Saturday, February 25, 2012

Shelf Candy Saturday #8: Starcrossed, by Josephine Angelini




This wonderful book meme/blog hop
is hosted by

Stephanie @


The purpose of this feature is to display
a beautiful book cover,
with information, if available,
about the cover illustrator,
photographer, and/or designer.

For all the participation rules,
just click



This week, I'm showing
some cover love to:





Josephine Angelini
Hardcover, 487 pages
HarperTeen
May 31, 2011
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance



This is truly an inspired cover!  The designers have used a beautiful nighttime landscape, full of a strange luminosity, as the background for a girl who is standing off to the right, dressed in the flowing robes typical of ancient Greece. 

It was the blue that first attracted my attention -- the shimmering blue, edged with pearly white waves, of the ebbing surf on the beach below the cliff where the girl is standing.  Crossed by a patch of darkness, the blue of the sea blends into the blue-gray of the stormy, cloud-filled sky.

Almost at the same time, the billowing folds of the white cape captured my interest.  My eyes then moved on to the simple gown.  The folds in clothes and drapery have always fascinated me.  Renaissance artists excelled at depicting them, and this cover reminds me of their paintings. 

The gentle breeze that has ruffled the ocean blue has barely touched her hair, but has lifted her cape out behind her.  She is slowly extending one arm backward, and her eyes are closed.  It's almost as if she were preparing for flight...

I love the overall flow of the design, too.  The shadows on the cape have a hint of blue-purple in them, which is also present in the sky, along with the blue-gray.   The dark brown of the rocky cliff is also the color of her outstretched hand.  It moves up her arm, then jumps to the lower edges of her hair, and part of her face. 

The blue, the brown, the white...the eye is kept moving throughout this beautiful composition.  The viewer is certainly never bored, but constantly delighted instead!

The font used for the title is a classic one, which fits the plot quite well.  Although the letters are spread out across the middle of the cover, I don't think this detracts from the design at all. 

If I were to change anything in this cover, I would choose to remove the endorsement by Lauren Kate, author of the Fallen series.  I don't like endorsements on front covers.  I feel they interfere visually with the design, and belong on a book's back cover, instead.


This gorgeous book jacket is
the result of 
a three-way collaboration.

The photography is
the work of



The jacket design
is the work of 


and 









6 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful cover. I love the way that she looks caught up in the wind as the weather moves the sea. Great choice.
    Bahaha. Of course you were first attracted to the blue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this cover, the way the wind pulls at her gown. It has a lot of movement to it and it seems to me that the main character is waiting for something or someone. I have been wanting to read this for a while and this makes me want to move it to the top of my list!!
    Great choice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Steph!

    Yes, this IS indeed a beautiful cover!! It's a truly magical one, too. And yes, the color blue gets me interested every single time!! Lol.

    Thanks for the great comment!! : )

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, Cambria!

    Glad you like this cover! Everything about it is just gorgeous, mysterious, and magical! And you're right -- it DOES look like she's waiting for someone, now that you mention it.

    You know, I'm thinking I need to move this one to the top of my list, too!

    Thanks for the wonderful comment!! : )

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is a very different book from all the other mythological books out there. First, there's Angelini's sense of humor; you have to love it. Then there's the fact that the Trojan War plays a big part in this. And then... where else do you find a book where the girl tries to kill the guy the moment she lays eyes on him?

    It does happen, and you have to admire Lucas's control over his emotions. Imagine feeling the way he does and resisting the urge to fight back. In fact, the entire Delos family is incredible. I can't imagine how it'd feel like to turn your back on your family and cross the Atlantic to start life anew... only to run into someone like yourselves and realize that the conflict is just starting.

    Sometimes, I had trouble figuring out just why Helen isn't part of the `in' crowd with her good looks and natural talents; however, as Lucas somewhat points out, guys have a hard time approaching her. With her aversion to standing out in a crowd, it's not surprising that she's the way she is. While Helen is not the most stunning heroine in regards to personality, it does leave a lot of room for character development. I'm looking forward to seeing how she grows up over the course of the series.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi, Netherland!

    WOW! From what you've written here, I'm in for a real treat when I start reading this book!! The characters sound absolutely amazing!!

    I'm so glad the cover pulled me in!! Now I know that the contents will be just as good.

    Thanks for such a terrific comment!! : )

    ReplyDelete

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