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Well, I am totally out of the loop apparently since I just found out about the cover controversy for Magic Under Glass. This are my 2 cents:
I know that being aware of things like this is important and everything, but unlike when the controversy was about the cover of Liar (which was clearly a huge mistake from the person who made the cover, I mean white white girl on a cover that is suppose to be for a dark colored skin person? Come on of course people are going to be angry!) I think this one is just not that big of a deal. From my perspective, and I am holding the book in my hands right now, the skin of the girl in the cover ain't that much different from mine, and I am absolutely not white.
"Tassim, in the far East... in Lorinar, she is nothing but a dark-skinned amusement"
So from this you think of the girl as being exotic and darker on the skin department than most girls. But there is another part where one character named Hollins describes her skin as having a "golden glow".
If I were to go to a place where the majority of the population is white I would too be claimed as having dark-skin. Like I said in a comment of mine I would describe my skin as having a golden glow, doesn't mean I am brown perse. Let's see, I consider Brazilians to be exotic and they aren't necessarily brown colored. Most of them have a golden glow. Also just because you are a certain race doesn't mean every person is going to have the same color of skin. My sister is white, she is Puerto Rican like me, and my brother is a little bit darker than me.
All I'm trying to say is don't ban Bloomsbury from your buying list just because. True they may have made some mistakes here and there but if you ban them you are hurting the authors more than the publisher. The author made the story, not the cover. If you don't like the cover well, put your own cover on top of it or something xD The author is the one who poured their hearts into the story and not giving them a try because of a cover mistake is just not fair for anyone.
Again, I understand the importance of the matter and I am not saying it's not important to fight for what you believe, but really when you are in the middle of publishing a book a lot is going on and authors most of the time don't have a say on the book cover and a whole lot of the time the people who do the covers don't read the book. But in this one I think they did good. I like it. Then again everybody is different and have different tastes and opinions.
And those are my two cents,
Thank you for this great post. My opinion is pretty much the same as yours, and I was feeling guilty about feeling that way because of all the other outraged posts that have been popping up. So thank you for giving me the courage to speak out!
ReplyDelete@Alyssa thank YOU, I thought I was the only one that thought this way (and was preparing for a lot of bad comments against me). But I guess we can't help the way we feel right? I finally thought that not speaking out would be worse than speaking out so I posted it.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people don't share my view, but there are a few of those like you and me that may feel guilty and that's why they aren't speaking out.
I totally agree with you. I can understand the controversy about Liar because, in that case, it was a glaringly obvious mistake, but personally, I think this cover could go either way.
ReplyDeleteLove your review. Can't wait to actually read the book :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was looking through the book at the bookstore, I didn't really notice the mistake. I understand that it is a bit racial if you look at it that way, but when you consider the factors that publishers might not read through the book thoroughly or the "dark skin" might all be different shade for us in our perspectives.
I'm with Alyssa... I was afraid to admit that I didn't have a problem with this. Thank you for writing this! I think you are completely right... just because she is a certain race doesn't mean that she is an exact shade of brown.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. I haven't heard about the Liar cover controversy nor this books. I have pretty much the same feelings about this topic as you. But I do have some different views. I'm from India and I have darker skin color than most Caucasians but thats expected. But I have met many Caucasian people who have a bit lighter skin color than me but they're still who they are. It's also true (ask an author) that they don't get much say in what the book cover looks like. I've talked to a lot of authors and most have said that they didn't really say much when thought went into the cover making process (I am only saying this from what I've been told). But I understand why people got to angry about the colors. Everyone had their own opinions on things but it doesn't make anything right or wrong....
ReplyDelete@Jean Actually, it's kind of a review of the cover, my review will be posted a little later, but thanks! And Exactly the term brown or dark skin is different for everybody.
ReplyDelete@Tara SG No problem. I was actually relieved to hear people sharing my opinion.
@Kailai Sage I can understand too why people would get upset, specially with the Liar controversy being not too far behind, but it's a little extreme for something that can be interpreted in so many different ways. As I said they shouldn't ban the publishing house, they are just hurting the author by doing so.
I think it's great to have a dialogue about these things, but you make a great point.
ReplyDeleteThe author often has little if no say in the cover art. By boycotting the book, you're hurting the author more than the publisher - and potentially yourself if the book is a worthy read.
I'm a total cover junkee, but I still agree that the content is much more important than the cover art.
Great post!