Cover Awe: A Cat in a Hat

Welcome back to Cover Awe!

Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright. The image of a woman in black and white from the waist up. Only her clothes and accessories are in red. She's holding a dagger. Her red dress is off the shoulder with large sleeves and a gold leaf pattern. Around her are red leaves and white roses that blend into the black background.

Cover illustration by Felix Abel Klaer

Amanda: Oh I love this one!

Lara: Her face shows exactly how I felt 12 minutes ago when an annoying colleague emailed me an annoying question. It’s perfection!

Sarah: Oh wow, that is stunning. I love covers I can’t stop looking at.

Elyse: The detail in this is incredible.

The Spy and I by Tiana Smith. Lots of pinks, peaches, and brownish reds! A couple is back to back on a balcony overlooking a silhouette of the Washington Monument obelisk in D.C. He has dark tan skin and a bit of a slicked back pompadour. He's wearing dark gray jeans and a burgundy leather jacket. She has platinum blonde hair pulled into a bun and light tan skin. Her arms are crossed over her chest. She has on glasses, a white short sleeve turtleneck and red pants. A briefcase rests at their feet.

Cover illustration by Jekaterina Budryte

Amanda: Love the color palette here!

Sarah: Oh that’s extremely alluring. The color palette is divine I agree!

Elyse: I also like that it’s not just some illustrated elements thrown on a cover, it’s telling you a story.

Amanda: Great point! I definitely prefer illustrated covers that tell us something more!

A Spell for a Duke by Amy Quinton. A very purple cover. The man is in a suit and the woman has an off the shoulder dress with a small bustle. All of the material is in purple! There are also gauzy purple curtains blowing the background. However in the foreground is a white and orange tabby cat. He is wearing a little suit and a purple top hat. Next to him is a large iron scepter with a light purple gem on top.

Cover by Dar Albert

Elyse: The cat has a little hat on. That is all.

Shana: This is the best cover I’ve seen in ages. All books needs cats in purple hats

Amanda: Is the cat secretly a shapeshifting wizard and that’s its magical staff?!

Sarah: I need to know everything about this cat. Every detail. Go.

Evocation by S.T. Gibson. The cover is designed like the Hanged Man tarot card with a man hanging upside down with his legs crossed. This has a muted teal background with silver border designs. The figure is dressed in black with his cape falling downward behind his head. Two gray arms are welcoming him at the bottom of the cover. A red arm is also snaking around his back to grasp at his chest.

Cover art by Eleonor Piteira

Cover design by Alice Claire Coleman

Elyse: That is so detailed and gorgeous. I would hang that on my wall.

Tara: Wow, that’s really striking.

Sneezy: That’s so clever! AND SHINY!

Elyse: That little bit of red is so striking.

Sarah: There’s a bit of a trend of referencing tarot card imagery within book cover art and I really like it.

Add Your Comment →

  1. Interrodroid3000 says:

    Please let’s have more rageful femmes on book covers!

  2. DonnaMarie says:

    No one’s going to mention the kitty cravat? Anyone can drop a stylish hat on their head, but knotting up a sweet little bow? That’s a talent.

  3. Louise says:

    Raise your hand if you read the last title as “The Evocation of St. Gibson”. Appropriately enough, since it definitely evokes the Hanged Man. If I remember rightly, it means resignation to your fate.

    The cat has a little hat on.
    When a picture makes you gasp in delight, into Cover Awe it goes!

  4. denise says:

    these are so wonderful!

  5. dePizan says:

    I feel like it’s so rare to see a historical with long hair on the guy, even when it’s a Georgian era book (we also rarely get the flashier clothes on the guy for that era too, which is all such a shame). I approve.

  6. MelMc says:

    Now I kinda want a novel where the hero is a were-tabby. Not a were-lion or were-tiger, or anything over 20lb. Just a big old cinnamon-roll fluffy coon cat who just wants to snuggle on the sofa with you and share a tuna-melt. The Duke of Floof.

  7. Sue says:

    I would be afraid there would be insufficient kitty shenanigans in A Spell for a Duke. Unless the kitty is the duke?

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