Discuss the Cover [ Edited ]

[KxBurns]

What do you think of the cover of The Sister? How well does it reflect the story? What aspects do you like or dislike?

(Note: Please restrict your comments to the chapters of the book that are already under discussion so we can avoid spoilers. Many thanks!    )

Message Edited by KxBurns on 03-05-2008 01:08 PM

[Everyman]

I'm not sure what the bust is of. A young woman? An older woman looking a bit younger? A young boy? Grecian? Not sure what relationship it has to the story, either. Maybe all will be revealed later in the book.

And are those moths, or butterflies?

[fordmg]

Not too crazy about the cover.  Doesn't give much of an idea of what the book may be about.  The butterflys maybe, but I wouldn't buy a book based on butterflys (or moths) being the subject matter.

MG

[carriele]

Book covers always grab my attention (followed closely by catchy titles).  If I saw this cover in a bookstore, I would probably walk on by.  I think it is too dark (maybe that will be a reflection of a turn in the story at  some point though).  I also think the bust is eerie. I do find it interesting that the eyes within the bust are looking sideways rather than straight on though.  Finally, I am also wondering (like Everyman) are the pictures of butterflies or moths? 

Carrie E. 

[AnnieS]

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Everyman wrote:
I'm not sure what the bust is of. A young woman? An older woman looking a bit younger? A young boy? Grecian? Not sure what relationship it has to the story, either. Maybe all will be revealed later in the book.

And are those moths, or butterflies?

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I actually tried to look up the statue, but couldn't find it.  I hope to ask the editor or the author the significance.

[LizzieAnn]

I don't understand the cover yet.  Perhaps it'll become clearer as I read more of the book - I've only read the first 7 chapters so far.  It does give a sense of mystery.  The cover seems to have butterflies on them, while the study in the book is mostly of moths.  I'm wondering why moths as opposed to butterflies.

[dhaupt]

Karen, I agree with most of the other readers here. I like a cover to grab my attention or if not to at least give me an idea what the book is about. The only thing I can see in reference to the book are the moths, however to be honest before I started reading the book I thought they were butterflies. I don't know the significance of the bust either and hope like the rest of you to be enlightened soon.

deb

[DSaff]

I like the cover. The statue seems to be that of a younger person, but it seems that the eyes are alive. Am I the only one who thinks that? The moths add some color to the cover, and give it some life.

[LisaMM]

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DSaff wrote:
I like the cover. The statue seems to be that of a younger person, but it seems that the eyes are alive. Am I the only one who thinks that? The moths add some color to the cover, and give it some life.

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I also like it. The left edge makes it appear that this is a tintype photo of the statue (or some other type of old photo process). It seems to be the type of statue that would be in the garden of a large old country house. The shadows suggest that the picture was taken at dusk, coincidentally(or not) right when moths would start moving around. The shadows also add a mysterious feel to it, which the book definitely has so far (after 10 chapters).

[runnybabbit620]

My first impression of the cover is that it appears to be VERY pixellated.  The moth/butterfly on the left appears to be pretty clear while the one on the right is really "muddied".  Maybe they should try using a picture of a few of the types of moths discussed in the book if the author truly wants the family passion and basis of the story to be part of the cover.  The back cover pictures of moths is very nice and complimentary to the story, but the front, I agree, needs an overhaul.

And what's up with the bust of some person we don't recognize?  This is HEAVILY pixellated too and looks amateur.  Could the bust be replaced by something more in keeping with what the family possessed or possessed in the past before Ginny sold a lot of the furniture off?

I agree that the darkness and shadowy aspects of the front cover of the book aren't exactly screaming out to me "READ ME!!!"  Just like all the hot pink covers on books out there help to earmark some books visually as "chick lit", the dark, shadowy cover on this book would suggest a ghost story and I'm not feeling that here.  Do we need to mislead the reader in order for him/her to buy the book.  If they notice the book at all?

[Jaelin]

The Cover of the book did not impress me overall.  There are some aspects that are interesting.  The bust reminds me of Rome, Greece or Mediterranean in nature.  As someone pointed out the eyes are facing away from the reader and this give me the impression that the person sitting for this bust was distracted or more interested in something else that was going on.  Since the bust is not smiling this would give me the impression also that this was not a person who would naturally have smiled or didn't feel the inclination to.  The "butterflies" are distracting to me since they are on such a dark background.  The dark overall feeling of the cover does after reading the first 10 Chapters strike me as sinister and menacing. 

