#cover appreciation posts

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Scum-Villain’s Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

This hilarious story of a man reborn as a villain in a fantasy novel series who ends up romancing the male protagonist is now in English, for the very first time. Half-demon Luo Binghe rose from humble beginnings and a tortured past to become unrivaled in strength and beauty. With his dominion over both the Human and Demon Realms and his hundreds-strong harem, he is truly the most powerful protagonist...in a trashy webnovel series! At least, that's what Shen Yuan believes as he finishes reading the final chapter in Proud Immortal Demon Way. But when a bout of rage leads to his sudden death, Shen Yuan is reborn into the world of the novel in the body of Shen Qingqiu--the beautiful but cruel teacher of a young Luo Binghe. While Shen Qingqiu may have the incredible power of a cultivator, he is destined to be horrifically punished for crimes against the protagonist. The new Shen Qingqiu now has only one course of action: get into Luo Binghe's good graces before the young man's rise to power or suffer the awful fate of a true scum villain!

(The Scum-Villain’s Self-Saving System book 1, Amazon)

Beautiful. So so SO beautiful. Both the art-style and the character designs. (My biggest criticism of the latter is that Luo Binghe’s not supposed to look like his dad all that much… but they look IDENTICAL in their pictures 😂 Similarly, I wish there was a picture that showed the differences between Shen and Mushroom!Shen cuz I’m curious exactly how different they look. I know that’s a ridiculous ask but still. I can wish 😂)

When it comes to the font choices I know that when these and the other MXTX novels were announced a lot of people didn’t like that there were so many different fonts on a single cover but I personally think it works well. I like the emphasis/italicization/immaturity(?) of “Scum Villain’s” font versus the really mechanical sans serif of the rest of the text. My only gripe with the titles is that the section of background they’re on is always very crowded (bamboo 2x, cherry blossoms) or a similar color (rocks/ground). It’s not so bad as to make them illegible but it can be a little hard to read. In terms of the title itself I like that they added the pinyin title but I think they should have also had the hanzi... but that’s just my opinion. I know that having all three would’ve been even more crowded than it is so I understand why they didn’t but... still.

In addition to people not liking the fonts... I also remember people were miffed that the first cover wasn’t romantic and I have to say: thank FUCK it’s NOT. LUO BINGHE’S 14 IN THE FIRST BOOK! Besides, regardless of his age, it also wouldn’t make sense story wise. In regards to what’s happening in-story, Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan’s progression from “not touching but still protecting” to “touching but one looks simultaneously like they wanna attack and kiss while the other is just swooning” to “protective handholding and shielding” to “SLEEPING IN LAP” is PERFECT. It’s so beautiful and heartwarming.

The colors follow a similar route. From light and airy with them dressed in matching colors that also match the background (like... there’s a surprising dearth of colors in the first cover. So much so that Sha Hualing’s red outfit really pops out on the back cover) to the shift in Luo Binghe’s clothing to demonic colors and the darkening of the background as the two color palettes mix (white x red = pink, black x green ≈ blue) and then to a neutral background with their color palettes that shows they’re no longer roiling and are instead in harmony. The last book (which is an anthology of short stories about the characters and is actually not part of the main story) is the darkest of the covers but its a very mellow darkness, a sort of warm candlelight that affects their own color palettes so they match even with the background being similar to book one. It’s a very well done color story.

Lets not forget about the back covers. Usually back covers are just meh but these explicitly connect as extensions of the front covers:

The back covers also show that there’s a very clear formula to how everything’s set up:

And I LOVE covers that follow a formula. The fact that all these translations were able to be released together in a row and weren’t dependent on how the book before it did means that the covers were able to be made in tandem which means that they match PERFECTLY. Nothing’s worse than a cover change halfway through a series. Even if a cover style sucks STICK WITH IT for the entire series I BEG YOU. Once everything’s out THEN you can change the covers for the next editions.

