Here's the new cover of Magic Under Glass, by Jaclyn Dolamore, which replaces its earlier whitewashed cover. I think it is gorgeous. Thanks to Ari at Reading in Color for the heads up!
Just to reiterate, here is the author's own vision of Nimira (posted at her website), and here is how she is described in the book (the page numbers refer to the ARC):
"My hair tumbled down my back, glossy black and shining in the low light." (page 3)
"I knew how the men of Lorinar thought, what they wanted. To him, I was dark and foreign and crude." (page 4)
"...pink does not do with skin like yours." (pp 32-33)
"Miss Rashten thinks pink doesn't suit my complexion," I warned him.
"Nonsense," he said. "There is no color more feminine than pink; no woman it does not suit, and you especially, with your golden glow." (page 64)
"[The dress] dipped low in back and front...exposing what seemed like far too much of my brown skin." (page 96)
The new cover is just so much more satisfyingly close to the author's vision than the old!
"My hair tumbled down my back, glossy black and shining in the low light." (page 3)
"I knew how the men of Lorinar thought, what they wanted. To him, I was dark and foreign and crude." (page 4)
"...pink does not do with skin like yours." (pp 32-33)
"Miss Rashten thinks pink doesn't suit my complexion," I warned him.
"Nonsense," he said. "There is no color more feminine than pink; no woman it does not suit, and you especially, with your golden glow." (page 64)
"[The dress] dipped low in back and front...exposing what seemed like far too much of my brown skin." (page 96)
The new cover is just so much more satisfyingly close to the author's vision than the old!
A much better cover all round, I think. Not only does the girl now match her descriptions, she looks much more interesting and less formal!
ReplyDeleteKath http://steelthistles.blogspot.com
Now, was this so hard?
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely, intriguing cover. It would have been so easy to do right the first time...
I agree: a lovely cover. I'm glad they finally got it right. Here's hoping they don't mess up (again!).
ReplyDeleteYep. Right on this time. It's lovely.
ReplyDeleteI was in B&N today and saw three copies of the book on display with the old cover still... Wonder how long it will take them to start selling the new one?
ReplyDeleteSometimes I really feel like I'm colourblind. When I saw the new cover, I didn't think, "Oh, it's a dark-skinned woman." I thought, "Oh, it's a pretty woman." Much the same way I would have though if it had been a pretty Caucasion woman on the cover, or heck, a pretty green-skinned extraterrestrial.
ReplyDeleteI can see where people can be annoyed when a character is clearly described as having dark skin but on the book cover they're pale as milk, though. But more often than not, the shade of a person's skin makes no never mind to me, and I feel like I'm blind to the concerns of others who invest so much in creating and expressing non-caucasian characters.
That being said, I hope this comment didn't come off as sounding like I don't care or am unsympathetic. I don't claim to be more or less enlightened than others regarding it. It's just my own personal blind spot.
It's pretty, and I'm gladd they changed it to match the main character. To be honest tho,I liked the one cover that really only showed the glass cover over two little people. I think it was the UK cover.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Ria, that if I had seen this cover by itself, I would probably have just thought "pretty," because it is...it was just the stark contrast between the girl on the cover and the girl in the author's mind and words that was the problem, and it would have been, as Tanita said, so easy to get it right the first time!
ReplyDeleteYes, that is the UK cover, Jill; I agree that it's nicely magical!
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
ReplyDelete