Every once in a while, a book cover comes along that doesn’t scream its awfulness at you right away. Instead, it lures you in with the soft promise of a sunset, a peaceful lake, and two people in a boat… only for you to realize, with a growing sense of dread, that this isn’t romance at all. It’s Photoshop malpractice in its quietest, most insidious form. Since the Day We Promised is one of those covers, and friends, it deserves a long, slow roast.
Let’s start with the background: the sunset. Oh, it’s trying so hard to be romantic, bathing the world in syrupy orange light. But the longer you stare, the more you realize it’s the kind of stock photo you’ve seen on every inspirational Facebook meme your aunt has ever shared. You half-expect “Live, Laugh, Love” to be floating in the clouds. The lake, too, is suspiciously still, like it was lifted from a Windows XP wallpaper archive. There’s no depth, no texture—just a flat, generic backdrop that’s about as unique as a gas station greeting card.
Now let’s talk about that couple in the boat. At first glance, it’s supposed to be the heart of the story: two lovers, paddling into forever. But look closer. They’re so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to confirm they’re even human. They’ve been pasted onto the lake with all the care of a sticker slapped onto a school notebook. And the reflection? Don’t get me started. It doesn’t align with the light source, it doesn’t blend with the water, and it gives off the distinct vibe of “oops, forgot to flip it properly.” Instead of eternal romance, it looks like two dolls awkwardly bobbing on Photoshop’s “liquid filter.”
Typography, of course, is another battlefield. Kerk Murray’s name is bold, rigid, and uppercase—as if it’s about to launch a legal thriller, not a sweet romance. Meanwhile, the title is caught in a confused identity crisis. “Since the Day” is fairly restrained, but “We Promised” lunges at you in a chaotic swoosh of cursive. The imbalance is jarring. It’s like pairing Times New Roman with Comic Sans and then calling it a design choice. And “Day” — oh, that capital “D” is practically the diva of the entire cover, strutting in like it’s auditioning for The Bachelor.
Then, in the bottom corner, there’s the pièce de résistance: the little green seal for “Huxley Cove Sweet Romance.” It looks like someone stuck a budget sticker on top of the image, because clearly this cover didn’t already have enough clashing elements. It’s giving parody vibes, like the design team wanted to reassure you: “Yes, this is really supposed to be romance. We promise.” Unfortunately, it only cheapens the entire look further.
The problem with this cover isn’t just one design crime—it’s death by a thousand small failures. It’s bland stock imagery, lazy placement, mismatched fonts, and an overall lack of effort dressed up as “cozy romance.” It’s not offensively chaotic like some covers we’ve roasted here, but it’s the type of quiet disaster that makes you forget the book even exists. And honestly, in the cutthroat world of book publishing, being forgettable might be the worst crime of all.
This isn’t a love story; it’s a love letter to Canva templates. And sadly, that promise in the title? Already broken.