Friday, February 8, 2013

My Thoughts on Strange Chemistry


I rarely review self-published books, hence, the publishers I work with are pretty much limited to the Big Six-- Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Random House, Hachette, Macmillan and Penguin-- as well as Harlequin. They have amazing books under them and I've realized that almost every single one of my favourite novels before I came into book blogging were from one of these seven publishers. 

Sometimes, when the occasional unfamiliar name pops up under the publisher's label, they are most often imprints of the already established publishing houses (that caused some confusion on my part initially). For instance, Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins. And I think that's why I almost never encounter new publishing houses in my search of new books to read. 

Here's when Strange Chemistry comes in.

It appeared out of nowhere in September last year and its books just kept on popping up in my radar. They had some really good titles of more than decent quality and I started unknowingly requesting them on Netgalley, only discovering afterwards that they were not from one of the Big "Sevens".

A few titles that I can recite off the top of my head would be:
Blackwood by Gwenda Bond
Shift by Kim Curran
The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Broken by A.E. Rought
Pantomime by Laura Lam (which I'm reading now!)
The Holders by Julianna Scott (I'm planning on reading this soon)

Do any of these sound familiar to you? :)

Apart from the interesting premises, one of the reasons why their books catch my eye is the cover. And I'm a total sucker for good covers! They are the first thing that draws my attention to a book and more often than not, my favourite books have gorgeous covers to match their brilliant plot-lines.

Strange Chemistry has covers that are quite different in style and tone from most of the covers under traditional publishing houses, and they are refreshingly simple!



Blackwood, by Gwenda Bond - September 2012The Assassin's Curse, by Cassandra Rose ClarkeBroken, by A. E. Rought


And what brought on this post was one of the latest covers which really took me by surprise! 

It's beautiful :)



I'm a reader who believes that the efforts that go into a cover often reflects the standards of publishing and the value of the work that is churned out by the publishing house. In the case of Strange Chemistry, their covers just keep getting better each time round!

Here's to a Young Adult imprint that is slowly gaining ground! *Cheers* For me, it's really exciting to see a publishing house slowly grow into something big and established right before our eyes :)

One thing for sure, this is one publishing house that has inched itself onto my look-out list and I'm pleasantly surprised. I bet they will have a lot more good stuff coming along!

Are there any new imprints that caught your eye? Have you read any books by Strange Chemistry? 


xoxo,
Sel


14 comments:

  1. Wow wow I love the first three books! And the font for "The Assassin's Curse" is gorgeous!! Gotta disagree with you on "Zenn Scarlett" though; I don't think the chaotic background really complements the font and font colour.

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    1. Haha, I liked the font too for The Assassin's Curse! BUT I really did liked Zenn Scarlett >:) It really suits the plot which is about aliens and galaxies, so it's cool ;)

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  2. I haven't read anything by this publisher as of yet but I've heard good things about The Assassin's Curse. I think the book cover of Zenn Scarlett really brings out the dangerous chaotic theme of the story. Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. Yes, chaotic is the right word! Ahhh, I'm reading Assassin's Curse right now, and so far so good :)

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  3. They do have nice covers and that last one is so pretty! I love pretty skies on a book cover. I don't necessarily pay attention to publishers because like you said, there are so many imprints of the big ones that for me, it's hard to keep straight which is a part of what. So as long as the premise is interesting and the cover attracts me, I'll usually check it out. Nice post! :)

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    1. Yay, me too! I love pretty skies :) Either that or a view of the galaxy (like the Across the Universe series).

      That's why I was so surprised to realize that this was a new publisher! Their books have good covers and lovely premises :)

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  4. Wow, the covers are really pretty! I'm also one of those booklings who like a beautiful cover beside an awesome story. The Assassin's Curse sounds really intriguing! *goes on NetGalley*

    Inx

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    1. Methinksotoo :) Awesome stories deserve awesome covers! Haha, glad you like the sound of The Assassin's Curse :) But it has long been taken off Netgalley, however, you can try requesting it on the Strange Chemistry website! Good luck ;)

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    2. Shoot, I saw that. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try the website! :)

      But isn't it awful when the cover is awesome but the story couldn't be more opposite? Then I'm at the verge of tears, staring at the cover and thinking how misleading it was and how it was wasted on a horrible content...

      Inx

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    3. Oh, yes! That's totally true :) I'm currently reading THE SELECTION and ILLUMINATE which have covers that are to die for. I'm just hoping that the stories match up too ;) BETWEEN THE SEA AND THE SKY was one book which had a gorgeous cover, but the story kinda fell short of my expectations.

      Have you read any book with a plot that didn't match up to the pretty cover?

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  5. I totally agree that book covers reflect the publisher. I don't want to 'judge a book by it's cover', but sometimes it's impossible not to! I've never heard of Strange Chemistry before but I'll looking out for them now :) I had no idea that they were the publishers of The Assassin's Curse (yes, I'm observant). Thanks for sharing! :)

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    1. Glad you agree! I can't help but judge a book by it's cover :) Looks like I gave you something to look out for ;) I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that The Assassin's Curse was under Strange Chemistry too!

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  6. I also just discovered Strange Chemistry recently, when I heard about Pantomime and Zenn Scarlet. Both books are a part of mine and Rabiah's Books That Glow event :D
    I like that SC is different from other publishers. As in, their books are different. Pantomime is absolutely amazing, and I can say that I have never read anything like it before!
    I'm hoping Zenn Scarlet will be the same :)

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    1. Oooh, that's awesome! Will there be giveaways and stuff? >:)

      Yeah, their books have a different vibe from the rest, so looks like I will be reading their releases for a long time to come! And so far, Zenn Scarlet sounds totally out of the world! Go check out the blurb, it's a-ma-zing...

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