It’s time for another subscription unboxing and holy crap, this was a good one. We will be unboxing OwlCrate’s December 2019 box today and everything in it was super usable and well designed. They continue to stand head and shoulders above other book box subscriptions, both in quality and service. Definitely check them out if you are interested in a YA book box subscription! Without further ado, onto the unboxing!
Overall Box
As I said, overall this box was really great. There were items I hadn’t seen before and although there may have been fewer overall items than we sometimes see, the items we got all seemed really high quality and unique, both in the item as well as in the fandoms they represented. I would give this box a 9/10 overall. I was very impressed.
Individual Items
First up is this amazing book sleeve, designed by Chatty Nora. This was inspired by Sorcery of Thorns, which was one of my favorite books last year and you almost never see merchandise for this book so I was super excited. Plus, it’s incredibly usable. It feels very high quality and is really gorgeous. And, as you can see from the picture of the overall box, it’s big enough to fit a hardcover, which is amazing. I loved this item.
Next up, we got some really cute colored pencils with bookish hashtags (good for you Bookstagram folks out there) and a coloring book with all of the pin designs from this year inside. I like that they found another way to highlight the awesome pins they created, even if the coloring book did seem to be one of the weaker items in the box this month. The colored pencils are very cute and super usable, though, and it was a nice touch to add a coloring book with them.
Ok, how amazing is that hand warmer!? I hadn’t seen anything like that before. It’s designed by Kit Cronk Studio and based on Sky in the Deep, one of my favorite reads from two years ago. It’s reusable, which is amazing, and comes with a cute little cozy you can put it in. I thought this item was super creative and very usable.
Next up we have a really nice smelling wood wick candle from Novelly Yours. This one is based on Grace and Fury and is called Mount Ruin. The candle smells like cinnamon chai tea and will be perfect to light during the holidays.
It’s definitely a toss up between the book sleeve and this item for my favorite thing in the box. Look how cute these earmuffs are?! It’s such a great, unique wearable item that we really don’t see much. These are apparently based on Caraval and the roses featured throughout the book, but honestly that does seem like a bit of a stretch for me. They could just as easily be Beauty and the Beast related or, heck, just pretty roses! I love how they aren’t super obviously based on a specific book — that makes them seem even more usable for me. They seem very high quality and are incredibly warm. I loved this — it was a great surprise and completely original.
The Book
The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising, #1) by Kiersten White
Published by Delacorte Press on November 5, 2019
Pages: 352
Goodreads
From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.
There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.
To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?
*THE FIRST BOOK IN THE CAMELOT RISING TRILOGY*
And then of course we have the book! This month OwlCrate featured The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White. It is a signed edition and the OwlCrate exclusive cover replaces the blues with a dark green and changed the gold on the original cover to silver. The book is signed and has exclusive foil stamping on the hardcover itself.
I will admit, I prefer the blues and golds of the original cover to the greens and silver of the OwlCrate cover, but man I LOVE that foil stamping. That was such a great touch. I’ve heard great things about this novel and I am generally in favor of any Camelot retelling! I can’t wait to dig in!
What About You?
So, what do you think? Do you love this box as much as I do, or were you disappointed? What was your favorite item in this box? Do you subscribe to any other book boxes that you just love? We can’t wait to hear what you think!
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