A few months ago, I posted about how I wish more authors wrote using color in their descriptions, since I attach emotions and even characters to color. After some discussion on the comment threads, particularly with Kelley @ Oh! The Books, I was pointed to something called synesthesia, and I have a type that connects emotions with colors. Every Wednesday, I’ll pick a book or character, and show a palette of the colors I see or associate with the book/character. Basically, imagine the saying, “I feel blue,” but applied to the entire color spectrum. Hopefully that makes sense!
The Saturated Reads book for this week is… The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder.
What colors do I associate with the book?
The first color I see is a dark gray, because the story is actually a lot darker than the real cover suggests. It’s dim and reading it is like you’re walking through shadows, trying to understand what’s really going on. And then there’s a muddy yellow – yellow is something I usually associate with happiness and joy – and the muddiness is for how distorted and convoluted the happiness the main characters are pursuing becomes.
Now the galaxy is a bit different for me (by the way, isn’t it cool?? I downloaded a free trial of photoshop elements and it kicks butt as far as the potential to really get the nuances of color and texture I’m searching for), and it’s far less prominent than the first two colors. It’s the very thin afterthought, and really only exists in the last few paragraphs of the whole book. Despite the gloominess of the story, the ending is bitterly hopeful, and the galaxy is intrinsically linked with the fates of the characters.
Does the cover match my colors?
Not at all! I thought I’d be getting a sweet, summery road trip between friends, but the true story is a lot darker and deals with some heavy subjects. So here’s what I did to fix it:
Instead of recoloring the whole thing, I thought that making it a bit more jarring would do the trick. It still has that semi-whimsical and not-quite-real quality that I felt from the book, but the boldness and fuzziness of the colors match the main issue of the book (bi-polar disorder) a lot better.
I love how you interpreted this one into colors. I’m expecting a light read from this, but now I know what I’m in for when I read it.
Thanks 🙂 It’s definitely a good book, but much heavier than I had anticipated.
The new cover actually kind of looks like some kind of horror story, featuring girls who may or may not have a passion for beating hearts. O_O But hey, I’m actually surprised that this book wasn’t light and fluffy too! With such a cute cover and cute font I would’ve expected it to be just another summery read. I like that it deals with darker topics, though. Makes me more interested in reading it, especially since it’s been getting quite a few rave reviews, too!
And also, just wanted to say that I LOVE the author’s name! “Wendy Wunder” — so magical. ❤
I think you’re pretty spot-on, Megan! Haha. In German, the noun Wunder means miracle, and the verb wundern means to wonder 😉
And Kayla, I agree with Megan’s assessment. The actual cover makes the book look like a light summery one, while your redesign makes it look so much darker and slightly disturbing, even.
BAHAHA! I hadn’t even thought of that! But yes it’s so much creeper 😛 As long as you know it’s not fluffy, I think you’ll really enjoy it.
I still LOVE the original cover, but it definitely doesn’t match with a darker storyline. I would never have expected that from this book just going on what it looks like.
I do as well! It almost seems like it should be for another book though. Nevertheless, it’s soooo pretty ❤
I’m nuts but I don’t see a huge difference they both look good!
There isn’t a huge difference at all 😀 Just a bolder font and the colors are a bit more blurred. The saturation was turned up a bit too 😉
Wow, this is a really unique feature, and I like it. It’s true that some covers can be very misleading, especially if the concept and idea brought by the visuals are not quite what the content really gives. This is awesome, seriously ^^
And yeah, if the content is darker, then that cover is kind of misleading. I like dark stories more than the fluffy ones, and I wouldn’t have expected something like that from that cover alone and would have probably passed. With yours, though, I would give it more thought!
Faye at The Social Potato
Thanks Faye 🙂 It’s definitely my favorite post I write each week!
If you like darker contemporaries, then Museum actually might be right for you! Just print out a copy of the resaturated one and tape it over your copy 😉
Oh, I love this feature! I wonder whether you associate real people with colors as well, Kayla – your world must be a spectrum of colors. ❤ I love the cover of Museum of Intangible Things, and now I'm even more hooked because of the mention of darker story inside! I'll make sure to read my copy soon. 🙂 Your cover version looks like a distorted, darker version of the original cover – which is AWESOME! ❤
You know – I probably do, but just never really think about it consciously! I’ll have to pay attention and see what happens 😀
YES! I totally recommend it – the ending was my favorite part, even though it’s totally screwed up and jerked at my emotions. But the last paragraph was just ❤ Perfect!
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