Pick which section do you like better for the back cover for the hardcover:
Option 1:
“I know you, Ilyenna. Know you as I know the language of the storms, the frost flowers that bloom in the ice, the sleeping sighs of the bears in their caves. You think of yourself as a healer. But as a winter queen, you will become a destroyer.”
Ilyenna could only stare at the terrible beauty of the fairy.
Chriel fluttered her wings. “The powers of winter will allow you to save yourself and the ones you love. But there is a price. Before, you hadn’t become winter yet. To do so is to be reborn. And after that, you’ll never break free.”
“I’ll no longer be human?” Ilyenna asked.
Chriel cocked her thimble-sized head to the side. “You will give up your humanity. All of it—your memories, your emotions. You will be shattered, melted down, and reformed into something new.” The fairy paused, looking sad. “To save yourself and the ones you love, you will have to lose them.”
Option 2:
The water was so cold it drove the breath from Ilyenna, sending her whole body into a cramp. Her lungs burned with fire. Trapped beneath the layer of ice, she slammed into the riverbed before hurtling into the ice. The water dragged her along its jagged surface—so close she could see the pale winter sky, the dark trees framing it like lace. She clawed at the ice, numbly aware of the sting as one by one, her fingernails were ripped off.
Then, by some miracle, the ice broke above her. She bobbed along in the water, too weak and cold to fight the current. She bumped against another sheet of ice, and the water started sucking her down. Clawing at the icy snow, she bent herself in half over the ice. She couldn’t pull her legs from the river. She dug into the crystallized snow with her blue hands, trying to call for help. Her voice refused to work.
This is how I’m going to die, she thought.
Amber Argyle
Author
Author
Such a hard decision! Option 2's last line is such a powerful hook, but the image of what Ilyenna will have to give up to save herself and the ones she loves in Option 1 is powerful as a whole. So, I'm leaning toward Option 1.
Neither. This sounds like Flap 1 copy rather than back cover. I would put a enticing synopsis as the elevator pitch, blubs, or both.
In full agreement with Anthony on this.
I do like the last line of Option 2 though.
I love the last line of Option 2!! 🙂
I have to agree with Anthony. Option 2 is the most engaging.
Of the options, I like #2 de most.
Okay, most of you liked option 2.
Anthony: All my hardcover books have the synopsis on the flap and blurbs/excerpts on the back cover?