Five Favorite Book Covers

I'm tired of just writing endless reviews, so I'm changing up the game a little bit today. I'm going to pick five book covers I adore - maybe not my top five ever, because I dunno if I could pick that - and list them here with a little description of why I like them, because why not?

So:

photo cred here, since someone took the time to stitch them together

What kind of list would this be if I didn't include the Harry Potter books? I'm specifically including the original US covers, because they're my covers. All of these new redesigns are just not acceptable. (Well, I do like how the spines make Hogwarts on the new ones. But I like the actual front cover images from the original covers best.)

I think I love these covers out of the nostalgia aspect more than anything else, but the artwork is still fabulous and there are elements of continuity that I like - same font, Harry doing something dangerous and stupid on most of them. Whoever realized that this series should not be recovered midway through is a genius and deserves a medal, by the way. I hate when series get redesigned midway through, keeping my covers from matching.

This cover of Les Mis also earns a spot on my list. Again, it's the cover of my edition, so there's some bias, but I like how it's got some color on it, and not the colors of the French flag. There's also no sad little Cosette from the musical's poster, so it's two for two on the creativity front.

I also like how the candlestick on the front can be representative of so much of the story. Valjean stealing the bishop's candlesticks, the fact that much of the story seems to take place in the dark, the smoke wafting that looks like it could also be the souls of the dead. Seriously, good work, cover designer.

Photo cred here

To the surprise of no one, I'm including the covers of Stephanie Perkins' novels here. I deliberately chose the recovers, too, because as you'll well know if you've read my reviews of Anna and Lola, I hated the originals with a burning passion. They looked cheap and childish, but these ones feel more dynamic and correct for the actual ages of the characters/intended audience.

I also love how each girl has a little symbol to go with her name - Anna and a heart, Lola and a star, and Isla and a rose. I understand how the symbols go with Anna and Lola, and I'm so excited to find out how Isla's works with her story and personality. Wasn't she or Josh mentioned doodling roses like that in Anna's book, too?

It's an ammo band made out of tubes of lipstick. How could I not like this cover, you guys?

I also like how this cover really fits the story. The characters are all pageant contestants, a lot of whom are blonde, but they have to figure out how to use their beauty-queen traits as weapons, making the ammo band (I know there's a real word for that) relevant as well. The cover girl even looks a little haggard, at least to me, which is also pretty true to form. Someone did a really good job creating this.

Photo credit ME! I saw no stitched ones online.

Rounding out the list with the TLOS covers, but I could easily add more. Maybe in the future?

Anyways, I legitimately love these covers, even without the Chris Colfer factor. They're all very similar in layout and font, which appeases my inner continuity freak, and they're gorgeously illustrated. All the little drawings on the sides and bottom show what the supporting characters look like (and give hints as to who's really important), and the middles have Alex and Conner doing their thing, which is the actual main plot of the novels. If I find out they're recovering these before the fourth one is published, I'm rounding up my pitchfork and torch, because these are already perfect covers.

What are your favorite covers, friends?

Review: Anna and the French Kiss

I always forget how much I love this book in between reads, you guys. Stephanie Perkins really has a way with words, and I'm counting down the days until Isla and the Happily Ever After.

(August 14th!!!!!)

Let's get right down to business, shall we?

Now that he's a famous Nicholas Sparks-esque romance novel writer, Anna Oliphant's father has decided that she needs to go to school in Paris for her senior year. It's probably not the worst thing to ever happen, but Anna thinks it would have been nice to have been given the choice to go, rather than being told. Especially since she's so close to having a relationship with her cute coworker Toph.

Anna manages to settle in nicely at SOAP, though, striking up an easy friendship with her next-door neighbor Meredith and her group of buddies: Rashmi, Josh, and St. Clair (more formally known as Etienne). St. Clair is the most intriguing of these new friends by far in Anna's opinion, and it doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous and funny.

What does hurt? He has a steady girlfriend, Ellie, who's in college.

*sad trombone noises*

Anna and St. Clair become best friends despite their growing chemistry, helping each other out in the best ways they know how. St. Clair shows Anna around Paris to make her feel more at home, and Anna supports St. Clair however she can after his mom is diagnosed with cancer. Their interactions are always tinged with romantic undertones, though, especially after Anna finds out Toph started dating her best friend from home behind her back and St. Clair's relationship with Ellie starts to crash and burn.

Things begin to look hopeless for Anna and St. Clair after an accidental kiss has a lot of unexpected consequences, but the City of Love has its ways of drawing people together.

First things first, I am so glad that this novel got recovered to the design above. I first read it with the original cover, and it just doesn't do the story justice.

Seriously. That's just not good. It looks like some subpar Judy Blume ripoff where the girl's going through puberty and wants to learn what ~kissing with tongue~ is like.

The new cover looks like it's intended for slightly older YA readers, and the design makes me feel like the story will be romantic, fun, and a little serious, which is all true. While Anna and the French Kiss isn't deep literary fiction by anyone's standards, it still has its moments of real thoughtfulness and tenderness, and the original cover doesn't make it look that way at all. Sure, the cover shouldn't be the be-all, end-all of someone's decision to read a story, but it will still have some influence.

Content-wise, the story lives up to its new cover. Anna definitely feels like a real person, and I rooted for her and St. Clair to get together from the moment they met. They have a good foundation, and the will-they-or-won't-they tension they develop soon turns into more of an "okay, when will they?" feeling. The gratification isn't instant, but it's completely satisfying, since both Anna and Etienne experience character growth along the way.

Overall, Anna and the French Kiss is funny, poignant, and romantic. It's a light read, sure, but not mindless or lifelessly formulaic. I'm in love with its story of love, and I've already begun fan-casting the movie version in my head. (SOMEONE OPTION THIS BOOK. HOLLYWOOD, I'M TALKING TO YOU.) Five stars and a wistful smile.

(Also, my movie cast: Anna - Katie Stevens, Etienne - Darren Criss, Meredith - Evanna Lynch, and Bridgette [Anna's friend from back home] - Becca Tobin. I'm still working on the rest.)