Rewind: Do a Topic You Missed!
Things I Like/Dislike on Book Covers
Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review.
Back in June 2014, Top Ten Tuesday featured a topic perfect for me: top ten things we like or dislike on our book covers. This topic was literally a few weeks before I started my blog and I’m so happy I just saw it! I always always always talk about book covers on my blog. (Like, too often to even link everything this time. Just search for “covers” and you’ll see an abundance of things!) Book covers are my F A V O R I T E and I don’t know if I ever spelled out in a nice, concise, list-y way the things that I LOVE or HATE on book covers. Without further ado, I’ll tackle that today for you, my dear cover lovers.
Keep in mind that obviously some of these covers fit multiple categories. I tried to keep them with the category involving the “element” I love most about the cover. Like, I love the watercolor elements on First & Then but the heart shape is what really makes me happiest. I’m definitely not linking to Goodreads here because I’m lazy and there are a LOT of covers, but you can see my cover love shelf here. All of them are on it.
Bright colors like pink, purple, orange, and some shades of blue make me happy.
Favorites of the bunch: This Adventure Ends, Results May Vary, and The Sun is Also a Star.
Hearts are my favorite image – to doodle, to have jewelry in the shape of, etc.. No brainer I love covers too!
Favorites of the bunch: The Secret of a Heart Note, First & Then, and Tell Me Three Things.
I love flowers so much. (Clearly, because they’re ALL over my blog and this post itself.)
Favorites of the bunch: The Muse, Reign of Shadows, and Everything, Everything.
Typography is legit my favorite book cover element. Love it hand-drawn and cursive-y the most!
Favorites of the bunch: The Leaving Season, Night Wanderers, and The One That Got Away.
Cute illustrations are SO fun for book covers, especially for younger audiences.
Favorites of the bunch: Summer Days & Summer Nights, My True Love Gave to Me, and Dreamology.
This goes along with my “pretty color” theme and I just think kissy lips are pretty cute 😉
Favorites of the bunch: Kiss Cam, At First Blush, and The Girl Who Fell.
Watercolor designs that look like someone hand-painted them for the cover are EXCELLENT.
Favorites of the bunch: The Wrong Side of Right, Love Like Crazy, and Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes.
I don’t know why but I’m always drawn to covers with sunrises or sunsets, especially over a beach/water.
Favorites of the bunch: Meet Me Here, The Start of Me and You, and Even in Paradise.
I kept my love list at 8 items, so I figured I would fudge it a little and add a few to my nope list. I generally don’t like fantasy covers because I think they’re too cheesy! I’m ALL for badass women in general, but I personally just don’t love those covers. It’s great when they portray what’s inside but they just don’t end up on my favorite list. Any cover with people who are too close-up or too fake-looking are definitely a nope for me too. Those are some of my bigger issues with cover designs. I hate when covers change in the middle of a series more than anything though.
I LOVE typography and simple, illustrated covers. There’s something about an illustrated font that always grabs my eye! {The Fault in Our Stars, Eleanor & Park, etc.}
Love the topic of your list!
Yes same here! It’s so cute!
Yes. I agree with all of what you said 🙂 I love covers so much and I think pretty colors and typography are my favorites.
Same here! 😀
Pretty colors and typhography are also what I love in a book cover! Watercolor seems to be in trend these past year, and I also love some gold color in book cover 😀
Yeah, definitely! I love all the pretty colors.
I agree with you with so many of these. Close up faces is a lazy cover choice in my opinion…
Yeah and so many just feel like stock images? I don’t know. I think I like to picture the character in my head instead!
I’m right there with you on all of these. I love illustrated covers or covers with pretty fonts and water colors. I like flowers and just really pretty covers.
I will say that while I don’t love covers with close up faces, I won’t turn away a close up hard body cover. 🙂
hahaha good point!!
I love your choices!! The Flowers, Lips, Watercolors, and Typography are my favorites. I also really don’t care for most Fantasy covers. So many of them try to look like Hunger Games or Throne of Glass and it’s not original. I want pretty or at least interesting!!
Exactly! I think so many of them look fake too? Like a few of the ones I showed up there just have almost CGI-looking people on them haha. NOT a fan!
I am always drawn to colorful book covers myself. I am not a fan of face covers either. Great topic, Lauren. 🙂
My TTT
Thank you! It can be a huge turn-off. Maybe I just like to picture the people myself?
I love this list! I am such a fan of all of these things on my covers and omg I’ve never seen the Steering the Stars cover and now I need to see what that book is about.
I know!! It’s been on my TBR forever but I still haven’t read it. I’m obsessed with that cover.
I HATE fake/CGI-looking people on the front of my covers, mostly I feel like that happens to my most beloved Fantasy novels. 🙁
I know, that’s always the case!!
Love this list! I’m definitely with you on the typography – that’s my favorite cover feature, and I’m most definitely with you on the nope for huge faces on covers.
Thank you! Yess I love pretty fonts or handwritten ones.
Hahahah I am noping with you there. The Radiant Road’s cover kind of freaks me out a bit. But other than that, so much cover love here! My favorites also include This Adventure Ends, The Muse, and Results May Vary!
I know!! It’s weird haha. I still want to read the book though at some point lol
I love colourful covers too!
Same!
There are so many gorgeous covers in this post, Lauren! I love a lot of the same things you do on book covers – bright colors, typography, hearts and illustrations are definitely top of my list too.
Yay! Thank you! I love all of these so much.
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I love a good cover with fun typography! And I am loving the watercolour covers lately. 🙂
Great idea for a top ten!