Friday Faceoff – Don’t dress to kill, dress to survive… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceoffbigdressescovers

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 being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring covers with BIG DRESSES. I’ve selected These Broken Stars – Book 1 of the Starbound series by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

 

This edition was produced by Disney Hyperion in December 2013. It’s a gorgeous cover and has become, quite rightly in my opinion, the default cover for this book. That dress is just beautiful – the colour sublime and wonderfully sets off her titian hair. I love the richness and sheer volume of those skirts and the way her hair also moves as she stretches up to him. And there are stars… *sighs with pleasure*. The problem with this cover is that the title font just disappears, being far too slight to prevail against the action and colour of the cover.

 

Published in May 2016 by Carlsen, this German cover is not a bad effort. The two faces both looking out at us are eye-catching and again, the starscape appearing through the main image is effective and gives us a real clue as to the genre. However, while I like the attractive style of the font – it’s the wrong colour, being far too close to the skin tones of the faces behind it, so it essentially disappears when in thumbnail.

 

This Portuguese edition, published by Editora Planeta in December 2015, is featuring the romance far more heavily, while also giving us a taste of the alien planet below. Split image covers like this can work as long as the divide is effective, which I think it is in this case. I think while the font works for a romance, it isn’t so successful if you take into account the sci fi element. However, the problem for me is that the kissing couple is not something that would induce me to pick up the book.

 

This French edition, produced by La Martinière Jeunesse in December 2013, is more heavily leaning towards the sci fi element – you won’t be surprised to learn that this was a very close contender for me. I like the tension evident on the protagonists’ faces and the punchy font, as well as the clearly alien nature of the landscape featured across the top half of this cover.

 

This paperback edition, published by Allen & Unwin in December 2013 is my favourite. It is essentially the top cover, with all the lushness and loveliness AND you can read the book’s name, which has to be a bonus😊. Which is your favourite?