When we enter a bookstore, we are hit by the smell of fresh paper, the soft whisper of a story from each shelf – and then something fateful happens: our eye catches the cover. Bright colors, a mysterious illustration, perhaps the ominous silence of white space. And in that moment, before we read a single line, we know: this is what we have to have. Let's take a look at the best book covers.
Best covers books. Designers have brought out the best in them this year: combinations of typographical gimmicks, textures, graphic flashes and metaphorical candies that not only look crazy good on a nightstand, but also suck in curiosity like a whirlpool in a luxurious swimming pool. Below, you will find a selection of twelve books where the cover is not just an introduction – it is a visual promise of the story that follows.
Best Book Covers 2025
We Are Green and Trembling – Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
We Are Green and Trembling: A poetic, slightly surreal journey through identity, desire, and ecology. The protagonist, an activist with a past, embarks on a spiritual and physical journey through the Amazon rainforest – both literally and metaphorically. An unexpected emotional greenery.
Hollow –Taylor Grothe
Hollow: The horror that lurks in the void. The main character returns to an abandoned homestead, where she finds more than just old memories – she finds emptiness, who looks back. When birds lose their eyes and walls whisper, it becomes clear that "emptiness" can be the most terrifying.
Beta vulgaris –Margie Sarsfield
Beta vulgaris: No, this is not a cookbook about beets. It's a literary explosion about a girl who suffers from a rare blood disease and is forced to eat red foods - while also getting involved in occult conspiracies where beets are not just a vegetable, but a symbol of physical transformation. Bizarre and surprisingly delicious.
The Dream Hotel – Laila Lalami
The Dream Hotel: A hotel that only exists in dreams? Or maybe… not? The novel follows a diverse group of guests who wake up in an unfamiliar hotel with no idea how they got there. Each floor reveals a part of their subconscious. The feeling: Kubrick meets Murakami.
Eat the Ones You Love –Sarah Maria Griffin
Eat the Ones You Love: Lyrical science fiction that explores love through the metaphor of cannibalism – not literally, of course, but enough to make the reader shift a little uncomfortably in their chair. Love is a devouring, a dissolving, a growing. And yes, sometimes the taste of flesh is emotional.
Something in the Walls –Daisy Pearce
Something in the Walls: If you think creaky walls are a sign of poor insulation – think again. In this psychological horror film, the protagonist moves into an old Victorian house and discovers that the house is not only a home, but also… a watcher. Someone, or something, is watching back. And it’s not a happy one.
Wild West Village – Lola Kirke
Wild West Village: The Wild West reinterpreted through the prism of feminist dystopia. In a village somewhere in the desert, women take law into their own hands, building a utopian community – until the ghosts of the past appear. Colorful, wild, debauched – a kind of Tarantino with poetry.
Flashlight –Susan Choi
Flashlight: A novel about memory, manipulation, and the light we shine into the dark corners of our past. When the main character receives her grandfather's old pocket flashlight, she begins to explore the story of his youth - and stumbles upon secrets she may not have wanted to reveal. Literary, sophisticated, but with sharp edges.
Goddess Complex – Sanjena Sathian
Goddess Compex: When ancient deities face millennia-old identity crises. Two women – perhaps goddesses, perhaps just mortals with a great sense of drama – find themselves caught up in a mythologically tense story that reveals how complex it is to be strong, honorable and completely lost in the modern world. A feminist allegory, imbued with magical realism and elegant irony. Ideal for anyone who believes their nerves have Olympian dimensions.
Lili Is Crying – Hélène Bessette
Lili Is Crying: What happens when tears are not just emotions, but also narrative? Lili cries – maybe because of love, maybe because of the world, maybe it’s just Monday. In this delicately layered novel, reeking of experimental French prose and 60s perfumes, the author breaks down emotions into small pieces and then collages them into a story that is both painfully intimate and aesthetically sophisticated. A novel for all those who are not confused by emotions – but who are made to cry beautifully.
Conclusion
The best book covers: A cover is more than just packaging – it’s an entrance, a first line, a silent promise of what’s to come. 2025 is proof that design can be more than just an aesthetic addition, but an essential part of the literary experience. Of course, we’re not judging the book only by the cover – but let’s face it, if the cover is boring, the book will stay on the shelf. And who wants to be ignored on the shelf?
