Book Covers: UK vs US

Hey everyone!

So, I love a good book cover. Who doesn’t, right? I know it doesn’t make a book great – we’ll discuss that later on in the post with one of these books – but they do catch the eye in the bookstore and make your book shelves look nice. And you can call me vain, but I like looking at a good-looking book.

Anyway, enough rambling about that. I have seen people comparing UK and US covers on a few other blog posts and on booktube, so I thought I would give it a go as it looks fun.

I’ve picked some random books out of my pile of read books (and one from my TBR as I wanted to do that book) and then found their covers. I then had to drop a few and pick some more random ones as some books have the same covers in both countries, and that would be  a boring post!

Oh, and just so everyone knows: the UK covers are on the left and the UK covers on the right.

Now, let’s get to it!

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

A interesting one to start with as I like both versions, but I prefer the US version for this book. It captures the isolation and sheer atmosphere of the book brilliantly,  howver with the rest of the series, I much prefer the UK versions – which have a much more fairy-tale-esque quality to them.

 

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

This is the one book on this list that I haven’t read, but I do own it. I much prefer the UK version for this one! I don’t know what it is about the US version, but it does nothing for me. I mean, I quite like the viking-esque feel of the helmet, but I don;t know. It isn’t working for me. The font on the UK cover is nicer too, more fantasy. This seems like a small thing, but it will actually become a reoccurring theme!

 

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

These books have quite similar covers, and in fact, I’m not a huge fan of either. However, I’m going to go with the UK cover because it looks like a fantasy book, where as the font on the US cover almost make it feel like a murder mystery to me! I said the font would be a reoccurring theme, didn’t I!

 

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

UK version. It isn’t even a question. I’ll be honest, I don’t like a lot of the US Brandon Sanderson covers. They look like bad D&D fan-fiction covers, while the UK ones are clean, stark and sleek. Sorry US fans!

 

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Again, the UK version. Though, having said I don’t like Brandon Sanderson’s US covers, this is one of the better ones. However, I feel the UK cover just encapsulates the story here perfectly with Spensa staring up into space longingly.

 

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

A toughie. Both a really nice and stylish, but I like the US one hee. The flames are just so eye-catching, as is the pattern behind the title. Close, though as I like the mosiac style art on the UK one, but the US gets it. Just a gut feeling!

 

The Legend of Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood

Hmmm…. UK. I like the imagery on both actually. And, infact, I almost prefer the snowy background of the US cover, but I don’t like the font and I don’t like the scroll bit at the top of the US cover. Really ruins it, so I’m gonna go UK.

 

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Ooooh another toughie! Both really scream fairy-tale, which is perfect for this book and its story, but I’ll go US here. Again, a gut feeling here.

 

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So there you have it, and our final scores are:

UK: 5

US: 3

I hope you all enjoyed reading my thoughts, and I’m sure you all have your own thoughts!

Let me know what you think! Do you agree with my picks?

 

Jack

 

 

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