This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is a freebie about book covers! I decided to highlight some fun/pretty/cute danmei and baihe covers (from my collection), because I often get comments about them.
For those who don’t already know, danmei and baihe are Chinese genres which have recently-ish started being translated into English a lot. The stories focus on same-sex love, but can be all kinds of genres other than that — historical, fantastical, modern, mystery, and various mixtures of the two.
My favourite theme is honestly the covers that show the tenderness and joy the main couples share…
Buuut it’s worth highlighting some badassery as well!
I haven’t read all of these yet (the last two are still on my TBR), but I can’t wait. And I’d love to read more baihe — I’m sad I’m only featuring one! If anyone has recommendations for baihe that’s been translated and traditionally published, I’d love to hear them.
Thanks for sharing a little about danmei and baihe!
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz recently posted…Beautiful Illustrated Books Set In or Near Paris
It’s such a fun and varied genre! And the covers are almost all so pretty.
They are attractive covers, thanks for sharing your #TTT
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers With a Sunset or Sunrise
There’s often interior art too, and it’s all so pretty!
Fun topic! I do love these covers, they’re so colorful and detailed
Yeah, I like looking at them and (once I know the story) puzzling out any background characters included, etc.
I’ve only tried a couple of these, maybe I’ll pick up more in the future.
Out of curiosity, which have you tried? Really it’s such a varied genre, there might be something if you didn’t love what you tried — for me it mostly helped once I understood xianxia and wuxia tropes more, since I was reading a lot of “cultivation”-based stories.
Their covers are so good! In general I think the visual language of East Asia is more emotive than in Europe and the US. These book covers are so melancholy and you can feel the love through the art. I think its the same with Manga/Manhwa compared to US Comics.
Cosmic recently posted…10 Cover Artists I Can’t Get Enough Of
Yeah, I love how much emotion they can show; there are some really beautiful danmei covers (and inner art).
Beautiful artwork!
Yeah, they choose such good artists!
These are all such lovely covers.
I love my collection, hahaha.
I used to take art lessons as a young teen and would always gravitate towards this kind of fantasy art. These are gorgeous covers!
Haze @ The Book Haze recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday | Books featuring Octopodes on the Cover
I’d have loved to be able to draw like this, too… sadly, no skills here, heh.
Oh fascinating, so similar to yaoi/yuri in Japanese fiction? I’m going to have to dive into this now. And the covers are gorgeous.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Cholla recently posted…Dragonslayer’s Valkyrie: The Legend of Sigurd and Brynhildr by Jennifer Ivy Walker
Very similar, yeah! E.g. the seme/uke dynamics are echoed fairly strongly with gong/shou in danmei.
I love the artwork on the covers!! Its very pretty! I haven’t read any of these but I do love reading the names. “The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish” is so crazy but so intriguing!
Brittany @ Perfectly Tolerable recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Books with a Bow and Arrow on the Cover
It’s as nuts as it sounds, honestly: dude transmigrates into a novel he’s reading… as a fish. He ends up getting pregnant with fish babies. I love the story, actually, it’s very sweet and there’s fun court politics, but parts of the premise are just… what?!
I don’t read this genre but every time I see these books in store, I always feel the urge to maybe pick one up and finally give it a go just so that I can add them to my bookshelves They’re sooo pretty and I also love how the intimacy and tenderness is captured in the art. Gorgeous!
Dini @ dinipandareads recently posted…#TopTenTuesday: Pantone Birth Chart Palette Book Covers
They really are! I was tempted by other people’s reviews of The Scum Villain’s Self Saving System because it sounded so unique, but I was so lost at first. It took a while for me to get enough context for the stories to make sense, but I love them so much now.
Thank you for introducing me to 2 new genres. These covers are all beautiful.
Here’s my TTT for the week: https://readbakecreate.com/favorite-covers-for-the-murder-of-roger-ackroyd/
They really are, I love collecting them.
I had no idea this was even a thing, and now I’m obsessed!!
I love the genre so much! I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, but once I read a bit I was hooked.
I’ve seen these types of covers, but I’d never heard those genre terms before. Interesting! And, yes, the covers are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Sometimes manga/manhwa have similar cover designs, too! So it may’ve been those, or other non-danmei/baihe light novels.
I’ve seen so many of these covers around but I have not tried any of them but I am quite curious, I’d like to try some, especially any that might be historical fantasy. Where would be a good place to start for that? So many of these covers are so eye-catching good choice of topic 🙂
Veros @ Dark Shelf of Wonders recently posted…Monthly Wrap-Up│ July 2026
Hmm! Well, depending on how much fantasy you want, if you want to dip a toe into one that isn’t too xianxia/wuxia (which can be difficult to follow if you’re not familiar), I’d suggest Liu Gou Hua’s After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine, which I’m reading at the moment, or possibly Lv Ye Qian He’s The Wife Comes First (which I read recently). The writing is better in the former, but the final book isn’t out in translation yet; The Wife Comes First has the full translation out already.
In both cases, the fantasy is somewhat minimal: After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine features a history professor “transmigrating” back in time into a period he’s studied, and having to figure out how to fit in and avoid being killed. It doesn’t lean too heavily on any fantasy elements other than the fact of the transmigration, but it also isn’t “historically accurate”.
The Wife Comes First has a time loop: Jing Shao dies after being betrayed by everyone except one (male) wife who stuck with him to the end. But right after he “dies”, he wakes up… on the morning after his wedding to that very wife. He resolves to treat the man better this time, and they manage to avoid history repeating.
If you’re looking for something heavier on the fantasy elements, probably Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s books would be a good start — it’s where I started. I found it a bit tricky at first because there are a lot of xianxia/wuxia and “cultivation” elements that I wasn’t familiar with. I started with The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, but it’s the most “problematic” of the three, and is actually a satire of other “cultivation stories”, so I’d suggest Heaven Official’s Blessing or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. I think Heaven Official’s Blessing is the best written, but it’s also the longest; Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation has the biggest following, because of the series The Untamed, which was based on it.
All that said, depending on how you feel about silliness, the idea of a man being pregnant due to magic, and the main characters looking after a whole bunch of kids, The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish is maybe the best place to start if you want more fantasy elements. It explains some of the concepts that come up in the others, there’s a lot of court politics alongside the relationship, and the relationship is very sweet. It’s complete and only four volumes. Buuut some people are put off by the male pregnancy part or by a shift in focus to the protagonists’ growing family in the third and fourth volume.
All that said, I don’t regret starting with The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. I’ve done quite a few posts about what I love about it, like this one, and it’s still a favourite. It just made it hard to understand some aspects at first and fully enjoy what was going on.
As you see, I have a lot of opinions about the danmei I’ve read so far, hehe.
These are lovely covers!
Olivia recently posted…Weekly Reading Update 8-8-2026
It makes for a nice collection, haha.