I Judge Books By Their Covers: "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones"

I'm Lindsay, I'm a bookaholic, and I absolutely judge books by their covers.

U.S. paperback // U.S. hardcover

U.K. paperback

I read "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" (review) way back when I first started my blog but wasn't impressed enough to continue the series. I hadn't thought about the book in ages, but I recently came across the U.K. cover on Book Depository and knew I'd have to do a cover post about it because it's so much different! I don't typically like pictures of real people on my book covers (which means I often don't like YA covers anyway) and I was never too fond of the "City of Bones" cover with it's glowing human chest, weird clouds and kinda ugly colors.

I like the U.S. paperback a little better than the hardcover, but I definitely prefer the U.K. version. It stays true to the original fonts, but the artwork is so much more to my liking. I love that gorgeous fuchsia/purple color and I like the drawing of the wings made up of elements of the story.  If all three of these books were on a shelf next to each other, I would probably not even pick up the first two, but I'd definitely give the U.K. paperback a second look. The only downside to that book is that the purple might deter boys from picking it up (as might the bare male chest of the hardcover), whereas the U.S. paperback in particular looks more unisex. Which cover do you prefer?

My winner: U.K. paperback