Inspired by Pure Imagination Blog and Stacked.
Let’s be honest, nobody follows the age-old cliché that tells us not to judge a book by its covers. If you say you do, I am side-eying you. Book covers are the first thing that attracts any of us readers to a book. Before you pick up a book, the cover can essentially make or break a book. If I don’t like a cover design, I won’t pick it up. Lucky for us, publishing companies publish different cover designs, especially when a paperback book comes out. Sometimes we like it, sometimes we don’t. Let’s discuss these cover changes, shall we?
Today, we look at the cover of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi!
I am a bit creeped out by both covers (in sort of a bad and a good way). Hands and eye. Keep that in mind. ;D
Covers of girls in dresses make me yawn, and Shatter Me is one of them. I do like covers with girls in dresses, but only if the dress is gorgeous. Unfortunately, the white dress on this cover is not because of the weird puffs at her hips. Is the dress designed to have puffs? Or is she holding the front of her dress up??? I am mildly creeped out that you can’t see her hands. WHERE ARE HER HANDS?? I keep entertaining the thought that the puffs are pom poms (but obviously, cheerleaders aren’t a thing in this book).
I do like the background. It looks like a million broken pieces of a mirror shooting at her. It’s kind of awesome. I also like that the title is shattered (pun totally intended). It’s almost like a strike across the words (similar to the tagline at the top).
Now, the paperback cover of Shatter Me intrigues me. Eyes are generally creepy and awesome if it’s created beautifully. And guess what, the eye on this cover is insanely gorgeous. (I’m secretly glad that the eye isn’t staring straight at me because hello, nightmares!) I love the way that the eyelashes are shaped into tree branches. It’s quite eerie and pretty. And that waterfall coming from her eye, ahhhh. Beautttiiffuuulllll. I love it when you can see a reflection in the eyes. Here, you can see a bird here. (I don’t quite know the significance of it since I never finished the book, but it should be important, right?) I just really appreciate the detail that the designer put into the eye.
Which cover design do you prefer? Is there anything you would change in it?
I read the book with the first cover, but I like the 2nd cover better
I feel like the second cover is more attractive, but I’m skeptical about it’s relevance to the book.
Thought provoking post! :)
I never cared for the first cover, but the second cover has always struck me as being absolutely gorgeous. It’s also just riddled with symbolism from the book, which I appreciate.
I have the hardcover and honestly I’m not sure what intrigued me to pick it up to begin with because the cover really doesn’t stand out (this was before I was part of this community so was going in blind at Barnes and Noble). I think the PB cover fits the book better and I like how all the books have the creepy eye. Sometimes the floating eye sort of freaks me out but overall I love the covers–those colors are so beautiful. I do agree that the fragmented glass look on the HC is beautiful. Great post!
I actually like the new cover designs! They’re really pretty and the eyes demonstrate some of the symbols in the books (like the birds on the 2nd cover I believe). I totally agree about the good type of creepiness in both covers, something about these covers just chill me! Awesome post! :)
Even though the paperback isn’t a favorite cover of mine, I do prefer it over the hardback cover. Like you said, the hardback cover is really boring and the dress is really weird! To be honest, I think this cover already would have been miles better if they just had her wear a normal/pretty dress or normal clothes.
The paperback cover is better looking, but still creepy. I mean, I love the look of it but it’s a giant floating eye and that is creeping me out. I never really noticed the bird reflecting in her eye! It has a significance in the book, so I like that it is incorporated this way.
I also have the first one, but then the second version is what I have for Unravel Me. They look disgusting beside each other lol! I wish I got matching books.
I also love the title for the first one, but the orange author’s name is really bugging me since it looks really out of place with a thin font and bright color. The tagline/subtitle is alright, but I don’t like that the white text has a drop shadow and the black text doesn’t.
Aside from the kind of awkward text placement (because “shatter” is long and “me” is short–I’m just nitpicky like that lol), I love the second cover. The trees as eyelashes were very creative and the background colors complement the eye and the text. The subtitle has more consistency in this one as well.
Her lack of hands is reeeeeally creepy! And her hips look about ten foot wide thanks to those puffs, haha. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of either cover. The first is just a generic girl-in-
pretty-dress cover, and the second is just…weird. Like, what is going on with her eye? Some form of conjunctivitis?I definitely prefer the paperback cover! It’s much more striking and symbolic than the original cover :)
I prefer the paperback cover because it is pretty and eye catching. =)
I read the first one and remember really liking it but don’t really remember plot details so I don’t understand the symbolism in the paperback cover. lol I don’t really like either but if I had to choose I would choose the paperback version. Like you said it’s eerie and I like all the detail.
I was first introduced to the series with the original cover, so when there was a change, I was thrown a bit off guard. Now, I think the redesign is GORGEOUS and Harper has done amazing things with the concept. The covers almost tell a story themselves, which I think just enhances the series even more.
I like both covers but prefer the one with the eye on it. Like many others, I’m kind of over the girls in dresses. On the hardback cover the girl is probably hiding her hands behind her back because the main character has a lethal touch. The bird in the eye is most likely representing the bird Juliette dreams of in this book.
I definitely prefer the new ones, and they actually have significance, the details and the important things for instance: Unravel Me has her eyelashes frozen this is because she feels trapped and frozen, and with Ignite Me her eyelashes are blossoming just like she is
Is there a difference in text in the different cover?