a critique site for book lovers, hosted by author Jude Hardin
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The View from Here by Rachel Howzell
What's the genre? What is it you like or don't like about this cover? Does it make you want to know more about the book? Does it make you want to BUY the book? Discuss.
I see this as a psychological novel involving loneliness and possibly mental illness. Large, it's striking, but small, the details get lost -- the hand is shaped like some of the letters and the water drops soften everything.
By the way, the water drops are ... strange. If this were a window or a shower door, we would expect the drops to be sliding *down*. Instead they are all perfectly round, as if we were looking down through a transparent surface, or as if they were some thick sort of oily substance. I don't know if that would trouble other people.
Psychological thriller. Other than the droplet issue (which I'm not sure I'd have noticed right away), this cover is very appealing. The important words of the title are easy to read, and the image of the trapped woman makes me uneasy, makes me want to pick up the book and read it to find out if/how she escapes.
My only problem is with the word in the upper left hand corner. I must be dense this morning because when I first saw it I thought it said: "Glad". I had to stop and blow it up and look at it a moment before I put 2+2 together and realized that it said "help' backwards.
Because it took me too long to put it together, I would suggest another take are writing the word backwards again to make it just a bit more clear.
I'm really enjoying reading your comments! And you're all right - psychological thriller featuring a woman who needs help in many ways, who can't distinguish what's real and what's imagined... And thanks, S.J. for putting the cover up!
I like this cover a lot. It fits the psychological thriller genre well.
Like some of the previous comments, I really thought it said "glad" on the mirror and was really confused about it... my only suggestion would be to revert the writing so it reads "help".
Also, in defense of "help" not "glad" is the fact that it would make sense to me that a person writing help on a glass would write it in a way (reversed from her perspective, correct from ours) so that the people who are on the outside would be able to read it and hopefully come to her aid.
Gisele, yes! My husband (who designed the cover) and I initially had 'help' but then realized, if she's inside and we're looking from the outside, it would be reverted. And the character is mentally addled at this point, so having the mental wherewithal to write it that way would be impossible -- hell, it would take great effort for me to do it sober.:) And we also wanted 'subtle' - the vanishing help, the lack of specific identity for the woman, the wedding band... If you ever read the book, and I hope you will, I think you'll say, "Oh... yeah..."
I see this as a psychological novel involving loneliness and possibly mental illness. Large, it's striking, but small, the details get lost -- the hand is shaped like some of the letters and the water drops soften everything.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the water drops are ... strange. If this were a window or a shower door, we would expect the drops to be sliding *down*. Instead they are all perfectly round, as if we were looking down through a transparent surface, or as if they were some thick sort of oily substance. I don't know if that would trouble other people.
Psychological thriller. Other than the droplet issue (which I'm not sure I'd have noticed right away), this cover is very appealing. The important words of the title are easy to read, and the image of the trapped woman makes me uneasy, makes me want to pick up the book and read it to find out if/how she escapes.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought is psychological thriller novel.
ReplyDeleteMy only problem is with the word in the upper left hand corner. I must be dense this morning because when I first saw it I thought it said:
"Glad". I had to stop and blow it up and look at it a moment before I put 2+2 together and realized that it said "help' backwards.
Because it took me too long to put it together, I would suggest another take are writing the word backwards again to make it just a bit more clear.
I'm really enjoying reading your comments! And you're all right - psychological thriller featuring a woman who needs help in many ways, who can't distinguish what's real and what's imagined... And thanks, S.J. for putting the cover up!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the image! But you need a single-color backing for your text so it shows up. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I completely missed the backwards "help."
Very nice cover, Rachel! Thanks for sharing it with us. Hope it helps you sell lots of books!
ReplyDeleteI like this cover a lot. It fits the psychological thriller genre well.
ReplyDeleteLike some of the previous comments, I really thought it said "glad" on the mirror and was really confused about it... my only suggestion would be to revert the writing so it reads "help".
Also, in defense of "help" not "glad" is the fact that it would make sense to me that a person writing help on a glass would write it in a way (reversed from her perspective, correct from ours) so that the people who are on the outside would be able to read it and hopefully come to her aid.
Otherwise, this cover gets two thumbs up.
Gisele, yes! My husband (who designed the cover) and I initially had 'help' but then realized, if she's inside and we're looking from the outside, it would be reverted. And the character is mentally addled at this point, so having the mental wherewithal to write it that way would be impossible -- hell, it would take great effort for me to do it sober.:) And we also wanted 'subtle' - the vanishing help, the lack of specific identity for the woman, the wedding band... If you ever read the book, and I hope you will, I think you'll say, "Oh... yeah..."
ReplyDeleteWow - this is a really nice cover! Dark and forboding.
ReplyDeleteI got that it was "help" backwards almost immediately, so neener neener. ;-)
Good luck with it.