Shelf Candy Satuday #6: Passion, by Lauren Kate

This wonderful book meme/blog hop

is hosted by

Stephanie @

Five Alarm Book Reviews!!

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

HERE.

This week, I'm showing

some cover love to:

Passion

(Fallen #3)

Lauren Kate

Hardcover, 420 pages

Delacorte Press

(an imprint of Random House

Children's Books)

June 14, 2011

Genres: Paranormal Romance,

Urban Fantasy

You can check out my review

HERE.

This is such an amazingly beautiful cover!  Although the overall feeling is, at first sight, one of oppressive melancholy, the bright red rose points to a shred of hope, as well as to the passion of love, referenced in the title.  The flower's color is also picked up in the author's name, at the bottom of the cover.  

The girl's black dress and black hair give her a surreal, even otherworldly quality.  Her hands gently cradle the rose as she gazes pensively down at it.  Around her, the feeling of sadness seems about to lift, as dawn approaches, and the clouds, swiftly herded along by the wind, reflect the approaching sun.  The sky is not yet the color of day, but the night's darkness is receding.  It's a beautiful shade of blue with a hint of purple in it.

The landscape around the girl is a barren one.  Yet, the rose in her hands is freshly-picked,  and in full bloom. 

This cover speaks to me of despair and longing slowly giving way to hope.  The title is boldly emblazoned across the center.  The passion referred to is not just the passion of love, but also the passion of life, which always wins out over death.

This amazing cover is the work of

two highly talented illustrators:

Fernanda Brussi Goncalves

and

Rebecca Roske.

They are digital photographers

who also do photo manipulation.

The jacket design is by

Angela Carlino,

the Art Director at Random House.