BBC #2: Splash of Color

I’m back with another edition of BBC, a new meme I started where I feature books with beautiful covers. Along with reading books, I admire the covers and sometimes determine what to buy or read next by how much I like the cover. There are many things that draw my attention to a cover, but for this post, I’ll focus on color, or more specifically,

splashes of color

On the covers below are blotches, splotches, drips, and dribbles of color that give the illusion of paint: as if the designer intentionally or carelessly threw the colors on the cover while puzzling out what the design should be.

The first featured cover is:

The Impossible Fairy Tale by Han Yujoo

Cover art by Kapo Ng

The Impossible Fairy Tale is the first novel by Korean author Han Yujoo to be translated into English. (It was translated by Janet Hong.) I haven’t read the novel, but the Goodreads summary and related reviews describe it as an “eerie, unpredictable” novel about two 12-year-old girls, one who’s “lucky” and another who’s seemingly unremarkable and only referred to as the Child, whose lives are intertwined.

The eye-catching cover designed by Kapo Ng caught my attention and convinced me to lead this post with it. I love the riot of colors spreading across the cover. It makes me think of an artist’s palette, or rather, the splatter of color that would fall on the floor and desks of my art classes back in school. The blots of colors here are so captivating that I almost miss the hidden images in them, which makes me want to continue staring at the cover to see what else I’ll find.

Firebird series:

A Thousand Pieces of You

Ten Thousand Skies Above You

A Million Worlds With You

by Claudia Gray

Covers art by Craig Shields

A young-adult science-fiction series about a girl who chases his father’s killer through multiple dimensions.

I’ve considered reading this series because of its breathtaking covers. Designed by Craig Shields, the covers are often referred to as a “work of art,” which fits the story because the protagonist is a painter. I like the covers because of the watercolor effect, seen in how the bright blots fade into the white background at its edges, and because we see glimpses of cities in the color blots.

According to this interview with the lead designer, Alison Klapthor, including cities in the blots was intentional because the author wanted there to be “a visual juxtaposition of the worlds and different times in history” that the protagonist travels to. I’ve never seen these covers in real life, so I did not know that the cover is also textured to resemble watercolor paper. I learned that from the interview and began to notice it in the covers thereafter.

What’s a Soulmate? by Lindsey Ouimet

Cover art by Jay Aheer

A young-adult romance novel about a smart girl who falls in love with a “bad” boy — he’s in a juvenile detention facility.

This isn’t my sort of story, so I wouldn’t read it; but I sure love the cover, so I’ll admire that. Similar to the Firebird series covers above, What’s a Soulmate cover resembles a painting. But, while the Firebird series covers are watercolor, this strikes me more as acrylic that has dried some.

I love all the little effects in this cover, like the contrast of colors, which make me wonder why the guy’s part is in color and the girl’s is dark and gray; the flow of the colors in the guy’s part, which seem as much affected by the wind as the guy’s scarf; the illusion of a light source under the title; and the splotches and dried drips of color.

Cold Summer by Gwen Cole

Cover art by Sammy Yuen

A young-adult science-fiction novel about a high-school dropout named Kale Jackson who is unable to control his time-traveling ability, which shunts him to World War II, where he is a sharpshooter. Because of this experience, Kale suffers from PTSD in the present, which strains his relationship with his friends, family, and the “ex-girl-next-door” he likes.

I haven’t read this, in case you’re wondering. Unfortunately, this resolution of the cover isn’t as great as I’d like, but you can see that it is lovely in its simplicity. There isn’t much in this cover, but it catches my attention nonetheless. Though the colors are a bit muted (I wonder if it looks the same in real life), they are what interests the customer/viewer and helps to contrast the two figures, which seem to be a girl and a boy.

I like how the colors blend into each other and drain into the white of the background. This too makes me think of watercolor, though the first time I saw the cover I thought of pastels because of the gritty texture in parts of it.

Coffee Boy by Austin Chant

Cover art by Natasha Snow

A romance novel about an out, trans man named Kieran who’s interning on a political campaign, where he’s privy to the drama of the “humorless campaign strategist,” Seth, who has a crush on their straight boss. “But when Seth proves to be as respectful and supportive as he is prickly, Kieran develops an awkward crush of his own — one which Seth is far too prim and proper to ever reciprocate.”

Here’s another simple cover that I like. I haven’t read the book, so I do not know how well the title matches the story, but I like that the cover matches the “coffee” in the title. To me, the texture of the cover makes me think of a slightly rumpled napkin and the splotch of color is the spill of a drink. It makes me think of Starbucks.

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That’s it for BBC #2.

I hope you found here new books with great covers to go read. 🙂

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