Not by the Cover

About the Project

Not by the Cover was inspired by the idea that book discovery should focus on story, not marketing. The app introduces users to books through genres, tags, and short summaries without revealing cover art — letting curiosity drive exploration rather than aesthetics.

It blends frontend presentation with an expressive GraphQL backend, letting users browse, filter, and reveal titles dynamically with smooth transitions and contextual data fetching.

How It Was Built

The frontend is built with React and styled using Tailwind CSS, consuming a Node.js + Express backend that serves GraphQL queries. The API layer handles book metadata, recommendations, and progressive content exposure.

State is managed with React Context and Apollo Client, and all interactions are optimized for fast client-side navigation with lazy loading for details and images.

Key Features

• Genre-based book discovery without visual bias
• Dynamic 'reveal' interactions built with GraphQL queries
• Responsive layout optimized for mobile and desktop
• Extensible backend design that could integrate with AI-driven book recommendations