I know a lot of people don’t like book covers with faces, but sometimes they’re done really well and are really beautiful or striking. I especially love illustrated ones because it gives me the chance to see the character exactly as they’re meant to look and to connect with them before I even start the story, plus I’m a sucker for pretty artwork. Even photos can be great if it’s not a photo I’ve already seen on multiple other books and if the whole cover is well done.
So… here are some book covers I love that feature faces!
The Bionics Saga by Nadege Richards
These are so pretty and eye-catching, and I love how they match up when they’re next to each other!
Mars Girls by Mary Turzillo
This is some gorgeous art!
The Splintered Series by A.G. Howard
These covers are just so fantastical and pretty! I swear that guy on Unhinged is looking into my soul.
The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge Series by Jacob Z. Flores
These are all so simple, just a person, and yet, I find myself drawn to them and curious about the characters. It must be in the eyes!
Nameless Series by Jennifer Jenkins
I love how BOLD all of these are!
Artemis Invaded by Jane Lindskold
Something about this one is so striking and kind of ethereal. It’s so well designed, including the font and everything.
Birds of a Feather by S. Margrave
I just love this art and all that attitude in the character’s facial expression.
Want Series by Cindy Pon
These covers are gorgeous with such pretty and cool colors!
Mad in Wonderland Series by Cameron Jace
They all have basically the same image, but they’re still so colorful and fun!
The Immortal Coil Series
I’ve always loved these beautiful covers!
Wow, some of these are gorgeous! I’ve never really been one of those people though that have something against faces on covers. When I am against it is when I have no idea who the person is or they don’t match who they are supposed to be, you know? Like the publisher never even bothered to tread the book but just stuck a pretty picture on it to sell it.
*sigh*
Oh, definitely. It’s super frustrating when the person on the cover doesn’t even match the description.
I’m not usually one to like faces on covers but some of these are really nice.
The Bionics Saga, with it’s clever lining up of the faces across the books, is my fav, but the artwork on the Warlock Brothers is awesome. Makes me wish I could draw.
Glad you like these too! Seriously, the Warlock Brother has such great art. I wasn’t even sure it was art at first!
I tend to like covers with people on them but not so much the face, but when you see that character staring straight at you from the cover, it can really draw you in!
Right? These faces are just so… in your face lol. And it does draw me in!
I am not entirely fans of covers with faces, but I will say this — the covers for the Bionic Saga are FANTASTIC!
They’re so cool!
Love these! Not all covers with faces work for me, but you’ve chosen some good ones. I really love the first two that match up at the edges!
Glad you like these too!
I rarely like faces on my covers but you make a good case – especially because these are unique and artistic, I guess my mind always goes to the generic romance cover faces where they all blur together.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
So what you’re saying is that I’ve converted to a book covers with faces lover 😉
The Bionics Saga covers are so creative! So many of these have a theme going and I love that. Very nice bunch of covers!
They really are creative! Glad you like these too!
I don’t often like covers with faces but that Nameless series sure is gorgeous!
They sure are!
The Splintered books (and all Howard’s books for that matter) have exquisite covers. I like Pon’s a lot too. This is the first time I am seeing Mars Girls, and I love the color scheme and illustration style.
They really do! And I also really like Pon’s covers. I’m surprised more people haven’t mentioned liking Mars Girls because I think that one is so gorgeous!
Faces can be funny. I kinda like the Bionics covers, especially as you note the way they go together. Nice! The AG Howard covers are amazingsauce and I’ve always loved ’em.
The last two Nameless covers are pretty badass too, wit the red and black.
Rogue Hounds I like too! and the second Insanity cover.
Man, picking a favorite is tough! I don’t know probs one of those AG Howard ones.
I don’t even try picking a favorite anymore, I just make you all pick instead 😂
I’ve always really loved the covers for the Splintered series. They’re just so cool. I think faces can work okay on covers, but like you said, using the same model as other books will make it seem a bit too generic. Illustrated covers are pretty awesome though!
-Lauren
Me too, they have so much going on on them. Yep, illustrated faces are great!
I love these, they are so so pretty. I definitely don’t mind faces on covers.
Yay for a fellow face lover! Lol
Oooh I love most of these, but I think my favorite is The Bionics Saga because of how they line up <3 that is really cool!
It is really cool how they match up like that!
Book covers with faces are a difficult one for me. I think they can look really good but they just aren’t usually covers which draw me into a book. I do like those Cindy Pon covers, though. And The Splintered series are really cool, but that’s partially everything else on the cover and the colours, I think.
I’m the opposite, that when it’s a good cover, like these, a face draws me in more. It makes me feel a connection to the character. But yeah, the Splintered covers just have a lot of cool design stuff!
I love these!! Fun post! 🙂
Thanks!
I like faces on covers as long as they are actually of someone in the book! You found some gorgeous examples here and I know exactly what you mean about the Unhinged face. Amazing eyes!
Oh, definitely. I remember once reading a series with an MC and two love interests and looking at the cover like… who are these people??? It’s so frustrating when that happens. I love the Unhinged cover and honestly I just like his face, haha.
I am not the hugest fan of faces on the cover, but if you are going to do it, the best way to do it is the way you’ve shown here — when it’s clearly not a real model’s face. But I guess a graphic design or artistic design face is a lot more bearable to me! I have actually read Insanity from the covers you selected but I really didn’t like that book >.>
Yep, I love the illustrated ones! But yeah, if not that, then it at least needs to have some nice editing or design. I don’t like the covers that are just a photo of a model either. I actually haven’t read any books on this list except J. Armand’s lol.
I usually like covers with faces, if well done ofcourse, although it’s also nice to see covers without faces on them. These are all great and I like how they still give a feel for what the book is about a bit about the characters too.
The Bionics saga covers looks awesome and that’s neat how they line up when next to each other, but also don’t look weird when viewed separately. I always thought those Splintered covers looked great, they sure catch your attention. And I am not surprised you included the Immortal Coil series here, I like those covers, although they do make me wonder if each book follows a different main character.
Yeah, they definitely need to be done well, like these! I also like when they do a good job of also giving you a feel for the book, the genre, the mood, the characters, etc., as most of these do.
I didn’t even notice they would do that until I put them together, but it looks great! The Splintered covers are definitely eye-catching! The Immortal Coil books all follow the same POV character despite the different covers 🙂