I’m constantly surprised when I come across translated books with covers that are so vastly different from one another, you’d hardly think they’re of the same book. It particularly baffles me when the covers imply very different genres. That’s what happened with The Archived by Victoria Schwab.
In German it’s been translated to Das Mädchen, das Geschichten fängt, which means, The girl who catches (hi)stories. Geschichten can mean histories or stories but on a book cover, I don’t think the actual definition is immediately clear to a first time viewer. On technicality, the German title literally means, The girl who catches histories.
Comparison
Aesthetics
Both designs are gorgeous. I could stare at both of them for a long time and still not get bored. Thankfully I did manage to tear my eyes from the book cover when I read The Archived earlier this year.
US Book Cover
The US book cover, I find, is hauntingly beautiful. I like the use of just two colours. The blue is very strong, as it plays with contrasting hues to bring out the features of the girl’s face. As real she looks, the detachment of the face from the rest of a body together with the blue skin make her look like she’s dead — a ghostly figure. At the same time, she looks very much alive because of the attentiveness in her eye. Not alive, yet not quite dead. Disturbing, I admit but very intriguing.
The bronze key above the head, just below the title looks old and elaborate, which I think is very fitting in conjunction with an archive. Archives house old things, so this old key thoroughly evokes curiosity in me. Something about it is significant and I just had to know what it was when I first came across The Archived.
If you look really closely, you’ll be able to see brick walls behind the girl. They form a passageway that basically enclose her and lead right into the dark. I think it’s genius how many layers have been incorporated into that cover design!
German Book Cover
The German book cover embodies exuberance to me. The birds are colourfully vibrant against the light background. The handwritten type of the title makes it feel more personal. In a way, it already draws me in, expecting me to be able to connect with the narrator/protagonist.
This cover offers such a strange contrast to the US cover because it points to life more than to death. Although, come to think of it, maybe the bare branches are supposed to show us that these birds are perched on a dead tree. Life and death do grace the German cover after all but I didn’t notice that without scrutiny.
Genre
US Book Cover
If I look at the US cover, I expect to read a paranormal story or horror. In the very least, The Archived has to be fantasy based on that cover design.
German Book Cover
One glance at it, and I think literary fiction. The design looks so clean and polished and somehow a girl chasing histories set against birds and dead trees makes me think there has to be a much deeper meaning to all of this.
Take a look at the Goodreads shelf of newly released literary fiction books. I dare you to tell me Das Mädchen, das Geschichten fängt doesn’t belong there. I’m convinced it fits squarely amidst all those book covers.
Personal Preference
This time round, the US book cover completely won me over. As much as I love the German book cover aesthetically, the design doesn’t reflect the story contained within the book. The Archived isn’t meant to be a work of literary fiction. It is fantasy.
We could debate the finer details of whether it is paranormal fantasy or urban fantasy but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. The US cover does a good job of showing viewers what the book is about. The German cover completely fails to do that. In fact, it is rather misleading.
I took a look at some of the German book reviews on Goodreads and saw that a number of readers were surprised when they read the story. Based on the book cover, they weren’t prepared at all for the darker undertones in The Archived. Those reviews confirmed my opinion that it’s a pretty misleading cover.
In contrast, the US cover managed to accurately present important elements of The Archived in a manner that is very eye-catching. I seriously wonder what on earth the German redesign was for. At least, like I said, it is gorgeous.
Your Vote
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Vastly different covers, great options to feature! I haven’t actually read The Archived – I hope to in the future – but the US cover appeals to me more than the German, although they are both appealing to the eye. Based on your voting poll it seems like both covers are liked almost equally… Not that you needed me to tell you that. Haha.
:-)
Yup. That striking difference completely caught me off-guard, so I just had to see what others would think. And you’re right, for now the votes are pretty even :) I say definitely keep The Archived on the radar but if you prefer to read series in one shot, maybe wait until Victoria Schwab announced more concrete publishing details for the last book in the trilogy since there’s no fixed publishing date or publisher yet.
I like the German cover better, but maybe not for this book? I think the US cover fits the story a bit more, and I do like the creepy smoke around the floating head. I also like the title, The Girl Who Catches Histories. Pretty apt description, I’m sure people wouldn’t realize how literal that is!
You’re right, Anne. The German title does have the literal meaning going for it, which is something unexpected yet clever when readers get down to it. As pretty as the German cover design is though, pity it doesn’t really support that title. On it’s own, I do like the German cover just as much as the US cover.
The context of the story seems so different between the two!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
“Not alive, yet not quite dead.” That description seems quite fitting for the US Archived cover. I always thought it was a bit weird how the girl’s head seems to stream from the key.
That german cover gives a totally different feel then the US one, it’s funny to see how much covers differ for different countries.
I think I also prefer the US cover in this case as it seems to fit the story better from what you described (I haven’t read the book). I agree the german cover looks more like literary fiction then fantasy. Also I like the mysterious feel of the US cover.
I suppose the smoke that surrounds the head is supposed to accentuate the fleetingness of the girl and the placement of the key is simply a layout preference that had nothing to do with the actual link between the key and the girl. Yeah, the mysteriousness is what drew me to it too.
I think both are really aesthetically appealing but I agree with you in that the US cover fits the story better. The German cover is so pretty but I think a cover has to be more than just pretty, it has to represent the book. It’s surprising what you can tell about a story based on a good fitting cover and the German one does not convey to me at all what The Archived is really about.
Yep. If these two were different books, I would’ve had a hard time picking one over the other based on the covers alone. I love looking at both, so it’s only due to relevance that I prefer the US cover to the German cover. Although, as someone else commented, the German title is very literal, so technically it does make an attempt to convey what the book is about.
Something, something about that German cover just reels me in…
Birds! It’s the birds! :D Or the colours! ;D