water on all sides freaks me out a bit.
Right? Passenger is one of those books I’d love to have just for the cover even though I’m not really interested in the story lol. Oh that’s cool you got Burning Bright while it was free!
The Girl from Everywhere ones are so unique, and I do like the characters on Lioness of Kell.
I just looked up Tides, those are really pretty too!
I get seasick too :-/ And my parents used to drag me out fishing/lobster diving with them, and it always freaked me out some, being in the middle of the ocean with nothing but water all around and only the faint hint of land in the distance.
“floating towns with neverending food” lol. Right? And whoever invented THAT concept gets a cookie! But let’s see… I DO like Burning Bright, for all your reasons. Just a nice cover. Unhooked is nice- very traditional pic of a ship on a stormy sea, but nice. Plus that green lettering against the blue…
Magic of Blood and Sea isn’t bad, and she looks badass and pissed off. And The Ferryman Institute looks mysterious and spooky.
I thought that was a pretty good description, if I do say so myself, haha. Burning Bright is gorgeous! But there are a lot of gorgeous covers with ships, for some reasons. I’ve always loved the Unhooked cover.
She does look so badass! And also pissed. You know, I like the Ferryman Institute, and I liked the book, but the cover doesn’t really fit the story. It’s not spooky at all, and it doesn’t involve boats lol.
The cover for Magic of Blood and Sea is giving me so much life. I absolutely love how fierce this looks. I do really love ships on covers even though surprisingly I don’t actually pick up or read any books with ships on the covers to read.
It’s amazing, right?? She does look so fierce! I’ve only read one of these lol, so I guess I don’t actually read a lot of them either.
What a creative subject and wonderful book covers!
Thank you!
Thank you! I’m glad you like these covers too!
Yeah, I did not see that ship on Passenger’s cover – hah! That’s cool though. I really like the Unhooked cover; it’s also the only book I’ve read on here. I’m a bit terrified to ever take one of those big cruises – I’ve been on a boat, and a dinner cruise type of thing, but the ocean freaks me out, so I don’t know a bout spending a long time on a boat. haha
-Lauren
Lol I figured it’d be helpful to point it out! Unhooked is also the only one I’ve read on here. I can understand why the ocean freaks you out! It freaks me out some too, but the cruises were so much fun lol.
I think my favourites are Traveller and The Ship Beyond Time, neither of which I had heard of before. For me, I love the idea of ships and am usually ok on river boats, but am a terrible seafarer. It’s a question of taking pills and lying down quietly until we dock again – which for someone who loves travelling and lives on an island is a nuisance!
Those covers are so unique! Yep, whenever I was dragged out onto the ocean by my parents, I usually just took dramamine, slept, and tried not to get seasick.
This post is unique and excellent and I love it1
Thank you!
I think Traveler is the best one out of these for me. It’s the pattern and the colours and my eyes went straight to it.
Yes, it’s such an eye-catching design!
I don’t like being on boats but I do enjoy reading about pirates and sailors. It’s confusing. The prettiest cover from that roundup is Passenger. I also realllyyyy love that book!
Lol I don’t think I’ve actually read that much about boats. Passenger is so gorgeous, glad to hear it’s a good story too!
I’ve always loved The Black Hearts cover. It’s simple but pops!
See now I would avoid the cruise ship. That sounds like a nightmare to me lol But there is food so…
I always think about kayaking in all the springs we have around here but I’m afraid I won’t be able to balance or I’ll get too tired to get back :-)))
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
Exactly!
Lol I’ve never been fond of being out in the ocean, and I wouldn’t go on a cruise nowadays, but I did go on a few in the past, and they were a blast.
Oh gosh, I was just talking to someone the other day about how we’d both NEVER try kayaking cuz what if you tipped and couldn’t get yourself right side up???? No, thank you. I’ll pass on kayaking lol.
I’m with you on not being a boats/ships/canoes person! My first year of college, I was on a replica of one of the ships at Jamestown during the start of a hurricane. It was not a fun experience and it rather put me off of things that float on water. Although I’m drawn to books with boats because I have a thing for pirates. lol
I love those covers but there’s something about Passengers that stands out to me. (Your post also reminded me that I have the Ferryman Institute still in my TBR pile).
