Hi, I’m Stellar, and welcome to Stellar in Neverland! I’m very excited, because today we have a very special guest...my friend Nike! Nike has been one of my best friends for quite a while now. We have a lot of similar interests, like reading and writing, and we share many of the same views on various topics. We also wrote on the Brick Wall Blog together back in middle school, but I’m not going to reveal which pen name was hers. It’s a pleasure to have her back on Blogger, if only for one single post. (Also: the name Nike is obviously another pen name, and it’s a reference to an old nickname she had in middle school. Although it would be pretty cool if her real birth name was Nike…)
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| Nike let me add her Bitmoji because, like, half of my Snapchat buddies have almost identical-looking ones so you really can't tell what she looks like based off of it. |
Today we’re going to talk about some of our favorite book covers, because we both have loved books for our entire lives. The idea for this post came when we had a conversation at school about book covers we liked and disliked. I had wanted to collab with Nike on here for a while, and when she finally had time, I knew this was the perfect topic. They say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, and while the metaphorical meaning of that expression is true, we do have to admit: a great, eye-catching cover can make all the difference in whether we decide to read a book or not. We like all of the books we chose for this list as stories, but we might not have read them if their covers weren’t as awesome as they are. Each of us will pick five covers, and warning: we have pretty different tastes in art, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Even if you disagree with our picks, we hope you find what we have to say interesting.
Nike’s First Pick: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone is Leigh Bardugo’s first novel and the beginning of the Grisha Trilogy. This is one of my favorite series and my favorite cover from the series. Everything on the cover (including the title, unlike the other books in trilogy) is fitting for the actual contents of the novel. Both shadows and bones are incredibly relevant to the plot of the novel, and the building in Russian architecture is reminiscent of Ravkan architecture. What’s most beautiful about this cover is how discreet both the shadows and the bones, or antlers, are. At first glance, it’s just a fancy design, but the almost whimsical curves are more than they may seem.
Stellar’s First Pick: The Elite by Kiera Cass
My first pick is the second book in Kiera Cass’s The Selection series, The Elite. Not only is the series one of my all-time favorites, but all of the covers are gorgeous as well. They all look very similar, featuring beautiful girls wearing beautiful gowns in various shades, so I struggled to choose just one cover. But in the end, I chose The Elite because I just love that red color. It stands out from the rest of the covers, and the gown the girl (who is supposed to resemble America, the protagonist of the series) is wearing is magnificent.
Nike’s Second Pick: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
The cover for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has always been my favorite. The color scheme of the greens and golds and black are wonderfully complementary of each other. I just noticed recently that the three people behind Harry are the other three wizards in the Tri-Wizard tournament, although I have no idea who I used to think they were. The dragon tail, golden egg, and greenery give a thinly veiled and aesthetically pleasing hint toward the plot, which I really enjoy.
Stellar’s Second Pick: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Everything Everything is the debut novel by Nicola Yoon, and it was made into a movie recently. I haven’t seen the movie, but I adore the book and its cover. The cover on this thing is truly a work of art. I like how the top half is minimalist, but it’s contrasted with the insanely detailed bottom half. I love how the things on the bottom half do have prominent roles in the book (such as the airplane and sea creatures) and don’t just serve as eye candy. You notice something different every time you look at the bottom half, and I also find the bright colors really eye-catching. It’s just a gorgeous, intricate cover.
Nike’s Third Pick: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
This is the British version of the cover for Heir of Fire, which I prefer over the American version. The color scheme of the greens, blues, and blue-greens are more fitting for the whites and grays of Celana and her armor. The white combined with Celana’s greens is more fitting for the themes of this installment in Celana’s story. They highlight the themes of rebirth so prevalent throughout the novel. Not to mention, the artist wonderfully captures two different sides of Celana in their incredible art style.
Stellar’s Third Pick: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
This one is different from the other covers on my list. The other covers are bright, vibrant, and mostly minimalist, but this one is the opposite. The Percy Jackson series will always be a favorite of mine, and even though the official artwork for the characters is pretty bad...
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| Jesus Christ, why does Nico di Angelo look so derpy? |
...the covers of the books are really cool. I chose The Last Olympian because I just love how dark and intimidating it looks. The silhouette of Percy holding his sword and riding his pegasus Blackjack in front of the Empire State Building is something that instantly sticks in the brain because of how epic and menacing it looks. I also like the color scheme, which is fitting considering the actual book is pretty dark. Plus, the book itself happens to be my favorite in the series.
Nike’s Fourth Pick: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
The most aesthetically pleasing part of the cover for Crooked Kingdom is how seamlessly the feathers of the crow and the edges of the buildings fit together. My personal favorite part of the cover is how the very bottom building is not-so-discreetly a crown, a perfect fit for the characters who rule the city of Ketterdam. The red splatters of blood are also a nice touch.
Stellar’s Fourth Pick: Paper Towns by John Green
John Green is my favorite author, and while I like most of his books’ covers, Paper Towns is the only one I really love. There are quite a few different covers you can find of this book, but the one above is the one I’m talking about. It’s so simple and minimal, but it really captures the essence of the book. It features a pushpin on a map, which is a nod to the themes of exploration and road-tripping in the story. I also feel like it’s sort of quirky in a way, and pretty much every Green book has its quirks. I don’t really know how to describe why I like it so much, but I think it’s a cool cover.
Nike’s Fifth Pick: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
This cover is so splendidly beautiful, what with the blues and blacks to fit with a winter theme. The Raven King cover is tastefully crafted with its fine brush strokes. I was so amazed the first time I ever saw this cover that I gasped. The blue aura to the deer and the ravens in the background capture the utter magic of this novel and this series. Aside from the great art, the format of author name and the title of the book are unlike any I’ve ever seen, but I prefer this format, what with the title in the corner, over the traditional spanning across the bottom.
Stellar’s Fifth Pick: Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, and Isla and the Happily Ever After, all by Stephanie Perkins
I know I’m cheating by picking three covers for one spot, but they’re all in the same series and I couldn’t decide which one I liked more so I decided “Screw it, I’ll put them ALL on!” Both of us LOVE this series wholeheartedly (although we both agree that Isla was the weakest of the bunch), and we both happen to really like these covers. (Side note, the original covers are way worse.)
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| Anna's looks like an ad for a cheesy dating website, and Lola's face on her cover is terrifying. |
The covers I chose all match the books by having faded pictures of each city the books take place in (Paris, San Francisco, and New York, respectively), and they have my three favorite colors on them. These covers are simple, but they’re basically my personal aesthetic and if I ever write a book, I’m getting the person who designed them to make the cover.
That’s all we have for now! What’s your favorite book cover? Don’t be afraid to comment it below. Next week, it’s just me, Stellar, and I’m going to do something different. Not necessarily the topic, but the format and theme are unlike anything I’ve ever done on here. I’d like to thank Nike for kindly featuring on here, as well as you, the reader, for reading! I’m Stellar in Neverland, and I’ll see you next Wednesday. Peace!
Stellar
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