Seeking Brutally Honest, No-Holds-Barred Feedback on My Book Cover

[S.T.Collier]

Hey everyone,


I’ve been working on the cover for my LitRPG novel “APEX: Book One”, and I want brutally honest feedback — no sugarcoating, no excuses. I need to know what’s working, what’s not, and what might be actively turning readers off.


What I’m looking for feedback on:

• Visual impact – Does it catch your eye?
• Character design – Is Katelynn’s appearance compelling and believable for her heritage and role?
• Dinosaur design – Does the Carnotaurus feel intimidating and realistic?
• Composition & readability – Can you clearly see the title, subtitle, and author name at a glance?
• Overall vibe – Does the cover match a dark, gritty LitRPG/dystopian tone?

I’m open to everything — colour palette, lighting, text style, layout, even small details like HUD placement. If something feels off or awkward, I want to know.


Attached is the cover image. Please be as honest and detailed as possible — your feedback will directly influence revisions.


Thanks in advance!


— S.T. Collier

 

[Azamukul]

Sheeeet I can't think of anything... It's great quality and says a lot of the tone of the novel.

Plus, Roman Legionary vs a Carno is peak aesthetics.

 

[CinnaSloth]

 

[Bald-san]

Hey everyone,


I’ve been working on the cover for my LitRPG novel “APEX: Book One”, and I want brutally honest feedback — no sugarcoating, no excuses. I need to know what’s working, what’s not, and what might be actively turning readers off.


What I’m looking for feedback on:

• Visual impact – Does it catch your eye?
• Character design – Is Katelynn’s appearance compelling and believable for her heritage and role?
• Dinosaur design – Does the Carnotaurus feel intimidating and realistic?
• Composition & readability – Can you clearly see the title, subtitle, and author name at a glance?
• Overall vibe – Does the cover match a dark, gritty LitRPG/dystopian tone?

I’m open to everything — colour palette, lighting, text style, layout, even small details like HUD placement. If something feels off or awkward, I want to know.


Attached is the cover image. Please be as honest and detailed as possible — your feedback will directly influence revisions.


Thanks in advance!


— S.T. Collier

The dino should be taller, that's all

 

[Anemic_Vampire]

Take my words with a grain of salt please, I don't know anything about color palette.

• Does it catch your eye?

Yes, especially the phoenix on the shield because it's shiny.

• Character design – Is Katelynn’s appearance compelling and believable for her heritage and role?

I don't know, but she looks cool.

• Dinosaur design – Does the Carnotaurus feel intimidating and realistic?

The dino doesn't feel real per se, maybe because I can't see the girl's expression, so it doesn't feel intimidating as a viewer because she doesn't seem worried to face it? If that makes sense.

• Composition & readability – Can you clearly see the title, subtitle, and author name at a glance?

Yes, the text looks clean.

• Overall vibe – Does the cover match a dark, gritty LitRPG/dystopian tone?

I don't read a lot of LitRPG/dystopian stories, but the cover does look dark because of the back cover and the lonely looking foggy forest.

Although, I do think that only “Apex” as a story title might be a bit forgettable. But it's simple and works for me though.

 

[Haerzog]

The Carno looks to be the right size, as the museum specimen found was about 2.5 meters tall at the shoulder. Though I know reptiles frequently have light colored eyes, they look a little off without the pupils being visible. The carno does appear to be dangerous, but as a framing device the cover is focusing on Katelyn more than the dinosaur, indicating that the story is more about her struggling to overcome against the setting, rather than being a story of her merely surviving the setting.

I love the 'old leather' appearance of the background. Definitely hits the dark and gritty vibes. Might use some deeper browns on the woodwork framing the book title, to strengthen the contrast.

Having Katelyn's vibrant red hair being the only non-earth tone, aside from her shield, draws the eye to her favorably. The system interface is easy to miss on casual viewing, but I don't know if brighter or stronger blues would be a better option.