I really appreciate the inclusion of character pictures. It works very well with the contents since it often feels like Shen’s in a game rather than a book; he has all these stats for people and access to an interactive computer system so game-like character bios work to help the reader keep this info in-line the same way Shen does. I wish more books (particularly serieses... particularly complicated serieses) did stuff like this.

Before I finish this post I wanna take a moment to appreciate the title of this book in and of itself. I know a lot of people hate how long isekai titles are but I personally love them. I love how straight to the point they are and how you can tell most of what the story’s about just from the title alone, even without reading the description. Personally I think it’d be helpful if more genres started doing this, especially since there’s that gods awful trend of books just having absolutely no summary anywhere on them, and instead just having review quotes that tell you nothing about the actual story. If books insist on doing that, at least tell me what the books about in the title. Thankfully, SVSSS has a descriptive title AND a back summary to let potential readers know what they’re getting themselves into. I think the only way I personally would’ve improved these is by adding some trigger and content warnings (this is also related to the lack of summary and descriptive titles like... why are people against even the slightest, barest, most miniscule spoilers? I beg ya’ll) specifically for the end of the third book (for r*pe).

- Kiara 🌸

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: A Spider's Mate Trilogy by Tiffany Roberts

He’s spent years as a hunter, but now he’s the one ensnared in a creature’s trap. Ketahn did not want a mate. Fate has a different plan for him. When the queen he despises declares her intention to claim him, he retreats into the jungle. What he finds there changes his world. Small, delicate, and pale skinned, Ivy Foster is nothing like the females Ketahn has known. She’s not of his kind at all. Yet the moment he sees her, he knows the truth in his soul—she is his heartsthread. And now that he has her, he won’t let anything take her away. Not the jungle, not the gods, not the queen and her warriors. Whether Ivy agrees or not, their webs are entangled. No one will ever sever those threads.

(Ensnared, Amazon)

The gorgeous artwork on these covers tells you EVERYTHING you need to know:

The genre (Fantasy [technically Fantasy and Sci-fi] Romance)

That the series follows a single couple. Which is rare among Romance novels (although I've seen quite a few recently while looking for new books to read. I have to be extra careful now since I prefer serieses of standalones with an overarching plot, so being able to tell just by the covers is incredibly helpful.)

The couple’s specieses (human and spider (Oops! Silly me, he’s obviously a Vrix)

What type of monster’s getting fucked (there's literally no getting around that Ketahn's a spider. Not a spidertaur/coptaur/arachnetaur where the upper-half's human and the bottom-half's spider oh no, a full on top and bottom spider with a little big of humanoidness sprinkled in as a treat)

At least one of their genders.

What they look like (the best part of illustrated covers is that they can actually show what the characters look like... unlike a lot of stock photo covers which almost always leave me with a feeling of "that doesn't match the descriptions in the book" )

Their dynamic (big/small, dom/sub; Ketahn's obviously the one in control, look at that body language! In addition to their sexual dynamic being on display you can also see that they get closer and more comfortable with each other with each book. [Ivy's definitely looking up with heart-eyes on Enthralled])

Even the webs in the back change too, becoming more cohesive and put together with each cover. Her outfits also help tell the story, changing from the human clothes she had while on the ship into dresses made from Ketahn's own silk.

I only have a few criticisms. And the biggest one is about the last book. To get straight to it: “Bound” feels… odd. I would have probably named it something like Entangled or Enamored or something. And the reason is simply because it breaks pattern--and instead of putting a flourish on the bottom of the N they chose the top of the U... why? It just bothers me.

Now my next criticism is more so for the trilogy "box"(?) set cover.

It's gorgeous and really embodies their dynamic… except, there is something to be said about the white/black innocent/dangerous dynamic that it gives off that is very watered down in the individual covers. The webs in this one are drawn so that Ketahn's looks like a puppeteer and Ivy's his puppet which is very sinister.

