Armchair BEA – Book Covers I Hate
I’m not a person who gets all gushy about book covers. I don’t care about cover reveals. I don’t care if the covers of a series don’t match. But there are a few things I absolutely hate when I see them on covers.
Whitewashing
This is when the cover models are white when the people in the story are not. Here’s an example.
This is a description of the alien race in the book.
“All of them, men and women alike, wore their shoulder-length light brown hair tied neatly behind the neck. It blended perfectly with their russet skin, and when combined with the tan uniforms, they were a monochromatic solid wall of brown. Like walking paper bags.”
Ok, got that? Now look at the male person on the cover. He’s the alien. He’s looking a bit pale, isn’t he?
There are all kinds of examples of this. Check out this article for more.
The Overly Sexy
In the Mercy Thompson series Mercy is:
- Half Native American / half white
- a mechanic with the grease stains to prove it
- not fond of a lot of jewelry
- the owner of one small tattoo of a coyote footprint
So what do her covers look like?
Ok, so maybe trying not to whitewash her so that’s good but the dangly feather earrings are a bit much. What’s the all the arm tattoos? And the outfit? She totally can not run and fight in those pants and she never ever is depicted as randomly deciding to knot her shirt into a fake halter top.
Seriously, does that cover make people more interested in reading the book? Maybe the flaming dog in the background helps.
And let’s take it as a given that I’m not a fan of any of the Fabio-esque romance book covers either.
Lone Arrow’s Pride by Karen Kay
No.
These people never look comfortable. That’s not sexy. That’s “Wait, wait, I’m getting a cramp.”
10 Comments
Kailana
I love Mercedes Thompson and own all the books, but I HATE all of the covers. It is not a true representation of her AT ALL and if not for a great review, I probably never would have read her based on the covers. They just give off a different vibe than what the books are actually about.
Kai Charles (@YogiKai)
Great post! I hate whitewashing too
CKReads
I love how you went with something different and did what you didn’t like instead! I do agree with you about the fabio covers they make me cringe!
Donna (@Girl_Who_Reads)
I once read a story where the main character was clearly described as a brunette but the woman on the cover was a blonde. I mentioned it in a tweet and the author responded that it was the publisher’s decision. Girl Who Reads
heather
That makes me nuts.
Rissi
I totally gush over cover art. I like the spin you put on today’s topic though – save for “Alienated” (which I like as a cover, but haven’t read yet), I’m not a fan of the covers you picked either! 🙂
Hfineisen
I like the way you wrote up this post! So true and the visuals also tie-in nicely with the diversity topic from yesterday. Happy Reading!
mwgerard
I love the way to took this topic and ran with it! I also hate it when the cover doesn’t make sense, or is just plain terrible. I also feel bad that readers might not know a great book is waiting inside.
Silver's Reviews
Oh dear…I messed up…here is the correct link.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My BEA ARMCHAIR POST
Silver's Reviews
Nice post.
I don’t like when the cover is sort of smeared and washed out and you can’t tell what the picture is.
Have a fun Day 2.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Blogger New Year’s Challenge