Today I’m happy to host a guest post from The Galaxial Word, a YA book review site.  It’s just starting up but there are already some really great in-depth reviews up.  Go on and check them out!  Now, here Galaxial will list his top 10 favourite book covers of all time.

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OK. So, I know, I know, “you should never judge a book by its cover”, blah, blah. But let’s be honest here. Who doesn’t pick up a book and go:

1) OMG THIS COVER IS SOOOOOOO PRETTY LIKE I HAVE TO BUY THIS IF JUST TO PUT IT ON MY BOOKSHELF AND GAZE AT THIS BEAUTIFUL COVER WHEN I WAKE UP EVERY MORNING OMG LOOK AT THAT ART AND THAT PHOTOSHOP MASTERY I LOOOOOOOOOVE IT SO GONNA BUY IT

*calmly brings book to counter*

OR

2) Ugh. This cover. Like, seriously. I could do better in Microsoft Paint. All they’ve done is cut out a guy and slapped him on a way-too-dark photo of a city that looks like it has been taken with an iPod. Ugh. So so ugly, I don’t care how good the writing is, I’m so not having that go on my bookshelf. Just. Ew.

*calmly places book back on shelf*

So, of course, a beautiful cover is crucial to attracting readers to your book, the same way a disgusting smell is crucial to attracting flies to a rotting carcass !

I’m not sure that was a good metaphor.

Whatever. Here are my best book covers. And remember, if you ever write a book, get the “write” cover designer (OMG THAT BEAUTIFUL PUN RIGHT THERE AHAHAHAHAHAH IM SO FUNNY HHAH- ok that wasn’t funny).

1) 

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce.

What can I say? I really admire true art, and this is definitely my number one book cover. The way the two sisters are joined together, and the way the second sister is joined to the wolf is truly beautiful. I like the palette as well, with the red, the black and the white. The red and the wolf all suggest blood and darker, supernatural things. Mainly, vampire and werewolves. Personally, I would have changed the author name to white to accentuate the white skin, and the title to black, just to keep with the theme.

2) 

Spark by Rachael Craw

Recently, I reviewed Spark, and I made sure to mention the “kick ass cover”, because the cover is truly “kick ass”. The way the artist has blended the tree roots and the girl is seamless. This is truly photoshop mastery. The font used is beautiful, and I wish I had that font to use for more of my things. The roots and the electricity immediately give the impression of dystopian, and, with a bit of a stretch, you can definitely see the DNA connection. There is nothing I would change on this cover.

3) 

Between the Notes by Sharon Huss Roat

I love the use of silhouette through this cover. The white is accentuated with the character silhouettes, and the lone moon floating between them. The transition from the background to the foreground is flawless, aided by the silhouettes of some trees. The font is perfect for this cover, and I wouldn’t change it to anything. The first thing I see in this cover is a romance, with the two people. After that, the striking large house points to something happening in or about her house. Then, if you look up at the window, there are piano keys. I love this so so much. It’s so subtle and it’s one of those things that you can easily skip over. However, once you’ve seen it, your eye is immediately attracted to it whenever you see the picture. It definitely points to a connection with music somewhere.

4) 

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

There are three kinds of covers I really like.

1) Drawn art (especially watercolour themed)

2) Masterful photoshop editing

3) Nice remakes of original books.

In these top ten, you’ll see a lot of these, and this one is obviously No. 3! A remake of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. It’s coming out in the UK, July 2015 (which means that you might be able to buy them now, or if not, pre-order *squeeeee*), released by Walker Books. Does that art look a little familiar? Well, the artist is Mila Furstova, who also did the cover for Colplay’s album Ghost Stories. I like this design so much more than the original, and I think it could bring a whole new scope of readers to the series. I especially like City of Fallen Angels. What about you?

P.S. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ZOOM IN BECAUSE YOU JUST HAVE TO SEE THE DETAIL THAT HAS GONE INTO EACH OF THESE DRAWINGS.

5) 

Pieces of Sky by Trinity Doyle

This is actually quite a recent book, and as you can see, I’ve stuck with my like of watercolour paintings on book covers. The colours in the sea/pool are amazingly blended, and all the colours in the face, the water and the text agree extremely well. My favourite part of this cover is actually the font. I think it is handwritten, but a lot of effort has gone into writing these words, or creating this font. If this is a font, I really wish I had a link to download it for my own use. The blue water suggests some connection to the sea, or swimming, and it really fits the book extremely well. Definitely going on my TBR list.

6)  

The remake of these classics

I told you before and I’ll say it again, I absolutely love remakes and watercolour paintings, and these modern takes on the great classics really combines both. I love the wild strokes and colour palette used in the art. The messy strokes really give them a beautiful look.

7) 

The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre

The concept here of sticky notes and a board filled with images is just a great idea on behalf of the designer. The two people suggest a romantic based novel, and the sticky notes reference school. Great, unique cover. I so have to read this book.

8) 

Magnolia by Maria Dahvana Headley

This cover really doesn’t give anything away. Buildings, feathers and abstract birds. Never would you guess that this book is about a girl with a lung disease who visits a town above the clouds. I especially like the way the feather blends into the birds, and the way the colours are consistent throughout the cover, with the simple blue and yellow that work really surprisingly well. Another to go on my TBR list (god, this list is getting longer and longer).

9) 

Soulprint by Megan Miranda

Ugh, doing this list has left me with so many books to read. Another abstract, suggestive cover, the fingerprint and the girl give nothing away. I’m thinking something about DNA, and the “reincarnation isn’t always a clean slate” at the top of the page suggests something about being reborn through science.

10)

The pop art style used on this cover really manages to catch the reader’s eye especially well. Technically, everything should just clash and seem really disjointed, but everything works really well. The use of primary colours throughout the page is a nice way of making it bright and appealing. The fonts are perfect, and the drawing of the protagonist is exactly how I imagined her.

So there you go: Top 10 Book Covers. Now, goodbye for now, I have to go back to reading that TBR list *runs away clutching book*.