While the Vrix aren’t necessarily Black coded, they ARE coded as non-white and indigenous (possibly Asian). They’re also more “primitive” (🤢) than the humans and the dark/light dichotomy does make me a bit uncomfy. If the other books (Roberts intends to write books about Ketahn's friends and their human mates) continue with the same pattern, ill become much more concerned (I'm especially nervous about what the Japanese girl’s [who's meek and shy personality is already a red flag] book cover's going to have on it).

I checked Goodreads to see if there were any alternate covers and found that only the first book (Ensnared) has one.

I do like this cover, and I wonder if Roberts will make matching covers for the other two as well. The only problem with this cover is that it's... more Horror- than Romance-oriented. That doesn’t mean I don’t like it, but it definitely doesn’t look like a Romance, especially since it doesn’t say “A Spider’s Mate” on it and instead has a very threatening tagline 😂 (having read the books, I think the tagline is great but it really does feed the whole horror-thing this cover’s got going on) as a cover it’s obviously beautiful; the black, purple, green, and white an absolutely gorgeous combination.

As a final note I wanna point out that when I first saw this cover I thought the spider was gonna be asexual because he’s got the ace-flag colors on him.

That is not the case 😅 (though I would love to use that sort of color symbolism in a story someday)

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Conqueror’s Saga by Kiersten White

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets. Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion. But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

(And I Darken, Goodreads)

There’s something weird about this but overall I love these covers, I think they’re beautiful. They’re obviously supposed to go together despite the random inconsistencies - which all center around the text, why? The colors are vibrant, distinct, and work well together. The first and third are my favorites and I think they would make an even stronger set than all three together since the second inverts everything.

The theme of the arrows shattering objects is beautiful. I have no idea if the objects shown have anything to do with the plot (I haven’t read these, and I’m not going to because the premise is uh . . . not great. I’ve heard a lot of people criticizing it. I want copies of these covers though because I think they’re beautiful and would like them for reference material.) I’m curious why the arrow on Now I Rise is so different than the other two. I don’t know if the types of arrows have significance, so I can’t comment on that. I do think they’re all very pretty and that they work together despite the differences because they’re obviously supposed to be slightly more complementary instead of parallel(ly?).

I love the flower and pomegranate, by biggest gripe about the latter is that perfectly sliced half that feels too artificial since all the other slices are jagged. I think the necklace (crown? the tagline’s throwing me off) doesn’t look real, as in I can’t tell how all the shattered pieces are supposed to come together and so it looks like there are a lot of extra bits floating around. Whereas the petals and seeds have a more natural spray because you know what it was supposed to look like before.

I don’t know if there’s something weird about these picture sizes but every picture I find does the same thing where everything feels slightly off-size and placement. I think it’s honestly because And I Darken is missing the tagline making the title is TOO CLOSE to the bottom edge. (I know there’s a version that fixes the font of Kiersten and adds a tagline to And I Darken but I can’t find it and have never seen it in person.) Another reason is because the title placement of Now I Rise is much higher than the other too and the line spacing is extremely different on each cover. The “I”s bother me because their beveling and the shadows on the arrow throw off the centering affect but that’s not really something that I think can be fixed without getting rid of one of them.

Despite everything I hate about the inconsistencies, I think these are solid series covers and that they, for lack of a better word, work.

Now, I have to show you the UK editions:

Yes they’re obviously a series and they work well as a series but I uh, hate them. (Also, are they all supposed to be the same person? 'cause they’re not.)

See ya next week!

- Kiara

@tcstu @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales @brynwrites

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Once Upon a Curse Series by Kaitlyn Davis

“His words come back to me—magic is the law. I guess I’m making my own set of rules.” Alanna thought rock climbing in Yosemite National Park would be the trip of a lifetime. Until an earthquake strikes and she finds herself plummeting to her death. But instead of slamming into the forest floor, Alanna drops into a secret underground cave where she’s confronted by the impossible—magic. A mysterious man named Erick uses incredible powers to save her life, then tells her that his magical world has collided with earth, merging the two together. Alanna writes it off as crazy, until he shows her a vision of her brother being dragged down a sandy cobblestone street in chains. Crazy or not, she’ll do anything to save him. As Alanna and Erick team up to rescue her brother from the clutches of a decrepit sorcerer king, fate intervenes in the form of a handsome prince. Alanna doesn’t know who to trust, but in this foreign land, flying solo just might get her killed…

(Granting Wishes, Goodreads)

These may be some of my favorite Fairy Tale retelling covers. Specifically Romance Novel Fairy Tale Retelling Covers.

