Fairyloot Review ~ July 2018 The Power Within

Source: Fairyloot Instagram

I have been obsessed with book subscription boxes for a few months now, and have probably spent close to $500 in the last few months, and I don't even subscribe to it regularly. So far I have only physically received 2 boxes, and one awaiting for shipment in my US postal address, so technically received 3. 

Book subscription boxes are monthly subscription mostly pertaining to a theme, mainly selected around their book of the month, which is included in the box. Along with the book of the month, they pick other books that fit into the theme, and create "inspired by" fandoms from said books. 

Book sub boxes are mostly monthly, but Illumicrate based in the UK are per quarter. However, most, if not all, allow you to make single purchases, so you can choose and pick which boxes you want. There is a catch, you are not told what ANY of the items are, including the book of the month. They do give hints, supplier reveals and the books that the fandoms are based on.

Today I'm reviewing the popular Young Adult book subscription box Fairyloot, based in the UK. Their theme for July was The Power Within.

This is the complete unboxing; 

- "Magical" heat changing mug created by Little Inkling Designs with a quote by Morgan Rhodes. 

- 50ml room spray by Geeky Clean

- Tea towel lettering designed by KDPLetters and quote by Kiersten White

- Vinyl Ink sticker designed by Reverie & Ink inspired by Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

- Quidditch pen designed by Fairyloot

- 6 x 8" Zelie print (Children of blood and bone)

- Heart of Thorn by Bree Barton ~ Signed with sprayed edges

- Character Print with Author letter designed by Noverantale

I will do my thoughts in point form, highlighting each item.

Mug - I wish they did this as a normal mug as the quote looks wonderful with it's different colours, but when there is no hot water the mug is just a plain dark blue all over. My second gripe with this mug is that you have to fill the mug right to the brim of the cup (as per my pic) before you can see the entire quote. You also can't touch the mug itself as it will change colour immediately, hence ruining your nice quote. I think this mug is a bit gimmicky. 

Tea towel - Such a lovely tea towel, lettering is amazing and quote is so good as well, unfortunately, it is misprinted. They will be sending a correctly printed one...don't know when. Quality seemed quite good too.

Lavender spray - nice and usable. 

Sticker - haven't read the book so that was a bit meh for me. 

Quidditch pen - is a cute idea, but the quality is truly horrible. It looks like a cheap pen from the Dollar store, in the kids section. 

The prints are beautiful and despite not having read Children of Blood & Bone the Zelie print is absolutely stunning. The spoiler card is also stunning, bright and vivid. However, I do find that they've got too much prints in the package, or paper products that are unnecessary, but I think all book sub boxes do it.

The book was the highlight of this box for me! It's absolutely stunning; signed with red sprayed edges, character print with Author letter behind. This was the standout for me from this entire box. 

Value

The total of the items in the box cost approximately $83.31AUD so in terms of value you really do get it. However for someone like myself who has to get it sent Internationally, the value is somewhat diminished as I'm not getting any extra value, I'm getting the amount that I paid for it, and your unlikely to like everything in the box.

Review

Despite the value being there, this box felt thrown together and didn't represent quality. Due to this I will not be buying any other Fairyloot boxes in the future, unless it's got fandoms or books I really like. 

I used to think that Fairyloot was quality and one of the top boxes in all the choices available, but alas in one of the subscription box Facebook group, many have decided to cancel their subscriptions as it seems they have been struggling with quality control of their products for a few months now. 

Having said that I do like the room spray and would have loved the tea towel. The three prints (Zelie print, spoiler card and character card) looks amazing, I just don't have much use for paper items.

I have seen Fairyloot unboxing, and the June box was spectacular, hence why I bought the July box, and their August box seems ok too, so this quality may not be the norm.

Do you subscribe to a book box? If so, which one and what are your thoughts?