Covers: the Fallen series by Lauren Kate

Recently, Lauren Kate unveiled the cover of the upcoming book, Passion, on her website.

The Fallen series has two of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen. I first spotted the cover of Fallen while browsing Goodreads. Something about it made me want to have this book, even though I had absolutely no idea what it was about. It kept haunting me in its beauty. It radiates a kind of sadness, despair, a sense of being alone. The dark woods surrounding the girl seem dangerous and dark. She's wearing a beautiful dress (always a plus). I like that we see her from the side. Her arm curves in a fluent shape, covering her face with her hands. Her hair, flowing from her back, adds some movement to the picture.

When Torment came out, I forgot all about Fallen. This cover is even better. The contrast between the cold bare background and her soft voluminous dress. Oh, that dress. And the shining healthy black hair that is even longer, falling in loose waves from her back. The point of view that shows off her tiny waist. The pose, the way her hands desperately go through her hair. The whole picture is balanced, even the font of the title goes with the feel of the picture. I love that she is standing in a barren, cold landscape. We seem to have kept the forest theme, but in this one it isn't as prominent as it was in Fallen. In real life, this cover is even prettier than on screen. When it came in through mail I sat down, put it in front of me, and just marvelled in the strength of this cover.

Having such a strong affection for these two books I couldn't wait for the Passion cover release. So, when it was finally there, I was a little bit disappointed. It is by no means a horrible cover. It's great. It just isn't as great as its predecessors. I like that there is a little touch of red added to the palette, but I think the clouds in the background should have stayed white-grey. That way the focus of the picture would have been the flower she is holding, and not the clashing unnaturally coloured background. The top of her dress is very pretty, but the rest of it lacks the volume the other two dresses had. Because of that it looks a bit like a tired dress, that has had its best days. Another thing that bothered me is that she doesn't seem to fit in her environment. It looks like she doesn't belong there at all. The gorgeous black hair I so often jealously beheld looks dull here. We finally get to see her face, but I think I liked the covers more when we couldn't. The model looks too skinny here. Her shoulders are hunched in a vulnerable way, making her arms look too thin and her hands too slender. Overall, she looks worn out, not passionate. She looks like she has just buried a loved one, she's fallen into depression, stopped eating and caring for herself, and she is now standing at the foot of his grave with a flower.

It still is a pretty cover, and there must have gone a whole lot of work into it, but I think it is just off. If this was another series, it would have been completely fine, but after two of those amazing covers, you expect something different. I feel sad for Passion. It is completely outshone by it's baby brothers Fallen and Torment. I am still curious for the fourth instalment of this series though. I have hope that Passion is a little detour, and that Rapture will blow us away completely.

Note: this is purely a review on the covers of these books and by no means represent my opinion on the content. Those will be discussed in separate reviews.