Thursday, July 7, 2011

Cover Lover

My name is Gabrielle Carolina, and I am an obsessive Cover-Lover. The first step is to admit it. 

I've just been having some thoughts lately, and figured, why not share, yes?

Cover Change: Cartoon to Concrete

The Pearl Wars by Nick James


The first is the ARC cover, which Nick told me would be changing when we met at BEA, the second is the final cover. My thoughts? WOW. These are so different. I can't judge which one is more appropriate until I read the book, but I will say the ARC cover gives the story a cartoonish, almost superhero-comic vibe, whereas the final cover makes me think of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, and the Steampunk trend in general, and it's all in all more serious in tone. Thoughts?

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann


Same as with the Pearl Wars, except, just to keep you on your toes, I switched the order. The first is the final cover, the second is the ARC. So it went from being cartoonish, to having a serious adventure/fear factor... that is, if giant, flying griffins scare you... not me, no, of course not.

Made You Look Twice

Optical Illusions: From Breathtaking to Creepy in one 180* turn

Hourglass by Myra McEntire



Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma




Kind of a Package Deal

Rhonda Stapleton's Stupid Cupid/Struck series


From these to this:


My thoughts? If you got the same model for all three books why not use that model for the collection?! We go from a spunky, short black-haired, messy bob to the long blond tresses of the Struck mystery woman. Seems off.

Cameron Dokey's Once Upon A Time contribution books


From these to this:

Once: Before Midnight; Golden; Wild Orchid

The Once Upon a Time series is a collaboration of multiple YA authors, retelling fairy tales, published by Simon and Shuster. This series has already been updated once, as I tried to illustrate, from the story book drawing covers, to models, and now this collection features a woman in a swooping dress. Does the collection cover really represent each of Dokey's books? No. Do I care? NO! I want every cover ever printed for this series, including the new 'dress' cover. And I want to know- will there be more collections for the other authors?!

Lost in Translation: Which one of these belongs?

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto


Halo is one of my favorite covers, ever and I was disappointed by the ARC cover over here in the US (upper left), then I felt better about the finished cover (bottom right) but when I saw the Australian cover I nearly cried. It fits PERFECTLY, in my opinion. The motorcycle is too kitchy for the romantic tone set by book one. You can bet I will be buying the Aussie Hades to go with my American Halo.

The Best Kind of Shock: Handsome Boys and Pretty Covers

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa


Just in a general sense, because it is this book and these boys, I can't help but love it... however, if you were to ask me if I think that is really Puck I would say heck no! That boy looks more like a school yard bully than the whimsical, wonderful, silly summer Sweetheart! Ash... well, he's pretty. *grins like an idiot*

Trend Spotting: Self-published/Indie Authors with great covers

It seems the indie world is catching on! The covers I am seeing for these lesser known titles have covers that are making me swoon!



Breaking Point by Jess Bowen// On the Fringe by Courtney King Walker// Betrayal by Michel Mayandree// Abithica by Susan Goldsmith// Lure by Stephanie Jenkins// Airborne by Constance Sharper// My Sister's Destiny by Kristina Caden// Every Last Kiss by Courtney Cole// Silvermay by James Molony// Everblue by Brenda Pandos// Solstice by P.J. Hoover


Cover Awe: I have no words, well, maybe a few

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson


I don't think I've ever seen it's equivalent.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath

A book that's been on my radar forever and a day has a cover and I love it!!!! I hope they do soften the face of the model, she's looking a tad plastic, but I adore this!!!!!

The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle


This is my style of portrait, intense & dramatic use of light. I wish I could claim it was my work, but I can't.

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison


Tristan & Isolde is one of my favorite tales, so I wasn't excited to hear Mette was turning Izzie into a witch, but for this cover, I'll test the waters of the book.

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows


If it weren't so beautiful, I would feel jilted. I drew up a cover very similar to this for my unpublished novel. Not that I think they took my idea... unless they incepted me!!!!!!

The Big Mystery: You Give Me Fever

Fever by Lauren Destefano


3 comments:

Unknown said...

I love this post! If you liked the cove of Everblue, check out Sleight by Jennifer Sommersby. I believe it's the same model. I usually host Many Covers Monday as I'm a cover addict too! :D

P.S. Turning the cover of Imaginary Girls really creeped me out.

ComaCalm's Corner

Jodi Meadows said...

Thanks for mentioning INCARNATE in this list of beautiful covers!

And obviously great minds think alike with butterfly masks. ;)

Kate said...

Wow!!! You weren't kidding when you said you are a cover lover in your goodreads profile.

My sister does graphic design and I HAD to send her a link to the cover for Everneath. It's the prettiest thing I've seen for a while. She will dig it, because I never let her put people on my covers, even though they are YA. hahaha

I think my other favorite, besides, Everneath, is the cover for Halo. That makes my heart go pitter-pat.

Oh, and an indie with a pretty cover that I didn't see here: Rippler. Look it up on Amazon. So pretty!