And someone else mentioned they would normally have walked right by this book in the store.....I agree.  I would have not just walked by it but would never have even seen it if I was staring right at it.

My two pennies worth.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I agree with some other readers; the cover doesn't necessarily jump off the shelf at me.  That said, I do like how the statue conveys the sense of "age" that comes with the house and all the stuff in the house.  Being a statue, it is also very static which reminds me of Ginny, she's not the adventurer like Vivi. 

I also like how lepidoptery ties into the cover - because the insects on the cover are drawn rather than actual life-like photographs they represent what happens to the butterflies and moths after they are captured and fixed.  Dead, static objects.

[Carmenere_lady]

Perhaps the bust is one of the heirlooms Bobby took from the house ;o).  I too am not impressed by the cover.  Good story, it deserves a cover a little bit more inviting. If I was a book cover designer I would just have the title, The Sister, in a dull color like what's on the cover now representing Ginny and then I would have The Sister again as a reflection of the first only this would have all the colors of the moths/butterflys representing Viv.

[krb2g]

I might be too picky, but I don't think the moths go very well with the statue from a strictly visual point of view. That is to say, it looks at the moment like a bad photo-shop job, like someone took a picture of a statue, found a few moths and just copy and pasted them in. I agree with Runnybabbit620 that the images look pixellated (although I was assuming that we are getting a draft of the cover as well as a draft of the text, and that they'll neaten things up before they sell the book).

I'm also having a hard time fitting the statue in with the story generally. This cover reminds me of the birdgirl statue on the cover of Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but as I recall (at least from the movie) that statue is actually located in Savannah, and its cemetery plays a role in the plot.

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KxBurns wrote:

What do you think of the cover of The Sister? How well does it reflect the story? What aspects do you like or dislike?

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[craftykorisa]

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KxBurns wrote:

What do you think of the cover of The Sister? How well does it reflect the story? What aspects do you like or dislike?

(Note: Please restrict your comments to the chapters of the book that are already under discussion so we can avoid spoilers. Many thanks!    )

Message Edited by KxBurns on 03-05-2008 01:08 PM

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Perhaps the cover is a clue to what Vivian is looking for (if she is looking for something, like we all assume).

[craftykorisa]

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KxBurns wrote:

What do you think of the cover of The Sister? How well does it reflect the story? What aspects do you like or dislike?

(Note: Please restrict your comments to the chapters of the book that are already under discussion so we can avoid spoilers. Many thanks!    )

Message Edited by KxBurns on 03-05-2008 01:08 PM

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Perhaps the cover is a clue to what Vivian is looking for (if she is looking for something, like we all assume).

[Des222]

Like krb2g, I also thought of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, coupled with the movie poster for Silence of the Lambs. While the cover does represent the "feel" of the book to me, and I really got a different perspective when Melissa mentioned how the moths/statue were "dead, static objects" like the moth specimens collected, I still don't care for it. It needs something more to draw more readers to it. That said, I do have to ask: which sister do you suppose it represents?

[detailmuse]

I agree. The sepia and bust evoke the setting (old-fashioned, dark, cold). Very plain cover. The colorful moths add liveliness, but they look like an after-thought, like inexpensive stickers.

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LizzieAnn wrote:

I don't understand the cover yet.  Perhaps it'll become clearer as I read more of the book - I've only read the first 7 chapters so far.  It does give a sense of mystery.

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[CAG]

The cover didn't do much for me. I am not sure what it is suppose to convey. It would not have caught my attention in a book store but then again I don't pick the books I read by their covers anyway.

[kiakar]

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krb2g wrote:
I might be too picky, but I don't think the moths go very well with the statue from a strictly visual point of view. That is to say, it looks at the moment like a bad photo-shop job, like someone took a picture of a statue, found a few moths and just copy and pasted them in. I agree with Runnybabbit620 that the images look pixellated (although I was assuming that we are getting a draft of the cover as well as a draft of the text, and that they'll neaten things up before they sell the book).

I'm also having a hard time fitting the statue in with the story generally. This cover reminds me of the birdgirl statue on the cover of Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but as I recall (at least from the movie) that statue is actually located in Savannah, and its cemetery plays a role in the plot.

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KxBurns wrote:

What do you think of the cover of The Sister? How well does it reflect the story? What aspects do you like or dislike?

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I agree with your summation of the cover.  The insects do not look natural on the cover. They do look as if they were pasted on maybe a after thought.

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