Many Covers Monday - The Jewel

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

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I usually kick off with the US and UK covers, but today I'm starting with the US and German covers because they're identical but the German for me is so much nicer. The main character's name is Violet and that colour is made a big thing of through the book, so aside from being nicer to look at, the German cover just makes more sense to me.

The UK cover is so eye catching but I do have to pick holes in the dress - it was stated in the book that the dress was quite simple and a lighter violet cover, so the Romanan cover on the right gets much closer to the description. It's just a shame that the cover is so dark.

I really don't enjoy the Persian or Russian covers. The Persian giant woman is utterly bizarre and brings back memories of Attack On Titan, plus she looks more like the description of Violet's friend, Raven. The Russian cover is just a badly photoshopped mess that I don't fully understand and the ballroom scene makes little sense to the book.

Many Covers Monday - The Forest Of Hands And Teeth

It has been SO LONG since I last did a Many Covers Monday so I'll explain how it works - typically every Monday I'll pick a book and showcase all the different International covers of it. I love seeing different countries interpretations of each book. Today we're going for a zombie novel about a girl who lives in a village in a huge forest, so expect many covers of girls looking staring longingly, surrounded by trees.

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In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

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If I'm correct these are the three US covers, in order of release. Which starts off the theme of this post, MARY'S HAIR IS BLOODY BLACK. It's stated in the book.

Anyway, I love the third cover.

 UK/Czech/Dutch

*stares at the flaming red hair* Yeah ok. The UK cover is unusual which I do like but I don't get what the red thing is actually supposed to be. Dutch.... ehhh. Women running around in impractical dresses is a tad overdone.

Bonus: de klauwen van het woud google translates to "the claws of the forest"

French/German/Greek

The first cover is pretty good - it has the fence and the staring girl is creepy. The second... MARY'S HAIR IS BLACK. Again with the big dress. The font is nice though! The Greek cover freaks me out because there looks like there's no noise and the mouth placement looks weird... it's an awful cover.

Bonus: la forêt des damnés google translates to "the forest of the damned" and wald der tausend augen to "forest of a thousand eyes"

Hungarian/Italian/Polish

HAIR. My biggest issue with the second cover (aside from the hair) is how much it doesn't look like a scary, post apocalyptic zombie novel. I like the contrast with the forest on one side and ocean on the other, with the third.

Bonus: La foresta degli amori perduti Google translates to "the forest of lost loves", which makes the cover even more confusing.

Russian/Spanish x2 

The Russian cover straight up looks like she's holding a baby. The first Spanish cover looks like she was wearing something else and someone used Microsoft paint to cover that up. It's weird. Despite not being fully black hair, I think the last Spanish cover killed it, it's really good.

Bonus: Buscaré el Océano Google translates to "I will search the ocean". I don't know what she's searching the ocean for. Searching FOR the ocean, yes.

Swedish/Vietnamese

A tree and someone praying. I love the cover scheme but I think the second cover makes the story look a lot more religious than it is.

Bonus: De vassa tändernas skog Google translates to "the sharp teeth forest" and Rừng Răng - Tay to "tooth - hand forest"

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Do you have a favourite cover? Let me know in the comments!

Many Covers Monday: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power. Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart. 

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US/Bulgarian
The US cover is the main cover used around the world and I love it's simplicity. Sometimes you can use too much on a cover, especially fantasy. This tells enough of the story without overwhelming me. I also like the simplicity of the Bulgarian cover but I do find myself squinting at the text, it's too bright.

  

Finnish/German

The finnish cover is nice and simple but the placement of the author name almost makes it look like a title. I'm not a fan of covers that I could recreate quickly, I like there to be some effort made. The German over is pretty cool but I'm getting historical vibes rather than fantasy - it also looks like an Evanescence album cover.

   

Hebrew/Russian/Ukrainian
 I'm getting Paranormal Fantasy from the Hebrew cover, it's a good cover but a little misleading. Also possibly spoilery? I haven't read the books yet and don't remember the lightning hands thing in the blurb. Russia is just... teenage medieval girl fights Dracula also bats. The Ukraining cover is my favourite of the three, I've started at it a lot while making this post and I'm just now seeing what's above her head - are those cameras or guns? I think cameras but that's seriously creepy. I love it.

Many Covers Monday: All The Bright Places

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. 

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death. 

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

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US/Chinese/Croatian 

The US cover is also used to for UK cover and I have the special edition of this, that's purple instead of blue. I love books that look textured like this. The Chinese one is okay, I have noticed that while the US covers have become an art form, other countries don't care quite so much and their covers are... a bit bland in comparison. Out of these three I think I like Croatia's the most, I love the weathered paper texture in the background and I feel like I could almost peel the sticky notes right off of the cover if I wanted to.

     

Estonian/Finnish/German

I don't often see Estonian or Scandinavian covers around, so this is a rare treat for me. I'm in love with the bold colours of the Estonian cover but I'm a bit underwhelmed by the Finnish cover.. it kinda looks like something I might use for my phone background. Thanks to the wonders of the German language, their cover almost becomes a bit ominous - "ALL DIE"

     

 Greek/Icelandic/Indonesian

I reeeeeally don't like the Greek cover, it creeps me out to be honest. From a distance it's not particularly eye catching either. The Icelandic cover feels familiar, I guess the concept has been used before. I really love the Indonesian cover though, it reminds me of those art pieces with all the blocks plus it looks really textured!

     

Italian/Persian/Polish

 I really like the Italian version and matching the text with her coat is a great idea. I'm not sure about the Persian cover, the art is okay but drab and the big red and yellow banners at the bottom are awful. I don't care for the last one, it's too forgettable.

     

Portuguese x2, Russian
Yessss, more post it note textured goodness.This is one of my favourite covers and I like the second Portuguese cover too (totally saying WHEEEEE in my head as well). I immediately recognised the last cover as Russian without being told as they really have a thing for badly photoshopped cover models. I think I've seen the guy on another cover but I'm not certain.

     

 Serbian/Spanish/Swedish
The Serbian cover is eh okay, reminds me of a school textbook. Looks quite childish too. I know I've seen a popular book that looks like the cover of the Spanish edition but I can't quite place it. I love the raised paper look of the Swedish edition but it just look a little... self pubbed.

  

Thai/Vietnamese

The Thai cover is so nice, its hard to use bright bold colours without making it look like a children's book so I think they did really well there. I love the Vietnamese cover too, the text is just a little hard to read? Maybe I'd read it easily if it was English.

Which cover is your favourite? Let me know in the comments!