Cover Characteristic (2) Fully Underwater

Posted July 15, 2012 in BOOKS, Uncategorized / 2 Comments

Today I’m joining in with the Cover Characteristic meme hosted by Sugar and Snark. Every week the author chooses a theme and you have to pick five of your favourite book covers featuring that object.

Today’s cover characteristic is fully underwater. It’s a popular theme for covers in YA and there were so many to choose from, but here are my five favourites: 

This melancholy cover hints at the darkness and sadness within, yet there’s something beautiful about it. I also love the font. The novel has been on my wishlist for a while now and I think it was the mysterious cover that first drew me in.

I like that the model on this cover seems to be almost walking in the water rather tha struggling or drowning-it’s like she’s levitating just above the ocean floor which gives it a real dreamlike quality that fits the subject matter. The floaty dress is beautiful and hints at the character’s fragility-it’s as if she has been sleepwalking underwater in her nightdress.

This novel is clearly about death and the cover is reminiscent of Sir John Everett Millais’s painting of the drowned Ophelia. I like the faded, antique style of the image-it’s very creepy.

This one is so clean and fresh and really jumps out at you. I love the bright blue of the water and the position of the model as a turbulent figure in the midst of a still and clear background.  The perspective achieved by digital manipulation is strange and unsettling, much like the cover of Hourglass. It immediately suggests a novel about things that aren’t what they seem and ideas being turned on their head. As in the boundless deep, the white dress hints at the character’s fragility and innocence as well as giving a ghostly effect and the red ribbon stands out as a symbol of violence or chaos.

I love the colours of this cover, and although it’s another drowning girl, this one seems to have a different mood to it. On most of the other covers the girls are floating quite serenely as if they have accepted their fate. The first three look like they may have even sunk beneath the water on purpose-lost in the depths of sadness and despair. The position of the model on this cover, though, and the bubbles rising upwards, suggest she’s plunging through the water quickly-that maybe she’s been pushed in. Her arms are reaching upwards as if she’s making some effort to save herself.  That might indicate that it’s more of a fast-paced, action-filled novel than a melancholy and reflective one.

I think my favourite cover out of the above is Imaginary Girls because it’s just so odd. What do you think?

What do you think? Which is your favourite cover and why?
If you want to have a go just pop on over to the blog and sign up with the linky.

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2 responses to “Cover Characteristic (2) Fully Underwater

  1. I love the Imaginary Girls cover as well. I've wanted to read it for quite some time but didn't have quite enough money for a hard copy. It just came out in paperback but the cover is different. -sigh-

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