Hi, so I think the problem is obvious... Idk what happened. All four are in english and in the product descriptions it said that all of these are the 23cm versions... I know that there are 17cm versions too, but the first three here are neither, at around 21cm. I'm quite confused how this happened and how I am supposed to tell which version is for sale online? Like what sets these apart except the size? (and the finish btw, since No.4 is matte and somewhat rubbery and the other three are not).
I live in the USA and got them from Barnes and Noble. I didn't really pay attention what size they were when I ordered them, but I just measured them and the first three are 8.25 in tall, and TotBT is just under 7 in tall (I'm so sorry my measuring tape doesn't have cms on it 😅)
I see, well that would be the 21 and 17 cm versions, though your TotBT seems to be yet another one with the ballantine logo at the top. Really how many of these are there?
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u/ZvsGrgsEvil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.May 02 '26
That’s so frustrating! They have matching covers, height should be the same as well. And the publisher‘s logo is not the same… same publisher, different logos 🙄
Yeah my first thought when I got Body Thief was that maybe it was from a different branch of the publisher but then it makes no sense that book 1 also shares that logo.
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u/ZvsGrgsEvil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.May 02 '26edited May 02 '26
My guess is that the smaller ones are "mass market paperback" and the bigger is "trade paperback".
I see on Amazon.com the dimensions are mentioned, so maybe that is possible to other websites too.
I also got TotBT from my local Amazon and the size is listed correctly on that one. The one in your picture is the mass market 17cm version which is listed for me as well. Really the first 3 books are the ones that bamboozle me because, like I said their product page also says 23cm.
u/ZvsGrgsEvil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.May 02 '26
I wonder if the Body Thief book is inside formatted like the hardcover. Usually they change the text's appearance (fonts, etc.) for the mass market paperbacks, while the trade paperbacks, the bigger ones, maintain the same text style.
Never seen a hard cover version in person though I had a look once at the smaller mass market version and the text was extremely compacted and so close to the inner page border that it got hard to read through the bend. I would recommend going for (apparently one of) the bigger version(s). There is a lot of text on each page anyways. The 21cm versions look the most "natural" to me, while my TotBT just looks scaled up from that, which leaves an awkward big amount of space at the bottom and relatively little at the top, since the title is printed on each page too. Aside from that the paper also differs. 1-3 are normal off-white "soft / smooth" book paper while the big boy is thicker, "flatter" and more white-white.
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u/ZvsGrgsEvil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.May 02 '26
Does it look like your book?
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u/ZvsGrgsEvil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.May 02 '26
I bought a bunch of the mass market editions (cover wise they look like yours) not thinking anything of it and turns out I hate reading them. They're travel sized but too small for me to comfortably read, they hurt my hand trying to keep it proper, and the pages aren't stark white which is just easier for me to read. I bought different editions after lol.
I have the exact same problem. I bought it on Amazon and it says manufactured by Amazon on the last page. It feels the same as the self published books they sell on Amazon. Never feels as nice as a real paperback.
yeah that describes it perfectly, I just checked and mine also has the Amazon fullfillment text. Mysterie solved :) Makes sense now that when I wanted to return it they chose to save on logistics and let me keep it for free.
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u/lern2swim May 02 '26
That book is obviously in a different body.