Inspired by Pure Imagination Blog and Stacked.
Let’s be honest, nobody follows the age-old cliché that tells us not to judge a book by its covers. If you say you do, I am side-eying you. Book covers are the first thing that attracts any of us readers to a book. Before you pick up a book, the cover can essentially make or break a book. If I don’t like a cover design, I won’t pick it up. Lucky for us, publishing companies publish different cover designs, especially when a paperback book comes out. Sometimes we like it, sometimes we don’t. Whatever the changes with cover designs, I will discuss it.
Today, we look at the cover of Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker.
I don’t like the paperback cover of Unbreak My Heart. It irritates me because of the romantic-esque design, which makes me scrunch my nose in distaste. I’m not a big fan of couples showing PDA on the front cover, especially if the romance doesn’t play a large part in the book like the cover design suggests. Yes, there’s a budding romantic relationship between Clementine (the main character) and the boy she meets, but it is not the most important part of the book. A large part of this book is about Clementine on a sailboat, trying to forgive herself for betraying her best friend. Do we have any semblance of that on the cover? No. We have a kissing couple with the girl lifting her leg up (this is not the Princess Diaries!).
I prefer the hardcover design because what you see is what you get in the book – Clementine on a sailboat, thinking back to the events that brought her out to the open sea. I like that everything is covered in pink except the girl, the sails, and the ocean. That’s the focus. It’s more memorable to me since I rarely see YA cover designs of people on a sailboat. Whereas, the paperback…well, you know my thoughts on it.
Final thought: I wish the paperback wasn’t changed to this gag-inducing cover (I have a cold-heart. ;D). The hardcover design is a better image of the Unbreak My Heart story. But that’s my personal preference.
What did you think of the cover design and the changes? Do you like it? Is there anything you would change?
I totally agree. I was very upset with the re-design for the same reasons you mentioned.
I haven’t read this story, so at first I wasn’t that bothered by the change (although I did and do prefer the original), but after reading your thoughts I can definitely see why the change is bad. My distaste for kiss-y covers aside, I hate it when covers make it look like they are romances when the romance is only a small part of the story. I agree that the sailboat design is also just more original. How many covers with kiss-y couples do we need?
I’m not a huge fan of either cover to be honest(probably because of the pink), but out of the two, I do prefer the first one! It’s just different with the sailboat. The paperback one could be any YA romance book. Nothing really makes it stand out. THOUGH, I do like that the two cover models are wearing normal clothes instead of being super fancy like so few people actually dress in real life.
I much prefer the first cover too. I can’t look past that awkward leg lift on the second one. Just no.
The first one is much more interesting because of the heart cutout and the solitude of the girl. I just wouldn’t take a second look at the paper back cover.
Yeah, the first cover is a lot better. I really dislike covers with people kissing. Actually, I just don’t like people on covers in general haha. But yeah, the second one seems too romancey/chick-lit, so I probably wouldn’t pick it up if I saw it in the bookstore. I haven’t read the book though, so who knows, maybe I’d think the second is better if I’d actually read the book.
Ahhh… Book covers do not really bother me at all. I can certainly be attracted to a naked book, Helen. The first thing that would attract me to a book is the title then the synopsis and lastly, the book cover. Yeah, I appreciate book covers but its pull isn’t as hard as the title or the synopsis. Perhaps that saying has been ingrained to me real hard. I always think about that whenever I’m doing some book shopping. :D
The first cover is wayyyyy better!!! That’s the reason why I read the book in the first place!
My Unbreak My Heart Review
Definitely agree with you on this. I’ve seen enough kissy-face covers in both YA and NA to last me a lifetime! The new cover also takes away some of the originality I saw in the hardback one. Thankfully, this new one is one of the more cuter and better looking romance covers I’ve seen, heh!
Totally with you-I DETEST PDA covers! I haven’t read Unbreak My Heart yet but I definitely prefer the ‘before’ cover.
BTW, I absolutely ADORE your blog design. :)