Originally published in Australia last lear June, Wildlife hit the international arena this year — April in Germany and the past week in the USA. The German title, Wilder Sommer doesn’t deviate too much from the English titles. Translated it means “wild summer” which is pretty clear, in my opinion.
Comparison
Australian Cover
Oddly, this isn’t the first cover I saw of it. The first time I learnt about this book it was because of the German title. The US cover made the rounds over the past weeks during the lead-up to publication. I looked up the Australian cover because I learnt that Fiona Wood is an Australian author. Well, when I found it, I was disappointed. It looks rather unimaginative to me.
The title looks like it’s supposed to emulate the style of chalk, although it’s supposed to be reminiscent of clouds against the blue sky. There’s a good idea behind that but I wasn’t impressed by the execution. Some ideas just sound good in theory but not when actually applied to a design. That’s the case for the the Australian cover of Wildlife.
In fact, on closer inspection, I think the font used for the title is one of the standard fonts bundled with Apple Macs. Just one glance and I immediately thought of that font. So yeah, to me it looks like someone took their camping snapshot, amped up the colours and slapped on the title. I doubt I would’ve paid any attention to the book if I had seen this cover first.
Then again, maybe it’s supposed to reflect the self-sufficiency required in the wilderness. Still, I think it looks bland.
German Cover
Colours that pop always attract me. The cover looks like it was inspired by psychedelia, so I was pretty curious what story lay behind it. The juxtaposition of the photographic image of the girl and grass with the illustrative mountains and star-speckeled night sky is a convincing attempt at standing out. It’s not a cover I could have ever ignored.
In a way, it looks like the girl was uprooted from somewhere and forced into the setting. As much as she seems to be out of place, she still looks to be at peace, dreaming away unconcerned. Based on the synopsis, that’s also the sense that I get because the protagonist is on an exchange semester.
US Cover
The US cover integrated the title and the background splendidly. I like how the sky and the treetops fill the letters. Once again, it’s the vibrancy of the blue and green that drew me to the cover.
What struck me as odd was how unhappy the girl and the guy on the cover seem. There they are, sulking right under the glorious trees and sky. Or maybe they’re just tired? I can’t tell for sure but there’s no trace of gladness. In a way, it does fit with the mentions of betrayal and loss in the synopsis.
Personal Preference
All three covers represent the setting and make it clear that it’s out in the wild, or in the very least, it is outdoors. While I can’t tear myself away from colours that pop, I also like understated covers — quieter ones, if you will. The German cover is a little too overwhelming for me, so I prefer the US book cover. The German cover then is a close second and the Australian cover severely lags behind.
Your Vote
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I kinda like all of these covers. I always like how different the german covers are, I remember when my boyfriend and I found a series in a german bookstore that looked pretty cool and where dissapointed by the english cover. I do agree that the german cover is a bit too bright and coloured if you look at it longer. I do like how the girl is lying there relaxed and the night sky comes from her head in the form of a thought bubble. I like the nature feel of the US cover, it makes it feel more wild and outdoorsy then the other covers. I like the AUS cover the leats of these, th earth seems to stop so abrupt and it seems a bit too empty.
Exactly! I’m always intrigued by book covers across the different countries. Sometimes learning of a different cover even makes me decide to a read a book I had previously dismissed. Haha.
I definitely like the US cover the most. The use of photography is great, even though the models look a little unhappy as you mentioned, and the mostly simple font but vibrant colours makes for good enough typography. The other two covers don’t feel very much attuned to the title of the book.
Yeah, you summed up my thoughts about the US cover pretty well. Makes me wonder how publishers decide whether or not to change book covers to suit their local distribution and what makes them choose a redesigned local version over the original…
The German cover looks cool, but the girl does seem so out of place. The US one is just generally more cohesive and more put-together than the other two. The Australian one looks generic to me, with the whole grassy place and shoes in the shot thing.
And I don’t know if I ever noticed this before because I’m not sure, but I am so honored to be a part of your blogroll! Seriously, I am, and thank you so so much.
The Australian doesn’t just look generic, it looks like a subpar effort to me =/
You’re most welcome, Shannelle ;)
I like the US cover for the font treatment! And usually I don’t like models on covers, but these two don’t bother me. Maybe because the setting looks so relaxing, and I want to be at that lake too!
Awww. Why don’t you like models on covers? I don’t usually mind, unless they’re for movie tie-in covers. In those cases, I usually can’t get the actors’ faces out my hate, which I hate because I like to imagine myself how the characters look like.
Ohmygosh I am IN LOVE that that US cover. Everything about it is perfect, in my opinion. I love the fonts and the colours and the photograph. Just gorgeous. It actually makes me interested in reading this book (I haven’t heard of it before).
Similar to what you said, I am so not in love with the font used in the AUS cover. It just looks kind of tacky, and it really doesn’t look like clouds – which I presume is the effect they were going for. I think a plain white text would have probably looked better, and taken away the cheesy factor.
I’m not so keen on the German cover, either. The colours are a bit much for me, and I’m not a huge fan of the thought cloud coming out of her head. It’s all a bit too much.
So I definitely prefer the US cover out of the three :D
Oh yay! You found out about an Australian book through me! :P
Ultimately, it’s the US cover that will have convinced me to read this book sooner rather than later. I’m just waiting for my library to add it to the shelves.
I hadn’t seen the German cover before, but it’s actually pretty cool! Like you said, a bit too bright if you look at it for too long, but it’s a close second to the US cover. I’ve read the book (didn’t love it), and yeah there’s good reason for the MCs to look mopey like that.
The German cover is what first put Wildlife on my radar. Haha. Then I saw the US cover on Edelweiss. That confused me for a while until I realized that even though it had been previously published in Australia, it had yet to reach the US. I’m planning to check out the book to see if I like it since I try to make it a point to read more Australian titles.