You can tell what all of the fairy tales are just from looking at the covers EXCEPT for Gathering Frost. Which is a . . . Sleeping Beauty retelling? Apparently? I’m really curious about that one. I think the blue background with the pink dress is supposed to remind the viewer of the whole blue/pink dress debacle from the Disney Version (I will always choose pink. Fight me.)

(Furthermore, I appreciate that there’s enough going on that we know what the books are about, but that the covers aren’t overflowing with imagery. Sometimes less is more.)

I love how they’re all framed in the same way:

archways with flowers (Granting Wishes has flower motifs)

identical placement of the cover girls as well as similar poses and dress silhouettes

complimentary colors BETWEEN books. I hate when books in the same series don’t look good side by side but these ones look very nice.

same fonts with almost identical placements on each book

very clearly image focused covers instead of text focused and they aren’t fighting with each other but rather work well together

all titles are two words long and start with a verb *heart eyes*

despite the fact that the titles are very similar colors to the dresses they’re still really easy to read and don’t blend into their backgrounds (for me, at least) (even Cinderella’s, which looks like it really should)

etc etc etc

I really like that the second words each have an individual symbol in them. It kinda reminds me of when I made mock-up covers for my fairy tale retellings a few years ago and they each had their own individual lace patterns that I made. (Alice in Wonderland had bunny lace, Cinderella had lace with heels in the center, etc etc.) I like when books puts symbols into their titles. (I’m doing the same with The Flower on the High Peak!) I just think it adds a certain flare to them. I also appreciate that the symbols used on these books are put in as if they’re just part of the font themselves, since they share the same kinda marbling affect as the rest of the text. I think it’s a nice touch.

The only critique I have of the titles in regards to placement and parallelism (between books) is that “A Once Upon A Curse Prequel” on Granting Wishes should be centered like it is on Chasing Midnight. (Instead it’s in the exact same placement as Gathering and Withering which it shouldn’t be.) Oh well. *shrugs*

Thanks for reading! I make a Cover Appreciation Post every Thursday/Friday. See ya next week!

- Kiara

@brynwrites @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales @roselinproductions @tcstu @romanthewriter

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Fire & Rescue Shifters Series by Zoe Chant

A curvy archaeologist with the find of a lifetime + a firefighter dragon shifter battling his instincts + a priceless artifact coveted by a ruthless rival = one blazing hot adventure! When curvy American archaeologist Virginia Jones finds the lost burial mound of an ancient Anglo-Saxon king near the English city of Brighton, she uncovers much more than she expected. Unearthing a priceless artifact summons an evil dragon who’ll stop at nothing to claim the treasure for his own hoard. Trapped in a burning building by a beast that ought to be imaginary, Virginia's only hope is to call for emergency… Dai Drake has an unusual occupation for a dragon shifter — he’s a firefighter, part of an elite all-shifter crew. When he rescues Virginia from the blaze, he instantly recognizes her as his one true mate. But how can he tell her what she is, when the first dragon she ever met was a greedy, bloodthirsty monster? As Virginia and Dai work together to save the artifact from falling into the wrong claws, the spark between them quickly grows to an inferno. But will his secret make their relationship go up in smoke? This is a sizzling hot, standalone BBW dragon shifter romance. No cliffhangers! 

(Firefighter Dragon, Goodreads)

I know a lot of people hate Romance novel covers but I appreciate them for what they are. That said, some are still terrible and some are great. These are definitely the latter and I love them.

