Every Day / Every Day Cover

People say you can't judge a book by it's cover. That phrase is usually used as an analogy but I believe you can judge a book by it's cover.

A cover can give us a sneak preview of the book, just like a blurb. Also, a cover can be a way to intrigue us to read the book.

There are times when a book cover seems less accurate when you start to read and understand the book.

I just finished reading Every Day, by David Levithan. The book cover is an image of two people floating or flying in the sky. The overall color is sepia-toned and the only white on the cover is the title. I think the sepia cover works better than neutral or full-color would because I don't feel I would give this book a second look, otherwise. I would [have] assumed this book was too romantic or 'pretty.' With sepia, it seems more compelling and interesting.

However, after reading the book, the cover didn't make as much sense to me. Nobody ever falls, floats or flies. I understand that covers can just be compelling, but they should also have more of a connection to the story.

Take, for example, the cover of The LIghtening Thief, by Rick Riordan. It's compelling, and shows a boy from behind, which is mysterious. It also and puts a scene from the book on the cover. When I read The LIghtening Thief, I enjoyed reading the part that was portrayed on the cover. It was cool to look at the image while reading what was going on.

Other books have images that could happen in the book, or images that give information without portraying a scene in the book, like The Maze Runner, by James Dashner. The cover is intriguing and not showing an exact scene from the book. The image just looks cool.

The cover of Every Day was intriguing enough to make me pick it up, but after reading the book, the cover could have connected more directly to the predicament of the main character  switching bodies every day. A has to be grounded being in different bodies everyday, he does the exact opposite of flying. He figuratively can't get off the ground.

Below, my dand and I created an alternative cover for Every Day in Photoshop.