best and worst: illustrated covers

Hello, friends!

I’ve been sososo busy and it’s been a while since I last found time to write a post. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been sort of falling into a reading slump. But everything shall work out! I’m sure it’s just a bad timing and I hope by June, things will have been sorted out.

As an edition of “best and worst”, I wanted to talk about a lot of people’s favorite book enemy: illustrated covers. Although many TikTok and Twitter users hate illustrated covers, I am actually quite a fan of them. But to be fair, some are definitely better than others, so I guess I’ll just break that down.

ONE OF THE GOOD ONES VS. IF THIS GETS OUT. No shade to the illustration in If This Gets Out, but both characters look exactly the same, just with different hair colors, lol. One of the Good Ones displays three black girls in the cover, and they’re all so different! The first one’s typography also has better spacing and compliments the cover, instead of adding to the busy aspect of it. Plus, the color scheme is so pretty!

SECOND FIRST IMPRESSIONS VS. WELL MET. I think the first one really shows a better way of negative space. Well Met’s cover gives off Wattpad vibes tbh. While I am all here for minimalism, the swirls and doodles around the couple make the book seem less mature and I’m not a huge fan of the green shade either. However, Second First Impressions has two characters in a more unique angle, a better shade of purple and one choice of doodle (the turtles) instead of one too many.

TIM TE MARO VS. THIS TRAIN IS BEING HELD. Again, what bothers me the most about The Train is Being Held cover is the typography, more than anything else. But, if you compare the two covers, the contrast between the background and the characters’ illustration in Tim Te Maro is so interesting! However, in The Train is Being Held, everything shares the same tone of red and it’s definitely not as eye catching.

TRUTHWITCH VS. LOBIZONA. I think the “illustrated cover stigma” mostly revolves around the romance genre, but if you think about it, most fantasy covers are illustrated. I think Lobizona’s is unique and interesting and so appealing to the eye. As for Truthwitch, I honestly think most people looking at it would dismiss it as a generic fantasy novel from the early 2010s, despite the fact the first book came out in 2017!

What are some of your favorite and least favorite illustrated covers? Let me know in the comments!