Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Review: November 2016 FairyLoot


Two posts in one week? What is wrong with Jaz you must be thinking. Well I'm on annual leave because IT'S THE FESTIVE SEASON and I also really wanted to share my thoughts on my first ever FairyLoot box!

FairyLoot is a YA book subscription box that centres on sci-fi/fantasy books and they're based in the UK. As with OwlCrate, I made the plunge to try out FairyLoot for November because birthday muahaha. What really drew me to them was their concentration on SFF and what seemed like every box included a book plate (I'm a sucker for signed merch).

Ok let's get right into it.



Month: November 2016
Theme: Royals & Rogues
Price: ~$70 AUD (£26 single purchase + £15 shipping to Australia = £41)
Delivery: Shipped November 19 arrived November 29 (10 days to get to Australia)

My Rating:

The Royals & Rogues themed box included:
  • Hardback copy of Nemesis by Anna Banks
  • Signed Nemesis bookplate
  • Nemesis bookmark
  • Nemesis print
  • Letter from Anna Banks
  • Royals & Rogues themed tea + tea filters by The Tea Leaf Co
  • The Wrath and the Dawn mirror by Bookworm Boutique
  • Queen of Terrasen notepad by Drop and Give Me Nerdy
  • Wolf by Wolf quote print by Read at Midnight
  • Queen of Books mug by Read at Midnight
  • Red Queen art print + quote (double sided) by Book Otter and Lovely Owls Books
  • Spectorium soap crystals by Crafty Ragamuffin
  • A Court of Mist and Fury tote by Lovely Owls Books
  • FairyScoop
Not gonna lie I nearly shit bricks in excitement when I opened my box. Never have I been so pleased with a book subscription box.

Opening the book bag...
I hadn't heard of Nemesis before but I've read Anna Banks' earlier stuff, and based on what I read of the blurb, this is another mermaid type book which I'm quite keen for. BOOKPLATE. I am so freaking trash for bookplates. Signed guys. SIGNED. This was enough to draw me in to the box haha. It's extremely hard to get signed stuff in Australia so I always jump at the chance. There's also the matching bookmark for Nemesis, a sketch of some... thing... creature... from the book and a letter from Anna herself (I've yet to read this). This all came in the black book bag FairyLoot have started to put their books in to keep them from being damaged. Another lovely idea because my books always get damaged in my bag and I'd been using the Aesop cloth bags up until now. LOVE LOVE LOVE. So that's all the 'official' Nemesis stuff! The FairyScoop which is a newsletter also included an interview with Anna which was really fun to read.

I was a bit wtf at the Spectorium crystal soap (by Crafty Ragamuffin) until I read the interview with Anna Banks in the FairyScoop and the Royals & Rogues card to determine what it was. At first I thought it was candy and I was like wow that's a really huge chunk of candy haha. I'm not entirely sure how to use this (rub it all over myself?!) or if I'll even use it at all as I'm not a soap user but we shall see! It smells really good though. Like candy actually. Yeh if I wasn't told it's soap, I definitely would've taken a lick leeeeeel.

The art/quote prints are really pretty and I especially love the Mare illustration from Red Queen (Book Otter is so talented I was like wooooow). There's a cool Red Queen quote on the back by Lovely Owls Books. The Wolf by Wolf quote print was designed by Aentee omgggg I was flailing when I found out GO YOU AENTEE.

Speaking of Aentee (aka Read at Midnight). THAT MUG. Queen of Books. I'm totally taking it to work with me IT IS SO GORGEOUS. YOU GO FAIRYLOOT. I adore mugs. As a tea lover I am always using mugs and on the lookout for pretty ones. The design is quite floral which is so me and UGH is there a more perfect mug for a book lover? I think not. Apparently mugs have never been done in a box before and it's seriously such a good idea! What's next, drink bottles/thermos?

Tea (by The Tea Leaf Co)! With tea filters/bags to put the loose leaf tea in. I love it when people consider these things. Sadly for me I hate Earl Grey leeel so I'll probably take it to work and share it around. I still think it's really cool though that FairyLoot got tea Royals and Rogues themed :D

As a massive Throne of Glass fan the Queen of Terrasen (by Drop and Give Me Nerdy) notepad really appealed to me but it's so pretty I don't wanna use it *stares at it for life*

Then there's the mirror WITH A WRATH AND THE DAWN QUOTE (by Bookworm Boutique). Y'all know how much I adore that duology? Shazi and Khalid for life. "My queen is without limitations. Boundless in all she does." *SOBS* All the feels.

And then. AND THEN. Sweet baby Jesus I was squealing and nearly screaming when I saw the tote. THE TOTE. THE. TOTE. Designed by Lovely Owls Books it is hands down the BEST tote I now own because RHYSANDDDDDDDDDD. *Heavy breathing* RHYSRHYSRHYSRHYS. ACOMAF ACOMAF <3 Rhysand is book boyfriend #1, A Court of Mist and Fury is my #1 fav book of all time so this was utter perfection. The quote is absolutely perfect and makes me want to cry whenever I think of the scene it happened "That I will bow before no one and nothing but my crown." Shit this breaks my heart. Can't even right now. You guys don't know the feels this brings out in me.

Item price breakdown time:
  • Nemesis hardback $24 AUD on the Book Depository
  • Crafty Ragamuffin soaps ~$9 AUD on their Etsy store
  • The Tea Leaf Co Earl Grey tea £6.99 = ~$12 AUD on their site
  • Bookworm Boutique mirror ~$5 AUD ? Guesstimate
  • Lovely Owls Books ACOMAF tote ~$27 AUD (RedBubble pricing)
  • Read at Midnight mug ~$20 AUD (society6 pricing)
  • Prints ???
Total ~$97+ AUD so definitely got my money's worth. This did not include the prints.

Welps this review turned out to be more flailing and screeching than actual reviewing... Royals & Rogues has been so well curated, each of the items fitting the theme (I'm mega mega happy that both the ToG and ACOTAR series made it in the box along with TWatD). The mug is so useful and the tote absolutely blows me away.

How much did I love this box? Enough to take out a 3 month subscription (they're not paying me to say this either). I highly recommend giving FairyLoot a try, because despite how expensive it is, I find that the bookplate and the extra items they pack in make it really worth it. Maybe I was lucky with my first experience and all the extras they included were for books I adore? It definitely added to my love for the box.

2 comments:

  1. Ooh gosh, you've definitely sold this too me. It's a little too late to ask for this as a christmas present, but my birthday is coming up so you never know! I am a little worried about not having read some of the books that the merch is based on, but I guess I'll just have to get reading.

    Fleur @ FranklyBooks just posted GIRLS WITH GORGEOUS DRESSES | BOOKS I DNF

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    1. The thing I've noticed about FairyLoot is they do books that aren't widely popular but still would be a good read (:

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