Throwdown Thursday is a weekly thing [hosted by The Neverending Shelf] where we tackle books with similar characters, covers, themes, etc. to determine which one rocks more. And it is up to YOU to determine the winner!
Last weeks Throwdown asked: Fallen vs. Hush, Hush? The verdict by split decision was Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.
We’ve talked about cover art a lot on this blog. It is often the first exposure that readers have with new books. And for good or bad, covers make impressions, promises even about the stories within. So what happens when those covers don’t match the characters?
How important is it to you that the covers match the characters within?
Within our own genre, there is The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher whose covers all depict the main character Harry Dresden as wearing a hat despite the fact that Harry never wears one in the series (in a recent interview on Fantasy Literature cover artist Chris McGrath explains the hat was the publisher’s choice). Or how about the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs? Each cover shows Mercy sporting more tattoos than the last, but in the books she has only one (a paw print on her lower stomach). I’m sure you can think of other examples. I happen to like both of these series and don’t mind these minor inaccuracies in their covers.
But what about more flagrant discrepancies? Take the recent Bloomsbury debacle for example: "Magic Under Glass" by Jaclyn Dolamore is a fantasy YA title featuring African American protagonist. The cover, however, clearly features a white girl. To make matters worse, this is the second time this year that Bloomsbury publishing has used white models on the covers of books featuring dark-skinned protagonists (Justine Larbalestier's "Liar"). The Book Smugglers has an excellent post chronicling similar examples.
Bloomsbury did eventually replace the Liar cover and, after a backlash from the public, recently announced plans to do the same with Magic Under Glass stating on its its website: “The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design will be available shortly.”
Minor or major, do these inaccuracies bug you? Do you usually notice them? Does it affect your enjoyment of a book? What’s more important? Covers or characters?
