Saturday, March 3, 2012

Shelf Candy Saturday!


It's that time again! Shelf Candy Saturday is hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews. If you haven't yet, make sure you check out their blog because it is amazing! The new layout is beautiful as well! The purpose of Shelf Candy Saturday is to display a book cover that you find unique/interesting/beautiful and tell why you like it! So without further ado....


This week I chose Watched by Sharde Richardson. Side note - how cool of a name is Sharde? Anyways, I haven't read this book so I can't give my opinion on the story but the cover makes me want to read it! Here is the goodreads blurb!

Mikayla doesn't want much: just to rock out to her favorite band, become the next Kwiki Stop video gaming champion, and keep her Q-tip habit under control. What she does want is the sight of the sudden inexplicable dark auras around everyone to stop. Problem is, those auras are demons and Mikayla is the last trait holder with the power to ban them. Which is a total buzz kill.
 To make matters worse, the town folk of Sulphur Springs don't look the same, and her classmates are a little dark in the eyes. There are murders, suicides, reckless skinny-dipping, gratuitous use of Q-tips, and new found powers that Mikayla must learn to control.  Her past becomes present when a shape-shifter tells her what her true identity is, and how to keep the demons of Hell from nipping at her Converse. Through him she'll discover who to trust, who to kiss, and how valuable her abilities are to the right beings. Because the evils of Hell aren't staying down without a fight...
 Or without her soul.
So, that is that. I am not sure how I feel about the synopsis. A q-tip habit? Strange.  It sounds like a big old pile of supernatural creatures and that could be either a disaster or a really good read. Luckily, we aren't here to review the story! We are here to look at the cover which is beautiful so let's get to it! 

The first thing I notice is the red. The red in the title, the red in the girl's hood...it definitely stands out. It reminds me little red riding hood and I wonder if she is afraid of something. Her head is ducked down and her eyes on the ground with her hood pulled up, it's as if she is hiding from something. Either that or she is thinking heavily on something, pondering some sort of circumstance. Maybe it is q-tips, who knows? That is the fun though, it keeps you guessing. 

The girl, on her own, is gorgeous. She looks young but I can't decide if she looks innocent or a little dangerous which is interesting in its own. She has a mix of both of aspects, a hint of nervous uncertainty and a hint of innocence. The red makes you think danger though, along with her dark hair and the make up and all. It makes me want to know more about her character, if she will fit the image of the girl on the cover. There are trees in the background, if you look closely you can see the leaves. I am not sure if it is raining or those are little sun spots but either way, it is beautiful. I think I would like to believe it is raining but with the sun shining through at the top. It gives the feel of a storm but the hope of it clearing up and the light shining through again. 

My absolute favor part of the cover there is the title. The font is beautiful and if you look closely, you can see that it is shadowed so the word is actually on there twice. Like the title in the front is being watched by the hints of the title behind it. I am not sure that even makes sense but it's the way I see it. Not only that but right at the top, in the middle of the "W" is a little red bird. He's just hanging out there in a sort of an ominous fashion, watching everything that is going on. Is there a bird in the story or is he just there to add to the cover? 

And that is my Shelf Candy Saturday! Looking forward to seeing all the other beautiful covers that will be posted!! 

7 comments:

  1. I love the lettering and the raven is a nice touch, but remove it and I would frame this picture. I have a couple of art pieces that are either dark or have interesting lighting with just a splash of red and they are my favorites.
    I love the lighting here. It looks like watercolor, but on closer examination, I am pretty sure that it is graphics. None the less, it is lovely. Thank you for sharing it.

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  2. I love the title too! It's so beautifully done. The girl in red really stands out and I especially like how bright everything is around her. Usually if the model is in red, the background is dark to make her stand out more, but I like this contrast better. It's gentle and goes well with the lettering of the title. Great pick!

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  3. Great cover! I didn't notice the red bird when I first looked at it, nice touch. I think my favorite thing is the color scheme. The bright reds go well with the blue and yellow tones.

    You crack me up, she's pondering Q-tips :). Maybe she dropped some and wants that little bird to pick them up for her...

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  4. Hi, Jamie!

    First of all, thanks bunches for dropping by and commenting on my Shelf Candy post!!

    This cover is absolutely, definitely GORGECOUS. I saw this book on another blog some time ago, and I think I did put it on my TBR shelf at Goodreads. Gotta double check...

    I LOVE your in-depth analysis of this cover! Great insights!! The color contrast here is just amazing -- that red hood, the rainy/sunny weather, the GREAT font used for the title...EVERYTHING about this cover is just delicious eye candy!!

    This is a terrific example of lettering not being allowed to overwhelm the art on a book cover. Instead, it fits right in! The title is in red, too, which echoes the color of the gir's hood. One thing though -- I do think the author's name could have been just a little bit bigger. Othar than that, I want to bring this cover home and frame it, like Steph at FABR wants to do!

    Thanks for featuring this BEAUTIFUL cover!! : )

    Maria @ http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/

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  5. WOW! That was a great analysis! After reading your post, I saw a bunch of things I hadn't even noticed before! Like the title, i didnt see that there were two of them. But you're right, it's like the second watched is watching the first one... which is so brilliant and creepy at the same time! I love it! Great pick!

    Shae @ Understanding Shae's Story

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  6. Thanks for stopping by everyone! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought it was an interesting cover. I agree too if you took away the title and the authors name it would be completely frame worthy!

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  7. this is gorgeous! Like Stephanie, I would hang this on my wall. The colors blend so well yet are vibrant. I really love it. After I read the synopsis i thought that maybe the swirling colors could be the aura's that are kind of pressing in on her and the hood is kind of the only thing that keeps them at bay. I thought the synopsis sounded interesting and I would definitely be eilling to give this book a read to see what kind of plot it has, it definitely would be unique. thanks for shainrg this great cover!!

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