Wednesday, June 09, 2010

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden - cover opinions

This comparison's slightly different to usual. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant is being published in the US on 10 August in Hardback. The UK edition came out last year in paperback.

For me, the title alone caught my attention on the UK edition however the cat would get *my* attention on the US cover!

US -------------------------------------------------------UK



What's interesting is that the UK edition is marketed at teenagers and was shortlisted for the 2009 Booktrust Teenage Prize (the eventual winner was the equally cross-over The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman) and is also shortlisted along with The Graveyard Book for the 2010 CILIP Carnegie Medal. In the US however, it is categorised (on amazon at least) an adult edition.

Either way it's a great read for fans of mysteries whatever their age. My review is on my teenage blog.

5 comments:

kathy d. said...

I like both covers, but if I had my druthers, I'd pick the U.S. version with the cat silhouette. Usually I like the U.K. versions but this time I slightly prefer the cat design.

Amy said...

I'm only a third into it and haven't ran into a cat. I did notice that the voice felt younger than usual. My ARC didn't have a cover graphic, but I do prefer the cat (if it fits in!).

So far I like the rather witty voice...

Amy said...

I'm about a third into it and haven't run into a cat yet, but I do like the cat cover. My arc is just text, no descriptive illustrations at all. The voice does feel younger than most adult titles, and she's very witty too!

Anonymous said...

I think I prefer the U.K. version - the cat seems a little too complicated - but I'm not convinced either would make me pick the book up.

Rik S.

kathy d. said...

The UK version looks to me a bit like an "Alice in Wonderland" cover.