As an avid YA fantasy reader myself, there are very distinct trends that can be found on the covers of the most popular books in the genre. The first—and most important—aspect of judging a book is examining the title. If you’re looking for a book in your local bookstore, you’ll want to search for titles with very unique adjectives and nouns. To put it simply, look for titles that use one of these templates: “[Noun] of [Noun]” or “The [Adjective] King/Queen/Heir/etc.” For example, recently-published The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken and The Stolen Heir by Holly Black are two very popular YA Fantasy novels that follow the unspoken rules of titles in 2024. This is something that often influences my next read, so I recommend it!
The second part of judging a YA fantasy book by its cover is, of course, evaluating the artwork and design. This too has some distinct trends that have become the norm in book covers over the past couple of years. First, the title is large, centered, capitalized, and ornate. Big and bold fonts can almost always be found as the center of attention on YA fantasy covers, with the author’s name in a slightly smaller font above or below it. Besides the title, you should be looking for simplistic yet decorative details. These include snakes, plants, jewels, birds/wings, weapons, etc. If you’re still not quite sure what to look for, keep an eye out for anything that looks like a sword stumbled into a professional photo session. A few popular examples include Hayley Dennings’ This Ravenous Fate, as well as Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass. In some cases, you might even have an image of a woman, like in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments.
There are two identifiable trends when it comes to traditional YA romance covers, one more popular than the other. The first and most popular is 2-dimensional art with light fonts and bright colors. Lynn Painters’ Better than the Movies is a great example of this, with a solid yellow background, a title in a light blue font, and 2D illustrations of the characters performing activities related to the content of the novel. Other examples include Witty in Pink by Erica George and Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds. When it comes to YA romance, you’ll almost always find a good story behind an illustrated, colorful cover!
The second type of cover you can find within YA Romance is simple but speaks volumes about the contents. Consisting of a plain colored background set behind a title, accompanied with one object and lots of movement, books such as Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow and Before & After You & Me by Dallas Woodburn are perfect examples. So, If 2D covers begin to lose your interest, keep these details in mind!
As the summer fades out and Halloween is ushered in, readers may be interested in YA thrillers to get them in the spooky, fall spirit. When scanning the books at Barnes & Noble for a juicy thriller, it’s most important to keep an eye out for what looks like a crime scene photo. By this I mean look for covers that incorporate blood, hand written notes or any objects that could be significant symbols in the story. Just the cover art alone should be enough to give you goosebumps! A few YA thrillers with such covers that are worth highlighting include Holly Jackson’s The Reappearance of Rachel Price, Karen M. Mcmanus’ Two Can Keep a Secret, and Danielle Valentine’s Two Sides to Every Murder. An honorable mention is Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s Where Sleeping Girls Lie!
Even after all of these recommendations I have given, there is still no correct way to judge a book without actually reading it. However, the next time you can’t find a book to add to your reading list, try picking one just for the cover. Who knows, it could be your next five star read!
Just for fun, here are some of my favorite covers in the YA genre!
The Dare by Natasha Preston | Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid | Portrait of a Shadow by Meriam Metoui
Callie Andrews, Pine Reads Review Writer, Social Media, & Web