Friday Face-Off: Tower
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:
“When she was a child, the witch locked her away in a tower that had neither doors nor stairs”
~ a cover featuring a TOWER
Mogsy’s Pick:
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Rooted in folk legends in the vein of Grimm Fairy Tales, Uprooted blends magical elements and traditional Polish fairy tale influences to tell a story of a young woman named Agnieszka, who lives in a simple village with a dark secret. Surrounding her valley home is the ever encroaching Wood, a forest filled with dark energies and spirits, whose corrupting force has stolen the lives and minds of many. To combat this evil, the village has made a deal with a wizard who lives in a tower; every so often, he would descend into the valley and work up powerful spells to drive away the malicious effects of the Wood, but in return he exacts a steep price: every ten years, he chooses one young woman and takes her away to live in his tower until she is released and the next choosing begins again. No one really knows why he takes the girls, but there is speculation and none of it is good.
I loved this book. Uprooted was beautiful, magical, and truly captivating, and I’m pleased to see that many of its covers reflect this. Let’s take a look at them now:
From left to right, top to bottom:
Del Rey (2015) – Macmillan (2015) – Pan Macmillan (2016)
German Edition (2016) – Hungarian Edition (2016) – Croatian Edition (2016)
Ukrainian Edition (2017) – Korean Edition (2017) – Hebrew Edition (2016)
Spanish Edition (2016) – Estonian Edition (2016) – Slovenian Edition (2017)
Winner:
I like so many of these covers – the Del Rey edition, the German edition, the Spanish edition, the Korean edition…all of them are just so lovely. However, every so often there will be one cover in a batch that my eyes can’t help but keep coming back to, and for me this week, it’s the Hungarian edition. I love the image of the girl running through the forest, and the art style is very befitting for a story inspired by a fairy tale. I also love the simple application of colors, with the white sinewy branches standing out starkly against the black, and just a hint of gold to highlight the figure of Agnieszka and the tower in the background. This is the winner for me.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
The BiblioSanctum 
Ooh towers. 🙂 The Hungarian one is definitely nice, I like that she’s running too and in the woods, it immediately gives the impression that she’s desperate! Plus the tower in the background. That might be my favorite too.
The Del Rey and Macmillan covers are nice but don’t blow me away. The German edition I kinda like, and the Hebrew one too.
LikeLike
Yes, there’s a sense of urgency and panic in the Hungarian cover that I think it captured very well!
LikeLike
With theg exception of Croatian generic girl on the cover, I am actually liking all of these. They all have fairy tale vibe and it fits.
LikeLike
I agree, I’m impressed with the majority of these covers. Most of the time I get all duds!
LikeLike
I do like the Hungarian the best, but I feel the McMillian fits the story the best
LikeLike
Yes, the Macmillan one is popular this week!
LikeLike
Some lovely covers – I really like the Pan Macmillan (top right). I like your choice too, that one jumped out at me.
Lynn 😀
LikeLike
I like the simplicity of the Pan paperback too!
LikeLike
I love the Pan Macmillan one (top right). I actually bought it off The Book Depository just so I could have that version!
LikeLike
Nice! Yeah, at first glance, it’s easy to miss admidst all the flashier and more colorful covers. But I love it for its simple elegance 🙂
LikeLike
I’ve always liked the Macmillian one the best. I think it’s the color scheme and the way the tower shadows that house. Are you excited for the sequel?
LikeLike
I do like the color scheme of it too. Very different, and quite a bold choice for the tone of the book, but somehow it works.
LikeLike
The Macmillan one. Beautiful in its simplicity:)
LikeLike
I agree, sometimes less is more 🙂
LikeLike
I’m kind of surprised we picked the same book this week! I thought I was being obscure, lol. But you found a cover I didn’t find, and it’s my favorite as well as yours! (Hungarian) I’d love to track down that edition for my library😁
LikeLike
I was actually expecting to be FF twins with someone this week, simply because there are such gorgeous covers for this book, I just had a feeling someone else would pick it because I know I personally couldn’t resist 😀
LikeLike
This is one of my favorite books! I had no idea there were so many covers. I had only ever seen the Del Ray one. Its still my favorite but I really like the one you picked too!
LikeLike
Haha, yeah, apparently it’s a very popular book all around the world, I couldn’t believe how many international editions there were either 😀
LikeLike
Pingback: Friday Face-Off: Tower | Perfectly Tolerable
The DelRey cover is the one I saw when I read the reviews for this book, and I’ve always thought that the light shining on the central character’s face had a truly magical quality, and always loved it.
LikeLike
Yes, I like that aspect of the cover too, and the fact that it almost has a “woodcut” effect to it 🙂
LikeLike
I remember the French publisher asking me for review but I didn’t take it. I like the german one
LikeLike
I’m surprised more people didn’t pick the German one! I have a soft spot for that one too, it’s so pretty 🙂
LikeLike
The original Del Rey cover feels like a homage to the vintage fairy-tale look which I love. All of the covers are so beautiful it’s hard to choose, each evoke different emotions in me. The Spanish, Hungarian, and Macmillan covers stand out to me!
LikeLike
I agree, I was just thinking the Del Rey cover had an “old timey” feel, and actually your description nailed it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
i love the hungarian cover the most too!
the second favourite is the hebrew.
never heard of this book before, but it also sounds intriguing
LikeLike
The Hebrew one stands out to me too, because of the colors!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not really a fan of any of them but I like the colour on the German one.
LikeLike
I love the art style for that one too, surprised not more people chose it this week!
LikeLike
Pingback: The Friday Face-Off: The Tower – Books by Proxy
Ahhh! Such beautiful covers! 😀 The majority are stunning! Along with your favourite I’d probably go for the Macmillan (2015) and Pan Macmillan (2016). I love their simplistic, illustrative style 😀
LikeLike