Not Quite 13 Reasons...

I was never particularly fond of the US cover for Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why (Razorbill 2008). Even before I read the book. I’d like to think of 13 reasons why this cover bothers me, but it’s all in there, too hazy to grab hold of. Maybe it’s the stark light and shadow (is that fitting?), or the duct tape boxes for the plain text… I don’t know.
Asher has posted various countries’ book covers of his very successful book on his blog. In my opinion this new UK cover, despite being in many ways like the oceans of book covers with girls on them (that I’ve grown tired of) is the most fitting for the book. The photo seems rightly chosen. I like the muted green color, the title font fits, and I even think the text blurb is well chosen to attract readers. And with success, Asher’s name gets to be bigger than the title. This is done often on adult books and can totally overwhelm the book jacket. It doesn’t here, so I don’t mind it.
I wonder what it’s like for a new author to see his name in type that’s larger than the title of his book?

UPDATE:  See this post for eight different covers of this book.

Thirteen Reasons Why: When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah’s voice recounting the events leading up to her death. Ages 13+. Reviews 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.