Monday, April 18, 2011

Cover Review: The Ghost and the Goth

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by Tawni at The Book Worms where a beautiful cover is featured each week for all of us to admire. I am going to use my Cover Crazy posts as an opportunity to review a book cover I love or review any cover (even the ones I don't love) from a book I've read. This week's Cover Crazy is for:  

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade


This cover is both misleading and absolutely perfect. The model portraying Alona is perfect. She looks exactly how I picture Alona, from her blond hair and pretty face to her exactly right gym uniform. The transparency and slight glow around Alona are such a good call and makes it clear that she’s the ghost in this story.

Will isn’t quite as perfect for me, but he works well enough. I didn’t really get the vibe that he’s all that “Goth” from his description in the book. He seemed more of a loner than a Goth. The wristband he’s wearing works well enough I guess, but the rest of his outfit is perfect. The hood on his head is an especially good touch. The only thing missing are a pair of ear buds.

It annoys me so much when cover models don’t look anything like the characters, but it is clear that whoever designed this cover was very familiar with the characters. Not only do they look as they should, but their facial expressions and body positions are equally perfect. This isn’t a scene from the book, but it so easily could be. It is so like Alona to flirtatiously drape her legs across Will’s lap and give a snarky knowing smile. Will spends most of the book trying to isolate himself and exasperatedly brush off Alona.

While we’re not really given any indication of the plot with this cover, we also sort of are. None of the events are shown, but it is the hate-turned-love relationship between Will and Alona that really steals the show in the book. It is fitting, then, that the cover focuses on the two of them and captures the essence of their dynamics.

The background and colors give a light, bright feel to the book that is both fitting and a little deceptive. There is an upbeat, light feel throughout the whole book, but it also does deal with weightier issues that are not even hinted at with this cover. Even though there are those issues, the overall feel isn’t heavy, so I think it’s still appropriate for the cover to be airy.

I’m also torn on the title font. I love the contrast between the “Ghost” and the “Goth.” Here again the clashing personalities and relationship between Will and Alona takes center stage, as it should. The only thing I don’t like is that the fonts and colors used are sort of misleading for the characters. The “Ghost” font has an almost angelic feel to it, which is so far from Alona’s personality it’s actually funny. Will’s “Goth” font has a devilish flair that is far more suited to Alona than Will.

I do like the color balance with the red in “Goth” diagonally placed across from Alona’s red gym shorts. It ties the cover together well and balances my eye. That pop of red on her gym shorts might have drawn my eye to her butt, which is a little awkward. Having the red at the top and bottom like this forces my eye to focus on the space between, which is Will and Alona. This is exactly where my eye should be drawn, so the colors are extremely effective.

I loved this book and highly recommend it. You can read more of my thoughts in my The Ghost and the Goth review.


What do you think about this cover?
Do you like it? Dislike it? 
Does it make you want to read the book?

Interested in covers? 
Be sure to check out another Cover Crazy post by Gina from My Precious.
 


Previous Cover Crazy posts:
More of my Cover Crazy posts

20 comments:

  1. I really love this cover, is part of why I picked up the book! I love how it contrasts, and I kind of love the gym uniform even though I used to hate whenever my P.E. teacher made me wear mine (and our shorts were WAY bigger than the ones she's wearing).

    I like how the cover just looks fun.

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  2. I love this cover! it was one reason why I picked it up!

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  3. I really love this cover! It makes it look like a fun book. I haven't read it (but want too). Like you I like it when the cover models look like the characters :)

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  4. LOL I do like your thoughts on this cover. I haven't read the book yet - it's not out here yet but I do have it on order. From what I know of the story (which is actually very little) it seems as it the cover fits well and I do love the look on the girls face.

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  5. I agree that this cover is quite fitting. Actually one of the covers that reflects the plot best. You're right that Will isn't exactly goth, but it does sound good with "ghost" and is a simplistic way to describe his morose, loner character.

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  6. PS. I'm reading Queen of the Dead through Netgalley right now and it's great!

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  7. I haven't read this book yet but now that you pointed out the character details I see this must be a fun book.

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  8. I haven't read this book, but I love the duality of the cover. You can really see that these people are opposites, even in the title typeface. I always love the way she's transparent when I see the cover. It makes it obvious who the ghost is!

    I never was interested in this title, but you made it sound really cute!

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  9. I haven't read this book yet, but I really love this cover. I think they did a really good job making her look like a ghost, with the glow and transparency.

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  10. I haven't read the book, but the cover certainly says 'fun read' to me!

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  11. At first glance, I'm not really swooned by the cover. But after going through your cover detail I get a far deeper understanding of what everything stand for and appreciate it tons more.

    I really like the way they made Alona transparent. It really is perfect for a ghost character. The one element I'm still not appreciating is the the color and font chosen for "Ghost" in the title. Its too fru-fru and really blends into the background. I think maybe faint gray would have been more suitable, maybe?

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  12. Great book review! I'm feeling the love for that book cover, just saying. I might add this novel to my TBR list.

    -Thanks for the review.

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  13. Alex, Ha, yeah, my gym uniform never looked like that! I like how they took the time to know that Alona should be wearing a gym uniform.

    Savannah, Me too! It was just so appealing.

    Nic, It is a fun book, but I was surprised at how many serious themes it also touched on. I thought it handled the serious parts well while still maintaining an overall up-beat feel.

    The Slowest Bookworm, Her facial expression is so perfect. I hope you get a chance to read the book soon! There’s a sequel, but TG&TG stands well on its own so you don’t have to worry about cliffhangers.

    Alison, You’re right, I can’t think of a better word than “Goth” that would go work as well for the title. I read Queen of the Dead and I loved it! I love the bickering/love between Will and Alona in the beginning.

    Vy, It is fun. If you like hate-turned-love relationships then you should definitely give it a read. It’s also a book with substance, which I appreciated.

    A Backwards Story, Oh it’s so cute. I love their relationship. Alona is also a really well developed character. She’s prickly, but I love her. They’re such opposites in the book and I’m so happy to see the cover reflect that.

    Kayla, I agree! I hope you enjoy the book if you get a chance to read it.

    Leanna, It’s a really cute, fun read. It does have weight and it’s balanced really nicely.

    Gina, I like the cover, but I appreciate it a lot more now having read the book. The biggest thing I love is how accurate they were in capturing the characters. I agree with you about the “ghost” title font. Even worse is that it so doesn’t suit Alona at all. She’s sooo not angelic.

    Akasha & Lexus, Thanks! I hope you enjoy the book. :)

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  14. I could not agree more about the earbuds! I thought the exact same thing. I think Alona is perfect too :)

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  15. For me, the red kind of clashes with her shorts. I assume it's because it's kind of faded, but it bugs me. I also think the "ghost" script is not quite right. I wish it was just white or cloudy looking instead of trying to look translucent but not really being so.

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  16. I always sound so cranky in my comments on your CC posts! :P

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  17. Two Readers Reviews, Yes!! Another person who understands the ear buds :)

    Logan, True, the reds aren't quite matching. I really would be zooming right onto her butt every time though without that red font :P The "ghost" is just so wrong. It makes it seem like the ghost is all sweet like an angel and though I'm sure Alona would find that amusing, she would also scoff at the idea of anyone confusing her with "sweet"

    What's the point of cover posts if not to alternatively swoon and ruthlessly pick them apart? :)

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  18. I haven't read this book because the cover seemed kind of cheesy to me. I might have to give it a second look. Thanks for your analysis!

    Reading Lark's Cover Crazy

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  19. does anyone know who the guy is in the cover of this book?? :)

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