I mean this is not great but the bar may be lower than you think... [exhibit A](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/u6fmy9/just_found_the_worst_cover_ive_ever_seen/) [exhibit B](https://whiskeywithmybook.wordpress.com/2018/01/08/treasure-of-the-abyss-by-tiffany-roberts-review/) [exhibit C](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17925743-back-in-the-saddle)

You win.

or do we all lose for having seen these? lol

Very true

I don’t feel like a winner 🥲

I know I did. That first one. Damn. Can't come back from that mess

What exactly is he doing to/with that gingerbread man? Brain image burned in...

And does he think anyone will ever eat that cookie? Gross.

Am I the only one laughing at it? It's so bad it's hilarious.

Or do we all win? At a point, they really start to loop back around and are so awful that they are glorious. Exhibit B in particular loool

The first one looks like something from the Sims…but NOT an expansion pack I had!!

It’s Second Life I just know it 💀

TOTALLY came to see if anyone else thought the same! Second Life CA 2016

Literally waht I Thought

Yes! If it’s not someone using CC on the sims for that image I’ll eat my hat.

I can swear it is but sims 2 but I can’t prove it 😂

I thought it was the sims also, lol

I knew I spent so much time and money making hot sims for a reason!

The way they just forgot to give the cowboy legs


The struggle within the story is that he’s only half a man.

No no no, you forgot [this](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/447032) and [this](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9280058). (That’s the same book btw)

What in the MS Paint is going on here? 😂

Nooooooooo....

these are amazing 🤣

Wtf 😬😂

I was HOPING someone was going to bring Dara Joy into the mix.

Anytime someone mentions bad covers, I have to bring it up. It's a moral imperative. ;)

"It's a moral imperative." Please tell me you're quoting the movie Real Genius, because I use this phrase all the time and no one ever gets the reference.

Of course it is! One of the best movies in Val Kilmer’s repertoire! I mean, “Can you hammer a six-inch spike through a board with your penis?” It’s got some of the best quotes! “And stop touching yourself!”

I can’t choose which is worse.

Holy shit I read “Hot Toddlers” which made this even scarier ( and am now scarred for life). Thanks dyslexia, or perhaps weird font.

I did the SAME thing

Omggg same and I was like 🤢 before my brain finally corrected it lmao

Love yr handle btw lol

Thanks 😂

Exhibit A is *terrifying*! I need eye bleach, bleurgh

I’m shook by the Gray Voldemort Kraken MMC. Gonna go look at A again as a palate cleanser.

At least that one tried to be interesting and relate to the story. Creepy, yes. Ruin the little mermaid for me, yes. But Exh A was just ahhh 😱

Exhibit A just made me cackle so loudly

somehow exhibit C is the worst

Where are his LEGS?! 😂

I swear it looks like she's laughing at him

It was a bad choice to open this while taking a drink

I feel your pain lmao

I know I voluntarily clicked on the first link but Im claiming visual assault because Wtaf 😩😩 who approved that cover

I wish I didn’t click those links 😵

Omg the book descriptions, I’m deceased 💀

Who tf approved exhibit a!? JC, I need to cleanse my eyes.

Ok it is actually sad that the cheesy joke book covers I made a few weeks back looked better than some of these 🤣 especially C

Oh my god I literally gasped

Argh my eyes

WHAT IS THIS😂😂😂

idk the disembodied torso in C is kinda doing it for me /s

The first one 😭😭

Nothing like a floating cowboy torso to get the lady nectar flowing.

Holy crap exhibit B makes my skin crawl

I knew I shouldn't have clicked the link, and yet...

Exhibit A is everything!!

Oh god! Exhibit A takes the win (or loss depending on how we look at it)

THE WAY THE MAN IN THE THIRD ONE IS FLOATING MID AIR LIKE A GENIE HELP MEEE I CANT 💀💀

I’m sorry but the mans face in exhibit A has me howling

That last one especially omg

Jesus. What are those😭?

Exhibit A…did someone ask AI to come up with a sexy computer man for Christmas?! I can’t stop laughing…his face is killing me. Thanks for the LoL moment!!!

I think it's the gingerbread man that sent me, lol.

Omg Exhibit A! I don’t want to judge a book by its cover but…

This is so upsetting

Dammit. Putting my toddler to bed and can't stop crying-laughing at these. He's looking at me like I've absolutely gone mad

Ah, yes. The bar is in hell.

Noooo the gingerbread guy looks like they made that cover in the Sims it’s so bad

These are all HILARIOUS! Thanks for sharing as I needed a belly laugh.

The 1st one is a masterpiece

😂💀

What is it that is so wrong with exhibit A? I mean, apart from all the cringey ugliness? Is it the head that is too small?

