a critique site for book lovers, hosted by author Jude Hardin
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Revenge is Sweet by Misty Evans
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.
This is a fairly good cover Well laid out and easy to read. My only complaint is the small text just above the title, which is perfect for a printed book but unreadable for a e-book thumbnail.
A castle and a cloak in an urban fantasy? That's kind of weird, but all right. The woman looks wrong. Is it physically possible to stand in that position? And that skirt looks like it exposes more than one might want exposed except on porn. What is that she is supposed to be holding? A glowy whip? Yikes.
@J.R., I am with you. That woman is just... wrong. Her left leg just couldn't be where it's placed. She has zero butt. And the skirt is wrong too. The lighting on her hair is funky and again with the 2-dimensional look against the background as we had in the cover reviewed just below this one.
If not for the modern outfit and the model as a photo, I'd be more tempted to say the genre was straight fantasy. I also agree that the is some puzzlement here between the cloak, castle, dirk, and modern/urban fantasy.
Typefaces are easy to read, though the author name in dark red is a little difficult for monitor reading. Like the dirk in the shape of the I. Clever touch. Color scheme is overall good. But please let's fix this woman's horrible mutilation.
Like the cover, the colors are great, but I have the same sentiments as J.R. - a castle and a cloak in urban fantasy? My first thought was a fantasy/horror mix.
Maybe it's the foreboding look of the castle that makes me think of horror? (Although there are those in fantasy too.)
I like the cover's composition, it works well, and the colors are great. Good choice in font, too. However, the girl is a paste-up job. Her cloak looks added on to a different body -- notice how oddly long the torso is in proportion to the rest of her -- and the hair and head look added on after that. Kind of Frankensteined, which is a common method for Photoshop artists. Unfortunately, the proportions are out of kilter. Fix her and you'll have a dynamite cover.
The colour scheme is eye-catching, especially the blonde and red against the grey background.
However, the woman's stick-insect arm and legs are painful to see. I can't bear looking at it. Maybe it's a story about a girl who survived starvation, or about an anorexic, but the hair is that of someone healthy. Maybe she's a cancer survivor and wearing a wig, or there's been a religious miracle which restored her hair but not her muscle tone.
I find this unnatural thinness deeply disturbing. I wouldn't want to read this book.
The slogan is illegible at thumbnail size, and even when I blow it up to bigger size, I can't read it. So it might as well not be there. The cover would probably look better without it anyway, less cluttered.
But then, I'm not a customer for this kind of book anyway, because the starvation-crippled body puts me off, so feel free to ignore my comment.
It looks like the castle is against a city skyline, but it does not read well and I don't know why this should be so or why I should care. Also the woman does not seem at all menacing - it's more like she's posing. (Maybe for a Breck ad.) And I don't want to see the word "sweet" three times. I get it and all, but you're working the meme too hard - and not effectively.
Genre: Paranormal action.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fairly good cover Well laid out and easy to read. My only complaint is the small text just above the title, which is perfect for a printed book but unreadable for a e-book thumbnail.
A castle and a cloak in an urban fantasy? That's kind of weird, but all right. The woman looks wrong. Is it physically possible to stand in that position? And that skirt looks like it exposes more than one might want exposed except on porn. What is that she is supposed to be holding? A glowy whip? Yikes.
ReplyDelete@J.R., I am with you. That woman is just... wrong. Her left leg just couldn't be where it's placed. She has zero butt. And the skirt is wrong too. The lighting on her hair is funky and again with the 2-dimensional look against the background as we had in the cover reviewed just below this one.
ReplyDeleteIf not for the modern outfit and the model as a photo, I'd be more tempted to say the genre was straight fantasy. I also agree that the is some puzzlement here between the cloak, castle, dirk, and modern/urban fantasy.
Typefaces are easy to read, though the author name in dark red is a little difficult for monitor reading. Like the dirk in the shape of the I. Clever touch. Color scheme is overall good. But please let's fix this woman's horrible mutilation.
Like the cover, the colors are great, but I have the same sentiments as J.R. - a castle and a cloak in urban fantasy? My first thought was a fantasy/horror mix.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's the foreboding look of the castle that makes me think of horror? (Although there are those in fantasy too.)
I like the cover's composition, it works well, and the colors are great. Good choice in font, too. However, the girl is a paste-up job. Her cloak looks added on to a different body -- notice how oddly long the torso is in proportion to the rest of her -- and the hair and head look added on after that. Kind of Frankensteined, which is a common method for Photoshop artists. Unfortunately, the proportions are out of kilter. Fix her and you'll have a dynamite cover.
ReplyDeleteThe colour scheme is eye-catching, especially the blonde and red against the grey background.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the woman's stick-insect arm and legs are painful to see. I can't bear looking at it. Maybe it's a story about a girl who survived starvation, or about an anorexic, but the hair is that of someone healthy. Maybe she's a cancer survivor and wearing a wig, or there's been a religious miracle which restored her hair but not her muscle tone.
I find this unnatural thinness deeply disturbing. I wouldn't want to read this book.
The slogan is illegible at thumbnail size, and even when I blow it up to bigger size, I can't read it. So it might as well not be there. The cover would probably look better without it anyway, less cluttered.
But then, I'm not a customer for this kind of book anyway, because the starvation-crippled body puts me off, so feel free to ignore my comment.
It looks like the castle is against a city skyline, but it does not read well and I don't know why this should be so or why I should care. Also the woman does not seem at all menacing - it's more like she's posing. (Maybe for a Breck ad.) And I don't want to see the word "sweet" three times. I get it and all, but you're working the meme too hard - and not effectively.
ReplyDelete