Passion Post: Cover Art

In my recent post about my "passions" I included art. I didn't say specifically cover art, but that is definitely part of my passion.

I am as guilty as anyone of "judging a book by its cover." But I have realized over the past few years that books with beautiful covers are not necessarily brilliant on the inside, and vice versa. Today, I want to give some examples of book covers I have loved and hated, that illustrate that lack of correspondence. You may or may not agree with me. I get that. It's all personal taste.

Well, mostly :P. Some art just simply sucks.

Anyway....

I'm going to start with the book that was the subject of my post on Monday. Harry Potter.

Yep, as much as I adore these books, I have never liked the covers. I don't like the style of painting, the nearly monochromatic color schemes, the lack of contrast in the images. I find them un-eye-catching. If I had not been told about these books with such enthusiasm by my next door neighbor, I may not have ever opened one.

Next, The Secret of the Rose by Sarah L. Thomson:

I. Love. This. Book.

I discovered it after reading another book by her, Dragon's Egg. It's cover was much cooler, but I honestly picked it up because of the title (hello, dragon!). I went back to the library to see what other books she'd written, and found The Secret of the Rose. Inside is a beautifully written story. Outside is, well, a very plain, ugly painting and a rose that is pasted in. Bleh.

But please, follow in my footsteps and bypass the cover art!

And the most recent offender--the one which prompted this whole post. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. 

I just finished reading this. The prose in this book is gorgeous. It's what I'd call a paranormal romance/urban fantasy. But the romance didn't get too squishy (except a couple spots) and the author's descriptive ability blew my mind. The story is very deep, with a unique and imaginative story world.

But I bypassed this book many times. The cover, to me, screams "Mardi Gras" and the mask looks pasted in. And once I got into the book, I just got angrier and angrier about the cover. The main character is a tattoo covered chick with peacock blue hair. She is raised by chimeara (creatures composed essentially of human and animal combined--think head of tiger, human torso, reptilian legs--you get the picture). Oh, and she's an artist, who draws these creatures all the time. My mind goes to a million places where this cover could use all of that, yet it is about as un-artistic and un-other-worldly as can be. Not the least bit representative of what is inside. There is actually a mask worn by the MC about three-fourths of the way through the book, but it is not just blue feathers, it is a bird face complete with beak.

Ugh. Seriously.

In preparation for this post, I did some searching to find other posts about the cover of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and did discover that there is a German version that is quite lovely and closer to what I'd imagine for this story. Although, I still would love to see something--even if just an element of the cover--drawn, because, hello, the MC is a freaking artist (as referenced about a bazillion times in the book).

Hm...okay...this post is getting longer than I expected. So, I'm gonna cut it here, for now, and pick it up next time. Tell me--shall I continue with more books I love with covers I hate, or go on to the other side of the coin and post some books I hate with covers I love?