October 2019 Shelf Love Crate

This month I decided to try out several different monthly book box subscriptions to she how they differ from each other. Shelflove Crate is a fantasy and science fiction subscription box that includes a new hardcover book and bookish items each month. October’s theme is Page to Screen.img_1003.jpg

The bookish items included are a Honeydukes popcorn holder, a Game of Thrones inspired scarf, a Coraline inspired heat transfer to a fabric item, a bookish movie poster set, Lord of the Rings mug charms, and the collectible chess pieces with Clary and Jace from City of Bones. With how much I loved September’s this one was a let down and most of these items I don’t care about and will probably end up decluttering in the future.

The book included is The Grace Year by Kim Ligget. The story follow Tierney who lives in a community that tells girls that they have special powers that can charm men. However, at sixteen they must go out into the wilds to release this magic to be ready for marriage. The Grace Year is about survival, freedom and finding hope.IMG_1007

November’s theme is Reading the Restricted Section.

Sadly, I didn’t really like this box. The book sounds interesting but the items except for the scarf are not things that I will use. As this post is going up late I feel like I should mention that Shelflove Crate had shipping issues and delays at the end of 2019. Now their boxes are not sent in actual boxes but bubble mailers.

October 2019 Owl Crate

Owl Crate is a young adult book subscription box where every month you receive one new hardcover book and an assortment of bookish goodies connected to the monthly theme. Some of these items are very practical and some are better suited as decor or for a pin/builtin board. October’s theme is Dawn of a New World.IMG_0996

Each box includes different bookish goodies that fit the theme of the month and are connected to other books.This month bookish items include a book tin inspired by the Illuminae Files, a set of magnetic bookmarks featuring characters from Saga,a crescent moon pendant necklace inspired by the Lunar Chronicles, and a sticker with a quote from the book Warcross.IMG_1002

Every month Owl Crate has a new young adult hardback book that has an exclusive cover, is signed and comes with a letter from the author. This month instead of one book OwlCrate included two. The enamel pin the is in every box is also inspired by that months book. The books this month are Crier’s War by Nina Varela and I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi.IMG_0998

Crier’s War is about a world where androids have enslaved their human creators. Lady Crier is the daughter of the android king who might not be as perfect as people believe and her human handmaiden, Ayla, begin to fall in love. But can their relationship survive that possible coming war?

I Hope You Get This Message follows a group of teenagers as their paths collide shortly after an alien planet is found and the world might be coming to an end. This month two enamel pins where included one inspired by each book.

November’s theme is Through the Enchanted Forest.

Alchemy and Ink True Dark Box

When I order all of the DarkDawn boxes I also order a special box from Alchemy and Ink which is a small bookish candle company. Everything I’ve order from Alchemy and Ink has been the highest quality and wonderfully designed.DSCN1315

The DarkDawn True Dark box included a fleece blanket, a set of pen with quotes from Mia on them, a wine glass, a t-shirt, an enamel pin and a wall hanging. When you ordered the box you could also add on a Mia inspired candle which I did. The candle ended up shipping later that the other items but Natalie, the owner of the company, kept everyone updated and it was worth the wait.img_0977.jpg

If you are every looking at bookish candle companies Alchemy and Ink is my current favorite.

Fae Crate Darkdawn Box

IMG_0802As I’ve mentioned before I bought several book boxes in celebration of the release of DarkDawn by Jay Kristoff. The Fae Crate edition is the last of the book boxes I received though I did also buy a box from a bookish candle company that I will discuss in another post. The amazing thing about all of these boxes is that there were very few duplicate items and every box had different amazing art and artist behind it.IMG_0807

As with all of these boxes there was a copy of DarkDawn and the deleted scene Three. The Fae Crate edition is signed and came with special dust jacket set for all the books in the series.

Of the bookish items all Fae Crate special edition boxes come with a plushie this time of Mia. Other items included were an enamel pin featuring Tric, a character print, a metal cuff bracelet with the quote “I am the war you cannot win”, and a Spiderkiller drink tumbler. Also there was a character card set, a USB in the shape of the gravestone dagger, a pouch, collectible coin and a room spray. The most unique item was a sun shade for a car that had character art on it.

I don’t always love Fae Crate’s monthly boxes but their Hangover Crates and specialty boxes are incredibly well done with high quality items and amazing art.

Shelflove Crate Darkdawn Box

img_0834.jpgWhen DarkDawn by Jay Kristoff was coming out I got sucked into buying multiple book boxes and ended up with five different copies of DarkDawn. Though I didn’t intend to buy that many copies each box included different items and I’m glad I order all of them.img_0836.jpg

The Shelflove Crate box was called GodsGrave Getaway box and include many high quality items and a US signed special edition of DarkDawn. This copy of the book included exclusive art and came with the extra scene Three bound in the book instead as a separate item.

The bookish goodies for the box where very well done and included a “passport” spoiler card, a gorgeous tapestry blanket, collectible chess pieces of Mia and Tric, a GodsGrave sticker, an enamel pin, tarot cards featuring eleven different characters, a booksleave, a coffee mug, a cat shaped spoon inspired by Mister Kindly, Mia bookends, a sleep mask, a decorative pillow case, a bookmark, and a bath crumble that turns the water red.

Each item was created by different artist and independent shops. All the item are of high quality and well thought out that it justifies the price for the specialty box. This was the first specialty box that I got from Shelflove Crate and based on just this I would buy other boxes from them. However, since this post is going up late I have purchased from them since and there were major shipping issues and I feel like the quality of the items was not worth what I paid. So I would caution anyone planing on buying from them in the future to read some posts about the issues that happen at the end of 2019 before giving them money.