I know the consensus is Don’t Judge a Book Based on Its Cover, but sometimes you just have to. Sometimes you just have to buy that book because the cover is gorgeous and it really doesn’t matter what it’s about, because you need the cover solely based on the artwork. It’s just too stunning to not have on your shelf.

I don’t do this often with physical copies anymore – but eBooks are a whole other story. Those I buy based solely on their covers all the time. But for this post, I’m going to be focusing on physical books specifically. I’m also partnering with Sammy from We Write at Dawn and we’re going to show each other our 5 books. I thought it would be fun to do this with someone and see if they’d have the same reaction as I did, and just want to buy the book based on its cover. In a COVID free world, it would be really fun to go to a bookstore (assuming these books would be on a shelf) and see if they catch our eyes, but that’s not possible. So instead, we’ve each made a list of 5 books, and we’re going to show them to each other and basically say yes or no.

She doesn’t know what books I’ve chosen, and I don’t know what she’s chosen, so it’ll be a surprise.

Let’s jump into it!

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These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Pub. Date: December 10, 2013

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Pages: 389

GR

My Reasoning: I mean, just look at this book. I remember seeing on the shelf in my local Barnes and Nobles and I didn’t care what it was about. It was just stunning and I’m a sucker for anything that looks like it’s set in space.

Sammy’s Response: That’s a gorgeous cover. I could definitely see myself picking this up in store and contemplating just buying it.

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The Program (The Program #1) – Suzanne Young

Pub. Date: April 28, 2013

Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopian

Pages: 405

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My Reasoning: This legit looked like nothing else on my shelves. A lot of YA across pretty much all genres besides contemporary are dark. So, the fact that this was white and yellow, I wanted it for that reason alone. It was unique

Sammy’s Response: Looking at it, um, I probably wouldn’t buy it off the bat. It looks so clinical, and I have a feeling it would be some medical-style book and I don’t know if I could handle that.

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The Beginning of Everything – Robyn Schneider

Pub. Date: August 27, 2013

Genre: YA Contemporary

Pages: 335

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My Reasoning: It’s Yellow, Orange and Blue! It’s bright and happy looking! This was sitting on an endcap and I was sitting at the café doing work and it kept catching my eye. So before I left, I bought a copy.

Sammy’s Response: When I look at this, I’m like oh yeah this looks like fun. I don’t know if I would have picked it up to buy it, but if I’d read it in high school, I’d probably enjoy it. It looks like a fun cover.

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The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy #1) – Sherry Thomas

Pub. Date: September 17, 2013

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 450

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My Reasoning: Do I really need to give one? I think I turned this one over and read like one blurb on the back, but if the image of a burning bird on the front doesn’t make you want to pick this up…I don’t know what to tell you.

Sammy’s Response: If I looked at this, I would assume it’s some hardcore, epic warfare fantasy. Depending on what I’m in the mood for, I could see myself picking this up and saying let’s go.

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The Wendy (Tales of the Wendy #1) – Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown

Pub. Date: January 16, 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 294

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My Reasoning: Again, I feel like this one is self-explanatory. It feels like an epic movie poster, and the fact that it was clearly a Peter Pan adaptation instantly sold me. Just look at it.

Sammy’s Response: I already know off the bat, it’s a Peter Pan retelling, and for that sake, I want to read it. I’m assuming the three main characters are on the front and I like that they look fierce. Yeah, I want to read this, adding it to my “Want to read shelf” now.

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This was a lot of fun to do! If you want to see my reaction to Sammy’s picks, make sure you head on over to her blog to check out her post! We’re thinking about doing a part two, where we talk about books that we loved, but hated the covers for. Let us know if that’s something you’d be interested in!

Also feel free to do this post with your friends and if you do, please tag me and Sammy so we can check out which books you bought solely because they’re pretty!