cover love: insurgent |

Last Friday I was out on an all-day shoot for work, so I missed all the cover reveal-squealing for Veronica Roth’s second novel in her Divergent trilogy, Insurgent. When I got home late that evening, I hit up good ol’ trusty Google to experience it in its high-res glory.

Hey, HarperCollins? I think you outdid yourself.

roth_insurgent-2244127

As much as I hate to admit it, I haven’t read Divergent yet. But before you start raising your pitch forks, ready to tar and feather me, I think it’s actually a good thing that I haven’t in this particular post’s case. My rationale: I think you have a completely different perspective and appreciation for good cover art when you’re unfamiliar with a story. And as someone who hasn’t yet read the pages beneath Divergent’s Eye of Sauron cover, I can certainly appreciate having a clean palate.

The emblem is stunning. I sat here racking my brain, trying to think of another adjective to use, but nothing materialized except for stunning. I need to know why the tree is dying. I need to know what it represents, who it represents, what it means. The stormy clouds are eerie and absolutely haunting. The color palette, tone and mood all portray the fact that some serious crazybusiness is about to go down. I’ve seen and held a finished copy of Divergent, but I’m much more excited to see what kinds of bells and whistles Insurgent’s final jacket will have.

But what I love most about this cover is the sense of urgency it evokes. When I look at it, the cover relays the message, We are on the precipice of something. You need to read me right now to find out what that something is. It’d probably go on to say something like OMG READ ME NOW, LIVES ARE HANGING IN THE BALANCE but that may be a little too dramatic.

Or maybe not. I have a feeling reading Divergent will make me feel otherwise.

If you’ve read Divergent, which cover do you prefer?