Mabuhay, friends!
I would be lying if I said I never judged a book by its cover. But while a book cover does play a role in influencing my decision to read said book or not, it does not guarantee that I would buy the book. I don’t always buy a book solely for the cover.
However, there are books whose covers are so pretty that they pretty much live in my mind, rent-free.
After reading Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction’s What Draws Me To A Book Cover? post, I thought I to analyse my own tastes and list the types of covers that catch my eye.
CONTRASTING COLOURS
Covers that play off of the different colours immediately catch my eye. It gives a colourful minimalist look especially with the clean lines. For example, in The Vanishing Half, I like how the colours intersect but never truly blend in. In the case of My Dark Vanessa, the pink background and red hair contrast each other but I find it more interesting how the cover artist chose a baby pink for a dark book.
ILLUSTRATED COVERS
I love that there are more illustrated covers but it’s even more amazing for me to see brown-skinned girls on the cover! It’s not my preference to have characters on the cover of a book but seeing covers like With The Fire On High, The Black Tides of Heaven, and Set Fire To The Gods, I can’t help but come to love them.
🌸 WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH BY ELIZABETH ACEVEDO // a daring coming-of-age novel
BODY RE-IMAGINING
I was going to refer to this as body horror but that might sound a bit too much or dark; I love how artists meld the human body with either animals, plants, or the supernatural. I don’t mean body horror as something violent but almost a re-imagining, I suppose.
DEFIANT CHARACTERS
How cool do they look? I absolutely love, love covers that showcase angry, defiant characters. Characters who are done with being pushed to the side; who stare right back from the page just daring you to deny their presence.
MINUTE DETAILS
Covers that not only draw the characters but add in little details makes the story feel so much personal. For example, when I first came across the cover for The Empress of Salt and Fortune, I was not sure what the animals on the front had to do with the story until I read it. I love book covers that make do a double take; turning back to the cover at the end of a story trying to place each of its details.
🌸 THE EMPRESS OF SALT AND FORTUNE BY NGHI VO: A BEAUTIFUL NARRATIVE ON FIERCE FRIENDSHIPS AND THE ANGER OF WOMEN
BOOKS MENTIONED
This list contains affiliate links. If you feel like purchasing any of the books I listed, please use these affiliate links as I make a small commission which helps support me and my blog at no extra cost to you. But, of course, no pressure!
📚 My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennet: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 Set Fire To The Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y Yang: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 Cinderella Is Dead Kalynn Bayron: The Story Graph //Book Depository // Amazon
📚 The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 The Empress Of Salt And Fortune by Nghi Vo: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
📚 Vicious Spirits by Kat Cho: The Story Graph // Book Depository // Amazon
🌸 Would you like me to do a similar post with a focus on one genre?
🌸 What draws you to a book cover?
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I think I did a similar post a while back; I love contrasting colors so much! Especially if it’s only two colors, such as black and gold or white and red ❤
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Oooh, I’ll check yours out! Oooh those do sounds lovely!
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i love illustrated covers, with the fire on high is one of my favourites. also your blog is pretty wtf lol
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Aaah thank you so much! And yes, Elizabeth Acevedo’s books are so pretty!
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I think we have very similar tastes in book covers, as I love all of these! I particularly like contrasting colours as I just think it makes the cover really pop!
My biggest dislike with book covers though is photographs of people. I much prefer illustrated covers, especially if there’s going to be people on it!
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YESSSSS I don’t usually like faces on my book covers but I love to see diverse faces on my book covers. AND I STRONGLY FEEL PUBLISHERS SHOULD DO MORE OF THAT.
Loved this post so much, I read it twice hahaha. And yes, you should totally do one for genre and then i might follow suit with your posts ❤
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I love this post! I did a similar one not too long ago that you can check out if you’d like. Our lists are very different, but I love that and the covers you posted are really beautiful.
You can see mine here if you’re interested.
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Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed this post 🙂
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I think contrasting colours are my favourite. I generally prefer abstract designs, of covers that are all about the typography
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Body reimagining – that’s a great way to phrase it! That’s something I’m also drawn to on covers. Wilder Girls comes to mind.
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Love this post! Defiant characters is a great way to define that category, too.
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Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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I also wrote a similar post about the kinds of book covers I enjoy! But I’m thinking of making a part 2 because there are so many types of covers that I love that I didn’t include in that post!
Of the kinds of covers you mentioned, I think that illustrated covers, contrasting colors, and body re-imaginings are my favorites.
And I love how you phrased the disjointed body art, as a body reimagining. I think it’s so beautiful when cover designers take some aspect of the anatomy and intersperse it with flowers or other intricate illustrations. It’s a pretty strange thing to find beautiful, and I usually would not read the books themselves because I’m a wimp and don’t read strange, scary, or gory books. But I find the contrast on the cover itself really works for me!
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