The starry/ashy black background with the cut out fire animals was a great idea, I think they’re done really well and that the size of the animals in comparison to the human bodies is good and not overwhelming. (tho the fact that the Sea Dragon is smaller than the Dragon is BULL, also the super stylized phoenix bothers me) The contrast between the black and red/orange/yellow of the fire is really beautiful and I love that the little details like the Dragon’s teeth and the individual strands in the Pegasus’s main are all distinguishable. The straight cut-off lines between the animals and black background are crisp and well done.

One thing that is ALWAYS bad on Romance novel series covers (and a lot of fantasy series with people-covers) is the difference in lighting on the human bodies. books 1 and 4 have more blue-light while 2 (and Unicorn to a lesser extent) is a really orange light and the rest are pretty neutral. Even with the differing skin-tones, the lighting differences are noticeable. Particularly with the blue tint to Sea Dragon’s dreads. Other than that the men’s bodies and poses are all good choices.

I think the most annoying thing I notice are the Unicorn’s tattoos. That said, they’re not as bad as some other cover tattoos.

The text is identical cover to cover, which I highly appreciate. I also really like the red to yellow gradient on the title I think it works well with the fires in the background. Other than that there’s not much to say.

I know that you don’t need to read this series in order and that you can read howevermany you want in whatever order you want but PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING if you’re writing a series PUT THE BOOK # ON YOUR BOOK COVERS. This has always bothered me. I hate having to search to figure out what order to read things in. This is very common in Romance series and I first had to deal with it when I started reading Sherrilyn Kenyon in middle school. Do you know how many books that woman has written? It’s daunting. Also please put the series title. These could have EASILY had the series title and book # on them, there is so much open space for that. PLEASE.

I actually left out the 5th book from above (which you would never know because they don’t say the book #s on them!). So here it is:

And I left it out because it’s a cross-over with Zoe Chant’s other series Shifting Sands Resort so the cover is a mix between the two series covers and I think it works pretty well with both. It’s very noticeably a combination of the two. (I’m going to make a Shifting Sands Resort Cover Appreciation post once the final book is released ;))

The Fire & Rescue Shifters series has a second, sequel series still releasing called Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew and so far only 2 books have been released but they’re different enough while maintaining the original themes that I think they work well as companions to the above.

Here they are! I think something that’s weird about these in comparison to almost all other Zoe Chant covers is that we see their faces. It’s not bad but it throws off the series cover dynamic in my eyes.

Lastly, I will say that because these are published through Amazon the covers for the physical copies are all matte and uh, they should be gloss. Just saying. But that’s not something that can be fixed other than through publishing through someone else though so oh well.

See ya next time!

- Kiara

@tcstu @brynwrites @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Shadow of the Fox Series by Julie Kagawa

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos. Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn. Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll. There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart. With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

(Shadow of the Fox, Goodreads)

I love this series and the cover for Night of the Dragon was just revealed in July and I couldn’t resist.

These are an interesting gloss/matte covers and the fox mask is raised on all of them, giving some nice texture. The backgrounds are mostly matte but don’t have that weird . . . dustiness (?) to them and then the text and fox mask are Ultra-Glossy. It’s a nice combination of both visual and physical textures. I wish that the fox mask’s size, color, and placement was more consistent, though. Is it just me, or is it a different color on every cover?

It’s interesting that the circle on Dragon doesn’t have shrine imagery in it while Fox and Sword do however, considering the new imagery in the circle itself, this lack is understandable. Having any shrine imagery inside would have made the cover feel too crowded.

When it comes to the text, I just wish that Sword’s title was the same size as Fox and Dragon’s (Specifically, the size of the word “Soul” which is much bigger than both “Shadow” and “Night” which are the same size).

I WISH that they would say WHICH BOOK IN THE SERIES THEY ARE. What’s with books saying “A (Series Title) Novel” instead of “Book (?) In (Series Title)”??? Why? Is the latter so hard??

