The author says:
“Wildflowers & Lemonade” is an epistolary-style fiction book set in a post-apocalyptic world. The story starts out as a boy-meets-world, but as it progresses the readers realize that the world–and the main character– is not quite right. The novel is likely to appeal to readers of Emily St. John Mandel and Maggie Stiefvater.
Nathan says:
Over at lousybookcovers.com we have a category for “false flagging” — covers that completely misrepresent the content of the book. From what you tell us, this is Platonic ideal of that category.
This is NOT the cover that will attract the attention of anyone who wants to read a post-apocalyptic story. Conversely, the people whom it DOES attract, expecting a light and carefree summer read, will feel betrayed by a post-apocalyptic story.
Now, you may say that you want the post-apocalyptic setting to be a surprise. Fine. But in that case:
a) Why do you tell US about it in the first sentence?
b) Even if you want the exact nature of the world being “not quite right” to be a surprise, you still need to indicate from the beginning that this is a story where Things Aren’t What They Seem. Again, people who are attracted to the cover won’t be charmed or impressed when the story turns out to be something they weren’t expecting; they will feel cheated. And the people who would enjoy that story simply won’t pick up your book.
Sorry, but this needs a conceptual re-do.
This cover has several issues, not the least of which is the point Nathan brings up: the cover doesn’t remotely suggest the sort of story you describe. You need to rethink the cover from scratch. There are problems with the design itself, but those are moot since the cover needs to be redone from square one.