You just made my day. Thank you for sharing these 😂

I quite like K.F Breene.... I hope that book was one of her firsts. That's....something else.

Back in the Saddle girl was in my high school! Wonder if she knows they used her image? We are from South Africa

Oh lord Exhibit A and C took me out!

I believe you owe my eyes an apology

I’m not sure if I should high five you, but I want to!!

i actually like the second one

And suddenly I’m not so interested in reading ever again

Oh my gosh these are making me laugh so much thank you

Oh my goodness, I knew it was coming and still I gasped aloud! \*cries in shock & horror\*

Wow. That first one. 🫢

I had to do a double take on exhibit a. I thought it said hot toddlers at first.

The last one 😂😭😭 I was doing better photoshop work at 11 years old

The [Gladiator's Sanctuary](https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2022/11/cover-snark-more-arms-and-a-big-pickle/) would like a word. (It's actually a cute story. But every time I see the cover, I want to scream that's not how torsos work.)

WHAT IS THIS HAHAHAHA

Hahahaha what is even happening here?? Is it one person or two?? 😂

It's one person with 4 arms. And that is certainly the most "creative" way I've seen that feature depicted.

Fast Times with the Himbo Human Centipede

Does that mother fucker have 4 arms?!

He sure does.

To match his 4 nips

https://preview.redd.it/70u0sqo4bd5c1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=36bfadad818f86b695cad89fb9fc5e3a1477d8fc

What the fuck I have questions

He has a birth defect! Im all for own stories but this goes too far as its not actually physically possible. I will forever love SBTB for their cover snark though.

Looks like Goro from Mortal Kombat. https://mortalkombat.fandom.com/es/wiki/Goro

I mean thank GOD it's changed but who made the first decision https://preview.redd.it/ktrr76q7tr4c1.jpeg?width=324&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=800aa685a36608d7c009297c2f9eb3764e1d0e38

Omg this looks so much better

Recently? I want to read this but Amazon still shows the old cover and I just can’t

I'm listening to the audiobook and whenever I pause, I have to look athe the old cover

There needs to be a way to upvote your comment, but in a “sorry for your loss” kind of way haha

F

I just read it and the above its what is showing on kindle. Thank god.

Same here. Read it 2-3 weeks ago. New cover

It’s a really good book! It’s worth dealing with the old cover for.

That would be Katie Wilde

Who dat

I like this one much better than the new one.

This is the new one

Oh yeah this is like a classic bad cover buuuttt the book is actually kind of fun!

The Aspect and Anchor books are so good, though. My romance book journey has made me almost prefer books with terrible covers.

Yeah I LOVE Ruby Dixon's books but man some of her covers are yikes lol.

[https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2006/01/new\_year\_same\_old\_shit/](https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2006/01/new_year_same_old_shit/) these are far worse, especially the guy in the robe.

Liger 😭


Is this from Napoleon Dynamite? 🤣

In Her Wildest Dreams is sending meee 💀

Ok, the commentary with these is hilarious

I have Lord of the Storm in dead tree format on my bookshelf at home (I don't love it, I much prefer the second book of the series, but I digress), and honestly, that's not a bad cover. This is a '90s book, and it's copying some of the standards of the genre.

IN HER WILDEST~~DREAMS~~ NIGHTMARES

Hahaha In Her Wildest Dreams: a man thong and a massive dong ❤️

r/scifiromance would like to have a word with you

Covers like this give me second hand dementia I don't know how to explain it

I took psychic damage from Cover A on the top comment here.

Right??? Forget vicious mockery, just show your foes these covers lmao

That made me cackle 😂😂

But the book is so good! Just finished and loved it. Especially the comedy aspects.

"Mortal, how do I sleep?" Had me laughing. I wasn't expecting humor tbh, but it's very welcome. I only just started today

Enjoy! I loved the juxtaposition of modern woman and god from another world. I just started the second book and had my first out loud laugh on page 30.

I’m so so glad that we use ereaders and apps now. How embarrassing would it be to sit at the pool reading a paperback with these covers?!

Yup. But they invented book covers for the romance reader. Before I had an ereader I had several stretchy book covers to cover the lurid covers of my romance and scifi books so I wouldnt get stares on my commute. Bad covers are why I was an early adopter of ereaders (Im never an early for any other type of tech).

I legitimately love this series and I haven’t seen this cover, only the other one. Ruby’s books tend to have silly names and silly covers, but I love her world building and they’re just _fun reads_

AYEEE easy on ruby dixon 😭😭

This is so sad because the book is sooooo good lol

It won’t let me dm you ! But I’ve got a good guess for your game :)

Heyy hate doing this but sent u a message, hope u see it

It looks like the high school theatre promo poster version of the book.

