Cover vs. Cover Part 1

This is something we talk about all the time... US versus UK covers. Which ones are better??? As book nerds there are times we will go out of our way to get our hands on a UK version of a book series. So we decided we should make a post and battle the UK and Us covers. 

Since we live in America those choices will appear first (top/left) and the UK covers will show next (bottom/right).

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan

        

 Angela: I think the UK version are a little more immature compared to the US.

So I'm going with the US covers with these.

Leah: I like the US covers more because they give you a better story
of the plot with the illustrations. 

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab

Angela: This is a close one but... The UK cover.

Leah: The UK Cover. I love how it shows Kel as one
person but has each world apart of him somehow.

Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas

 Angela: No completion. The UK covers. Obsessed with white covers.

Leah: Love love love the UK Covers. They are actually one of my
all time favorite series covers ever.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Angela: Is this a real question?! The UK cover.

The real question is why is the guys face missing in the US one?

Leah: I think these were both US covers at one point if I remember correctly (the first was the original cover and then was re-released), but I definitely could be wrong. Regardless, I like the cover with just the words so much better. The first cover looks like it should be a cheesy cover on a 90s VHS.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor

Angela: I don't really understand the US covers... Then again the

UK covers don't really fit either. But there's no competition the

UK covers are stunning.
Leah: I haven't read this series, so I have no idea how each cover plays into the book.
That being said, I really like the UK covers. They would be really pretty framed.

172 Hours on the Moon Johan Harstad

Angela: I'm currently reading this and the version I own aren't either of these lol.

The US cover gives me chills so it's my pick.
Leah: I haven't read this book either, but the US cover looks creepy AF so that is my pick.

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

        

Angela: UK covers! Lets be real... we might love the

US covers, but they are really cheesy.

Leah: The UK covers are so beautiful. City of Glass is my favorite!!
I love how detailed they are.

Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Angela: Again dem white covers got me. UK cover has my

vote.

Leah: Definitely the US cover. I like how it gives you a glimpse at the plot whereas
the UK covers make you think this is going to be a harlequin romance.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

I'm going to start this post off with my obligatory statement on how the following will contain spoilers, because I really don't feel like I can review this book without giving away a spoiler to SOMETHING. So if you haven't read CoG or the first three Mortal Instruments book, don't read any further!

It took me over a month to read this book in its entirety. Every time I would start to read, I would get frustrated by one of the characters to the point where I had to put the book down. The big one was when Simon gets thrown in a cell by the new Inquistor around page 100 that I put the book down several weeks. I was SO frustrated that poor Simon (who still is one of my favorite characters, btw) kept getting the crap end of every situation! When Alec just handed him off to the guards, I was literally yelling at the book saying "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KITTEN ME!" 

Anyway, I finally picked this book back up because I really do love the series and I felt ready to fight through my frustration and see what happens. I pushed on and am really glad I did. I spent most of this book wanting to punch Jace in the face for acting like a douche bag. He really says some awful stuff and ends up hurting almost everyone who he is close to with words or actions at some point. I get his frustration and why he was acting the way he was, but CALM DOWN DUDE and stop man-strating.

I also really felt bad for Clary for a large part of this book. The series has progressed enough where a lot of information is finally getting revealed about why things are the way they are, and I really felt like Clary was getting dealt a bad hand in this book. Jace really hurts her with his words and she is left alone, truly alone except for Sebastian (and we see how well that worked out!), for a large part of the book. Her mom is a in a coma, Jace basically says that he spends all his time cleaning up her messes and he wishes she would GTFO, Simon is in a jail cell, Luke is off with his pack somewhere, all the Lightwoods are giving her the cold shoulder for Jace's sake, and her father is freaking Valentine. On top of all that she is in a country she has never been to, staying in a house with a strange lady, and is trying to find some elusive warlock to break her mom's coma/spell. Where I felt she was really whiny in other books, I really felt bad for her in this one. The one thing I really highfived her for was stepping up and just saying EFF EVERYONE and getting things done herself. Yeah, she doesn't exactly do things the best way the first way, but she gets things done. She really learns a lot about herself and finally learns to use her rune power for good. She basically is the reason why the New Council is formed at the end.

I also highfived her when her mom shows up in Idris for not just running and giving her a hug, but for being super pissed at her. Can you blame her? I mean, her mom lied to her for her entire life about basically everything and it isn't until her mom falls into a freaking coma and is kidnapped that she has to figure out everything on her own and on top of that she falls in love with her freaking (not so) brother! I'd be pissed too! Jocelyn is pretty B.A. though. I really enjoyed how once she started explaining everything, she explained EVERYTHING. The whole past of her and Valentine and Luke and the Herondales and Jace and Jonathan/Sebastian is revealed. Finally! I knew before reading the spoiler about Jace not really being her brother, but I was so dang ready for it to be revealed in the book! Plus I really wanted to find out who his actual parents were and what is real story is

This book is my favorite of the series so far because all the questions so far have been answered. Plus there is finally some really sweet romance! The night that Jace dips out on his suicide mission to find Sebastian and Valentine, he spills his whole heart to Clary and tells her that he is in love with her. I had real tears in my eyes during this (mostly because my heart was aching because I knew they weren't related) because his profession is so sweet and so desperate for her to understand how he feels that you can't help but feel his sorrow that this may really be the last night he sees her. The ending is so sweet and heart wrenching as Clary has Raziel save Jace. The desperation of their love is what really tugs at my heart strings, so I am interested to see how that progresses in the future.  Also, Magnus and Alec finally get over their boy drama. I love them as a couple! I really love that Magnus plays a big part in this book. He is definitely one of my favorite characters too. I love that Jocelyn and Luke finally get together (I was shipping them from the beginning!). I also even like that Simon is now hot commodity and has Isabelle and Maia fighting for his attention. I hope he goes for Maia, but I really love that he was there for Isabelle when things got bad..... which leads me to the saddest part of this book. Poor Max. I didn't see that coming from a mile away. I really thought it was Isabelle that was dead. Again, real tears fell for when the nine year old died. It was so sad for all the characters.

"There is no pretending," Jace said with absolute clarity, "I love you, and I will until I die, and if there's a life after that, I'll love you then."

I'm happy with the resolution of this book, but I'm scared as to what is to come. You know something is going to come back and bite Clary in the butt for turning down the Seelie Queen. Also we know that Sebastian/Jonathan isn't dead, so I'm sure he will take on the new role as the big evil they are fighting. I hope the next book has a lot more Clary and Jace romance. I also hope we find out more information about Simon and what happens now that he is has this awesome rune on him.

On to book four! Hopefully it won't take me as long to read this one, but TMI has definitely taught me that book hangovers are a real thing and I have a hard time with reading a really long series consecutively. I like to read a book then break it up with a completely different book then come back to the series. I think it helps me appreciate the series more in the end by doing it this way. I want to be able to absorb all the information and not feel burnt out.

5/5 stars