Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!
This week’s theme is ‘Titles or Covers That Made Want to Read/Buy the Book’, so today I thought I’d compare the UK and US covers of some 2021 releases – and decide which cover I like best!
All of the UK covers are on the left, and all of the US covers are on the right.
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
As fun as I think the US covers are, there’s just no competition here for me because I’ve found all of the UK covers in this series so gorgeous and this one is no different.
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
I think this is another instance in which I’m going to go for the UK cover, simply because it matches the UK edition of The Goblin Emperor, whereas the US edition doesn’t really tie into the original cover of The Goblin Emperor at all. I own five different versions of The Goblin Emperor – have I mentioned it’s my favourite novel? – so I’m excited that my UK edition will have a matching partner on my bookshelf.
The Conductors by Nicole Glover
I thought I was going to love this novel and I’m still so disappointed that I ended up DNFing it, but sometimes books just don’t work for us. While I do love that turquoise-y colour on the UK edition, I do prefer the US edition of this one – it stands out more than the UK edition.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
I love the consistency between these two covers in terms of their colour palettes – I suppose any book with the word ‘sun’ in the title will be expected to have yellows and oranges on the cover – and I do love the UK cover, but I think I might love the US cover just that little bit more. The splashes of black on the US cover suit the darker moments of the story more, but I don’t dislike the UK cover at all.
You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry
I don’t know what Emily Henry did to her UK publishers to make them give her such hideous covers, but here we are. Now in fairness I do like the UK cover of You and Me on Vacation more than the UK cover of Beach Read – which is so ugly – but I still prefer the US cover, although I do think the UK title suits this story more.
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
Both of these covers are lovely for completely different reasons, but I think I ultimately prefer the UK edition because I tend to be drawn to more simplistic covers on the whole – although I do really love the US cover, too.
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
I kind of feel like both of these covers are… fine? Again, purely for its simplicity, I think I prefer the UK edition, which I think is the cover that’s a bit more on the sinister side, too.
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The colours on the UK edition are so pretty, but I much prefer the US edition of this book. It’s bright, it’s simple, and it screams summer.
The Other Black Girl Zakiya Dalila Harris
Considering this book has been compared to Get Out and has been described as a literary thriller, I definitely prefer the UK edition. The UK edition feels a lot more sinister to me, whereas the US edition makes the book seem like more of a ‘normal’ contemporary read.
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
I feel pretty neutral about both of these covers – neither of them particularly grabs my attention – but while I do think the illustration on the US cover is pretty, I think I do ultimately prefer the UK edition because, and I know this sounds silly, it feels more Greek to me. The US edition, on the other hand, could be the cover of almost any fantasy novel about a princess.
Love your twist on things this week! I always enjoy seeing the different cover art that comes about with international releases. These are tough, and for me, most of them are a draw.
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Totally with you on the Becky Chambers books, I much prefer the UK editions! Love this idea for a post, super fun!
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I wouldn’t have guessed that The Other Black Girl has been described as Get Out based on the US cover – knowing that I prefer the UK cover.
Lauren @ Always Me
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I was opposite your choice on almost every cover! 😀 The Becky Chambers books are a tough call though. I don’t know anything about them except that the titles always make me think of The Hitchhiker’s Guide books. If that’s what they’re like, I prefer the US cover. If they’re more serious, I much prefer the UK cover. It’s gorgeous. I do agree about the UK cover of Ariadne, although, like you, neither really grabs me. I agree about the UK version of The Final Girl Support Group too. The US chair is so red, it takes a minute to realize it’s supposed to be covered in blood and not just a red chair.
Great take on the topic!
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This is a fabulous post!! I have found myself loving so many UK covers lately. Sometimes they are just so much more beautiful or just grab you. I did not realize that the Emily Henry book had two different titles and the UK title really fits the book better!
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What a great list of books. All of those covers are stunning! It looks like I was leaning mostly towards the UK covers.
When you get the chance, I hope you come over and check out my post: http://readbakecreate.com/15-book-covers-that-scream-summer/
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I LOVE cover comparisons! It’s usually the case that I prefer the international one, haha. International retitling drives me nuts, though! Great list 🙂
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I love the UK covers for all of Chambers’ books. The Conductors is nice, and I definitely prefer the UK Ariadne. I rather like the US Malibu rising more though…
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Fun twist on the topic! I did cover buys this week. I generally prefer UK covers (as I found out when I did my own version of this topic) but sometimes the US cover does edge it.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/03/top-ten-tuesday-327/
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I love your twist on this topic – how fun! My TTT
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Fun take on the topic! I never really thought of it this way before, but based on these, it seems that I prefer the UK version most of the time 🙂
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I totally agree with you about Emily Henry’s book. I prefer the US cover but with the UK title. 😉 Fun post!
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I am so jealous of the UK covers for Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series! Those are the covers I saw first (not realizing they were UK covers) and I was so disappointed when I saw the US covers in store.
My TTT
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I love your take on this week’s theme. Almost always I prefer the UK covers but very rarily it happens when I like a US cover more.
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I love that you chose to focus on the UK vs US covers for this week! It’s always fascinating to me to see the cover changes they make for different countries. 🙂
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If this list is any indication, I prefer the UK covers 80% of the time! Maybe I should start shopping UK websites? 😂
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It’s so cool to see the differences between these covers!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-titles-that-made-me-want-to-read-the-book/
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I think I usually prefer US covers, but I really think the UK have upped their game massively recently. I prefer more UK than US I this post for sure. Although I’ll have to disagree with you on Ariadne, I’m super jealous of the Americans there. 😉
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It does feel like the UK has finally cottoned on to the fact that a pretty cover will sell more books. 😉 They’ve definitely been stepping up their game within SFF!
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Some of these covers make it hard to decide what version to buy!
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They really do!
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Nooo The Conductors is one of my favorites from this year. Haha. I do like the US cover but it doesn’t quite match the right mood of the book. For that reason I prefer the UK version which is I own that one.
You have reminded me to a uk vs us cover again though, maybe with a ttt freebie. 😀
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I knooow, I really thought I’d love it! Sadly it just didn’t work for me. 😦
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