Shelf Candy Saturday is an awesome weekly meme hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews where each Saturday bloggers defy the saying "never judge a book by its cover" and showcase one that really catches their eye. Covers play a huge role in the books I choose so it's great to have the opportunity to showcase the pretties :)
My shelf candy for this week is First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones.
Private investigator Charlotte Davidson was born with three things: looks; a healthy respect for the male anatomy; and the rather odd job title of grim reaper. Since the age of five, she has been helping the departed solve the mysteries of their deaths so they can cross over. Thus, when three lawyers from the same law firm are murdered, they come to her to find their killer. In the meantime, Charley's dealing with a being more powerful - and definitely sexier - than any spectre she's ever come across before. With the help of a pain-in-the-ass skip tracer, a dead pubescent gangbanger named Angel, and a lifetime supply of sarcasm, Charley sets out to solve the highest profile case of the year and discovers that dodging bullets isn't nearly as dangerous as falling in love.
I've been on a bit of an accidental blogging hiatus lately with real life getting in the way of my book time, and I'm thrilled to have my first post back be for my favourite meme :)
I don't usually like covers with people on them as they can a) look really weird and b) not even vaguely resemble the characters. That said, I fell in love with this one to the point I bounced up and down in the bookstore and got my Dad to stretch and grab it for me (stupid high shelves - short people read too!).
While this isn't how I see Charley in my head, it does fit really well with the story. The skull ring is a great nod to her role as the Grim Reaper and the mix of shadows and light shows how dark and light interplay in the book, both with the story matter and the sarcastic humour.
I also love the marbled background and the smoke like swirls tie in perfectly to a mysterious smoke-like entity Charley refers to as Big Bad. All in all it is a beautiful cover that cleverly ties into the book itself.
So, what's your shelf candy this week?
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I love the different font choices. The color and style are a little girly rock and roll, which I love. For instances, that ring is super cool on this model, but it might seem a too masculine in another situation.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice. Thanks for sharing it.
-FABR Steph@FiveAlarmBookReviews
I've never heard of this book before, but seeing JR Ward's name on the cover crediting as one of the best debut novel's is all I need to see! I'll definitely be checking this book out!
ReplyDeleteKristan @ Lost Amongst the Shelves
Ah! the minute you wrote grim reaper i totally got this cover! It is perfect for it and I like the skull ring, it is a perfect touch.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is it with tall bookshelves!! You are right! Short people read too! lol.
I've seen a lot of different covers for this book (well, at least one) and I've got to say this one is the best! I love her expression and the colors! Great pick!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Shelf Candy!
Hi, Claire! This is certainly a striking cover! Everything you've said about it is so true, too. It has the appropriate creepy look about it, and the play of light and dark perfectly suits the plot.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this book before, and, at first glance, thought it was by Jeanine Frost, because the title sounds like the ones she uses for her books. On closer inspection, I noticed it was authored by someone else. So I'm going to look it up on Goodreads!
Thanks for sharing!! : )
Maria @ http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/
I've never seen this cover before! Great pick! It looks like an awesome book, and I usually don't like books with photographs/models on the covers. Sometimes I think it takes away from what I think the character looks like, but in this case, I like the dark heavy overtones and shadows it adds.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I have to add this to my TBR pile!
Thanks!
Kimberly at http://www.thewindypages.com/2012/03/shelf-candy-19.html
Thanks for stopping by guys :) I just finished reading this last night and it was awesome. The heroine Charley is hilarious and I kept snickering at things she said or did. I definitely recommend it.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this book before but it definitely sounds interesting! Glad to hear you liked it! The cover does look very grim-reaper... ish. The dark makeup, black and white background, gray-ish skin... yup, i'm getting the hebejebes! And LOL @ the short people read too comment!
ReplyDeleteShae @ Understanding Shae's Story