Cover Awe: Greens and Blues

Let’s look at some covers we’re enjoying lately!

Africa Risen edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight. The background is a green moss. In the center is a Black person with tight braids in a soft yellow space suit, accented by bits of shiny metal. They are holding small white flowers, with one tucked behind their ear.

Cover art by Manzi Jackson

Sarah: That is a fabulous illustration.

Sneezy: Wow! That’s gorgeous!

It’s so evocative and lush!

Amanda: I think right now, the key to any standout illustrated cover is making use of different art styles.

With Love from Cold World by Alicia Thompson. The words "cold world" are in giant blocky letters with a winter setting seen in each letter. The illustrated couple on the cover are kissing and the art style is reminiscent of vintage comics. The man on the left has blue short hair, a blue shirt, and the hint of a tattoo on their forearm. The woman on the right has long, straight brown hair and an off the shoulder red top. The top of half of the color with the title is a black background. The lower half is a wintry blue with snowflakes.

Cover art by Jenifer Prince

Amanda: I really love her covers! There’s always a hint of vintage in the design and style.

Elyse: Oooh!

Sarah: I love her covers, too, especially that I can glance at them and know whose book it is. That is a remarkably rare thing right now.

She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran. An illustrated close up of an East Asian woman. A tear is rolling down her cheek as flowers bloom from her mouth. Her dark hair is spotted with green leaves and the white collar of her shirt sports flower embroidery. She looks utterly terrified.

Cover art by Elena Masci

Cover Design by Thy Bui

Elyse: I immediately clicked to see what this book is about. It’s got big Midsommar energy.

Amanda: There are so many tiny details. Like what is reflected in her eyes?!

Sarah: It’s disturbing and beautiful and disturbing and fascinating and disturbing and back and forth.

The Faithless by C.L. Clark. An illustrated cover. A blonde woman with wavy blonde hair lounges on a giant, round golden throne. She's slouched and dressed in blue leather. A dark cane rests in her right hand. Green pillars, wrapped in vines, and green billowy curtains are behind her.

Cover design by Tommy Arnold (Note: Tommy also does the Locked Tomb covers!)

Cover design by Lauren Panepinto

Elyse: The sheer badassery…

Amanda: This reminds me of the meme that bisexuals don’t know how to sit in chairs and I love it.

Sarah: Extremely chaotic, and utterly badass. The manspreading alone is fantastic.

Comments are Closed

  1. SaraGale says:

    The cover for AFRICA RISEN totally reminded me of the Obama portraits by Kehinde Wiley with the greenery and plant life, and then I realized it was her curls making up the background. Her face is so full of emotion and sadness.

    I love the tiny, asymmetrical details to the woman’s face on SHE IS HAUNTING. The uneven teeth, her eye lashes and eyebrows being just slightly different and imperfect. The way her hair frames her face and draws you to look at her mouth.

    And THE FAITHLESS – love that it’s a FMC on that throne with that posture and she doesn’t look sixteen and perfect. She looks tired of all the BS, but will still stand up and kick ass if she has to. I went looking for the book summary and the cover for the first book in the series as even more atmospheric and intense.

  2. TinaNoir says:

    Someone just posted one of the prettiest contemporary romance illustrated covers for a book coming out in December. ‘HOW TO FIX A BROKEN HEART’ by Bambo Deen.

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198619442-how-to-fix-a-broken-heart

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