I can't say I'm getting 'Dystopian' vibes, as I am not seeing anything to indicate the presence of a ruined or fallen world; this looks more like an isekai based on what can be seen in the imagery. The title is somewhat ambiguous, asking whether the title refers to the dinos or indicates the nature of her struggle in that place, but is a strong word, and brings to mind imagery of struggle against nature..

It looks intriguing, to someone who hasn't read it before and stumbled across this forum post from the outside.

 

[Robert.Hillmyre]

The composition and atmosphere are great, especially the shield and creature interaction. One small thing I noticed is that the legs feel slightly under-scaled compared to the torso and armor, possibly due to the contrast with the bulky upper silhouette. A bit more mass or tension in the thighs and calves might help balance the figure.

 

[TinaMigarlo]

Hey everyone,


I’ve been working on the cover for my LitRPG novel “APEX: Book One”, and I want brutally honest feedback — no sugarcoating, no excuses. I need to know what’s working, what’s not, and what might be actively turning readers off.


What I’m looking for feedback on:

• Visual impact – Does it catch your eye?

ues

• Character design – Is Katelynn’s appearance compelling and believable for her heritage and role?

is that what they're calling it these days? fine. yes.

• Dinosaur design – Does the Carnotaurus feel intimidating and realistic?

yes, you get cool dino points.

• Composition & readability – Can you clearly see the title, subtitle, and author name at a glance?

yeah

• Overall vibe – Does the cover match a dark, gritty LitRPG/dystopian tone?

I’m open to everything — colour palette, lighting, text style, layout, even small details like HUD placement. If something feels off or awkward, I want to know.
Attached is the cover image. Please be as honest and detailed as possible — your feedback will directly influence revisions.
Thanks in advance!

— S.T. Collier

Look. Let me save you some time here. My skin is turning green. I'm very jealous.
okay. I can't find fault with it.
is this for print on demand amazon/KU?

 

[L1aei]

• Visual impact – Does it catch your eye?

The shield does. Everything else? Not unless I'm focused on it.

• Character design – Is Katelynn’s appearance compelling and believable for her heritage and role?

Heritage and role? She a hunter? A soldier? Somebody who scrambled in a museum to assemble the best gear to fight off a big dino? Without initially having context, I just see a gal with a shield, armor that might as well be made of silk against that sharp-toothed dino, and a long point stick to poke those hungry eyes out. Based on the cover alone, that's about all I see.

• Dinosaur design – Does the Carnotaurus feel intimidating and realistic?

Intimidating, yes. Realistic? Uh... Jurassic Park realistic, yes, but I thought the trend nowadays was that dinosaurs were less scaley, mottled bumps of flesh and more feathery?

• Composition & readability – Can you clearly see the title, subtitle, and author name at a glance?

At a glance, no. I had to pause and read it first; the shield is the focal point at a glance.

• Overall vibe – Does the cover match a dark, gritty LitRPG/dystopian tone?

Fantastical and dystopian, yeah. Gritty? I don't know. Maybe throw ruins or something actually dystopian in there, then, yes. As for LitRPG, how? Is there a pinged level-up I missed in the cover somewhere?

 

[Grizzly18]

Honestly it looks great ?

 

[S.T.Collier]

ues

is that what they're calling it these days? fine. yes.

yes, you get cool dino points.

yeah

Look. Let me save you some time here. My skin is turning green. I'm very jealous.
okay. I can't find fault with it.
is this for print on demand amazon/KU?

One is for ebook/KU, the other is paperback print on demand

 

[GearMagical]

Fine, then I will be perfectly honest. I do not like the LitRPG genre, but the book cover is quite beautiful. I like the phoenix on the shield and the overall pleasant gray background.

 

[FRWriter]

• Visual impact – Does it catch your eye?

Looks awesome. Certainly catches my eye... if I take a good look at it. Seeing the small image without enlarging it changes everything because the only thing I see are dark, bland colors. Doesn't catch my eye if I don't open the full-sized version.

