I’ve seen this post in a few different places, and I can’t honestly remember who I saw the post of off. Either way, I wanted to do something a bit more fun, and so I decided to finally post this.
Everyone has their own opinions, and more often than not covers are some of the many things us book lovers enjoy to talk about. I’ll be comparing a few US/UK covers, and explaining why I prefer one over the other.
Winner: UK Cover
Why? While I love the font in the US version, I really can’t get over the weird shadow coming from the house of cards. I get what it’s supposed to mean, but it just looks too weird for me. On the other hand, the UK version also has a really nice font, but it incorporates the shadow of the city much more elegantly. The cards also add an air of mystery, while in the US there just…there. Also the clouds and sparkles in the UK version really takes the cake.
Winner: US Cover
I love the simplistic design of the US cover, and while I love the dramatic posture of the UK version, something about it just doesn’t fit the book, in my opinion. They both have the energy that’s in the book, but something about how simple, yet profound the US cover is, really gets to me.
Winner: US Cover
Why? I’ll be honest and say that it was the font that did me in on this one. While there are aspects that I love about both of them, especially their color schemes, I really, really hated the font on the UK version. It reminds me too much of the Berkshire Swash font, and I just can’t stand it. I love the color changes in the US version, as well as the simplicity of it, while the UK version is similar, but there’s just a lot happening at once.
Winner: UK Cover
Why? I really like both of them, to be honest, but something about the US cover bothers me. Why is ‘Me’ the only word on the light blue side? Why did they choose to put that huge quote on the cover, rather than something more important? Why the sun and the moon imagery? While I equally don’t get the water imagery on the UK version, they definitely designed it better. Instead of weird choices, they made things work with their idea of the cover. Also, on a special edition, the waves are a shiny turquoise, which I love.
Winner: US Cover
Why? I … really do not like the UK cover. The brown-ness of it really gets to me, but then the contrast between the blue tile and the golden leaves along the side, and then brown?? I just….can’t. On the other hand, the US version is gorgeous, in my opinion. I love the bright fire, as well as the design in the center and how that frames the title. The title is also elegant, unlike the somewhat block-y-ness of the UK title.
What do y’all think? What do you think of my decisions? Or are there other US/UK cover comparisons that you want to bring up?
Thanks for stopping by!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider following this blog through WordPress, Bloglovin’, or e-mail, or supporting me through ko-fi! Any amount allows me to put more time into these posts, giving you more and better quality content!
For THE CITY OF BRASS, I prefer the UK cover, but that might be because the pages of the UK version have blue edges and it just looks so pretty!
I didn’t know that the UK had sprayed edges! I do think it’s more common for first editions in the UK to have sprayed edges, though, so idk why I didn’t check that.
I used to be a bigger US over UK cover person, mostly because it’s easier to get them so I didn’t have to worry about making the choice, but now that I think about it, more often than not I am more aesthetically drawn to the UK covers. It’s worth the effort to get the UK covers and maybe getting the ebooks if I need the book right away. My SO is a BIG UK cover fan. lol
Ace of Shades: I agree with you on this one. I like the card arrangement on the UK version better.
THUG: I like the US cover better, but I actually ended up keeping the UK cover because I preferred the spine. It says THUG rather than spelling out the title and I thought it was a lot more striking on a bookshelf.
History is All You Left Me: I can almost see why they would have chosen to separate ME from the rest of the title, to highlight how lonely Griff felt after Theo’s death. The huge quote, though, definitely feels out of place and I’m not sure about the solar/lunar imagery either.
ADSOM: I like the US cover better for this one too because it reminds me more of the travelling between worlds that is done in the book.
City of Brass: as nice as the UK cover is, in the context of the story, the US one makes a lot more sense, so I’m glad I’ve got that one. 🙂
I love some UK covers, especially for STRANGE THE DREAMER (which I have not read yet). I didn’t put Strange on this post mainly because I know a lot of people have compared them, but that one has the most defined differences in what I like the most.
Oh yes, the UK Strange is fabulous! I like it so much more, with the blue & gold. <3
Yes! Something about the US version seems too….plain? to me at least.
I love posts like this!! I personally adore the UK cover of City of Brass. The gold really stands out in real life and the blue and brown elements only complement that 🙂
I do see where the colors complement each other, but I must have a really strong aversion to the color brown. I just can’t stand it. *sobs*
The similarities and differences between the Ace of Shades covers are interesting – I’d be curious to know why those design choices were made. I agree with your choices for THUG, ADSOM and City of Brass. Uprooted and Spining Silver are two titles that come to mind when I think of US vs UK covers. I prefer the US ones but also still really like the UK ones – win win 😛
I agree! Ace of Shades was really interesting, and I think Amanda Foody’s first book, Daughter of the Burning City, is similar. I was thinking about including Uprooted in this post, but I honestly really like both of the covers, and couldn’t choose.
[…] Behaving Badly Sept 17th: Review #189 // A Study in Honor – Claire O’Dell Sept 19th: US vs. UK Covers Sept 21st: Review #190 // The Emperor’s Riddle – Kat Zhang Sept 23rd: Down the TBR Hole […]