Hey!
The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. Check out their blog for all the weekly prompts. This week’s prompt is “does the cover of a book affect whether you are more willing to read it?”
I would have to say yes on whether I am more willing to read a book because of the book cover. If a book cover jumps out at me, then I am usually more willing to read the book description to see if it would be something that I may like or be interested in. I know there’s that saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but more times than not I will check out a book if the cover draws me in. I am probably missing out on so many amazing books by doing this, but I am so guilty of it. There are some exceptions to this though, like if someone recommends a book to me, if it’s a favorite author of mine, or I see a book getting a lot of hype; then I’ll check those out. I am a sucker for a pretty book cover, so nine out of ten times I will choose that prettier one. That sounds so bad, I know. But I am who I am. 😛 And with all of that being said, I am going to share three books where I loved the book cover and I decided to read it, but it ended up not being that great. And three books where I didn’t really like the cover, but I ended up loving the story.
I loved these book covers, but the story wasn’t as great as the book cover:
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo
Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijamp
I wasn’t a fan of these book covers, but the story inside was so great and got five stars:
Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer
Orphan Number Eight by Kim van Alkemade
The Book of Essie by Meghan/ MacLean Weir
Does the book cover affect whether you are more willing to read it? Feel free to link me to your Book Blogger Hop post if you participated this week, so I can check it out.
In case you missed it;
Mini Review|| Chaos on CatNet.
Bookstagram 2020|| Part Two.
Bookstagram 2020|| Part One.
I hope you have a great day!
socially awkward bookworm. 
A cover is the first thing a reader sees, so yes, it matters big time. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s why we writers spend a ridiculous amount of time and money on covers.
Yeah, I agree that a cover matters big time since it’s what readers usually see right away before anything else. I can definitely understand why writers will spend ridiculous amounts of time and money on them.
I feel like I can’t rely on book covers for knowing whether I want to read something or not anymore. The move to illustrated covers for basically every genre has messed things up for me. Like last year with Emily Henry’s Beach Read. The cover and blurb screamed romantic comedy, but it was Women’s Fiction. And then there’s Helena Hunting’s Meet Cute. It should have been a romantic comedy, but wasn’t at all. Then, there’s books like Bright Side by Kim Holden that are so blank but wonderfully filled inside.
Yeah, that’s very true about all of the illustrated covers that have been popping up more and more each year. If I hadn’t seen so many reviews about Beach Read being not what they though, then by looking at the cover and description I would have thought romantic comedy as well and clearly it was not! Bright Side was such an amazing story and I am glad I gave it a chance even with the plain cover. I still need to read the other books!
Book covers definitely influence me. I would pick a book more based on covers but I do check other things, synopsis, reviews before I buy book. Great post!
Agreed, I still like to read the description and reviews before I actually decide to buy the book. Although there have been a few times where I have bought a book based on the cover. I try not to do that much though, because while the book might have an amazing cover, it might not be something I’ll end up liking. Thanks!
I shamelessly say that I read books solemnly based on the cover 😅 i used to hide the fact but there’s no going around it anymore: I’m a book cover matters kind of person 😅😅
I think book covers being what readers see right at the start, it’s hard not to want to read it based on the cover first haha. 😛
Yeah, book covers do make a difference!
If I’m browsing a site looking for books to buy, I’m not going to read the synopsis of every single book but it the cover or title catches my eye I’ll click on it. I don’t read books solely on their covers but a good cover will definitely get me interested.
Agreed! I don’t only read a book with a pretty cover. I still have to read the description to see if it’s even something I would like. But they are definitely what makes me even look in the first place.
I always look at the covers as well! They are not a total deciding factor (maybe more if it’s a physical copy), and I’ve enjoyed books with ‘ugly’ covers, but my eyes definitely go to pretty covers first before I contemplate the rest. Unless, like you said, someone recommended a specific title to me.
Same here! Book covers draw me in before anything else, but I still like to read descriptions and reviews before I make a solid choice on it, especially when it comes to physical books too. If it’s a recommendation, that doesn’t matter to me and I’ll pick it up regardless.
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Ah this is such an interesting discussion! I have to say that a book cover definitely plays a role in whether or not I’ll pick up a book. It makes me so sad to say this, because I know some books get unfortunate covers, but might be excellent, but… unless someone really recommends it to me, the chances are really low that I’ll pick them up instantly 😦
Thanks 🙂 Agreed! It’s sad when books get unfortunate covers and they might be really great. But I think book covers being what readers usually see first, makes it easier to base judgement on if you want to pick up a book or not based on the cover. I do like to read descriptions and reviews before decided to actually read/buy it though. Yeah, if someone recommends it to me (or a hyped book), then I will pick it up no matter what the cover looks like.
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