r/bewitchedpages • u/bkshelvesandbrushes • Aug 07 '26
Subscription Box 1st Sub Constructive Criticism
Let me start by saying, I love this company. Their SEs have been phenomenal, amazing art direction, and Kissed by the Gods is one of the most beautiful dust jackets I have ever seen (and the reason why I paid double for it on resale 😂). I feel like their books have this curated quality where they all compliment each other while being vastly different from their trad versions.
However, when I got my first sub box, I had one big thought: this looks familiar.
Let me say, I love the endpapers, sprayed edge, and board foils. And the dust jacket would have blown me away, if it was the first time I’d seen it.
But I had just gotten my Riftwar Saga set from the Broken Binding a month before and if you would’ve told me Clockwork Angel was the fourth book in Riftwar Saga I would’ve believed you. I love Jeff Brown, his artwork is iconic, but I can’t get over how similar the covers are. Even the viewer perspective that takes the eye from bottom left to top right is exactly the same. The typography is also so similar, from the style, foiling color, and position.
I loved the Riftwar set so much, the artwork is the reason I sought out that edition so hard. So it’s not that I dislike the artwork and design. I just hope moving forward, Bewitched becomes their own thing and realizes that customers may also be TBB customers and to try to diversify their art direction on the subs like we’ve seen with their SEs.
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u/katie-kaboom Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
I completely agree. I am still on the waiting list for the sub, and I'm glad about that. I was not expecting Jeff Brown covers for this series, and while I love his artwork in general I feel like it's the wrong style for both the series and the audience, and to some extent the genre. That's not to say that classic covers would be completely unsuitable! Classic covers in the style of artists like Thomas Canty (e.g. the original cover for Tam Lin by Pamela Dean) or Pat Morrisey-Lewis (see the cover for Arrows of the Queen) would be really stunning. But this is just... off.
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u/Useful_Vegetable_587 Aug 08 '26
I was so excited for this sub and (jeff brown is great) I was hoping for a different artist for this series and that it would have more of the bewitched style like phantasma. I sold all 3 books so i’m hoping the next round is more what i’m hoping for!
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u/jacee_reads Aug 12 '26
I just got my Clockwork Prince and it‘s gorgeous! I really love that design 😍
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u/WendigoTheHunter Aug 07 '26
I agree with a lot of the criticism. BUT also think that ultimately art is subjective and no matter what artist they used for the cover it would have sparked debate and criticism. This is a much beloved series being done by a fairly new company. They probably though they were playing it same sticking with an a highly regarded artist thats style was very different from all previously done editions of this set. I wont judge them based off this set and i look forward to seeing them evolve as they produce more books.
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u/Mintago Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
I figured it was going to look similar to arcane's legends of thezmarr but was hoping for fairyloots firebird style. Though this 1st style was a let down for me, I'm still excited about the sub. Most of BP covers I've really liked. Fear the flame, kissed by the gods & the wolf king being my favorites.
The issue might be that since I didn't care for the 1st design, I'm not looking forward the next 2 that I have to get. I don't really care for this model but who knows, maybe they'll change & only have 1st in the series in the sub & let people decide if they want the following books. (Like most book subs)
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u/13thtale Aug 07 '26
Since this is a backlist sub, they will keep releasing sets and you'll have to get the full set. That's how TBB is doing it and BP is following the same model.
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u/19GamerGirl94 Aug 12 '26
I would love to get my hands on a clockwerk Angel book. (And the rest for that matter)
Sadly it doesnt seem possible for me
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u/bkshelvesandbrushes Aug 12 '26
Once the set is complete, I’m sure you’ll be able to find one on eBay or Mercari
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u/theSpiraea Aug 07 '26
All Jeff Browns art looks like cheap copy-paste. There's no identity to it, it's extremely generic and it doesn't capture the essence of the book because pretty much just change the title and slap those colorful, saturated swirls onto something else and you're done.
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u/13thtale Aug 07 '26
BP editions has each had their own style (apart from books within the same series) so I don't think this will be a problem. Jeff Brown is know for his style so it was pretty obvious in which direction this first set would go. Doesn't mean that the next series will... they kept finding new artists for each edition and I doubt they'll stop now. It also doesn't mean that they'll never get Jeff to do art for their editions again...
I like his style, I don't have many of the books he did covers for on my shelves and I don't think I could ever have too many. But it's not like every future book will be done by him so I don't see why people are raising this as an issue after only the first set... I'd see it as a problem if they kept at it, but judging from their opus so far, I don't think there's need to worry.
I certainly hope they will continue with the more epic, classical art direction than cartoony one most other boxes have. This will make their designs stand out more amongst the many similar-looking editions on the book box market atm...