I noticed this double take at the Texas Book Festival a couple weeks ago. While perusing the tent of books for sale, I noticed Abraham Verghese’s novel Cutting for Stone, pictured below:
I immediately recognized the image of the two individuals running with the dog from another book, Patrick Ness’ The Knife of Never Letting Go:
Upon closer inspection, it’s apparent that the image is not exactly the same – the position of the front runner is entirely different and the back runner slightly different. But it’s pretty darn close, aside from the color of the sky. The dog looks identical on each cover.
Who did it better? I may be biased, considering my love for the Chaos Walking trilogy and my antipathy toward Verghese’s sentiments about critical reviews, but I think The Knife of Never Letting Go makes better use of the image. I love the font used on Ness’ book, whereas the font on Verghese’s is too plain and saps interest rather than adding it. I also prefer the color scheme on the second book – it really highlights the running figures.
What do you think?
I haven't read either one, but I am with you on the second being a little stronger. I like the color usage more, as it tells me a little more about the story than Cutting for Stone. Nice catch!
I haven't read either. Since I'm a fan of the cover matching the book, I'm not sure I can choose one over the other! The second one is definitely more ominous, I can say that much.