When the lovely Daphne over at Winged Reviews started up brand new book subscription box service, Illumicrate, back in October I was incredibly excited and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Alas, funds were low and I missed out on the first box. However, Daphne contacted me recently to ask if I wanted to be sent the February box to review and obviously I jumped at the chance! Illumicrate is a service I would definitely be subscribed to anyway if I had any money at all, so I was really pleased to be given the chance to review a box!
Illumicrate is a quarterly YA book subscription box service. That means that when you sign up, you receive a box every quarter which contains a new YA release and a good handful of bookish items - surprise bookishness in the post; what more could you ask for?! So let's get to the unboxing!
When I opened the box I was greeted with a beautiful sea of yellow! The box is well packed and all the items are cushioned with that cute squiggly packing paper to make sure that nothing arrives damaged. It came with a beautiful bright card on top emblazoned with the 'Illumicrate' logo and on the back was listed what was inside so I didn't look at that as I wanted to be surprised!
Then I basically lost my shit and started pulling out all the bookish items before getting to the glorious new book at the bottom. I'm not gonna lie, I actually squealed when I saw everything inside!
As you can see, the box was full to bursting with bookish goodies! The first thing I was drawn towards was the bookcase pouch which was exclusively designed for Illumicrate by illustrator Elena O'Neill, it's absolutely gorgeous and I'm already using it to keep all my pens and pencils.
Next up is the exclusive A Darker Shade of Magic themed candle by Simple Candle co. Apparently there was a different candle for each of the alternative Londons from the book (red, black, grey and white), I got the white one and it smells like fresh cotton - it's gorgeous!
Then we come to the bookish item I was most excited about - magnetic bookmarks from BeeDo.To! I'm obsessed with magnetic bookmarks and this little 'Loveboat' set is so adorable! Definitely perfect for reading about your favourite ships!
I absolutely love the exclusive bookish quote pencils from Pobble and Ping that say:
'I'd rather be reading'
'Read, Write, Repeat'
'A good book has no ending'.
Obviously the most important item of any bookish subscription box is the book inside! After unwrapping all the bookish goodies I could hardly believe that I was getting a new YA release as well but lo and behold, tucked away underneath was Truthwitch by Susan Dennard! I'd been hearing so many people on Twitter, blogs and booktube talking about this book so I was really pleased to get my hands on it. It's such a beautiful hardback and I love the cover design. Truthwitch is a YA fantasy about two friends and witches; Saifya and Iseult who are on the run with an epic and dangerous adventure ahead of them. Susan had me at YA fantasy.
The book came with a bookmark designed by Daydreaming Designs, a signed bookplate and a postcard message from Susan Dennard - which is such a thoughtful inclusion! Also included in the box were some extras from The Dark Days Club (badges and bookmarks) and The It Girl (a tote bag).
Overall I'm ridiculously pleased with February's Illumicrate and can't quite believe the variety and quality of the items included. As soon as I have a steady income I'm definitely going to be signing up to Illumicrate as I wouldn't want to miss out on all the awesome!
You can visit the Illumicrate website to find out more, or catch up with them on Instagram and Twitter.
Have you ever had a bookish subscription box? Would you consider it?
Post a Comment