Hello all! Welcome to another What’s In the Box post where we share all the goodies that we received in our bookish subscription boxes! Today we’re opening OwlCrate’s February 2020 Box, themed “A Power Within”. You guys, I LOVED this box. OwlCrate is consistently the best in the game — if you can only select one YA book box, this is absolutely the one to get. There were tons of items I had never seen before, and all were really well designed with a bunch of different fandoms represented. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
Overall Box
Like I said, I really loved this month’s box. It seemed jam packed with stuff and most of it was really novel. This one had 6 items — 1 showstopper large item, 2 higher quality medium items, and 3 smaller items — plus the featured book and a small excerpt of Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare.
Individual Items
Let’s start with the three smaller items. First, we have the typical OwlCrate enamel pin. This month’s is inspired by All the Stars and Teeth and was designed by That’s Lovely Dear. As usual, these are high quality.
Next up, a keychain inspired by The Magicians that says “Brakebills Alumni” that was designed by Blooming Library. I love the design of this and the pops of gold really make it stand out.
Finally, an eyeglasses/e-reader screen cleaning cloth, which I am SO excited about because I lost my other one recently and my glasses are filthy. This is a double sided cloth inspired by Wicked Saints. The Nadya drawing is from Nicole Deal and the quote side is designed by Leaf and Lore. I really think it’s so brilliant how OwlCrate worked with two different artists for this, but it still works really well together. I love Wicked Saints and was definitely excited for this one!
Next up is this really attractive deck of cards inspired by the Throne of Glass series. I know we’ve seen decks of cards in boxes before, and many items featuring ToG fandoms, but I absolutely loved these. They are incredibly high quality and have a great feel to them. The box and backs of the cards have a shiny gold on them and the Jacks, Queens, and Kings all have full artwork. Five different artists contributed to these cards and I think they are totally gorgeous. Major props to Jo Painter, Salome Totladze, Diana Dworak, Jana Runneck, and Michelle Grey.
How cute are these Threadsisters BFF Bookmarks from Hey Atlas Creative, inspired by Truthwitch? I love the built in ruler and the quality of the metal here. These are so cute and I can’t wait to give one to a friend!
Finally, a Mistborn inspired item that I thought was incredibly original — a bento box, complete with spoon and chopsticks! They even used the alphabet from the novel to spell out “OwlCrate” on the top — how cute is that? This one was designed by Team OwlCrate, and it’s definitely not the best designed item in the box, but I was really impressed by the overall creativity and usability here. I also like that the fandom is a bit understated so I can bring it to work.
The Book
Finally, we have the book! This month is All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace and I have REALLY been looking forward to reading this one. I mean, come on, banter-y pirates, strong female characters and a unique magic system? This sounds DIRECTLY up my alley.
I think they did an amazing job on the cover redesign — the turquoise wash and pops of brighter colors make it seem more interesting to me than the all blue original. The actual book is gorgeous as well — a purple color with silver foiling on the cover and spine. And, of course, it is signed — actually signed, not a sticker — with a really beautiful page added for the signature. We also got an excerpt from Touch of Gold by Cassandra Clare, which I’m sure lots of people will be excited about.
What About You?
Did you get this box? What did you think? What’s your favorite item? And have you read the book yet?? I can’t wait to chat with you about it in the comments!
I wish I lived in a country where they’d send these kinds of boxes to me. Enjoy!