A Discussion on Thursday

Ok, so today I wanted to do something a little different and I thought “hey, this could be something that I do more regularly” so here goes – Discussion Thursdays. Granted, these aren’t going to happen all the time, but they’re something new and I hope that they stem actual discussions.


Anyways, today I came across the photo file on my computer for this book and I couldn’t remember why I had saved it in the first place. Then I took another good look at it and I remembered why.

So there’s the book cover in question; Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin. I admit that it’s an absolutely gorgeous cover. The composition is amazing and I love the colour usage. I think that a brighter dress might have made the model pop more, but whatever, I still like this cover.

What I can’t understand about it is this; hypothetically, this would be representative of a part of the book (I haven’t read it so I can only guess – It’s released in September) and from the summary,

Phoebe finds herself drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new kid in school, and the two girls become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory’s magnetic older brother, Ryland, shows up during their junior year. Ryland has an immediate, exciting hold on Phoebe, but a dangerous hold, for she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself. Soon she’ll discover the shocking truth about Ryland and Mallory: that these two are visitors from the faerie realm who have come to collect on an age-old debt. Generations ago, the faerie queen promised Phoebe’s ancestor five extraordinary sons in exchange for the sacrifice of one ordinary female heir. But in hundreds of years there hasn't been a single ordinary girl in the family, and now the faeries are dying. Could Phoebe be the first ordinary one? Could she save the faeries, or is she special enough to save herself?

I can see where it might fit in. But, why would she be wearing heels, high ones by the look of it, while running through tall grass and other foliage? She doesn’t look as though she’s being chased, so sudden need to run while in heels doesn’t apply, in fact it looks like she’s frolicking, so what’s the reason?

If this were in real life, that girl would end up with a twisted ankle or worse. Forget about the tall grass that would snare around her feel and legs, think of the uneven ground of nature and compare that to running in heels which is tricky on flat, smooth terrain to begin with. She would end up being rushed to the ER in a matter of meters.

One thing can be said about the shoes though; at least the heels themselves are rather sturdy looking and obviously not stilettos.

Of course, I know that this is the cover of a fictional book and some of you are going to think that I’m being too ‘sensitive’ or whatever. No, I just wanted to know what people think about covers like this one where you find yourself asking yourself “WTF is she/he wearing/doing/smoking/whatever”.