Cover Perfection

For a while now I've been thinking about covers and how a lot of times the cover a book has doesn't really convey the essence of the story. Because that's what I love: the essence of the story. And it's difficult to capture that with a visual image, but when it happens it makes me insanely happy inside. I'm one of those readers who, as sad as it seems, is scary dependent on covers. When a cover is bad I don't want to read the book, no matter how many great things I've heard about it (I usually move past this, though) and when a cover is good I want to read the book no matter what.

Here are a few of my favorite, most spot-on covers. Ones that are not only gorgeous, cute, or wicked funny, but that -- above all else -- portray the story inside.

The paperback (if that is the final cover for it) of this book is, dare I say it? Just as amazing. I love the feeling of hope through tribulation that comes through in this cover; it's absolutely brilliant and fits the novel so perfectly. On the paperback I love the addition of the girl and the trees it the distance; same feeling, just a different image.

There's something undeniably creepy about this cover. Though I personally love it I know quite a few people who've found it scary. Which makes sense: it's a minimalist image but there's a hint of violence here that's just so incredibly well done for what the novel is about. This, like the cover above, is one of those covers that -- while gripping -- doesn't have quite the same effect until you've read the book. (And seriously - GO READ THIS BOOK.)

Something about the torn-and-taped paper dolls on this cover (as well as the chipped nail polish) perfectly portrays what the book is about: a girl with a messed-up family, trying to patch things up with her mother. The great thing about this cover is that it gives you an idea of the story and what lies ahead even before you turn that first page.

Just like with Fixing Delilah, this cover gives an idea of what the story is about. There's so much more to this book that just a girl planning her wedding while still in high school, but that's definitely the central idea and the cover portrays that perfectly. Even without reading the blurb for this book I knew I wanted to read it just because of the evocative and interesting cover.

Alright, a special mention to this book's cover because even though it doesn't really tell you what the story is about, it references a very specific part of the book and its events in a perfectly eerie way. Sure, it screams SCI-FI!, but it does it in a way that's personal to the book and its story, not generic to the genre as a whole. This, I love.

What about you? What covers do you think perfectly portray the story inside? And what do you think of my choices?