I did my first cover roulette post a little while ago for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and it was so fun I wanted to do another! Luckily I found another popular series that has had many different editions made, and I wondered…
What other awesome covers have I missed?
Tonight’s featured book is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. When this series first came out, I was immediately sucked in. It’s one of the few series I ever started when it first came out and had to actually wait for the new books to come out! It’s also one of the first series that made me think, “Wow, that cover is so pretty I would buy it just to look at it on my shelves.”
The Cover I Know
The coloring! It’s so ominous and creepy, and the weird swirling tattoos on Dude’s body were intriguing. I knew magic would be involved for sure, and I’m always down for magic. The demons were just a bonus!
2010 Bulgarian: Simplified a bit
Similar to the one I know in format, but also somehow smoother, less detailed. Less dramatic. I just like the lighting better in the first one, I guess. Also, the hair here is confusing!!
2016 Italian: HELLA DRAMATIC
WOW. This is a book I want to read. In fact, I might buy this edition, just in case there’s something extra awesome in this one I should see. Seems to have “Shadowhunters” as the main name, too.
2012 Slovakian: Unrecognizable
Really, I wouldn’t have a clue what book this was based on the cover. The coloring still has a greenish tint, but it’s missing the blends of the cover I know, so I’d have no idea except for Cassandra Clare’s name.
2009 Czech: Eugh
Man… if we’re judging on the covers, I’m not reading this. It looks like the adventures of Draco Malfoy. Totally thought the knife was a wand, and is it a dead cat in front of him? Makes this dude look like anything but the hero.
2018 Persian: I’d buy that statue
This is another cover that’s significantly different than most of the others, deciding to feature a statue of the two sides of the battle in a church, rather than the overview of the city. Looks pretty cool!
2015 Georgian: So pretty for demons
It’s gorgeous! Looks like the photo I always want to take of the night sky. But can you imagine the surprise when opening this up and getting world-ending demon fighting?
2016 Chinese: So Damn Elegant
This is such a perfectly Chinese aesthetic of a golden city in clouds. And man, I would definitely be reading this, though I would probably not expect this type of story behind this cover.
2015 Mongolian: The City of Fel
I like the subtle symbol in the sky, but wow this is a lot of green. Looks like the fel plague has overtaken!
2008 Germany: Framed!
I don’t love this one. I feel like it doesn’t capture much about the story, and is generally a little boring. The crows/ravens are a nice touch, but otherwise, eh.
The world delivers some awesome covers!
Looks like the common theme for City of Bones tends to be the color green. Almost all were green or green-ish, with China and Georgia ignoring that trend and just doing whatever the heck they wanted (to great success, I might add!).
Judging a book by it’s cover is definitely something I do, but it’s a good reminder that even the best books can have covers that I might pass by pretty quickly. The Italian cover has completely stolen my heart. Which is your favorite or least favorite? Are you familiar with a different cover than these ones?
My Book Joy 