Welcome back yet again for another installment of Cover Comparisons! If
you haven't seen one of these before, Cover Comparisons is a (sort of)
monthly post that the very lovey Ebony of
Daring Damsels
and I do, in which we pick out a bunch of different covers of a certain
book and then compare them. Today, we're looking at Vampire Academy
by Richelle Mead here and The Picture od Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde covers over on Ebony's
blog. If you'd like to see the other ones we've done, then you click
here to see
Jane Eyre,
The Diviners,
John Green,
Wuthering Heights, Melina Marchetta and
Great Expectations. Shall we look at those covers then?
Bulgarian
Ebony: That
model is insanely awkward...the silhouette of that building is okay, but
overall I feel that this is a bad editing job. I mean, it wouldn't be too bad
if the two main elements were just blended a little better?
Ely: This is just strange. The girl looks really awkward, though
admittedly she does look a little Rose-like. I don’t really like the bottom
half of the cover either.
Dutch
Ebony: I really
like the font on this one! And the illustration is pretty cool, too. However,
it makes me think that it's the cover of a graphic novel rather than a book.
Ely: Let
me ask you a question Dutch publisher…Did you actually read this book? I feel
like we must have read different stories, because this cover doesn’t suit the
book at all. I mean, the butterflies…really?
German
Ebony: Umm...no.
Yuck. Ew. This is more tacky than 90's movie poster. And even that's stretching it,
I think.
Ely: I
feel like this cover belongs to one of those really crappy 1990 horror books.
It’s just strange and the text looks really, really terrible.
Italian
Ebony: And
it gets worse. What's with the close up? And that horrible drop of blood?
That's just...no.
Ely: Do you ever look at covers and just be like
‘whhhhhy?’ That’s my reaction to this cover.
New Paperback
Ebony: Ooh,
I really like these UK editions! How they're all red with a bit of dripping
blood and a symbol. Simple, yet pleasing.
Ely: I think this is probably my favourite cover. I
just love how simple yet gorgeous it is, but I love how it also suits the
story. That text is beautiful, by the way.
Original
Ebony: Now,
these original English editions is one of the reasons why I only started the VA
series this year. I think they're pretty cheesy overall. But, looking back now,
they're VA. They're what everyone associates with the series, and, a few of
these editions, this one included, don't look that bad anymore. I guess
that's because I thought they couldn't get any worse covers, but now I've been
proven wrong.
Ely: These are the covers I own and I always hated
them. Covers like this are just so over done! Admittedly, I like this one way
better than some of the other covers included in this post.
Reprint
Ebony: I
know a lot of people don't like this editions, but I actually do. When I saw
that these were being released closer to the release of the movie, I decided
that I'd finally give this series ago. I like the different colours used and
the fact that the awkward-ish cover models are still there, but they're not the
focus anymore.
Ely: I do actually like these ones. They’re simple,
but the catch your eye. I feel like they suit the books too.
Spanish
Ebony: This
one is okay. It's simple, but it's not a cover that I'd pick up in a bookstore.
This is very similar to one of the Romeo & Juliet editions I have.
Ely: And here we have the stereotypical Vampire novel
cover! We’ve got the random object in the middle with some blood (how will
people know it’s a vampire book otherwise?) and some really old but very weird
looking text. (I’m not a fan).
Swedish
Ebony: Why oh
why would someone design this? I feel as though this series has been very
unlucky in cover designs.
Ely: I feel like this might
have been borderline okay is they hadn’t put that fence/gate there awkwardly. I
mean, it’s covering her face and it just looks really weird. I do like the little
symbol/stamp thing they have – that’s super pretty.
Turkish
Ebony: More
insanely awkward cover models and another disastrous editing attempt. I'm sorry
to whoever designed it, because the only good thing about this cover is that
shade of blue/green they used.
Ely: This is perhaps the most awkward cover here.
What is going on with those models?? That girl’s forehead is actually
terrifying. I do, however, like the green they’ve used.
Final Thoughts
Both Ebony and I agree that the New Paperback is our favourite cover, followed by the reprint and then the original. We never knew there were such terrible covers!
Which is your favourite?
