Waiting on Wednesday: The Sin Eater's Daughter and The Paper Magician

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

This week's picks:

The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Goodreads' description:

"A startling, seductive, deliciously dark debut that will shatter your definition of YA fantasy.

16-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, no one speaks to her. No one even looks at her. Because Twylla isn't a member of the court. She's the executioner.

As the goddess-embodied, Twylla kills with a single touch. So each week, she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love her. Who could care for a girl with murder in her veins? Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to her touch, avoids her.

But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose playful smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he's able to look past Twylla's executioner robes and see the girl, not the goddess. Yet a treasonous romance is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies-a plan that requires an unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?"

First, you may have a moment to drink in that cover. Is that not the most spectacular combination of colours?? And she's inside the bottle. It's fantastic.

Plus, the premise sounds pretty cool too. Not sure about the "goddess-embodied" part, and killing with a touch is reminiscent of the Shatter Me series, but I'm interested to see what direction the author takes the story in. An executioner for a protagonist is intriguing!

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Goodreads' description:

"Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic . . . forever.

Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

From the imaginative mind of debut author Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician is an extraordinary adventure both dark and whimsical that will delight readers of all ages."

I like the cover of this one too, though for totally different reasons than The Sin Eater's Daughter. It's clean and minimalistic, and the fact there's origami included is awesome. Apparently this is actually the second cover revealed for this one — maybe they redesigned it to appeal more to an adult audience, since it's intended to be a crossover? — but in any case, I think I prefer this one to the original.  

Cover aside, the book description alone would draw me in. Animating paper creatures? Ripping hearts from chests? Sounds offbeat and slightly macabre...

What books are you waiting for?