I have both Fox and Sword in hardback and their actually hardcovers underneath the dust jackets are beautiful jewel tones, a gorgeous ruby red and turquoise blue.

I can’t wait to see what Dragon’s color is! (I hope it’s amethyst)

I love that the main colors on books one and two create the main color on book three. I think it’s a really nice touch. (Venn diagram taken from here)

I personally prefer the Owlcrate version of Fox because it inverts the red and black and I think it looks nicer (and fits better with how the colors are arranged on the sequels), however, I still think the black cover is very pretty especially in person. (I haven’t seen the Owlcrate version in person.)

I’ll probablys do another cover appreciation for this series way later because both Fox and Sword have matching alternate covers and I hope the third book gets one as well!

Thanks for reading! I make a Cover Appreciation Post Thursday/Friday. See ya next week!

- Kiara

@brynwrites @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales @roselinproductions @tcstu @romanthewriter

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Shadow and Bone Trilogy / Grisha Verse by Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

(Shadow and Bone, Goodreads)

My least favorite is Ruin and Rising while my favorite is Siege and Storm.

Question: I haven’t read this series so I don’t know if this has a narrative reason but, why does book 2 have a different palace than 1 and 3? Shadow’s palace being smaller than the other two bothers me because it gives the cover a lot more empty space than the others.

Siege and Ruin both have a background that gives the illusion of light coming from behind the palace like the sun’s about to crest it but Shadow, doesn’t? It’s not bad it just bothers me because it makes the background of Shadow really flat compared to the other two.

That. Font. *heart eyes* I don’t know what the font is called but it’s beautiful and the way they’ve manipulated it, adding the wisps that look like smoke/shadow and curl around to dance with the rest of the design elements is brilliant. The wisp that swirls around the spire of Ruin is my favorite part of that cover. (Why is the “and” on Ruin so awkward? They should have had the swirl on Ruin’s “R” take up more of that empty space so the “and” didn’t look so out of place.)

The covers all follow a gray+black+white+red format EXCEPT for the yellow on Ruin and I think that’s one reason why it bothers me so much. I think if the other two had their own accent colors I’d be less put off by the yellow bird, like if the waves at the bottom of Siege had a blue tint. Something that wouldn’t make the phoenix so out of place, yknow?

I like the above covers more than the new covers but I’ll show them anyway.

Again, Ruin and Rising is my least favorite. I don’t know why but something about the bird really bothers me. I’m sad that they changed the font because the original font is one of the best aspects of the original covers. Of these new covers Siege is my favorite, the teal-blue looks gorgeous against the black (why are the other two not perfectly black backgrounds like Siege? They would look SO. MUCH. BETTER.)

Indigo has some alternate color versions of the main covers as well. Personally I prefer the gray Shadow cover (above) and the blue Siege cover (below).

This series has a lot of nice foreign covers as well:

The Hebrew covers from א' ניר are really great. They have one of my favorite Ruin and Rising covers.

They’re so perfectly coordinated and insync, it makes me extremely happy. I like the minimalist and cut-out aspects of them as well as the use of very simplistic design elements, the stereotypical waves on the water and flames. (I also really like that the phoenix’s flames aren’t the same as the flames at the bottom)

The Vietnamese covers from Nxb Trẻ:

I don’t know why the first cover doesn’t look like the second and third (AT ALL) and I KNOW this isn’t a complete set because of that but I liked the second and third covers so much that I couldn’t NOT include them. They’re just, so great. I wish the first book had a matching cover.

The Polish covers from Papierowy Księżyc:

Did anyone see The Nutcracker and the Four Realms? (It was terrible and I kinda loved it) The palaces on the Polish covers remind me of the palace from Nutcracker.

My favorite covers, tho, are the Japanese and French, which both feature illustrations of people in very different styles but with light as the main focus.

Here are the Japanese covers from 早川書房.

I love these. My biggest issue is that Ruin is black instead of white like the other two but that works for the book itself (from what I know) and I can’t be mad at it.