Yikes! I’ve been out in the ocean on a boat during a storm before, it was scary. You know, I’ve never actually read about pirates—except in Peter Pan—but I really want to!
Passenger is gorgeous! And you should totally read Ferryman Institute, I liked that one!
Ok, I have to admit that I’ve never been on a boat/ship, or anything big that floats on water. However, many of these cover looks to beautiful and mesmerising that I want to read the books! Plus, I suppose that, being a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean and such, makes me not mind them too much.
In my opinion, you’re not missing anything good lol. But these covers sure are beautiful!
I pick Burning Bright because it’s been in my tbr stack for probably a year and I loved the cover. As far as boats go, I don’t mind being on a boat in a lake or river but I draw the line at an ocean cruise. Nope, not for me!
Lol it’s definitely a beautiful cover, hopefully the story will be just as good if you ever read it 😛
Across the darkling sea is so pretty. That’s my favorite.
It’s gorgeous, I can see why it’s your fave!
Cool post! I grew up near the water so I really love books and by extension, love all of these beautiful covers. I think the ones for Travelers and Passenger are probably my favorites. Every time I scroll up and down the list, my eye is instantly drawn to them both for some reason.
Thanks! I also grew up kind of near the water, and that is precisely why I HATE boats lol. The Traveler and Passenger covers are so unique and gorgeous!
I love the cover of The Girl from Everywhere! I personally love Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders #1) by Robin Hobb’s cover best, though, because I’ve read the book and can appreciate the cover art more ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/618211.Ship_of_Magic ). Of course, it also features puffy pirate shirts!
~Litha Nelle
Ooh that is a pretty one! And who doesn’t love puffy pirate shirts? 😛
Disclaimer: I love ships. Cruises rank among my best vacations, and I was certified at Girl Scout camp to canoe, row boat, and fun yak. (I especially love romance ships, but I digress). All these covers are fabulous, and I am a fan of the Passenger cover (and the book too). One cover that comes to mind is This is What Happy Looks Like. They are in a canoe on the cover.
I have been on some great cruises! But you are definitely more of a ship/boat person than I am since I hate all the rest lol. Glad you like the covers too! I just looked that one up, and you’re right, it is pretty!
I read the Girl From Everywhere because that cover drew me to the premise! And I love the simple ones too Blackheart and the ferryman institute! I’m actually quite scared of cruises with all their mysterious deaths and disappearances. ?
The cover is gorgeous! It just goes to show what a difference covers can make when they grab your attention. I don’t think I’ve heard about all these mysterious deaths and disappearances?! Luckily the cruises I went on were fun and no one disappeared that I know of!
oh they are all fantastic! I don’t read as many books about the sea as I should because I do find anything “oceanic” fantastic. Especially covers with the ocean and ships! I think Burning Bright is my favorite because for some reason when I think of the sea I think historical 🙂 And yes, the yellow and blue GORGEOUS! I went to check out that book and all and now I want to read the The Extraordinaries! 🙂
Hmmm, I guess the ocean does have a historical feel when it comes to books, doesn’t it? Cuz it makes me think of pirates and times when people often traveled by sea. And yes, that Burning Bright cover is gorgeous!
Boats and ships do make for really beautiful covers! I think I prefer the scary ones, nothing like a haunted ship
They do! And ooh, I didn’t even think of haunted ships!
Ooo… what a fabulous selection – I just love the covers for The Girl From Everywhere – how clever and unusual! Thank you for sharing, Kristen:))
They are so unique, glad you love them too!
I could not have thought of this many covers for ships. I do love the Heidi Heilig covers, though, those books were fun. There’s also Passenger by Alexandra Bracken which I really enjoyed, that is definitely a favourite of mine. I love the cover for Blackhearts, I know it’s similar but I love the contrast.
I haven’t read any of those, but I love the covers! Contrast does make for eye-catching covers.
Great post! I love all these covers! I haven’t really been on a ship yet, but I’m not sure I would like it all that much either. I do like a good pirate story!
Have a wonderful week, Kristen!
Thanks! In my opinion, you’re not missing much lol. I really want to read some pirate stories!