It's not unusual for book covers to look alike.  It happens all the time, actually.  But I just finished Cassandra Rose Clarke's phenomenal duology of The Assassin's Curse and The Pirate's Wish, so when I saw these covers that look so like her covers, I honestly thought they were announcing new books in Clarke's series.  In truth, these new books have nothing to do with Cassandra Rose Clarke's books.  They are not connected at all, other than the amazingly similar cover art.  So I looked up the cover artist, and sure enough, the same person (Sarah J. Coleman) did the cover art for both authors.


I mean, really.  The fonts, the colors, the design, the placement of the moon on both blue covers... This cover artist certainly has a type.  I'm torn.  I LOVE the covers to Clarke's books, so if any cover deserves to be re-used, I'm glad it's that one.  But at the same time, I feel like the covers to both series are too similar.  Their similarities almost cheapen them both.  I wish they were less alike.  It makes me wonder at the line between imitation and plagiarism.  I mean, in this case the cover artist is the same person, but these are still two different series, two different authors, and two different stories.  It rankles to have the covers be this similar.

Do you see this often?  Does it bug you?  It bugs me.  I guess my ideal world would have every book featuring its own distinct and awesome cover image, but what can you do?