When Snakes Take Over

How do you celebrate Friday the 13th? Talking about something that actually terrifies me. A lot! So, I have a confession to make: I don't like snakes. Never did. Never will. I'm not sure if I can say that I have a snake phobia (which I most certainly probably have), but I like to keep my distance from these reptilians, may them be real or fake. However, there's a new trend in the book industry that is making it impossible...

Yes, you guessed it right. Books with snakes on their cover make my skin crawl. I'm pretty sure this is the reason I haven't picked Julie Dao's Forest of a Thousand Lanterns - I received it in a subscription box and now I feel guilty about buying the non-scary edition.

If once upon a time snakes were barely there - even when they were just complementary, I already wasn't a big fan of them - now they take over every single inch of the cover. Sometimes their presence on the cover doesn't even make sense! Why feature a snake on a book that has nothing to do with snakes?! They are just there because snakes on book covers are a current trend. The worst part is that sometimes I don't even notice them, as it has happened with Ghost Wood Song and Girl, Serpent, Thorn (don't even ask me how I failed to recognize two huge white snakes).

Some might quite enjoy their books with these crawling reptilians, but I'm pretty much sulking about it because I will not be able to pick some amazing books and releases that I'm very excited about unless there's a snake-free alternative cover. Just the thought of knowing that I'm holding a paperback with a snake on the cover, the thought of knowing that my hands are on top of a snake... *shivering". And, yes, I don't have to touch them on my Kobo, but every time I turn it off, the book cover stays on the screen. I will have to look at the snake every time I pick my e-reader.

WHY I DON'T LIKE SNAKES ON BOOK COVERS

🌻 Snakes are terrifying, which is certainly the effect that the publisher wants the cover to transpire. However, there are a lot of ways to make a cover give their readers creepy vibes - skulls, ominous shadows, bloody knives, ghosts and monsters, dark background, etc. No need for snakes!

🌻 Scales! Of course, dragon scales don't make my skin crawl. Dragons are actually fluffy and super adorable. I really want a dragon... and I now need to play Spyro, my favourite purple dragon in the world! 

🌻 Keep snakes on television shows or on their natural habitat. Just keep them off of my books because I want to read them! This isn't much of a reason...

🌻 They are not aesthetically pleasing. Although I was fooled once or twice into falling in love with a book with a snake on its cover, but as I mentioned previously I only noticed them later.

Unless they all look like Kaa's Disney version. Even though Kaa still tried to kill Mowgli. 

While most people seem to be super excited about this trend, here I am in my little corner of the world waiting - and hoping - for the publishers to realize that snakes on the covers are a huge NO. I'm just dying for this trend to be over. Anyway, I'm leaving with a few more books that feature snakes on the cover. I just hope I find the strength to pick The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Do you dislike snakes on book covers as much as I do? Are you dying for this trend to be over as much as I do?

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