Are YA Cover Redesigns EVER an Improvement?

Nothing strikes more fear into the heart of a YA book lover than the announcement of a cover redesign. While a mid-series change can throw your bookshelf aesthetics into disarray, any rebranding can be disappointing. Are YA cover redesigns ever an improvement? Take a look at a recent cover change and tell me what you think:

When a YA cover redesign is announced, you can almost hear the gnashing of collective teeth. I’ve been thinking about this over the past few days and decided that I can think of very few cover redesigns that I approve of.

To me, it seems like most YA cover designs are masterminded by someone who decides that a YA cover (and, probably, all of YA) is much too girly and something must be done.

So pretty, romantic covers get scrapped and replaced by generic, bland covers that tell you nothing about the book.

It’s enough to make you cry.

Recently while scrolling through my social media, I saw an announcement of a redesign of a popular YA series from around 2009. The original covers are gorgeous – among the prettiest YA covers out there – and perfectly fit the books – which take place in turn of the century New York.

So pretty, right?

I’m not always all about girls-in-dresses covers, but these books featured actual girls in ballgowns who go to balls. 

The new covers are below (photo announcing the redesign posted by Epic Reads on Twitter):

Sadface.  Uh, nice typography. But can you look at these and have any idea what the books are about?

We’ve seen this kind of cover redesign before, when romantic covers of gorgeously dressed girls become bland and nondescript.

The book below takes place in Venice, and during the Renaissance, for crying out loud. Can’t we keep the cover of the girl in the mask? The cover on the right looks like a thriller you’d pick up in an airport gift shop.

Here’s another widely cried-over cover redesign that took gorgeous girly covers and turned them into something very different:

The bottom covers are fine, but (in my opinion) they don’t fit the story nearly as well.

Then there was this very sad state of affairs:

The original cover (far left) was stunning and romantic – as would be fitting for a romantic suspense story set in space. The cover was redesigned twice. The middle cover is yet another generic looking thriller cover and the far right one is … I’m not even sure.

A time I DID approve of a cover redesign:

In the original Throne of Glass cover was very pretty, but looked to me like the photograph for the cover of a fashion magazine. I think the redesigned cover better reflects the main character and the story.

ETA:  In comments, Jaime of Books and Waffles mentioned a cover redesign she did like. This is an interesting example to me, because it’s a generic cover that is made less generic in the redesign, and  I’d say more girly-slash-kick-ass (with the female character with her long flowing hair) and uh… is it me or does this cover a lot like the revamped Throne of Glass covers (above). Maybe it’s an attempt to appeal to fans of ToG? In any case, great example for discussion – thanks Jaime!

My overall take on cover designs: If it ain’t broke, PLEASE don’t fix it. Do these new covers really sell more copies? I’d love to see the evidence of that.

What do you think? Are YA cover redesigns ever an improvement? Please tell me in comments!