Friday Face-Off: Hair
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:
“Your hair is winter fire, January embers.”
~ a cover featuring HAIR
Mogsy’s Pick:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Nick and Amy are seemingly the average couple. Sure, they’ve been through some rough times, especially during the recession when they were forced to move back to Nick’s hometown in Missouri after both were laid off from their their jobs in New York City. But to those around them, they seemed happy. Which is why everyone is shocked when one day, Amy simply disappears without a trace, and the subsequent investigation reveals disturbing secrets about the couple’s marriage and home life.
This book took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions, making me question everything I read, making me wonder how deep the secrets really go and just who is telling the truth. This massively popular book also became adapted into a massively popular movie, so as you can imagine there are a ton of different versions and translated editions around the globe. Below is just a selection of some of the best and most interesting:
From left to right:
Crown (2012) – Broadway Books (2014) – Polish Edition (2013)
Vietnamese Edition A (2014) – Vietnamese Edition B (2019) – Norwegian Edition (2013)
Dutch Edition A (2014) – Dutch Edition B (2017) – Arabic Edition (2013)
Italian Edition A (2015) – Italian Edition B (2016) – Macedonian Edition (2013)
Chinese Edition (2013) – Icelandic Edition (2013) – Persian Edition (2012)
Winner:
It’s hard picking my favorite this week because of the huge variety of choices and styles, but I think I’m going to have to go with the Norwegian edition. It’s been a while since I read the book so the finer details of the story escape me and I can’t remember if there was a scene like this, but I do like the stark imagery of the lone red kite caught in the bare branches of the tree.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
The BiblioSanctum 
Watched the movie the other day. Was quite good. Messed up but good…
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I still haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve heard about how messed up it is, lol!
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I really need to read this at some point. I like the first cover, I think, the most, although that could be just because that’s the one I always see. The Norwegian one though is nice too with that spot of red and the kite.
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Yeah, I like the first one too, precisely because of its familiarity!
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I haven’t read Gone Girl cz I have seen the movie already. I think already knowing what’s gonna happen next ruined the book for me
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Yeah, I can see that! I probably would lose interest in the book as well, if I already knew what would happen.
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Oh wow, it’s so interesting seeing how different all these are! I don’t really ‘get’ the Macedonian Edition. Good choice with the Norwegian version as I like that one too, it’s the right about of mystery, darkness and intrigue.
Caz x
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LOL yes, the Macedonian edition has this showgirl quality to it that just makes me think, WTF?!
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I like the Polish edition!
Still haven’t read the book or seen the movie 🤔
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I haven’t seen the movie yet, kinda nervous to, to be honest, ha! 😀
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I’ve only seen the movie of this but I loved it – so intense & keeps you guessing literally the whole time. I’ve read one of the authors other books since then and loved it however although that was definitely also unsettling. Cover wise I think I like the first two best although that’s probably because I see them the most 😅
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Can you believe I still haven’t seen the movie? It sounds like my thing though, and it’s been long enough since I read the book that I think I can still be surprised by it. I think I’ll look into renting it for this weekend 😀
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If you do I really hope you enjoy it (: I know I found it addictive but I didn’t know what was coming. Although, that being said, I have seen it more than once and still enjoyed it the second time round.
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Honestly, I despised this book which is why I’m amazed I’ve actually watched the movie as well. In fact, it’s hard for me to even pick up a book which has “if you loved Gone Girl…” on it because it scares me off. However, there are quite a few covers here which are pretty decent and my favorite is the same one you chose.
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Haha! I enjoyed the book, but I know what you mean – by the second half, I was so mad everyone in it. The characters were just so unlikable and infuriating.
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It always cracks me up how different countries interpret books, some of these are just silly! That being said, I think my favorite is the Dutch A cover.
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I know, right? Like the Macedonian one is just a head scratcher! XD
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I love that yellow cover with the blond woman. But mind you, i’d never would have thought it was Gone Girl. Or anything dark and twisty for that matter 😀
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Exactly! It’s a bright and flashy cover which would leap out at me immediately, but it doesn’t match the story at all 😛
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Great choice! I think I like the black cover best. It’s simple, but it makes the book seem dark (which it was).
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Very true, there’s something very sinister about it – like, how a fleeting glimpse of hair does scream “gone” to me.
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Yes! It’s kind of perfect in it’s simplicity.
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I love the very first cover in your list, the 2012 Crown edition: the suggestion of wind-tossed hair makes for a very powerful image . 🙂
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Yes! As I was just saying above, there’s a dark and creepy quality to it, like, “Now you see me, now you don’t”.
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I guess the movie tie in, but none really pull me in
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Yeah, quite a few of these are very simplistic or they don’t really match the story – guess they want to keep it vague as not to spoil anything accidentally!
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The Macedonian Edition (2013) doesn’t really seem to fit the rest of the covers 😂😂 My favorite is Dutch Edition A (2014)
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LOL yes, the Macedonian edition is definitely the odd one out this week!
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What a good choice for this week’s theme – which I thoroughly enjoyed:)). I’m going for the Arabian edition – I love the hair flying off the edge of the page, which gives a nice sense of the slipperiness of this book.
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Yes, it borrows the Crown edition’s concept, but I think the idea was executed more effectively!
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Excellent choice. I would have probably picked the Crown (2012) one since it’s what I’m so used to of all of these hahah I still need to read this one though. I really enjoyed the movie and had always told myself that I’d pick up the book in the future… hahah
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I still gotta watch the movie! At first I wanted to wat to see it, but I think it’s been long enough since I read the book that I will be able to enjoy all the twists now 😀
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That’s my favorite as well! That kite is eye-catching 😀
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Yes! I just love that spot of color on an otherwise bleak background.
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What a great choice – I was thinking of something like this for this theme but just couldn’t find what I wanted. Well, 13 Minutes but I’ve used that before for another theme.
I love your choice but I also like the first – probably because of seeing it so often.
Lynn 😀
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Haha, yes, the more we do these the smaller our option pool gets. I also considered 13 Minutes but I’ve done that one already as well 😀
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I actually don’t mind the movie cover (Broadway Books 2014). It plays into misleading the reader as the book does at the beginning.
I really liked this story too. I watched part of the movie first before reading and it’s good I did that because I wouldn’t be able to handle the suspense otherwise. I always want to know how thrillers and mysteries end before I get to the end.
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Ooh, you’ve given me a different perspective on the movie tie-in cover now, and made me want to watch the movie even more! Haha, I still haven’t watched it – when I first heard they were making a movie, I knew I wanted to wait because I’d just read the book. I think it’s been long enough since I read the book that watching the movie will hold some surprise again 🙂
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😲 yea yo! Def go watch it.
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