Obsessed With Covers #32: Masquerade, The Republic of Thieves, Masks and Shadows

Y'all know how much I love a pretty cover. I think about...40% of the books that end up on my shelves (be they physical or digital) do so because of the covers. Call me shallow but you have to admit that a pretty, shiny cover will catch your eye faster than a dull, boring one. Two, simple rules that I'll follow:

• 1, 2 or 3 (no more than 3, though) covers per week;
• books should be new-ish; no more than 2 years old.

Oh, before I share the covers that made me drool or want to stare at them for hours and hours, I have to say something. This is a semi-original idea. Why semi? Because almost every book blogger has something similar. The only thing I came up with was the title. If by any chance there's another blogger with a similar feature with the same title, I assure you I'm not stealing your idea. I'm just THAT bad with titles. Believe me, I'd love to be smarter and have a witty name for this feature, but I don't. So, no copyright infringement/theft/steal or anything of the sort was desired. All I can say is sorry :P

Tomorrow the Venice Carnival ends and I thought it would be good idea if I went searching for some carnival inspired covers out there. I found a few gorgeous, gorgeous ones that I'm very happy to share with you.

There's something about the full mask that makes this cover very mysterious. I love the fact that I can't be sure if that's a woman or a man behind the mask. I also love that there's no color on the mask at all, highlighting the cover model's gorgeous blue eyes. And I like that the mask is bigger than Rialto bridge's silhouette. I want to know what secret the model hides, I want to know why the mask is needed. I assume there's something revolving around her/his identity, maybe they did something terrible in the past or maybe they just hide from their family's legacy. Simply put, I want to know everything there is to know about this person and their secrets



Marquerade - Melissa de la Cruz




The fact that this cover features one of the most famous Venetian masks is why I noticed it in the first place. I also can't help but notice that despite the title, it seems like the masked woman either just killed someone or barely escaped a brutal fight. Either way, I love the contrast between her black clothes and bloody swords, and the pristine red robes of the man behind her. It seems, in a way, that she's protecting him at all costs, while he hides behind her, plotting. The foggy background makes me think that this idea of someone plotting isn't too far off (I always think someone plans something entirely evil on a foggy day. Foggy days are creepy to me, okay?). I also can't help but notice that the cover isn't similar to the other covers from this series (bummer!). But the cover is gorgeous and I want to know what the series is about.

The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch

I love the colored smoke. Despite the mask, the smoke is the first thing I noticed. Plus, the violet and blue combination of colors, which is one of my favorite color combo ever. The one thing that I can't get past though is the fact that not only is the person wearing a mask to conceal their identity, they also have their eyes closed. So you really have no idea who is behind that mask, not even a tiny clue. I'm also intrigued by the curtains, which made me think about the opera or a theater. So I get the sense that this person is really powerful, influential, but also someone that is controlling things from behind the scenes if that makes sense. Also, I love how the "shadows" from the title are around the person, while the building almost has a spotlight on it. I'm very curious about the book, now.


Masks and Shadows - Stephanie Burgis