Discussion: About Cover Judging & Comparing Book Covers (and titles) Dutch vs. UK/US

I love book covers and I love judging book covers (and nobody dare shame me for it). Sometimes I buy books based on their covers (or at least check them out), sometimes I don’t read a book because I hate the cover. I have books on my shelves I haven’t read yet because the cover really turns me off (*caughs* Graceling *caughs*).

Today I wanted to do a little fun post in which I compare some of the UK/US covers to the Dutch editions, because sometimes I really don’t understand why they made the changes they did. And sometimes I love the Dutch cover more! If you didn’t know it yet, I am Dutch, so I come across Dutch translations quite often.

But first, I wanted to talk a little about cover judging and cover changes!

I talked about this in an earlier post, but I think it is time for another mini-discussion. The new covers of the Ember of The Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir have shaken up the bookish community a little because it seems you either hate the covers or you love them. I personally don’t like them, plus, I hate that they changed it up in the middle of the series. I own the first book in the series, but if I were to buy the other books, they would completely not at all match with the old one. It bugs me that they made the cover changes so drastic. They could have kept the old style and put the people (I hate people on covers) in a little less obvious, so they would still match.

Anyway, I’m drifting off… I have heard the sentence “I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” SO OFTEN and it bugs me. I don’t think there is anything wrong with judging a book by its cover. A publisher makes the decision to make a cover that way, so they must have reason for it. If you don’t like the cover, then you don’t have to read it. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t ever let a cover stop you from reading a book, that’s fine, but if you do, that’s fine too. There is nothing holding you back from not reading something you don’t like (or you think doesn’t look good).

People are drawn to things that look good. We like it when things look good, but it also works the other way, if something looks good, we unconsciously like it more (and vice versa when things don’t look good). It’s psychology, kids!

And now back to the original post idea (sorry this is such a mess)…

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

So this cover change I actually like a lot. Though, I cannot remember whether ice cream played an important role in the book (oops). I just really don’t like the original cover, I don’t know why but I just don’t understand it. It looks weird. The Dutch cover on the other hand, looks cute and like something I’d pick up! The Dutch title translates to The Benefits of Unrequited/Unanswered Love, so they kept that pretty consistent (which is not always the case).

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

I don’t know what to think of the Dutch edition, I mean it’s a good cover, I think, but it’s definitely not better than the UK or US editions. I don’t like people on covers so that is a minus for the Dutch edition. Also, if you look at the cover up close, it really isn’t that well-photoshopped. BUT, the reason I really wanted to talk about this cover is the title. Caraval is translated to “Het Zwarte Hart”, meaning “The Black Heart” and the series is now called “De Duisternis”, meaning “The Darkness”. WHY? I don’t get it. There is something about a black heart in the book, but come on the whole book is about Caraval, why change it???

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

I actually picked up the Dutch edition of Everything, Everything in the library and I had no idea it was the same book! I do like the cover, but nothing can beat the prettiness of the US/UK cover, the art is just so pretty! Another thing is the title. I get why they changed it because “Everything, Everything” sounds a bit weird in Dutch. The new title “Alles wat je lief is”, which translates to “Everything you hold dear” or something along those lines, is good I think? Still, they could have just kept the original title (they do that a lot too).

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

The Dutch edition of Heartless has this big tree on the cover, and there is nothing about trees in the book, but it kinda looks okay? I don’t like how the letters are barely readable because of how busy it is, but maybe that is just because of the picture. I still would prefer the other Heartless cover. The title is just a straight-up translation from the English one.

What’s your opinion on cover judging? Do you think it’s bad? What is your favourite or least favourite cover-change of these? Does your home country also do these strange cover changes? What is your least favourite cover change of all time?

~~ Also, hi! I’m back home! A winner for my giveaway has been drawn and has been notified on twitter. The winner is Megan from Words That Stay so if you are Megan, please contact me! If you do not contact me within 2 days, I’ll be forced to pick another winner. ~~

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