Cover Comparison: In which get a wee bit ranty over Sean Griswold's Head

While getting info for my WoW post this past week I saw that Lindsey Leavitt's awesome debut novel Sean Griswold's head is getting a new paperback cover design. Once I saw it I knew that I HAD to feature it for cover comparisons this week. The change is.... well take a look for yourself.

                                            Original Cover             Paperback Cover

Original Cover: Okay so as cheesy as this cover is I actually really like it. I love the fact that you only see the back of the cover models head to perfectly coincide with the book title and I also love his striped jacket. It may sound weird but I'm not gonna lie there is something terribly attractive about the back of a guy wearing an awesome striped hoodie. :P On top of the good cover model I am also totally digging the font choice. I feel like this cover is a fair representation of the book and it definitely captures it's quirky qualities and humor!

Paperback Cover: OH MY GOSH. Are they seriously replacing the original cover with this new monstrosity?! Excuse me while I go cry in a corner over what once was...

Okay so maybe I'm being a bit dramatic but seriously look at this new cover. Ewww. Just eww in every way shape and form. I had my doubts about picking up SGH in the first place but if this had been the original cover it would have sealed it's fate in my mind once and for all. I mean look at it. Where is the quirkiness? Where is the cheesiness? Where has the "this is a lighthearted contemporary with some great humor" vibe gone?!?! FOR THE LOVE OF SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!!! I just can't with this cover. The color scheme is all over the place (green and purple with hot pink accent letters. What?!), the cover models are being all "cutesy" and romantical, and it just screams "I'm a soft and sweet romance novel" WHICH SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD IS NOT! It is SO much more than that. *sigh*

So who wins: No question about it the original cover takes home the gold. It may be cheesy but it totally captures the right essence for SGH and it's unique enough to not fade away into the sea of stereotypical looking contemporary novels. The new paperback cover on the other hand is terrible. JUST TERRIBLE. *shakes head*

Which cover of Sean Griswold's Head is YOUR favorite? Be sure to vote in the poll below and sound off in the comments about why you made your decision!

Have any suggestions for future cover comparisons? Leave them here!

Julia :)

Book Review: Insurgent

Insurgent
by Veronica Roth
525 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Book
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Source: Purchased
Add this to your shelf on Goodreads

Once choice can transform you - or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves - and herself - while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's intiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chose, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable - and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

After the whiz bang awesomeness that was Divergent Veronica Roth had an awful lot to measure up to in her sophomore novel Insurgent. And I'll be honest this book sorta kinda fell into the sophomore slump for me. Okay, under normal circumstances this would be an absolutely fantastic sequel but guys, this is the sequel to Divergent we're talking about. This thing had a LOT to live up to. And it just sort of... fell short. That isn't to say that it's not totally great because it is, but it does have it's flaws.

I'm keeping this review spoiler free so if anyone who is reading this hasn't read Insurgent yet you may proceed safely. :D

Veronica Roth churned out a real page-turner with Insurgent just like she did with Divergent. I read this book in 2 days flat. I could've read it a lot faster but some of that time was spent driving in a car and motion sickness is not something I like to endure even for the greatest books. The pacing of Insurgent is a bit spotty at parts (Tris in the Erudite compound anyone?) but overall I found it super hard to put down.

The plot of Insurgent was kind of all over the place. The characters were jumping from location to location and it was a bit hard to follow. The story definitely didn't have as much of a here to there element as Divergent did with Tris going through initiation. Because of this it almost felt like filler between Divergent and Book #3. However a lot of important things did occur and there were some crazy (CRAZY!) reveals. Gasping, oh my gosh I never saw that coming reveals. Good stuff. So despite it's filler nature Insurgent definitely still had a lot going for it. Plus I loved getting to learn more about all of the factions not just Dauntless and Abnegation. My one tiff with the plot is that the big reveal at the end was sort of... stereotypical? I can't say much without giving it away but let's just say that I expected something a little more unexpected from Veronica Roth. :/

So Insurgent was a total page turner and the plot had some great moments but unfortunately one of the characters ended up falling short and that was Tris. She really took a nose dive in Insurgent and when the main character of a novel takes a nose dive the whole novel ends up taking a nose dive too. Sad but true. :/ I mean I understand that Tris was in a bad place after Divergent because of the fact that she had just shot and killed Will and her parents had died but she stayed in a sort of static "I feel sorry for myself" place throughout almost all of Insurgent and the worst part was, she didn't tell anyone why she was being such a downer. Tobias/Four kept asking her what was wrong and she would be like "Oh nothing..." and then just start moping again and I all I could think was COME ON GIRL! TELL HIM WHAT IS WRONG! YOU CAN TRUST HIM!!! Gahhh it drove me bananas. Plus I felt like Veronica Roth wrote it as if I should be feeling sorry for Tris when really I just felt like I needed to knock some sense into her. And did I mention that she goes all suicidal on us ala Bella Swan in Twilight? Yeah, I was pissed. Fortunately Veronica Roth does pull Tris out of this awful character rut and by the end of Insurgent she is a much stronger character and more developed character. I just wish she didn't have to go to such a low to get there. The good news is Tobias/Four, even with the double name confusion, was still pretty awesome and his and Tris' relationship felt a lot less creepy when they weren't being presented as teacher and student like in Divergent so thank God for that! 


