Today I wanted to showcase some of the lesser-known but still gorgeous covers. Many of these, like Darkfall by Janice Hardy, are on my favorite covers list--yet I never see them around. Perhaps as we get closer to their release dates, these will pop up more?
Color. Light. Font. Textures.
I'm a bit of a color freak, so covers like this draw my eye right away. I love it on that basis alone. The text feels both elegant and clean, which allows me to focus on the image.
The jacket copy describes this as being about a girl who can see "auras"--which, okay, I see the girl; I see the aura. The aura feels almost angelic, however, and the hoodie gives me a vague grunge impression. Your thoughts?
This is an under-buzzed Tristan and Isolde retelling that keeps drawing my attention only because of the lovely cover. I like the warmth of colors, the absolute giving way to teenage romantics, and yet there's a sense of upcoming tragedy--like as soon as they get off the boat, it will all fall apart. Or maybe I know too much about the premise already!
Not sure if everyone else would put this on their favorite covers list, but after "Across the Universe," I fell in love with the use of stars on covers. I think this cover has just the right mix of mystery, allure, beauty, and magic. It's all about a time-travel romance and I think they designers did a great job making that into a fresh cover concept.
My only regret is that in print, at the bookstore, the cover is in matte. That means it's not glossy. Most of the intricate color detail has a somewhat faded look. Alas.
Once again, having a color-love spaz attack over here. Extremely gripping cover that transmits a lot of emotion. I feel as if this cover is showing us what's going on inside the girl, that it's a metaphor for the story. It has a psychological thriller vibe, whereas I think they were going more for paranormal since it's a "girl can sense demons" type story. Not far off, though.
One of my absolute favorites. You know right off there's a connection between the river and the girl, that she's a ghost, that's there's both tragedy and beauty. I love how the top of her dress is lace from the trees and how she's solid on top, but fades downward. I love how the designs in the "A" look almost like buttons on the dress. It's gorgeous and extremely well done.
This is why art covers are making a comeback. All of Janice Hardy's "Healing Wars" trilogy had art covers, and all were beautiful, but the cover of Darkfall absolutely took my breath away. Just look at all that color. I love how everything flows into everything else. You get a sense of this dark, smoggy city, and yet it's gorgeous. I love the image of the hand sprinkling glitter (apparently it's sand) onto the city. And my favorite part is how the clouds, all the smoke and smog, roll upward into the sky.
Janice actually did a post with cover mockups showing the processing of making the cover, and it was one of the coolest, most fascinating things I've seen. Check it out!
What I like so much about this is it didn't have to be done using art. The designer could have easily photoshopped a haunted mansion and this girl together. Add a little smoke, and poof--you have the classic ghost story cover.
Except they didn't. And that makes this completely unique. The colors are more drastic as a result, and the blood stands out, though there's so little of it. I love the iron fence/lace at the bottom, and I love how her hair blows in the wind, how the hem of her skirt is bloodied, how the house itself is not the focal point--but the girl. I think it does a great job capturing the premise.
I just have to reiterate, after needing not one, or two, but three posts on YA covers for this year alone, that we definitely have some beautiful ones coming out. I'm sure I missed a ton. What about you guys? Any favorite covers in this list, or any of your favorites that I missed?
Truly and always,
-Creative A
4 comments:
These are beautiful, thanks for sharing!
Watched is my favorite among these, but Anna Dressed in Blood is a close second. Those two get places on my "to read" list based on cover art alone.
Thanks for sharing these!
Hey guys, thank you for commenting!
And Steven, I have to confess Watched is on my TBR list for the exact same reason :)
-Mandy
These ARE gorgeous covers. I especially like the first two, Hereafter and Darkfall. The Janice Hardy book is the only one I'm familiar with but now you've piqued my interest in them all!
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