This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is now nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring SPARKLING covers. I’ve selected the sci fi YA adventure Across the Universe – Book 1 of the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis.
This edition was produced by Razorbill in January 2011. I love this cover’s backdrop with the beautiful, glittering nebulae, although the two faces juxtaposed into an upside- down kiss doesn’t really do it for me. Someone mentioned it looks like two fish kissing and now that’s all I can see.
This paperback edition, published in November 2011 by Razorbill, has taken a different aspect of the story, rather than featuring the romance. I really like the image of Amy wandering along the corridor of the ship Godspeed all alone. It certainly gives a good sense of the plot.
Published by Razorbill in January 2011, this Kindle edition is my favourite. I really love the image of the ice-crusted hull with a lump that has fallen away. The font is also suitably futuristic and funky, which works really well with the space opera feel of this one. It’s original, beautiful and eye-catching. My one grizzle is that the chatter plonked in the top right shouldn’t be there, but it isn’t a dealbreaker.
This French edition, published by Pocket Jeunesse in September 2014, reverts to featuring the romance in the story. It is a beautiful cover with the two lovers gazing longingly into each others’ eyes with the starscape as a backdrop. However, I really don’t like the twirling font which is at odds with the sci fi setting – while this story does feature a romance, it isn’t the plotline that powers the narrative arc. So I believe the strong romantic feel is slightly misleading for those predominantly seeking a girl-meets-boy story.
This Greek edition, published in November 2011 by Πατάκης is more than a nod in the direction of the first cover. I really like the simplicity of the stylised outlines against the spacescape, but the issue I have with it is that the artwork effectively stops two-thirds down, so that the bottom third is essentially a textbox. This has been cluttered with a rather random logo and the series information with little thought as to how it blends with the rest of the cover design. Which is your favourite?
Brainfluff 