The French covers from Milan Eds are also really great too. My biggest annoyance is the Six of Crows banner on book 1.

That’s all for today! If you have a series with covers you really like let me know!

Side Note: Does the Phoenix in the original cover kinda look like a muppet with those shaggy wings? Why is it so weird?

See ya next time!

- Kiara

@tcstu @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales @brynwrites

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Moonlit Lands Series by Zoë Marriott

Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old Suzume is able to recreate herself in any form - a fabulous gift for a girl desperate to escape her past. But who is she really? Is she a girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother's new husband, Lord Terayama, or a lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama's kitchens, or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Whatever her true identity, Suzume is destined to capture the heart of a prince - and determined to use his power to destroy Terayama. And nothing will stop her, not even love.

(Shadows on the Moon, Goodreads)

I love these covers. These are technically the same series but they’re companion novels instead of a duology and their only connection is that they take place in the same land so they don’t have to be perfectly synchronized. But I’m so glad they are. (The more cover appreciation posts I do, the more I realize I have some very specific hangups about covers)

Matching text formation (the slight difference in placement bothers me but I love that everything else about the text is in sync. I think if the placement was identical then the different colors wouldn’t bother me. The text colors make sense for the book’s contents tho so I’m not exactly mad about it)

Also, I like that Shadow’s title is very clean with exact edges while Barefoot’s got some sweeping ends like wind. It fits with the narratives of each book.

They each have 3 specific colors with the base color being the same (black) plus 1 bonus accent color on each; the red blood on Shadow and the green eyes on Barefoot.

Each cover has about 4 specific objects/items that they stick with and revolve around

The twirling vines + hair compliment each other

The butterflies + moths + flower petals compliment the flowers +

The placement of the tiger’s eyes matches the placement of the top two hair ornaments, specifically the gold pin, on Shadow

Similar glitter and snow overlay

In addition to all that, neither of these covers are flat. They have nice depth and the text is worked in really well with the backgrounds, interweaving with the hair strands, vines, and objects/animals in strategic ways that work well and aren’t overdone.

I really like these covers, alright. (I have both these books and they’re beautiful in person too) They satisfy something inside me that says things need to be in-sync. (While I’m add it, I want to tell everyone that the backs of Shadows bothers me.)

In person the back cover text being lefted is just . . . So Weird. I do like that the hair moves to the back (though the fact the spine doesn’t match up is incredibly annoying, although I understand not wanting the flower on the cover to overflow onto the spine), I just wish the text was centered.

Meanwhile, Barefoot’s back is centered and looks much nicer.

As far as I’m aware, up until now the covers I’ve chosen for these Cover Appreciation posts have all been the original series covers. That’s not the case here as this isn’t the original cover for Shadows on the Moon. So far this has been the only cover change I’ve encountered since starting these posts where I like the changed cover more than the originals.

I do like that the original covers for Shadows on the Moon had Asian models - below are the Paperback and Hardback, which had different covers - but the above covers give them the fantastical feel that the covers below are missing.

The first one with the woman’s face and white flowers feel more contemporary fantasy while the second . . . it looks like it’s supposed to be horror or suspense and not a fantasy love story? (I DNFed this book at about 65% (tho I did read the epilogue) so I know enough to know that these feel wrong when paired with the narrative).

Of the two, the first one is definitely in the right wheel house but it’s missing the really over the top beauty the book’s trying to paint. I think if it was less misty and more vibrant in color that the original cover would’ve been amazing. I think Barefoot on the Wind’s cover is perfect and appreciate that they gave Shadow a new cover to match it but I wish they could’ve kept an Asian model (they have a tiger, but not a woman’s face?)

(Side Note: I wish they’d have kept the “brightest illusions” tagline from the original cover, the “This Cinderella doesn’t crave love” line is . . . uh, horrible.)

That’s it for today! See ya’ll next time!

- Kiara

@tcstu @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales