The Cover Wars: Knife / Spell Hunter

Tara of Basically Books and I decided to get together to do a weekly meme where we would compare covers of the UK editions of books with those of the US editions.

The aim of this is to just have a bit of fun. We put ourselves in the position where we see both of these books side by side in the bookstore. Which would we choose? Why that one and not the other?


This week, we will be comparing the UK and US covers of Knife by R.J. Anderson, or Spell Hunter in the US.  Tara has read the start of this book but unfortunately couldn't get into it. Despite this, she hopes to give the book another shot at some point. I personally haven't read the book but I do have a different book by the same author to read when time allows.

         

                                        US edition                                                                          UK edition

Rea says: At first glance, it was the US cover that caught my attention. It’s almost like a painting, which is both its strength and its weakness: its strength because of how pretty it is; its weakness because there’s just too much going on in it. When compared with the UK cover, it stands out for its beauty but that’s about it. The UK cover is simple yet eye-catching with that very grumpy fairy. The blue complements the ethereal fairy perfectly. What’s more, the title is both snappier and clearer. With the US cover, I wasn’t sure which one was the actual title at first, but it’s certainly clear with just the one word on the UK cover! I’m going with UK this week.

Tara says: I have the UK version and I really like it. I feel the glow of the cover is amazing and the fact that it’s so simple but pretty really appealed to me. When I saw the US version on GoodReads I loved it. I like how you can see the character in detail and it’s very colourful. It says more about the book than the UK version. Also, I prefer the US name of the book. I am going with US this week.

 

Score:

Week 2:     US: 1     UK: 0     Draw: 1