Judging Books By Their Covers: Part 3

I AM BACK WITH PART THREE!

Are you excited?

I'm excited.

Let's get started.

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

shiny....

I'd like to start with the fact that the shiny star-things on the cover distracted me for longer than I'd like to admit. 

Back to judging.

This cover gives me the impression the book is about an impeccably dressed lady during Victorian England, or early 1900s America. She has a cool hat on, which means she's dapper. The title The Fortune Hunter tells me that she got to this state of dapper-ness by inheriting money that wasn't hers in the first place. Maybe it's a murder mystery and she murders her family and/or various husbands to inherit their wealth, or maybe it's more romantic and it's a tale of her downfall with wealth and now plans to marry for love.

What it's actually about: Beautiful, athletic and intelligent, Sisi has everything - except happiness. Bored with the stultifying etiquette of the Hapsburg Court and her dutiful but unexciting husband, Franz Joseph, Sisi comes to England to hunt. She comes looking for excitement and she finds it in the dashing form of Captain Bay Middleton, the only man in Europe who can outride her. Ten years younger than her and engaged to the rich and devoted Charlotte, Bay has everything to lose by falling for a woman who can never be his. But Bay and the Empress are as reckless as each other, and their mutual attraction is a force that cannot be denied.

Was I close?: Kinda but not really. This is more a passionate love affair about two rich women who go on a quest with a dashing, working class man that leads to a love triangle, not a serial marry-er who craves wealth. But I did guess the time period correctly! I give myself a dismal 30%. 

Burn Out by Kristi Helvig

The blurb quote on the cover tells me it's a thriller, but I would've guessed that because it has a silhouetted person surrounded by red and dark blue/black. Given the word "burn" in the title and the yellow/orange coming from the center of the cover, either a huge fire or (possibly) lava is happening and the protagonist must do something to stop it and it's very thrilling.

What it's actually about: Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth's final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns "red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.

Was I close? Yes actually! It's a thriller about fire/lava that is technically referred to as the sun. I kind of missed more of the plot details, but this cover didn't reveal those to me as much. But it definitely looks like an interesting book! Might have to check it out ;) I'll give myself an 80% since I'm biased and I was close enough.

The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook

Again, judging by the nice hair and jewelry (PEARLS!), I'd say this book is about a rich person. Perhaps royalty from somewhere in Europe. It has snow on the cover, so I want to say Russia for some weird reason but that's not an official guess. I'm not sure what else I can discern from the cover, but I get a weird feeling it's a darker book, because the cover is gray-tinted with red letters and the title is THE AFTERMATH in large red capital letters. So the aftermath could be following some sort of tragedy, like death if it's darker or divorce if it's romantic. I'm going to lean towards death.

What it's actually about: 1946, post-World War II Hamburg. While thousands wander the rubble, lost and homeless, Colonel Lewis Morgan, charged with overseeing the rebuilding of this devastated city and the denazification of its defeated people, is stationed in a grand house on the River Elbe. He is awaiting the arrival of his wife, Rachael—still grieving for their eldest son—and their only surviving son, Edmund. But rather than force the owners of the house, a German widower and his rebellious daughter, out onto the streets, Lewis insists that the two families live together. In this charged atmosphere, both parents and children will be forced to confront their true selves as enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal, to their deepest desires, their fiercest loyalties, and the transforming power of forgiveness. 

Was I close? The rich lady is not the main character, so I was off there. But it does seem to be about a devastating aftermath in 1946 Hamburg, which is vaguely close to my kinda guess of Russia as the setting. But I totally misjudged the cover when guessing it's darker. This seems more dramatic rather than murderous. So I'll give myself a 60.3%.

I think I'm getting better at this, you guys. Root for me. And tell me what you think of my guesses in the comments!

See you next time!

Owyn the Intern