Discussion Post,  Handle With Care

handle with care; the covers edition

bookworm things

“Never judge a book by its’ cover”? Psht, yeah. Like I’ve actually listened to that. When it comes to books, anyway. As I mentioned in the other half of my covers edition, the cover attracts me to the book. If you can’t attract me at first glance, then I’m not going to bother checking the synopsis. Shallow, yeah, but I’m not perfect. Just close to it.

handle with care

Sometimes the cover is intriguing. Not exactly pretty, but something about it is catching the eye. So I may have picked them up, liked the synopsis, and then kept the book. Sometimes an intriguing cover can let you down, though, so be careful!

the raven cycle

  • If I had gone on the cover alone, I might never have picked up Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle, I’m going to be honest. The covers are not bad? But they’re certainly not gorgeous either. But combined with the synopsis and the fact that I had read some of Maggie’s other novels, they were intriguing enough for me to pick up. This reminds me, I still have to read the last book…
  • As much as I love The Illuminae Files now, if I had gone on the cover (and the premise!) alone, I might have simply borrowed it from the library instead of buying it for myself. But, look, I adore Amie Kaufman, and add that to the fact that EVERYBODY was raving about the books, and now I am eagerly waiting for the day I can buy the final book in the trilogy.

penryn and the end of days

  • I waffled on adding this to the list. The covers I have for Penryn & The End Of Days by Susan Ee are actually quite attractive. But the initial covers I had seen online? Not so much. Plus I thought I had outgrown the whole forbidden love aspect of things, but apparently not! – I also need to finish this series. Wow, I do that a lot.
  • Lili St. Crow’s A Tale Of Beauty And Madness series is a trilogy of fairytale retellings. The covers are pretty enough, but mostly I picked them up because a) fairytale retellings are my weakness, and b) did I mention fairytale retellings?
  • I got The Gemma Doyle Trilogy – Libba Bray’s entire trilogy – for NZD$14 dollars, I think. They were on sale. They came highly recommended. (Thanks, Alex! THE PAIN WAS WORTH IT!) THEY WERE ON SALE! But the covers? Are um, well, they could be better.

24 - impulse

I don’t regret any of these buys, of course. In the end, they came with tales that were engaging and fun, and even if down the line, I find I’ve outgrown these stories, at the time of my reading, they were wonderful. But I’m going to admit, none of these are covers that would be my first choice for display on my shelves.

What about you, any covers you hide behind other prettier ones, even if you love the story within the pages? Any book you passed over because the cover just wasn’t pretty enough?

ara

I’m Ara, a Southeast Asian writer who someday hopes to have published a novel, and who is currently losing herself in the worlds created by others. I love books and food and television and blogging and I get distracted and sidetracked easily.

8 Comments

  • Cait @ Paper Fury

    Ah haha I find it funny when cover loves are so vastly different! I personally think The Raven Cycle covers are THE best and most beautiful covers ever. ??Although I know a lot of that is biased to just how much I love the books hehe, but I still adore the design. But I do have many favourites also with horrible covers. Like Here Lies Daniel Tate? Ugh I hate that cover but the book is SO GOOD.

    • Ara

      I’ve never even heard of that book??? But yeah, cover tastes are so weird? Like, I love TRC as a story but the covers are nice, just not the best.

  • Rachael

    Oh yeah, covers play a HUGE part in what I pick up. I’ll usually only grab a book with a crummy cover if I’ve heard NOTHING but AMAZING things about it! Funny how that works, hey?

  • Olivia-Savannah

    Ahaha I can tell we have a different taste when it comes to the covers! Because I love the covers of The Raven Boys, Illuminae and also the Angelfall series. Illuminae’s cover is originally what had me interested!! It goes to show that different things work for different people. But yes, covers have a huge influence on me.

    • Ara

      Haha, yeah, I love how varied everyone’s tastes are in covers! Angelfall has a cover that grows on me, tbh. When I picked it up, it had less to do with the covers, but now I really appreciate the covers!

  • thetomatowrites

    My mom and I always joke that it should be “don’t judge a book by its cover…unless it’s a book.” Because that’s what the cover is FOR. But it’s true, sometimes the cover artist goofs and what’s inside the book is much prettier. I wasn’t so much attracted to the covers for the Illuminae series but the page designs inside were GORGEOUS and a big draw for me.

    • Ara

      EXACTLY. that should be the actual saying lmao. I most definitely judge a book by it’s cover, but I try not to judge people by their appearances. it’s a good saying, except for when you’re talking about actual books. the English language is WEIRD.

      SAME. the inside of Illuminae is GORGEOUS, and the cover is decent, but not nearly as pretty.

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