Friday Face-Off: Circus
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.
This week’s theme is:
“You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town!”
~ a cover featuring the CIRCUS
Mogsy’s Pick:
Pantomime by Laura Lam
This week is another head-to-head contest. Coming up with covers featuring circuses was certainly not a problem, but I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity to talk about one of my favorite books! Yes, Pantomime is a story about a circus, the greatest circus in all of Ellada. But peel back the layers, and it is also a coming-of-age story dealing with matters of gender and sexuality. This fantasy YA novel follows an intersex teen named Micah Grey as he embarks on a journey to understand his non-binary identity and what that might mean to him physically and socially as he attempts to find his place in the world.
Let’s check out the covers:
2013 Strange Chemistry (left) vs. 2015 Pan Macmillan
And as a bonus, here are the covers to the sequels too, even though I haven’t read them yet:
Shadowplay by Laura Lam
2014 Strange Chemistry (Left) vs. 2016 Pan Macmillan (Right)
Masquerade by Laura Lam
2017 Pan Macmillan
Winner:
As much as I love the new designs, I’m going to have to go with the original covers. They’re more mysterious and enticing, and they just grab my attention right away. I also generally prefer covers with people on them, and seeing these covers also makes me feel nostalgic for Strange Chemistry.
What do you think? Which one is your favorite?
The BiblioSanctum 
I think I prefer the 2014 one
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It’s a striking cover, with the cards and the model starring straight at you.
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I really like 2015 Pan Macmillan
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I like the image of the trapeze artists on that one.
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I prefer the Pan MacMillan covers because of the colours and the design. More eyecatching. I would pick these off a shelf to read the blurb but I wouldn’t pick up the other covers. They don’t entice me.
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The Pan MacMillan covers do have some of that magic to them. They seem more elegant and tempting.
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Although the 2013 cover seems more appropriate with the teen’s inner arc (it really suggests a dramatic and character-driven tale), I actually love those Pan-MacMillan covers! They just scream “circus” to me! I would totally pick those up 😀
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You’re right, the Strange Chem covers do feel very YA! The Pan MacMillan ones are more neutral, I can see them appealing to both YA and Adult fantasy readers 🙂
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Oh, good point! I bet teens would be more likely to pick up books with faces on the cover.
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I’m pretty sure I own the first one in this series. I do like the black covers with the colorful designs but they almost seem too plain. So overall, I’m going to have to go with the Strange Chemistry versions. Seeing them makes me more apt to pick up the books. However, for people collecting them, I can see why they would go with the Pan-MacMillian covers – so they would all match!
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Yeah, it’s too bad Strange Chemistry shut down! It would have been interesting to see what their artist could have come up with for Masquerade. But you’re right, if you want to have all your books match now, you’d have to go with the Pan Macmillan 🙂
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I have no preference for once. I am just excited to see Shadowplay has a release date! This may be my favorite ongoing YA series and it feels like it has been forever since I read something from it.
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Ah, you probably meant Masquerade because I had accidentally flipped the titles in my post – fixed that now, thanks to your comment leading me to notice my goof! 🙂
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Thats right. Pantomime, Shadowplay, Masquerade is the one I need.
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I love this series, although it feels like YEARS since I read Shadow Play. I’m looking forward to the third book, if it comes to the US. And I agree, the original covers are much more interesting that the resign.
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It’s been years since I started this series too. I hope book three does come to the US soon, though if it does I probably would have to restart from the beginning just to refresh my memory 🙂
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Fascinating premise for this series, I must look deeper into this – and thank you for showcasing it 🙂
As for the covers, I like the more “minimalist” Pan Macmillan ones.
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It really is a great series, I hope it gets more attention!
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I personally like the Pan Macmillan covers better. I usually like symbol/font types of covers more than covers with faces/people on them, so that’s no surprise. 😀 The Pan Macmillan covers are more eye-catching and interesting, in general!
Have a lovely weekend, Mogsy! =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
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The Pan Macmillan ones are beautiful in their way – like someone else said, they are very minimalist and sometimes that’s awesome! I’m partial to simple and elegant myself, usually 🙂
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I think I like the Strange Chemistry covers too, although I do kinda like the newer Pantomime one. they’re all great. The SC Shadowplay one is really nice and I like Masquerade too.
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I agree, they are all very beautiful – since they’re so different, it really just depends on individual taste 🙂
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I love cover art and this is therefore one of my favourite memes. I like the 2015 pan Macmillan as I really like illustrated covers. I must find time to contribute my own meme soon x
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Yes, you should join in the fun! The more the merrier! 😀
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I totally agree with your cover choice – I love that Strange Chemistry Shadowplay cover. I still haven’t read this series – but I will. I’ve got a cunning plan! To try and split my books 50/50 with review/personal books – I simply have to start tackling all the books I buy, it’s becoming quite horrific.
Lynn 😀
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Yeah, I was thinking this year I needed to make more of an effort to read more “personal” books too – so far that plan isn’t going as well as I’d like, lol!
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