T5W: Emerald Covers

In honour of May's birthstone of the emerald, this week's Top 5 Wednesday is focusing on emerald green book covers! I haven't done many of these, but I think they are a fun addition to the blog from time to time. If you want to join in on these, you can see all of the T5W topics here. Here are some emerald books that I have read or are on my TBR:

cjarcher.com

scholastic.com

TMST: Covers That Don't Work

This week's Tell Me Something Tuesday topic from the lovely Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings is "does is bother you when a book cover doesn't fit the characters in the book?" I am so excited to share my thoughts on this one, you have no idea!

Does it bother me? 100%, absolutely, no doubt about it, it drives me nuts! I've talked about the accuracy of cover art a bit in the past, where I evaluated covers of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but I get very bothered if simple details are not kept in mind when designing a cover. If the main character has blond, curly hair, and the cover has a person on it, the person should have blond, curly hair (unless they are evidently depicting a different character of course).

Cover Wars! - The Picture of Dorian Gray

I love some great cover art. I actually will pay an extra dollar for a book that they nailed the artwork on. I mean, you're going to be looking at it for years, so why not? But let's be honest - for every great cover, there are usually more that you just sit there going "why did someone think this was okay?". So, with the help of my friend Google, here are samplings of both the good and the bad for...

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

The first two covers are interesting for one thing especially - Dorian is depicted as having brown hair, contrary to the book's description of him being a blond. Also interesting that the first cover shows Dorian as an Adonis-figure, laurel wreath and all.

10 Best YA Book Covers From 2016 to Today

If you're like me, you try not to judge a book by its cover, but it sure can be difficult! Good cover art can entice someone to read your book (or at least read the summary!) just in the same way that bad art can cause your work to be left untouched on the shelf. And you know what? Your title is the same - it's the first way to get everyone's attention.
That being said, it's incredibly subjective. What appeals to me might not appeal to you, and vice versa, but I figured I'd share some of my favourite YA cover art that has come out within the past year. In no particular order, here we go:

1. The Beauty of Darkness - Mary E. Pearson

marypearson.com

2. Sword and Verse - Kathy MacMillan

harpercollins.ca

3. Like a River Glorious - Rae Carson

harpercollins.com