• Character design – Is Katelynn’s appearance compelling and believable for her heritage and role?

Probably? Not like anyone will pay too much attention.

• Dinosaur design – Does the Carnotaurus feel intimidating and realistic?

Realistic? Not so much. Awesome and intimidating... yes! The only thing that could be improved would be the eyes. Looks like that thing is blind.

• Composition & readability – Can you clearly see the title, subtitle, and author name at a glance?

Nobody cares about the author name when deciding on a story, but everything is clearly visible.

• Overall vibe – Does the cover match a dark, gritty LitRPG/dystopian tone?

Dystopian? Not at all... Dark & Gritty? Not necessarily. Looks like a typical LITRPG where you hunt monsters.

 

[TinaMigarlo]

L1aei:​

As for LitRPG, how? Is there a pinged level-up I missed in the cover somewhere?
Answer:
Pic related. Show, don't tell, right?
nice wireframe status screen of enemy, right in her field of view.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

Love everything about it! It feels like a classic scholastic adventure novel.

 

[Bartun]

The cover looks great! I love the Carnotaurus, but couldn't help but notice the eyes. Blank eyes look cool when you want to give it a supernatural feel, but I think it would look much better if you gave the Carnotaurus BIRD predatory eyes.

Like this:

 

[yakusu]

The first thing I see is the shield...
However, it's Litrpg right, you need to bring the screen more vibrant or equal as the shield.
The screen is almost being missed by me.

As you can see, the screen's value is almost the same as the background, so it's hard to catch.
If you want to bold, make that spear thrust the screen and give a glitch effect. I saw the screen 1 or 2 metres from her face, because the spear is in front of the screen. You can move that screen in front of the spear layer, or maybe touch the spear and give a glitch effect, it will make more focus on the screen.

I can give you more about the pose.

It's still stiff. The pose isn't showing the real frightened scared, or bravery, it's just stand up. You can adjust with the countrapose of what I drew in red, tilt the red on the head up to see the monster, tilt down the shoulder, and tilt up the hips. It will be more powerful.

Lastly, bring to the shield more right.

If you want more brutal honesty.
The character design needs to be adjusted; there is no appeal in her. If you put down the spear and the shield, there isn't anything that identifies the character. You need to add an object or a symbol of a character. For example, what is the character's profession? This will make the character known not with a spear and shield, but in the character.

Does the cover match a dark, gritty LitRPG/dystopian tone?
Tone down the value of the art. Now your value isn't dark. Tone down the yellow or orange, or maybe change the color, spirit, and bravery color varies depending on the character.

Right now, your shield isn't showing a dark or gritty
However, if you want to make the shield become a symbol, you need to make it appear more vibrant than surround it. Tone down the surrounding area.
What is the appeal on that cover? The color of red in the dark.
Give your reader a point of interest.

Right now, your cover isn't showing dark and gritty in that point.
However, your cover is showing survival spirit.

 

[L1aei]

L1aei:​

As for LitRPG, how? Is there a pinged level-up I missed in the cover somewhere?
Answer:
Pic related. Show, don't tell, right?
nice wireframe status screen of enemy, right in her field of view.

Yep, I totally missed that. Good eye.

 

[TinaMigarlo]

*wink*
its okay.
pretty sure I know what distracted you.

L1aei:​

but I thought the trend nowadays was that dinosaurs were less scaley, mottled bumps of flesh and more feathery?

yes. because we want giant chickens to see her fight.
lol

 

[Haerzog]

The cover looks great! I love the Carnotaurus, but couldn't help but notice the eyes. Blank eyes look cool when you want to give it a supernatural feel, but I think it would look much better if you gave the Carnotaurus BIRD predatory eyes.

Like this:
View attachment 45981

I respond to your image with an image of a crocodiles eyes...

All that is really lacking is a discernable pupil.