Tags
Bloodlines, Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Gillian Rubenstein, Legend, Marie Lu, Richelle Mead, Space Demons
So, you know how there’s the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, and you know how we all totally just do it anyway…
Well, there has been many a time where I have not even picked up a book, purely because I didn’t like the cover…and I have regretted it dearly.
So, here are some books that I have neglected to pick up in the past, because of their covers, but later picked them up to discover I loved them.
Legend, by Marie Lu
I saw this book around the place for ages before I picked it up…
That cover just does not appeal to me. At. All.
I can’t remember what made me eventually pick it up, but pick it up I did…and I loved it.
And then Champion destroyed me.
City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare
As with Legend, I saw this everywhere, but had no desire to read it…I’m just not a fan of that cover.
But then I heard of a book series called ‘The Mortal Instruments’, and it sounded interesting, so I googled it (this was back before I knew about goodreads), and I discovered that it was this book.
I read the first chapter sample thing online, and I was hooked.
Space Demons, by Gillian Rubenstein
My relationship with this series has a bit of a different story.
See, we had to study an author for school (we literally pulled author names out of a hat to see who we had to study), and I was looking at the books our school library had…
The two sequels for this book both looked appealing, which is the only reason I picked this one up…
And it was a good thing I did, because I love this series.
Bloodlines, by Richelle Mead
THIS. SERIES.
I’d been sort of intending to read the Vampire Academy books for a while (those covers held no real appeal to me, either), but I had no desire at all to read this books until I realised that they were the sequel series.
This is one of my favourite series ever!
So guys, are there any books that you aren’t reading because their covers don’t appeal to you? Have you ever loved a book but hated the cover? What about the other way around? Have you read a book because of its cover, only to be disappointed?
Let me know.
The Magical Adventures of Cassie the Weird 
All of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books have the worst covers ever, but I always love her books. I recently read The Sin Eater’s Daughter because I loved the cover, and I was completely disappointed. I hate when that happens. I’m such a cover judger, though! XD
Hmm…I don’t really have a problem with the covers for Obsidian (which is the only JLA series I’m familiar with), but yes, her books are great.
I’ve heard so many disappointing things about The Sin Eater’s Daughter 😦 The cover is so pretty, and yet everyone seems disappointed by it.
I wrote a post about this a couple of months ago – it’s hard not to judge a book by it’s cover – it’s how our brains work.
I dislike all the VA and Bloodlines covers but gosh that world is my life haha.
Agree with you on the The Mortal Instruments covers – they aren’t that great but the new covers are beautiful!!!
Urgh, the new US covers for TMI are the actual greatest! I wish they’d come out earlier so I could buy those…though I don’t have a major issue with the original covers…it’s mainly the first one that put me off.
And the VA/Bloodlines covers are…odd. I don’t hate them, as such, but they are definitely part of the reason it took me so long to read them. Now those books are my life, also.
I actually kind of like the cover for City of Bones, but I totally get your point. I have a really hard time with not judging books by their cover. When I think it’s pretty, I am just so much more likely to read it. Other times people had to do a whole lot of convincing to make me pick up a book, but sometimes it paid off … still, other times it didn’t.
It’s not that I don’t like the cover for CoB…more that it put me off reading the whole series…I don’t mind the other covers for that series, though. (But the new US covers are SO PRETTY).
So often will I pick up a book because of the cover. Sometimes it’s worked out, sometimes it hasn’t.
I actually would NEVER have picked up those last two based on the cover. And I shied away from Legend for a LONG time because the cover seemed too… sterile? Science-y? I don’t even know! I feel like there are STILL books that I do this with, which is sadness.
True story- I wish I HAD rejected City of Bones based on the cover, because it would have saved me a LOT of reading/boredom 😉
Yes, I totally get what you mean about the cover for Legend. It was just so off-putting.
And the only reason I picked up Space Demons was because I wanted to read the sequels. I’m thrilled that I did (it’s now one of my favourite trilogies), but at the time I was annoyed. Literally, I was reading the blurb for Sky Maze (book 2), and when it said ‘the sequel to Space Demons’ I was like “FINE! I’ll read Space Demons!”
Yeah, I can understand why people have problems with CIty of Bones…I have so many issues with that series, but I found them enjoyable enough at the time.
It’s so hard not to judge a book on it’s cover haha. I totally understand why you wouldn’t pick up CoB based on that cover. It just gives a totally different vibe than the book haha. I really love the new covers though! (both the new US and UK ones) They’re gorgeous ❤
I find the new UK/Aus covers for TMI a little too minimalist for my liking. I mean, they’re pretty and all, but I prefer the US ones WAY more.
Those are some really bad covers. I can’t think of a book like this for me but I agree with some of yours. Happy reading!
Yeah, those covers are terrible.
I’m so glad I ended up picking them all up, though. I love them all.
Yeah, I have to say that the LEGEND cover isn’t the best, but the one for CHAMPION is so freaking beautiful, what even.
I have spoken on many occasions about my distaste for the CITY OF BONES cover. The nipples. I just. I cannot.
OHHHHH, the VA and Bloodlines covers are so hideous. These are perfect examples why publishers should NEVER use models on their covers, because holy dooly *shudders at the hideousness*
I have bought and read many a book with beautiful covers and been disappointed, but I cannot remember a specific book right now. But I’ve also read and bought books just because of their beautiful covers and loved them (like IGNITE by Erica Crouch).
I’ll never stop being a cover snob, because I like pretty things. But I’ll still give an ugly book a go if it sounds like something I’d like XD
Oh, yes, the cover for Champion is PERFECTION!! Had I not been waiting for it to come out, I may have ended up picking up Legend based on Champion’s cover alone.
And I am so glad I’m not alone in my dislike for the CoB cover!
And, yes, the VA/Bloodlines covers are just…weird. Didn’t pick them up for years because of those covers. *many regrets*
The cover judging thing does work both ways, doesn’t it? Sometimes it’s a beautiful cover with a horrible inside, other times it’s an ugly cover with a beautiful inside. And other times it’s just a beautiful book inside and out. I guess you just never know until you pick it up 🙂
Great post dear! Have a wonderful weekend:)
irenethayer.com
Wonderful post. I definitely do this, I can’t help myself. I am definitely a person who judges books on their covers, especially when the covers are hideous. Jennfer L. Armentrout should complain, it seems like her publishers hate her because they always seem to give her books the ugliest covers. The VA and Bloodline covers are the worst as well, I didn’t pick up VA for years and years because of those ugly covers.
I’ll admit, I don’t actually have a problem with Jennifer L Armentrout’s book covers, but you aren’t the first one to bring that up, so I guess I may be in a minority? *shrugs*
But, yeah, the VA covers did put me off for a bit. I mean, I wanted to read the books, and the movie coming out was a good excuse, but I was totally unprepared for how much I would love them. Same with Bloodlines, though once I’d read VA I was fairly sure I would like them, I’d been seeing them around for years and had never even bothered picking them up to look at them.
Darn covers *shakes fist*
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