Reading with teafortiffany

Hello friends!!!

It is time for another book box subscription review! This is what was supposed to come to you yesterday, but the Super Bowl got in the way. These things happen, but now I’m back to tell you all of my thoughts. These do tend to be longer blog posts because there’s usually quite a lot to talk about. Let me just remind you of the basic guidelines I’m using for this review (and all other subscription box reviews).

The Guidelines

1. I will always purchase these boxes with my own money for the review. I am definitely not on any PR lists, and if I ever were, I would let you know.
2. I will try 3 boxes from each company of the same type. Some companies do multiple subscription boxes with multiple genres or styles. To keep the reviews fair, I’ll do 3 of the same type of box.
3. I might try other types of subscription boxes from the same company. Like I said before, some companies do a fantasy and a thriller box. Just because the fantasy one is great doesn’t mean the thriller one will be.
4. I will attempt to read at least one book of the three received. I’m not a fast reader, but I think it could only help to read at least the book I am most interested in out of the three I get in the box. That being said, if I’ve got my plate full, this probably won’t happen, but I’ll try.
5. These boxes are all going to be rated using the same rubric to keep things fair. I do have separate rubrics for the items vs the books themselves. I obviously won’t be rating the items in a book-only subscription.

This review is about the Once Upon a Book Club box. I received these boxes for three months, between November and January. Each month, hints were given as to what the book would be (which I chose not to look at), and that would be essentially the theme of the box. The boxes all came towards the end of the month in a bright pink box (the other subscription options have a different color). It was always fun to see this box on my doorstep.

Here is the basic information about the subscription service.

This subscription box has many different options available to it and has a unique twist to the subscription box that the other ones don’t. But before we get to that, let’s talk about the basic data I have shown. Each box comes each month, and you can choose to either pay for 1,3,6,9 or 12 months at a time. With each level, you will get a slightly different “per month” price because you are paying in advance. I chose to get the 3-month subscription strictly because I only wanted 3 months of the box to begin with. If you live in the US, the shipping is free, but I am unsure what the shipping cost is for international (I couldn’t find it).

Along with the Adult Box (the subscription box I got), they also have a Young Adult box, Tween Box, and special boxes throughout the year. The special boxes are one-off non-subscription boxes. Unlike other boxes, there is no book-only subscription box, but this will make sense when I explain how this box typically works. The genre that you get varies from book to book (for instance, I got a contemporary one week and a thriller the next), but it will always be a paperback book.

So, how does it work?

Well, this box gives you a single paperback book with no special editions or fancy sprayed edges or anything along those lines. Inside the book, you will find sticky notes on certain pages that tell you to open your gift.

The gift will be wrapped and will have the same page number on it that you find the sticky note on. The gift inside will correlate to something that you see on the page. The best way to enjoy this particular box is to open the gifts as you read the box. That is the joy of the experience that this box gives you and is what sets it apart from other book subscription boxes.

Each box comes with roughly 4-5 items. You also always get a package that has a small magazine-type print that will contain a variety of information, including an interview with the author and usually some book club questions. There is a collectible sticker, a quote bookmark, a quote print, and a signed bookplate.

As far as this box goes, I enjoyed over half of the items I received, and most were very useful. One of the items I got was a small wooden cutting board with a cute strawberry print on it. I now use this cutting board regularly, specifically for fruit and veggies. It’s small enough to not take up a lot of space but large enough for me to do the cutting I need. I would say, the majority of the time, the items tried to be something useful, but there were a few more decorative items sprinkled in, and I was okay with that. I was also very happy with the quality of the items I received.

One part I’m not huge about is the bagged items. I’d love to reuse the bag it comes in, but it has the page number printed right on it. Sometimes they come in boxes, and sometimes they are wrapped up in nice wrapping paper. There are a variety of ways that they choose to present the gift, which I do appreciate. You get to feel like you are part of the story, but also, it’s like getting a special present for reaching a specific part of the book. You are rewarded for reading.

Let’s talk about the books here. I did not rate the books on anything other than my interest in the book and the rating on Goodreads. Because these books do not have any upgrades and the quality is what you would expect of a standard paperback, I felt it wasn’t fair to rate them on those two topics.

One thing about this book box that might interest some is the sheer variety of genres it utilizes. For instance, the first book I had was a Historical Fiction, the second was a Thriller, and the third was a sort of Fantasy/Magical Realism. If you are someone who reads a variety of genres, this would definitely be a good option.

Here are the three books I received!

November

December

January

I did promise the last subscription box that I would attempt to read at least one of the books that come in during the 3-month period I subscribe. For this box, it was particularly important, given that the point of the box is to open the gifts as you read. I started reading the first book I got in January (The Restoration Garden); however, I ended up DNFing it a little over halfway through. Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of the bouncing P.O.Vs that exist in two different timelines. It’s just a trope that I don’t personally enjoy. I thought the writing was done well, and the characters were interesting, but I couldn’t get past my distaste for that trope (and that’s definitely a me problem, not a book problem).

I am genuinely interested in reading the other two books. I haven’t read a lot of thrillers, but it seems interesting, and I am genuinely quite excited to read a book about a woman who makes bargains with death.

In the end, I enjoyed receiving these boxes (reminder, I pay for them with my own money). The items were awesome, and the act of reading and then opening the gifts is fun. That being said, I think this is a book box where I would actually prefer to get their one-off boxes for specific books. As a reader, I don’t have a large variety of genres that I actually read, and if I end up not liking a book, it can feel weird to keep some of the items when they are specific to things that happen in the book.

That being said, the free shipping in the US does make up for the price point of $60 a month a little bit. However, there are book boxes out there that give you a special edition hardcover and items for less. It’s difficult for me to say because everyone’s financial situations are difficult. If you think that the book selections seem interesting and you like the idea of the gifts, give it a try! I personally will not continue my subscription past the three that I got.

So that’s it for this week, friends! I am sorry for how late this is getting sent out. I genuinely try to stick to my Sunday release day, and I hope someday to increase it to more than that, but I’m still trying to figure out how to schedule things out properly. I hope you all enjoyed the blog post, and I’ll see you again soon!

Bye friends!!!!