People have been sharing hilarious examples of great books with very bad covers – 17 masterpieces you definitely shouldn’t judge at first sight
Everyone knows they shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but that doesn’t mean the cover itself is immune to criticism.
Even the most patient and open-minded of people will have a hard time getting over a terribly designed book cover. And X user @StoniAstley wanted to put that to the test by posing the following question:
Any examples of a bad cover for a great book?
— Stoni Astley (@StoniAstley) April 19, 2026
Here are the best books ruined by bad covers…
1.
— Aziz alk (@Genericuser212) April 21, 2026
2.
Korean version of Anne Frank pic.twitter.com/1bWAigrjV2
— Uriah Canaff (@UriahCanaff) April 22, 2026
3.
— lanh (@nguyenorlose98) April 23, 2026
4.
So bad that it almost loops back around to being good pic.twitter.com/n0NM1r7Eli
— Ryan Ha (@FaustAndFriends) April 21, 2026
5.
— Tania (@TaniaCarKow) April 23, 2026
6.
Animal Farm Latvian edition pic.twitter.com/jT0Rt4OL0A
— Oskars Freimanis 💙💛🇱🇻🇪🇺🇵🇸👨💻☕ (@Oskarsfr) April 23, 2026
7.
Worst offendor for me is these fuck ass re-prints of Terry Pratchett books. pic.twitter.com/QS1c7f79iG
— Isaak Keidser Flygare 🇸🇪 (@IsaakFlygare) April 22, 2026
8.
The copy I had v my son’s copy
Awful pic.twitter.com/HuVUh1jIhq
— Thor Oak (@FaithAndFunz) April 20, 2026
9.
This is I think my favorite possible example. Highly esoteric literature with a grocery store cover. pic.twitter.com/nScxN2oWvM
— Buck Mulligan (@camefromthe) April 21, 2026