Insurgent was a strong sophomore novel. It wasn't quite up to the same level as Divergent but it was still an extremely enjoyable dystopian read. On top of that I am definitely eager for book #3! I give Insurgent gets 5 out of 5 ice cream cones. 

Julia :)

Waiting on Wednesday [20]

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted over at Breaking The Spine. The purpose is to spotlight upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

The book I am super excited for this week is Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt!

The story of a girl figuring out the truths and illusions of life and love, both in the nostalgic past and in the very real now. Laugh-out-loud humor combines with a hint of romance in this delightful contemporary novel.

The cure for a broken heart? Go vintage and live like it’s 1962! Mallory’s boyfriend, Jeremy, isn’t just cheating on her. He’s cheating with an online girlfriend. So Mallory decides to swear off boys and modern technology. Inspired by a list of goals her grandmother made in 1962, Mallory decides to “go vintage” and return to a simpler time. She sets out to complete grandma’s list: run for pep club secretary, host a dinner party, sew a homecoming dress, find a steady, do something dangerous. The list proves to be trickier than it looks. Obviously finding a steady is out . . . no matter how intriguing she finds Oliver (er, Jeremy's cousin). But with the help of her sister, Mallory will finish the list and find peace. 
Somehow.

Last year I was pleasantly surprised by Lindsey Leavitt's first novel Sean Griswold's Head so I have high hopes for Going Vintage! The premise sounds totally cute and quirky and I am SO onboard with the whole 1960's thing. I definitely cannot wait for this book. It's coming out from Bloomsbury on March 19th 2013. SO FAR AWAY!!!! :P


What books are you waiting on today? 


Julia :)

Kawaii Monday: Dinosaur Bank

I was walking through Target the other day with the kids I nanny when I saw this:

I just about died. I picked it up and started hugging it and basically squealing over how cute it was. The kids were looking at me like I was crazy and proceeded to say:

"Miss Julia, you REALLY like dinosaurs don't you?"

To which I responded. "Yes. How could you tell?"

And they said. "Well... You're hugging that dinosaur bank REALLY tightly."

Yep. Model nanny right there.

Fortunately my good sense intervened and I did not end up purchasing this little guy. BUT I WILL BE BACK AND HE WILL BE MINE! I'm not even kidding on this one guys. Dinosaurs are one of my favorite things and banks are another one of my favorite things so the combination of the two is kind of irresistible for me. Plus he's a stegosaurus WHICH IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE DINOSAUR!!!! <3

You can find this guy at your local Target or buy him online from Target.com.

Julia :)

Cover Comparison Summer Lovin' Edition [2]

Time for another Summer Lovin' Edition of cover comparison! Since last week I posted my review of the amazing Amy and Roger's Epic Detour I figured this week I should feature it for a comparison. This one will be interesting because the covers REALLY contrast. Let's check them out!

                                                 US Cover                        UK Cover

US Cover: So like I said in my review this cover kind of turned me off the book at first because it just screams "I'm a cheesy lovey dovey romance novel." I know. I'm pathetic. I judge books by their covers. But that's beside the point. The point is other than that the cover is okay and a fair representation of the book. Well except that it's really not a romance... But I LOVE the font. Seriously, the font of this book is quite possibly my favorite book title font ever.

UK Cover: I have mixed feelings about this cover. On one hand I love the super creative graphic design nature of it but on the other hand I just don't like the color scheme. At all. I'm not a pink girl and I think the color doesn't capture the freedom and open road vibe of the story itself. I wish it was bluer. But that's just me. And greener. And more naturey. But that's just me. :P

So who wins? This is such an interesting comparison because the covers do contrast so much. One is kind of the classic YA picture format and the other is the creative graphics and illustrations format. Personally I've gotta give it to the US cover. The font alone wins this comparison. I like the UK cover but the color scheme feels off to me when compared with the actual story.

Which cover of Amy and Roger's Epic Detour do YOU like best? Be sure to vote in the poll below and sound off in the comments about why you made your decision! It'll be interesting to see which cover wins out: the classic stock photo one or the unique illustrated one.




Julia :)