judging by a cover #1 – answer

So did you vote for what you thought the book was about in the previous post? (I know you didn’t from the results of the poll.)

Ok, so look down at the last post and make your vote before you read any further.

Done?

Well I can tell you what I expected. I knew it was set in the French Revolution, and that the slash of “red necklace” was a reference to the guillotine.  So I expected something about an upper-class girl from the cover.

I guess it was in a way, but that upper-class girl is more of a Cinderella character and not the protagonist of the story.  The hero of the story is a young gypsy boy who has grown up as a magician’s assistant. Our hero escapes death, is raised with foster parents in London, and returns to France during the revolution to rescue the girl, a niece to his foster parents. All the while pursued by a serial killer.

Did you expect that from the cover?

I know there are guys who would enjoy this story – it’s a very Alex Rider- like story set in a historical period. But I can’t imagine them getting past the cover.  Hopefully the paperback version will have a cover of city alleys, a guillotine and a more gender-neutral look.