Never Let Me Go

The first thing that popped out to me when looking at these four Never Let Me Go covers was the color schemes. Three of them share the same earthy, beige color palette, while one of them has a cool colored tone. This one sticks out the most, as its colors contrast heavily from the others.
The first cover shows a girl (assumed to be Kathy) in a forest filled with trees and bushes. The image itself appears faded, and the girl is dressed in old-fashioned looking clothing. She is looking down to the side, with a content yet contemplative facial expression. The second cover shows a lake with a little boat towards the bottom. The image itself looks like the sepia filter has been placed over the top of it, as it is a brownish tint. The third cover is a greyish-blue color and has an outline of a body along with organs inside of it. I think it is pretty obvious why the artist for this cover decided to put this on the cover, however it has an uneasy feeling as the font and outline are both rigid. The fourth and last cover shows a blurred image of a girl that appears to be dancing. It is set against a beige background, and overall looks very simple.
Some obvious similarities throughout the covers are they involve a single girl or body, and revolve around the theme of loneliness/growing apart. All the covers reflect a theme of loneliness, from the individual girl to the lone boat on an empty lake to the simple outlined body containing only organs. I feel like since this is a coming of age story, the cover artists thought it would be appropriate to incorporate the theme of loneliness, as it is a common feeling kids encounter while growing up. With the story revolving around the students at Hailsham's path becoming organ donors, there is a clear connection shown to the third cover of the body. This connection is also made throughout the other covers as they express facial expressions of contemplation, and the surrounding images being obsolete.

To look at more closely I chose the first and fourth covers, with the single girl in them. The first words that pop into my head while observing the first one are isolation, constricted, and reflection. By looking at the facial expression on the girl's face these words came to mind, as she expresses a state of reflecting on the past. She is alone on the cover in what looks like an open forest, yet appears as if she is more constricted to a certain lifestyle than liberated. From looking at the fourth cover the words adolescence and ignorance come to mind. I thought of these words as the girl on the cover appears to be dancing in a carefree way, embracing her childhood and adolescence. I chose ignorant because she may not be aware of her future yet. Both of these covers connect to the text as the girl on them is most likely Kathy, the narrator. In the first cover, it may be what we would imagine Kathy to look like as she reflects on her past experiences at Hailsham and with Ruth and Tommy. In the fourth cover, there seems to be a connection to the scene where Kathy dances to her tape, and Madam witnesses it and begins to cry. At this point, Madam had more knowledge of Hailsham students fate, so felt bad for Kathy as she was not aware of what was to happen.