Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Cover Talk: Amazing Books With Sad Covers

Continuing from last week's critique of YA covers and inspired by one of my favorite books, I wanted to bring attention to some of the books I love most of all (in YA especially) with less-than-stellar covers. I'll be the first to admit that I put a lot of stock in covers. More than I should, probably. And it's sad because if I'd judged these books by their covers I never would have picked them up in the first place. But one caveat: what I like/dislike as far as covers go certainly isn't the same as what everyone else likes. I know there are readers who love some of these covers that I don't care for.

Cover #1: serafina67 *urgently requires life*, by Susie Day
This is the book that inspired this post. I love love love love this book, but the cover isn't great for me. Though I do like the whole internet/blogging aspect that's going on, the colors are bright and kind of clashing (more so in real life than in this online picture) and it doesn't give much idea of the story inside, aside from the internet aspect. There's little idea of characters or plot here and it's sad because this book is so sweet and funny that I wish it had a much more awesome, less bright-and-blah cover.

Cover #2: Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings, by Sophia Bennett
Like serafina67, this is another UK YA with a not-so-great cover. The image and color scheme gives the book a fluffy, everything-everywhere-is-pink-and-frou-frou treatment that doesn't mesh well with the story. Because while there's a huge fashion element here, there's also lots of humor and heart that don't quite make it to the cover. The way the model is dressed is fairy generic and I don't think it's very representative of either the main character or her unique friends.

Cover #3: The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
This one isn't limited to just one book, sadly. Dessen's novels on the whole seem to usually be wonderfully-written stories wrapped in vaguely pretty packages that may or may not have anything to do with the story at hand. I'm picking on The Truth About Forever because it's my favorite of her books and just what does that flower have to do with the story? What do most of her covers have to do with the stories within? Not much, usually. And though I don't love the UK cover for this book, at least it has a heart instead of a flower on it -- much more related to the story, I think.

Cover #4: The Naughty List, by Suzanne Young
Okay, this cover is a little cute and at least related to the plot of the book, which is about catching cheating boyfriends, but still something about it feels really off to me. Maybe it's the pairing of the photo with the fake window, maybe it's the photo itself -- I don't know. But something about it I just am not a fan of.

Cover #5: Where She Went, by Gayle Forman
I was disappointed when for the paperback of If I Stay they changed the cover from this (artsy and hopeful/bleak) to this, but then even more disappointed that the hardcover of Where She Went matches the paperback's cover. It's pretty, but it's also such a generic and melodramatic YA cover. Plus, the fact that this book is narrated by a male character isn't reflected at all (even though I definitely think the model resembles what I think of as Mia). I like this slightly changed paperback cover so much better -- it still has the windy-haired girl, but the addition of the city in the background is huge to me. (Also check out this German edition.)

Once again I have to say that I love all five of these books. They're all very awesome and very different and I'm sure plenty of people love the covers I'm not such a fan of (my sister adores the Where She Went cover). Still, in talking about judging books by their covers, I have to say that I'm so glad I didn't make the decision to read or not read these books based on their covers. (Or, in some cases, their titles.) What book do you love despite a not-so-great cover?

10 comments:

  1. Wow, great post!
    I am so glad I came across your blog because I was really on the lookout for some blog that didn't just concentrate on ya paranormal.
    New follower too. ^^
    - O.ops I Read That Book!

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  2. The Naughty List covers just crack me up. And I would not be caught dead with any of them, unfortunately, based on cover alone. But I would totally read them on an eReader!

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    1. I recommend you read ALL OF THEM ON YOUR EREADER. haha.

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  3. I agree with you on the Sarah Dessens!

    For me, I'd say the two covers that most recently missed the boat were The Scorpio Races and The Book and Blood and Shadow. Those covers would never have attacted me to the books and I would really have been missing out.

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    1. I haven't read either of those, but I did see The Scorpio Races cover and while I didn't care for it, since I don't read the genre I thought maybe it could just be a case of me not liking that particular genre? But I guess it's not.

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  4. Interesting, some of these I have passed over because the covers made me cringe a little. Sarah Dessen does have vague/pretty covers. Great post!

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    1. I wish I were better at NOT judging books by their covers, but alas it's too easy to do and I'm totally influenced by a pretty or ugly cover.

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  5. I like your comment to 'read them all on an ereader'- there are just some covers you don't want to show in public! Some less than stellar covers- in my opinion...even though I really like Stephanie Perkins, the covers are just too cutesy, teenie-bopper. Jennifer Echols' and Kristin Walker's book covers, too. And pretty much any of those YA romance titles- the mass market ones with the odd covers. And any YA cover with girls in bikinis and/or up close shots of teen boys- just no.

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    1. I actually like the Stephanie Perkins' covers. They're not perfect and honestly both arms on the ANNA cover sort of look like they could belong to the same person to me, but they're cute, eyecatching covers and the whole cutesy teeny-bopper thing doesn't really bother me, but I do think her stories are much better than the covers.

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