Shelf Candy Saturday #76: Cruel Beauty, by Rosamund Hodge

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!!

This weekly feature

showcases beautiful book covers,

and provides information,

if available, on their very talented creators!

For more information

about Shelf Candy Saturday,

just click HERE.

This is my choice for this week!

Cruel Beauty

Rosamund Hodge

Hardcover, 336 pages

Balzer & Bray

January 28, 2014

Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult Fiction

Why do I love this cover?

This cover, when I first came across it, left me absolutely speechless!  I found it while visiting a new blog, The Sirenic Codex, where it was included in a post titled Top 5: 2014 Cover Reveals.  P.E. Mari, the author of this blog, had in turn discovered it on the website Epic Reads, in one of their blog's posts, titled Winter 2014 Cover Reveals Roundup.

First of all, red roses are my favorite flowers!  I do like other types and colors of roses, but I will always prefer red ones.  To me, they speak of love, passion, and romanticism!  The one on this cover was obviously photographed at the height of its beauty.  Its perfect whorls are actually mesmerizing.

The stunning aspect of this cover is the rose's seamless fusion with the spiral staircase.    This is a stroke of genius on the designer's part!  This fusion has been achieved to such a degree of perfection that it simply seems natural to have the rose flow into a spiral staircase.  The result is an image which is highly pleasing to the eye, as well as very symbolic. 

The young woman swiftly descending the staircase (her dress is billowing behind her, and her hair is blowing back, so she's definitely in a hurry) is another very nice touch, because her figure also resembles a rose petal. 

Going back to the symbolism, this cover is simply loaded with it.  The red rose is a symbol of love and passion, as we already know.  But the dark depths of the petals speak of mystery and hidden danger.  The spiral staircase could be going round and round, leading nowhere, which refers to the young girl feeling trapped.  And her resemblance to a rose petal refers to her kinship with the rose -- she is totally enmeshed in the danger and passion.  Also, the softness of the rose is a very stark contrast to the hardness of the metal bannister of the staircase, which reinforces the paradox found in the title.

The font used for the title is absolutely gorgeous, as well, fitting the image on the cover so perfectly, as well as embodying the paradox found in the title; the initials are graceful, flowing in a circular motion, which echoes the rose and the staircase, while the rest of the letters are stark, harsh, thus befitting the theme of the novel.

Since I don't own this book as yet (it will be a belated Christmas present to myself!), I have no idea who the brilliant cover designer is, unfortunately.  I can hardly wait until January to find out!   

What do you think of

my choice for this week?

Leave me a comment

and let me know!