Fae Crate is a young adult book subscription box that focuses on fantasy and science fiction. Unlike some book boxes Fae Crate has three options to choose from: a shirt only box (Solitary Crate), a book and goodies box (Unseelie Crate), and a box that includes the shirt, book, and all the bookish goodies (Seelie Crate). For my box I choose the Unseelie Crate without the shirt.
The bookish goodies included are a pen inspired by My Lady Jane, a hanging organizer, a magnetic bookmark, a note pad inspired by the Raven Cycle, a Lifelike Polaroid, and the monthly collectible coin. This box also included a pocket edition of Peter Pan which makes the box worth a little bit more. Considering how amazing Fae Crate’s specialty boxes are the monthly boxes that I have gotten feel a little cheep given the price.
The book is The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White which is a King Arthur retelling. Fae Crate also included a exclusive cover, a letter from the author and a sign book plate. In this book Guinevere has come to Camelot to marry and protect Arthur but how can she trust herself when everything she is, is a lie?
Fae Crate does seem to include books that are not the most hyped so if your trying to find new books people might not be talking about this might be the box for you. Also Fae Crate does include a eBook download in each months box which adds more value when the items might not be the best. This months eBook was Hook and Crown by Nicole Knapp.
For those interested Fae Crate does special book “hangover” recovery boxes for some popular and highly anticipated books throughout the year as well as monthly boxes.
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. The enamel pin that is in every box is also inspired by that months book. The book this month is Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw. The story is about a small town in the middle of a snowstorm, a missing boy, and a possibly haunted wood at the edge of town. When our main character Nora discover Oliver hidden in the woods nearly dead and with no memory Nora much learn the truth as to why he is there.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a historical nonfiction book about the murders in the Osage Indian Nation in the 1920s and the creation of the FBI. During this time multiple members of the Osage tribe where being killed without many people noticing or caring. When the death toll reached a certain point the newly created FBI got involved in the case that became their first major homicide investigation. These murders where carried out many people of the community in an attempt to gain access to the oil head rights owned by the tribe. The book contains information both on the events happening in Oklahoma with the tribes and the general creation of the FBI but puts more focus on what was happening in Oklahoma and the investigation here. A fairly quick read but is probably more interesting to those who already study this history or want to know more. 
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll is a graphic novel of creepy and scary short stories. None of the stories are incredibly scary but are very atmospheric and its a great read for October around Halloween. The illustrations are beautiful and the stories stick with you as they invoke images and stories from childhood.
The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller is a young adult historical fiction novel following the life of the Russian royal family the Romanov’s. The book is written from the perspective of the four daughters of the Tsar: Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. The book starts when their lives are great during their childhoods and progresses through World War I and the Russian Revolution. Though it is written for a young adult audience the book does not shy away from the tragedy that befell this family. Well written and researched for the right audience.. As an adult there where parts that felt a little too young and bored me at times.
Sadie by Courtney Summer is a young adult mystery novel about a girl named Sadie who disappeared after her sisters death. Sadie is attempting to bring her sisters killer to justice by finding him and killing him herself. When radio host West McCray hears about Sadie, he starts a podcast retracing Sadie’s steps to find out what happen and maybe find her. I read this as an audio book which is amazing. The story is incredibly gripping and makes you want to finish it but the topics the story handles makes it hard to read. As you see what Sadie did to try to protect her sister Mattie from a man who just wanted to hurt them. About two hours to the end of the audio book was the hardest part to finish, I wanted to know what would happen but I was worried about Sadie and I just wanted her to be okay. If you can, try the audio book as it is very well done.
The last book that I read this month was Doctor Who: The Secret Lives of Monsters by Justin Richards. This is a coffee table type book with information and pictures about the monsters in Doctor Who and how they were created. Its written in a way that both acts like these monsters are real but also talks about how they were created for the show with behind the scenes information. Good book for anyone who is a major fan of Doctor Who.
As 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.
When 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.
Night Owl Reviews 