River Song knows the situation.
This is an UN-BOXING post.

We like stuff.
We LOVE book stuff like BOOK BOXES!
Join us on Sundays where we’re just bursting with excitement as we show off our new book stuff!
Please link back to our blog if you too are a lover of showing off stuff on Sundays.
Thank you!

 

ILLUMICRATE is a quarterly, UK based book subscription box. Each crate contains a newly released book, no more than 30 days before shipping, from different genres and a variety of between 3 and 6 fun things. Examples are bookmarks, candles, stationery, tote bags, prints, and other small items that book lovers are sure to enjoy. Check out their Past Boxes for an example of what to expect. Sometimes the books are sent out before the release date and periodically the box features a variety of extras – sometimes including an ARC! Boxes cost £29.99 – free postage to the UK, international postage ranges from £4.99 – £13.99. This box has started having themes and even special focus boxes!

This box was a special focus box and was centred around:

A Court of Frost and Starlight

In this box we got:

1. Prythian inspired constellation book sleeve – Sparrow and Wolf
2. Tote bag – Ink and Wonder Designs
3. Truth-teller lip balm – Lovely Lip Balm
4.Enamel mug – Charlie Bowater
5. Illyrian wingspan mirror enamel necklace – Mirror Image Accessories
6. WDouble sided lightweight summer scarf – Evannave
7.Inner circle cards – Monolime
8.Layered glass candle – Two Candle Thieves
9. Enamel Pin – Fable and Black
10. Deck of cards – Keeper of the suns
11. Print – Kat Adara
12.Socks – Illumicrate
13. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas

My thoughts:

 Wow! So much stuff!
The book was thinner than I expected – considering the size of the last one! Hopefully they will each fit into the lovely book sleeve!! Now I have no excuse to not read them all – except, y’know, book deadlines.

I love the candle! It smells like berries to me but the scent notes are black tea, musk rose and dark fruits which are all fantastic! I don’t think I’ll be burning this one, what a waste! Yes, I know that’s it’s entire purpose but then I can’t smell it anymore…
This is my second Lovely lip balm. and my other one came in another Illumicrate box! This one is pink but has no colour when you put it on. It’s rose petal and almond jam scented and inspired by Morrigans red lips and Azriel’s magic knife.

The socks and scarf are lovely but I’m very particular about my fabrics so it’s unlikely I’ll wear either of them. The tote bag was a surprise as it’s made of a more robust material! Usually the bags in boxes are a lovely thinner cotton or an odd something or other. This one feels like it’s gonna deal with a bunch of glass items no problem.

Enamel pins! Do I need to repeat how I feel about these again? Probably not… This time it’s two in one!

I’m not sure what to do with the character cards to be honest – Bookmarks? Or the deck of cards! I’ll think about those.
I don’t get the wingspan thing yet, but I’m sure I will when I’ve read the books. I mean, I sort of think I know what it’s getting at, but I don’t really. This necklace is making me curious though! And I’m still not sure how I feel about enamel mugs…

There was a lot more stuff in this box than I was expecting – which is good because it was actually quite expensive! I wasn’t quite as excited as I expected to be – but that’s probably because I wasn’ that excited about the book as a whole and I’ve only read one of the books it’s associated with – which is why I’d hoped to have read them all by now. Oh well.
Once I was over the general overwhelmed feeling I started to pay attention to the items and I’m really pleased I got this box.

(Gallery to go up on Instagram around the same time as this post)