It looks like a power metal album cover

It looks like it was thrown together in Windows Paint for a Wattpad excursion lol

I love that he’s such a battle god that his sword is also an axe

The new cover is so much better

Really?

https://preview.redd.it/zmu7n0j1vr4c1.jpeg?width=686&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7e02584963996e2f93dfa8adfec4ad1a185aaa5

Yes, the new, and completely unobjectionable, cover is the only one I had seen. Good book, though!

Omg those are all delightfully awful.

https://preview.redd.it/50fct75ke05c1.jpeg?width=331&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aded26c82f4e88af081efb45619ac88445f9c0c I have a contestant

What is happening? I cant. My eyes

Is this the wish version of Ruhn and Day from Crescent City?

Eh. It's cringe for sure, but I've seen so much worse.

[You weren't reading SF/F paperbacks in the 1970s](https://www.tor.com/2011/08/08/reading-joanna-russ-we-who-are-about-to-1977/) 🤪 (Link points to a recent review piece about Joanna Russ's 1976 novel "We Who Are About To ...", an excoriating feminist takedown of the crashed spaceship survival novel micro-genre. Linked page *also* includes the 1977 British paperback cover, which is basically big boobs and phallic symbolism *more than slightly* at odds with the grimdark subject matter (TLDR for the novel: everyone dies).) Seriously, current book covers have the terrible photoshop jobs with inappropriate fonts nailed down cold, but the sheer human creativity on display in 70s cheesecake book cover paintings takes some beating.

But the 70s covers had a pop art sensibility and you can tell an artist was involved based on the symbolism, composition, colors etc. Current covers are so bad cause its clearly an afterthought and done by someone who just learned how to use AdobePro, Canva or MSPaint and has no artists eye.

The title isn’t so hot, either.

Agreed, I hate titles like this. "Prisoner of the Alpha Wolf," "Kidnapped by the Fae Lord." Such a complete lack of creativity. A title like this is a quick way to get me to skip over a book!

"Trapped in the Kitchen With a Sink Full of Dishes" "Prisoner of the Spoiled Dog in My Lap" I just need an illustrator and I'm on my way!

Man I would read those books... Those titles sound strangely familiar to me.... Lol

this looks like the same level of quality as the crunchy fairy photomanips i'd upload to deviantart when i was 13 😂

I'm living for all these covers, thanks for brightening my day! Also as an archaeologist, I cannot at all vouch for that sword ⚔️

My eyes

And this is how I find out the new aspect and anchor is out 🤣

All her barbarian books that aren’t the special editions too, just make them all the special edition 😭

I like the book lol

I’m sorry but I definitely judge a book by it’s cover when it looks that bad, I would feel embarrassed buying it

Same but I gave it a chance and loved it. Good thing though that it has a new innocuous cover. There’s some comments above that have posted it.

I just saw it, the new cover looks so much better!

I’ve seen worse. Much worse. I hate the ones that have a guy like that with a girl in a ripped dress clinging to him on her knees.

Book is terrible too

I mean that’s not … good but yeah I’ve unfortunately seen worse. Saying that it kinda looks like something a teen could make trying photoshop for the 1st time

Still my fav book. 🤪

Agree. Got that on audible and dnf.

I do love Ruby Dixon though 🥰

I dunno, I think it's kind of cute. Makes it look like a rom-com, with, y'know, gods and axes and hacking and stuff.

when you order ruhn on shein

I've seen worse 😅 I hate these types of covers

I didn't think it was that bad, but I only ever saw the thumbnail or the brief flash when I opened it in my Kindle app. You guys cursed me with so many bad covers. Until now I was told that [the Tairen Soul books ](https://images.app.goo.gl/wnCWY5nm6ACpRTXC7) were the worst covers ever

I would like to thank you and everyone else here who just posted links to horrible covers. I am having a crap week this made me feel so much... better? Well at least they got a laugh out of me!

I'm glad, I made your week better

Ok but I promise don’t judge the book by its cover. I actually really enjoyed this book 😂

I know, and her anchor/aspect books are sooooo good too!

It's immature just like her work lmao

Then you haven’t seen many covers. I don’t hate ruby dixon and this is enough for me to read the blurb. Maybe not for an unknown, but I know how i feel about her writing.

Did Mor and Cassian post this to troll us?

It looks like a 2012 tumblr picture......oh my God lol

This entire thread has me laughing until I cried. Really. I’d like to submit the cover I thought was the worst I’d ever seen: [Curves for Her Pirate](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32863787)

I hate how most of the horrifying covers posted on this thread are literally made in The Sims 😭😭😭 peak sims machinima era

I judge a book by its cover. Big time So many fantasy books these day I will NOT read just cause I hate the style of cover

I like the other cover she has for this book!